Several years ago, I had the honor of attending a Nashville ATHENA Awards nominee reception, where I met Beth Chase.
We were immediately met with a sense of mutual deja vu, the unmistakable feeling we had met previously and spent a few minutes trying to figure out whether it was through business or a charitable event that had brought us together.
Several years ago, when starting out as an entrepreneur in Nashville, I was honored to receive nominations for business awards from the Nashville Business Journal and others in our community.
Quite honestly, it was a bit intimidating to walk into a grand ballroom with others who were so much further along, even as I realized how validating it was for the people who took a chance and believed in our vision.
But one thing I will always remember about those evenings is Cordia Harrington.
GRAMMY-recognized, #1 hit songwriter and author of The Reason for the Rhymes, Cliff Goldmacher is a master of the creative process.
Over the course of his 25-year music industry career, he’s written with artists like Keb’ Mo’, Ke$ha, Lisa Loeb, Chris Barron (Lead singer of the Spin Doctors) and Grateful Dead drummer, Mickey Hart. His music has been used on NPR’s “This American Life” and in national advertising campaigns. His client list includes household names like Deloitte, Google, Pfizer and Southwest Airlines.
But recently, he’s found ways to bring the power of songwriting to others.
Over 20 years ago, when I was an early entrepreneur, the EC didn’t exist.
So, instead of scheduling an advisor meeting or joining a program, I took the leap: I cold-called several entrepreneurs and asked if they would meet with me.
One of the entrepreneurs who quickly said yes was Darrell Freeman, the founder of Zycron, an information technology solutions company based in Brentwood that had achieved massive success. Even though Darrell didn’t know me, he invited me to Zycron's offices. He gave me an operations primer on starting and running a low-overhead business. But perhaps most impactfully, he talked with me about the importance of networking and developing personal relationships.
Many years ago, I was dating a man, who later became my husband, who chose Nashville as the city he wanted to start and build his career. When I questioned this decision, he told me, “There’s a man running for mayor, Phil Bredesen, and I truly believe he will transform this city.”
This week, we had the pleasure to host three amazing entrepreneurs, as part of our virtual Women of Retail Roundtable: Judith Bright, Marcie Van Mol, and Mignon Francois. In one amazing afternoon, these women shared their stories before starting a business, why they started a business, and how they have adapted to survive - and even thrive - during these challenging times.
Yesterday, we hosted Taj and Eddie George at a speaker series called “Eliminating the Box,” where they shared what it means to break out of the box of celebrity and become entrepreneurs.
“I think that anyone who has an idea and puts one foot in front of the other and strives for it is an entrepreneur,” said Taj “You can’t put an entrepreneur in a box, and if you do, you’re wrong.”
Yesterday, I was thrilled to read the Nashville Business Journal announcement that the Nashville area ranked among the top 15 of SmartAsset’s best cities for women entrepreneurs.
Native Nashvillian Mike Shmerling wasn’t always interested in entrepreneurship. Born on Church Street, he started his career 43 years ago in accounting, but by his 30s, he made the leap into entrepreneurship and in 2007 was invited to co-chair an initiative for an entrepreneurial hub in Nashville. The idea was to build the Nashville entrepreneurial community; Healthcare, music, hospitality, and tech were booming by then, but Nashville was more than just a business hub -- it had a reputation for helping others and collaborating