Wanted: Civil Engineer. Five to 10 years of experience. Sense of humor a must. That's a typical job description for RoseWater Engineering Inc. It also typifies the firm's owner, Amy Haugerud, and helps explain how she has grown her company from the basement of her Seattle home 24 years ago to the 15th floor of a downtown Seattle high-rise.

Along with creativity, book smarts and engineering skills, Haugerud, 52, wants her new hires to "come as you are," bringing a lighthearted, have-fun approach to the business of engineering consulting. She looks for people "who bring their whole self" to the company, including the ability to not take themselves too seriously and the willingness to laugh at - and learn from - mistakes.

It's the "RoseWater" way - a combination of professionalism, intuition, sensitivity and a sense of humor - that has propelled Haugerud to the top of her field and placed her among a select group of women entrepreneurs reaping multi-million-dollar revenues without sacrificing their own personal growth and work-life balance. It's a tightrope act that requires discipline, hard work, endurance and positive thinking.

Haugerud, who was named 2006 Nellie Cashman Woman Business Owner of the Year, is in good company. At least one in 11 women nationwide owns her own business, according to the Center for Women's Business Research in Washington, D.C. Nationally, 41 percent of privately held U.S. companies are at least half-owned by women. Those firms generate $1.9 trillion in sales and employ 13 million people nationwide, a 20 percent increase between 1997 and 2002 and twice the national average for all businesses, the Census Bureau reported.

While Washington state has an unimpressive record when it comes to the number of women CEOs of large public corporations, it ranks 13th among all states in the number of privately held woman owned firms. At last count, the total was 234,197 companies, including many sole proprietorships, which generate $44 billion in annual sales and employ 256,253 people. And, as of 2006, 46 percent of Washington's privately held businesses are 50 percent or more owned by women. That percentage compares favorably with the national average as well as with more densely populated, commerce-heavy states like New York, where 38.3 percent of businesses are woman-owned, according to the Center for Women's Business Research.

Washington CEO Magazine surveyed about a dozen women business owners, including Haugerud, and found they are motivated to be their own bosses mainly so they can control their own time, have a better work-life balance, and transform their dreams into realities.

While Haugerud shares the same skill sets as her male counterparts and has made a name for herself in engineering circles worldwide, she, like many top female executives, brings another dimension - a woman's perspective - to her business.

She epitomizes the type of businesswoman Elizabeth Cogswell Baskin writes about in How to Run Your Business Like a Girl: Successful Strategies from Entrepreneurial Women (Adams Media, 2005). "Women really do run businesses differently than men," Baskin says. "They do it by trusting their intuition and putting a stronger emphasis on relationships, which leads to building corporate culture."

Baskin, who runs a $3 million advertising agency in Atlanta, acknowledges that "women can be just as uptight and buttoned up as the guys." But the main difference, she says, is that women are not afraid to stop and ask directions. They place a higher value on collaboration and experimenting with new ideas. In short, "we give and take advice easily," she says, noting that men notoriously resist asking for help.

While Haugerud says the gender lines on management styles are not necessarily clearly drawn, she agrees that women, and herself in particular, pay more attention to questioning things and seeking advice. "If there is an elephant in the living room, I think we should pay attention to it before it takes a dump on us, rather than dancing around it," she says. "It's important for a leader to acknowledge when something is difficult for them, because it makes it OK for others to be less than perfect. If you make a mistake, you have to admit it and apologize."