I spent my 20s and early 30s as a single Mom, raising two boys on my own. Back then, traditional women's jobs didn't pay enough to support two children, so I ventured out into the world of traditionally male-oriented positions.
I was the first female representative in the Southeast for Western-Southern Life Insurance. During my time with them, I received several awards for Top Producer.
In the late 70s I purchased a van, bought fabrics from the textile producers in the Piedmont of NC, then traveled North and South Carolina selling the goods to fabric stores. That business was very successful until the price of gas increased my expenses beyond what I could produce in revenues.
I took a position as the first female representative for Malter International, an industrial chemical distributor based out of New Orleans, covering all of Western North Carolina. I left Malter International after a very successful term to become the CFO and Manager of a chain of 3 restaurants in Charlotte.
Working as a sole proprietor, in contract sales and in positions of management when my children were young allowed me to keep my hours flexible enough to juggle the responsibilities of a career and two children.
My true professional life kicked off in 1984 when I served as the Assistant Manager and CFO with Southwinds Villas, a Resort in Myrtle Beach. My past success in sales, customer relations, finance and human resources gave me the experience needed to successfully computerize the reservations, financial and human resources functions of the resort, so that the Homeowners and Board of Directors had current and complete financial reports for the first time in the resort's history. In the second audit period after I joined Southwind, they received an unqualified opinion from their auditing firm, noting the significant improvement in their functions because of my efforts.
Business computers were just being sold, so I launched my career in Computerized Reservations and Financial Systems of that resort and several other businesses.
In the late 80s, I returned to the Charlotte area and was hired by the Charlotte office of McGladrey & Pullen, a large CPA Partnership firm, to supervise their newly-created Small Business Financial and Tax Services Division. I supervised a staff which was responsible for production of Financial Statements, Tax Returns, Financial Planning and Audit Workpapers for the Auditing Staff. That office of McGladrey & Pullen had just begun to computerize their audit and billing systems, so I also served as their Computer Information Technology supervisor.
In 1990, two of the most important events of my life occurred;
I married Earl in June of 1990.
He and I share a sense of values of honesty and integrity. We also share a sense of responsibility to our family, our friends and our community.
Earl has 2 daughters, I have 2 sons, and we now have 9 grandchildren.
We just celebrated our 19th Wedding Anniversary.
In January of 1990, I went to work for one of my clients from McGladrey & Pullen, "Sunbelt Video", a Television Broadcast and Video Production Company which specialized in NASCAR broadcasts and productions.
When I joined Sunbelt Video, the company was close to bankruptcy. Their benchmark television show, "Inside Winston Cup Racing", hosted by Ned Jarrett, had been broadcasting for five years, and was the highest rated motorsports broadcast on cable.
Despite the success of IWCR, the President of the firm believed in "Grow or Die". All he considered was the gross revenue billed, never taking into account the total costs and expenses. I was able to show that it was costing the company 24%-45% MORE for the productions than they gained in revenue.
Shortly after I joined Sunbelt, the President resigned. The Motorsports Director took over as President of the Board and Marketing Director. I assumed the duties of Vice President and Secretary/Treasurer of the Board and CFO/Human Resources Director.
I realized that Sunbelt Video could become the premier Motorsports Broadcast and Video Production company of NASCAR and the major NASCAR team sponsors with some intelligent management and control.
Earl and I, along with the President, his wife and another couple from Florida, began negotiations with the 2 owners of the company, who were ready to dump this "White Elephant" anyway, and we successfully negotiated our purchase in August of 1992.
Because of the financial controls and marketing strategy I instituted in 1990, the company's market share grew, our gross revenues and net profits increased each year, and we went from just 19 employees to over 60 in only 6 years.
Sunbelt Video was the first company in the Southeast to acquire a complete digital editing suite. We produced and distributed the first fully digital interactive CD-ROM on the championship season of Ron Hornaday in the Craftsman Truck Series.
By 1998, the gross revenues had increased 400% and the net profits increased so that the share value increased from the $1.91 per share we paid to a value of $34.71 per share.
In May of 1998, Earl and I sold our interests in Sunbelt Video, and Earl sold his interest in his Custom Cabinet business in Charlotte, with sufficient gain on our investments to allow us to retire to Long Beach.
Earl and I currently derive our income from investments we made in Property, Mortgage Notes, Stocks, and Cash from the gains on the sale of Sunbelt Video and Earl Wallace Cabinets.
BOTTOM LINE?
I KNOW FINANCE........
I KNOW CORPORATE AND MUNICIPAL LAW
I KNOW HOW TO MANAGE EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS
BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL,
I KNOW HOW TO MANAGE AND CONTROL SPENDING AND EXPENSES,
I KNOW HOW TO GET THE MOST 'BANG' OUT OF A BUCK,
AND I KNOW HOW TO ACT TODAY
TO DERIVE THE MAXIMUM BENEFIT FOR THE FUTURE.
IN MY OPINION, SHAREHOLDERS AND TAXPAYERS ARE SYNONYMOUS.
THE SAME EFFORTS AND CARE WE GAVE TO THE SHAREHOLDERS OF SUNBELT VIDEO SHOULD BE GIVEN TO THE TAXPAYERS OF OAK ISLAND.
