Women In Business Special Event
Join us in celebrating Women's History Month at The Reading Room with our inaugural Women in Business Panel. You'll have the opportunity to hear from three incredible female local business owners, learning about their stories, successes, and struggles.
We’re thrilled to have Julie Finn as our moderator and host. Julie is an executive coach, advisor, speaker, and facilitator. She helps leaders become wildly successful executives.
Julie’s background includes strategy and innovation roles at the Coca-Cola Company, Deloitte, The Boston Consulting Group, and The Walt Disney Company.
Julie hosts two podcasts, And, with Julie Finn and The Working Mother’s Mentor. She holds a BA and MBA from Stanford and a master’s degree from Oxford, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. You can find out more about Julie here.
OUR PANELISTS:
Lisa Bobb, Owner, Squash Blossom Boutique
Lisa Bobb has been the owner of Squash Blossom Boutique for the past decade. After a successful twenty-year career in information technology leadership at The Coca-Cola Company and Cox Enterprises Inc., Lisa took the leap into small business ownership, hoping to bring her vast experience in corporate settings to bear in a venture of her own. In her business, she has leveraged technology to expand and modernize operations, employee engagement, and customer loyalty.
Lisa is an accomplished public speaker and has been a featured presenter at national conferences and professional forums, and has lectured on topics including lean innovation methodology, global team building, IT strategy, and work/life balance. She has created and directed innovative programs at some of the world’s leading brands.
Lisa sees Squash Blossom as an intimate space to curate an authentic relationship with women. She shines a light on the shared experience and power and vulnerability of women through fashion.
Ty Jenkins, Owner, Olive Branch Wellness
Ty Jenkins first entered the beauty industry in 2004, attending Atlanta Technical College. There, she graduated and received her certificate to perform cosmetology services professionally.
For 3 years, she worked in various salons and realized her calling was within the arena, but maybe on a different path. Becoming a business owner in the beauty industry seemed more fitting, so she began courses in business and marketing at the University of Phoenix and graduated in 2010. While crafting her online store, she got the idea to learn how to make soap.
She began crafting handmade, all-natural, organic soaps through her house brand, Oliveberry. Her soaps are packed with nutrient-rich oils, including hemp seed oil, apricot oil, Calendula oil, and other healing oils.
Prior to, Ty noticed differentiations in beauty products, searching far and wide for quality products that were actually good for you health-wise. Her soaps became so highly requested from friends and family that she went from opening an online boutique store to now owning the newest storefront in Downtown Decatur.
Emily Golub, Founder, Garnish & Gather
"I started Garnish and Gather in 2013 because I was hungry for change – I wanted to start something meaningful, a business that would bring joy to people, something that would forge a connection between good food and good taste. I’ve always loved finding the most special ingredients, the coolest in-season produce, and creative recipes to make meals that were delicious with a story behind them too; and I wanted to do all that on a busy Tuesday night after work. I joined local Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSAs), I scoured the internet (pre-Pinterest!) for recipes, and when I could I went to the farmers market at 7am to be sure I got in line for spring asparagus - but sometimes these lofty goals weren’t always feasible – and so Garnish and Gather was born - out of my desire to do it all, but make it easy. Since then, a lot has changed, we’ve grown beyond just serving Atlanta, we’ve expanded from just 3 dinner kits a week to 9, we added specialty groceries and small batch artisanal goods, we now offer a la carte kits like bouche de noel cakes & lobster rolls! We are so much more than meal kits, and I can’t wait to share G&G with you soon!"