As a community, our goal is to push our businesses to the next level. Our membership consists of experienced, successful female professionals who span across many industries, experiences, and decades.
This is Part 1 of a series about the biggest mistakes I’ve made in business—and what you can learn from them. OK, HERE’S THE SHORT VERSION OF MY STORY I started a company in my basement – funded by a week-long yard sale and cashing in my 401K. Grew
Sherry Stewart Deutschmann is a serial entrepreneur, author, speaker, and passionate advocate for entrepreneurship. Her first venture was LetterLogic, Inc., a company she founded in her basement and grew to $40 million before selling it in 2016. LetterLogic was named an Inc. 5000 company (fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States) for ten consecutive years. Sherry's first book, Lunch with Lucy: Maximize Profits by Investing in Your People, will be released on March 10, 2020, via An Inc. Original, an imprint of Inc. Magazine. The book shares her story of building a robust business through empathetic leadership and uncommon, commonsense business practices. Lunch with Lucy is available for pre-order now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Sherry attributes the success of LetterLogic to its unique culture in which the needs of the employees came before those of the customer or shareholder. Featured in The New York Times, Forbes Magazine, Business Leaders, Inc. Magazine, Fast Company, and more for her unconventional work culture and success, Sherry was also honored by President Barack Obama as a White House Champion of Change in 2016.
Helping women-owned businesses get better access to networks, capital, and markets is Sherry's passion. In 2015, she was appointed to the National Women’s Business Council, a small group of women who advise Congress, the Small Business Administration, and the president on issues related to entrepreneurship for women. In 2019, she founded BrainTrust, a company dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs grow their business to $1 million in annual revenue and beyond.
Sherry is married to Mark Deutschmann, a real estate developer in Nashville, Tennessee, and is mother to Whitney, stepmother to Chelsea, and grandmother to Nikko and Reagan.
Chris-Tia Donaldson is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Thank God It’s Natural (tgin), a manufacturer of natural hair and skin care products, currently sold in Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Sally’s Beauty, and Walgreen’s. In her role, she oversees all aspects of day-to-day operations, sales, and strategic partnerships.
Chris-Tia has been featured in major media publications such as USA Today, Marie Claire, Essence, Black Enterprise, Ebony, Heart & Soul, and the Chicago Tribune. Her book Thank God I’m Natural: The Ultimate Guide to Caring for Natural Hair is a #1 Amazon bestseller, and was hailed the “Natural Hair Bible” by Essence Magazine.
Prior to starting her own company, Chris-Tia represented Fortune 500 companies in complex business transactions involving technology and open source code. Chris-Tia earned her A.B. in Economics from Harvard University with high honors, and is a graduate of Harvard Law School.
In 2015, Chris-Tia was diagnosed with breast cancer. During her treatment, she learned that having money could make the difference between living and dying when it came to treating this condition. In her observation, few organizations existed that provided support and social services to help women with transportation, childcare, parking, or seeking disability leave from their place of employment.
Today, she uses her success in the beauty space to advocate for women experiencing financial difficulties, who are undergoing treatment, to highlight health disparities due to race and socio-economic factors, and to empower women to listen to their bodies through the tgin Foundation.
Chris-Tia just recently released her second book called This is Only a Test: What Breast Cancer Taught me about Faith, Love, Hair and Business.
For updates about Chris-Tia, follow her on: Facebook (www.facebook.com/thankgodimnatural), Twitter (@tginceo) and Instagram (@tginceo).
Nikki Barua is serial entrepreneur, international keynote speaker, bestselling author and leading expert in helping people and organizations adapt to change.
Nikki is the CEO of Beyond Barriers, a global leadership platform that is on a mission to close the gender gap by helping women gain momentum with adaptive strategies, digital-age skills, access to resources, and peer accountability cohorts.
Nikki is also the founder of BeyondCurious, an award-winning digital innovation agency that partners with large companies to unlock innovation with agile processes, design thinking and diverse cultures.
Nikki has won numerous awards, including Entrepreneur of the Year by ACE, named as an EY North America Entrepreneurial Winning Woman, recognized as LA Woman of Influence by The Business Journals and Women of Entrepreneurship by LA Lakers and Comerica Bank.
Nikki’s inspiring story of turning barriers into breakthroughs has been featured in national media including Fortune and Forbes. Her successes have given her a global platform of influence as a fierce advocate for diversity. As a thought leader and expert, she is passionate about making the world more inclusive and innovative.
Nikki graduated with three Masters degrees and is a deeply curious, lifelong learner. She is fluent in 5 languages and speaks from her heart in all of them. She believes that we are all limitless, and she leads her life committed to going beyond barriers.
Michael is an educator, author, executive coach, entrepreneur, investor, and healthcare strategist with 30 years’ experience leading technology-enabled healthcare organizations.
Michael serves on faculty at Vanderbilt University where he teaches Healthcare Innovation and Launching New Ventures in the Owen Graduate School of Management. He is the faculty leader for Vanderbilt’s Center for Entrepreneurship.
Michael is an Executive Partner with Shore Capital, a micro-cap investment firm based in Chicago, IL. He began working with Shore Capital in 2011.
Michael was the founder and former CEO of Narus Health, a transformational healthcare concierge organization serving self-insured employers. Founded in 2015, the company became part of Lucent Health in 2019.
Prior to forming Narus Heath, Michael was the founding President and CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, serving in that capacity from 2010-2015. His work helped drive Nashville’s entrepreneurial growth and was honored by President Obama as a “Champion of Change” in 2012. Michael served as the Co-Chair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 2014-2016.
From 2000-2007, Michael served as President of ParadigmHealth. ParadigmHealth specialized in the management of clinically complex patients and is now part of Optum Health.
From 1993 – 2000, Michael was President and Founder of Theraphysics, a venture-backed, specialty rehabilitation firm. Theraphysics was acquired by Beverly Enterprises in 1998.
Michael began his career at Hospital Corporation of America after graduating from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1983. Michael also holds an MBA from Belmont University and a Doctorate in Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina.
Jennifer is an entrepreneur and coach who thrives in building processes, workflows, and systems while moving quickly and easily from strategic planning to execution. She does that through helping her clients filter out noise to create clear and actionable ideas and strategies, making sure everyone is laser-focused and aligned. She is currently a Scaling Up coach with Petra Coach, living in Nashville with her husband and 2 Great Danes.
Meagan is the founder and CEO of Luca Business Solutions, an outsourced CFO, accounting and financial advisory company providing services to privately held companies in the Nashville, TN area. With over 15 years of finance and accounting experience, Meagan began her career at KPMG as a generalist and went on to serve as CFO of a privately held healthcare company before starting Luca. Meagan and her team at Luca have developed a strong reputation for helping entrepreneurs implement financial structure and sound business practices.
Ms. Sharon W. Reynolds, President/CEO, DevMar Products, LLC, launched the company with an idea to develop and distribute environmentally friendly, innovative products to help eradicate pathogens while creating healthy spaces. In 2020, Sharon partnered with United Health Group’s Optum Ventures to bring Clean Up Biohazard to market that will save many lives surrounding norovirus and Clostridium difficile. This new product technology will positively impact world populations.
Sharon has earned numerous awards and recognition including being named Enterprising Women Top 20 in 2020 Award in honor of the 20th anniversary of Enterprising Women magazine and 2019 WBE Star by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). She is the recipient of the 100 Black Men/Women President’s Organization Women of Color Achievement Award and was featured in the Essence Magazine’s Women on Boards article. She received MBE magazine’s WBEs Who Rocks Award in 2019. DevMar was named the Women’s Business Enterprise Council South Tier 1 Supplier of the Year in 2017. The company was selected as the 2012 recipient of the WIPP Business Leadership – “External Communications” award presented at the Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) Annual Leadership Meeting in Washington, D.C.
She launched DevMar Manufacturing, LLC to partner with larger manufacturers to formulate sustainable cleaning and sanitizing solutions. DevMar Global Healthcare Solutions, LLC was formed to launch commercially sterile human donor milk for micro-preemie and premature infants in the NICU.
Sharon earned her B.S. degree in Business Management with a focus on Green & Sustainable Enterprise Management from the University of Phoenix and earned her Executive MBA from Tennessee State University focused on International Business in 2018 graduating with honors.
Born in California, but today calls Nashville, Tennessee home, real estate developer Meg Epstein has over a decade of experience creating efficient, modern lifestyles for people where it matters most: their homes and neighborhoods. Developing and establishing spaces that support whole living and simplify home and work life for individuals is a personal passion of hers.
To that end, Meg founded CA South in 2016 with the idea of bringing to Nashville her sense of design and style of building honed from her days constructing in California. Meg quickly recognized the unique opportunity to fill the demand for residential condos that were in short supply in this market, and teamed up with architect Jared Bradley to develop residential condominiums buildings as well as multifamily residential and mixed use building in the burgeoning 8th Avenue corridor. As CA South raised its first dedicated fund in early 2019, the firm expanded beyond residential condos to include industrial and office projects.
Meg offers unparalleled expertise and resources to real estate investors, developers and strategic partners. With a decade of hard-won results in luxury residential real estate, developing everything from celebrity homes in Bel Air to luxury wine country retreats in Napa Valley to mid-rise condos along Nashville’s waterfront. Over the course of her career, she’s been involved in the development and construction of over 260,000 square feet of residential and commercial real estate representing over $150 million to date. She is a licensed Commercial Contractor, licensed Residential Contractor, CCIM candidate, and licensed real estate agent; she also keeps a private pilot’s license and bareboat charter sailing certification. Proud Board Member of the Nashville Civic Design Center.
Beth Chase is a CEO, Board Director, Founder, and Investor with the expertise to capitalize on the intersection of strategy, market opportunities, and technology across industries. As a trusted advisor and strategist, she helps organizations navigate critical inflection points by partnering with C-Suite Executives and leadership teams of Fortune 500 and private- equity-owned companies to identify, create, and implement tactics for value-building innovation and transformational growth. Her global perspective, business and financial acumen, collaborative approach, and expertise in scaling businesses are hallmarks of her career.
In recognition of her experience with large global, mid-market, and early stage companies, she serves on the Board of Directors of Ingram Industries Inc. a $3B privately held company comprised of two major operating units: Ingram Content Group and Ingram Marine Group based in Nashville. Ms. Chase is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Nashville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the Nashville Chamber of Commerce. She is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, former Chair and Board Member of the Nashville Technology Council, and past two-term Director of the Nashville Healthcare Council.
Currently, Ms. Chase is a Partner and Senior Managing Director, member of the Managing Committee, and the Strategy & Performance Practice Leader at Ankura Consulting Group, a global business advisory firm headquartered in Washington, DC. She is also actively involved in firm-wide infrastructure initiatives focused on compensation, recent acquisition integrations, and operational scalability. In her client facing role, she demystifies the execution of change – from advising clients through changing strategic direction or business models, integrating mergers and acquisitions, scaling for growth, creating new products and services, to responding to fast-shifting market.
Prior to joining Ankura, Ms. Chase was the founder and CEO of c3/consulting in Nashville, the largest management consulting firm in Middle Tennessee advising Fortune 500 clients from diverse industries nationwide. The firm grew to more than $30M in annual revenue, 120 professionals, and a notable roster of blue chip clients, best-in-class capabilities, and a cohesive, collaborative culture. Consistent revenue growth earned c3 a place on the Inc. 5000 List six times.
With specific expertise in change management, performance improvement, and strategy, Ms. Chase identified an opportunity to strengthen client services by joining together with Ankura Consulting Group to become an expanded management consulting firm. Driving factors throughout the process were the strategic market fit between the firms and the strong cultural alignment.
Earlier, Ms. Chase co-founded and served as Executive Vice-President of InfoWorks, Inc., a regional technology consulting firm combining IT expertise with knowledge of strategy development and business process design to help clients achieve business goals. She began her career at IBM serving in Consulting, Enterprise Sales, Systems Engineering and Financial Analysis roles.
A respected business leader, Ms. Chase frequently keynotes, facilitates, speaks and authors articles on Leadership, Change Management and Navigating Technology Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity & Ambiguity. Her dedication to the community is also well known; among her community leadership roles she was the Chair and a member of the Board of Directors of the YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee and a former board member of both the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and Second Harvest Food Bank.
Ms. Chase has received honors and awards in recognition of her professional accomplishments including National Winning Women Entrepreneurs from Ernst & Young; Most Admired CEOs, Best in the Business, and Women of Influence, all from the Nashville Business Journal; a Lifetime Achievement from the Nashville Technology Council, and was named NEXT Entrepreneur of the Year by the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.
She holds a BA in Mathematics and Economics from Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Ms. Chase and her husband have four adult children and live in Nashville, Tennessee.
Anupa believes building quality, useful software ultimately boils down to FOCUS. At 5 Stone Consulting, we help small to medium sized tech companies bring their product vision into focus. We do this by guiding our clients in developing and getting MVPs out to the market, building technical teams, and creating sustainable product development processes that empower companies to run an efficient and scalable technical product and organization.
Cameo Carlson is the President of management services company mtheory Nashville, and former Head of Digital Business Development for Borman Entertainment and Executive Vice President of Universal Motown Republic Group. She has worked in everything from FM radio to streaming radio and digital and mobile commerce. Her roles have included sales, strategy and marketing for artists such as Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Amy Winehouse, Lil Wayne and Jack Johnson. Cameo also runs Digital Divas, a networking and mentoring group for women in Nashville and holds two U.S. Patents for her work bridging tech and music.
Amy Tanksley is originally from Omaha, Nebraska. She attended the University of Texas (Hook ‘Em) where she studied finance and made the most incredible friends. She moved to Nashville in 2003 for a job with Asurion as an analyst. At Asurion, she met her husband, Kirk, and soon realized his haircut experience was less than ideal. The first Uncle Classic Barbershop location opened in 2008 in Brentwood shortly before the financial crisis. Since then, there’s been a lot of hard work and haircuts. The 8th location of Uncle Classic Barbershop opened in February 2020 and there are more locations on the horizon.