ATLANTA Four small-business and nonprofit leaders, representing a variety of endeavors, shared insight about their successes and setbacks during the Third Annual Entrepreneurial Spring Speaker Series at Agnes Scott College.
Sponsored by the Agnes Scott Department of Economics, Office of Career Planning and the organization Women in Business, this year’s speaker series was organized by David M. Williams, visiting instructor of economics.
The series started in mid-March with Elizabeth Gordon, founder and president of Flourishing Business, followed by Joe M. Turner of Turner Magic Entertainment. Layne Whitehead-Lee told the story behind Sweet N' Sinful and Julia Emmons shared her experience as former director of the Peachtree Road Race and member of the Atlanta City Council.
Elizabeth Gordon graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in business and economics from Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, N.C., and earned a master's degree in marketing from Georgia State University. Although she tried to emulate other business advisers when she launched her consultancy Flourishing Business, she realized quickly that defining a niche brings success.
Gordon explained her strategy in the book "The Chic Entrepreneur," earning praise from Gail Evans author of the New York Times bestseller "Play Like a Man Win like a Woman.” Evans described Gordon's book as "Engaging and intelligent and practical – not to mention fun to read."
Professional entertainer and speaker Joe M. Turner uses customized sleight-of-hand, illusion and “mentalism presentations” to entertain, inform and energize audiences at corporate, civic and private events across the United States and Canada.
“Joe does a wonderful job talking about being engaged with everything you do while you are in college and afterward,” Williams said. “Experiences from the classroom and beyond in physics, theater, music and calculus still benefit him today.”
Turner told his Entrepreneurial Journeys audience that his career experiences were equally valuable, especially the years he spent as a corporate consultant with the accounting firm Arthur Andersen before its dissolution by the Enron debacle.
When opportunity does knock on your door, you have to be ready to give it your full and best effort, Turner said.
He attended Mississippi State University as one of the first four Schillig Leadership Scholars, the most prestigious full honors scholarship offered at Mississippi State. He also later received the George H.W. Bush Education Scholarship. Turner graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in physics/chemistry education.
Pastry Chef Layne Whitehead-Lee launched Sweet N’ Sinful from her home in late 1999. Introduced to baking as a decorator in custom cookie shops, she noticed a niche opportunity in Atlanta for a high end-specialty cake and dessert shop.
Customers brought their ideas to Whitehead-Lee, who transformed them into edible art. Family, friends and long time customers provided encouragement, and she took a leap of faith in beginning Sweet n’ Sinful. After starting Sweet N’ Sinful, she enrolled in culinary school at The Art Institute of Atlanta.
Julia Emmons’ career in Atlanta’s nonprofit sector spans four decades. Perhaps best known for her recently concluded 22-year career as race director of the Peachtree Road Race and executive director of the Atlanta Track Club, Emmons’ Atlanta roots stretch back to a prior 15-year stint as an associate professor at Emory University in its Division of Library and Information Science.
“She described the enormous risk she took in leaving a secure job as tenured faculty at Emory for the extremely dicey prospect of directing the Track Club," said Catherine Neiner, director of career planning at Agnes Scott. "She had really no experience, a staff of two and a race of 5,000 runners."
Over the years, the Peachtree Road Race, now with 55,000 runners, has become the largest 10K in the world.
Emmons hires staff not necessarily based on candidates’ experience but more on whether they "fit" the Peachtree organization.
"That's a great message for women in a liberal arts college. By taking a risk she achieved something remarkable – both for herself and for the city," Neiner said.
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Agnes Scott College educates women to think deeply, live honorably and engage the intellectual and social challenges of their times. Students are drawn to Agnes Scott by its excellent academic reputation, exceptional faculty, and metropolitan Atlanta location – offering myriad cultural and experiential learning opportunities. A diverse and growing residential community of scholars, this highly selective liberal arts and sciences college is known for its dynamic and challenging intellectual community. Encouraging students to engage the wider world through study abroad and presenting its curriculum with international context, Agnes Scott College delivers on its promise: The World for Women.