Elisa Gambino – Owner of Via Elisa, Fresh Pasta Perfection from Atlanta

Elisa Gambino is the Owner of Via Elisa, fresh authentic pasta. Elisa was an Emmy Award-winning producer for CNN before she decided to venture into entrepreneurship and share her passion for pasta by filling a untapped niche.  Via Elisa is a one-of-a-kind operation and supplies pasta to many of Atlanta’s finest restaurants.  Elisa has expanded her business beyond her own initial vision of a lifestyle business into exactly what she really wanted it to be.  The company now sells to Whole Foods and operates a popular retail shop.  Elisa has been the recipient of the NAWBO Atlanta Chapter WE Shine Award for Rising Star of the Year and was named SBDC GWEN Georgia Women Entrepreneur of 2006.  She’s also graced the cover of Atlanta Woman magazine.

In this Chic Perspective, Elizabeth interviews Elisa about her entrepreneurial journey. Elisa will share how she got her entrepreneurial education and explain what was so important about the planning process and how it helped her to achieve her business goals.   She will also talk about doing research before getting started, and how learning her craft from a famed Italian family whose legacy is served in Rome’s finest restaurants allowed her to position herself appropriately in the marketplace. In this session, Elisa will talk about the key success factors in her business’s growth, as well as how to hire, manage and motivate people. Elisa will instill the importance of knowing how to read your numbers from the beginning and how to handle external market forces that no business plan can predict.  Lastly you will hear advice on mistakes for business owners to lookout for and the one most important thing that all business owners should be sure to do every single day. 

Listen to Elisa's Chic Tip.  Download full interview.

Kathleen Kurre - President, Fusion Advisors and Executive-in-Residence, Interdisciplinary Institute for Leadership & Entrepreneurship, Georgia Tech

Kathleen Kurre held senior executive positions at Intellego and Healthcare Recoveries, both started with venture capital. She is a former executive-in-residence at the University of Louisville's business school. She routinely shares her insights and experiences through writing and speaking and works with individuals and organizations as they integrate mind, body, spirit and emotions for success. She recently completed a Masters of Divinity in Spiritual Peacemaking and is working on her first book – Doorways of Peace.

After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Purdue University with Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics, Kathleen began her career in computer technology. Her passion emerged quickly: creating systems that connect imagination with reality. After having held analyst and manager positions for Kentucky Fried Chicken, PNC Bank, KPMG and senior management positions with Humana Inc. and Aegon Corporation, Kathleen formally stepped into the creative world of entrepreneurship by joining Healthcare Recoveries, Inc. (HRI) a venture capital backed healthcare, technology services company.

In this Chic Perspective, Elizabeth interviews Kathleen as she recaps a presentation she gave on the topic of female entrepreneurship at the 10th Global Powerful Businesswomen & Leaders Summit (WOIBEX 2008) held on March 8-9 at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, UAE. Kathleen talks about how women start, and run business differently than men and what challenges and opportunities this represents.    Download - 30 minutes (mp3)

Jennifer Remling - Founder of CarveYourOwnRoad.com

Jennifer Remling runs her own accomplished and fulfilling recruiting firm, in addition to Carve Your Own Road. With a book in the works due to be released in April 2009 by Career Press, Jennifer has been featured in media outlets like MSNBC.com and The New York Post. She is also a frequent speaker at corporate training seminars, professional development workshops and other industry events.

In this Chic Perspective, Elizabeth interviews Jennifer on the topic of developing the mindset of a successful entrepreneur. We've all heard about just how powerful our mind can be when we put it to good use, but many entrepreneurs get so caught up in day to day to-do's and stresses, that they don't tap into the vast power source located right between their own two ears. In this session, Jennifer shares strategies and best practices she used when starting and building her successful recruiting company as well as how she turned her entrepreneurial dream into a chic reality, complete with a $70,000 Airstream to travel in style. You'll learn how to use what's between your ears in a systematic way to reach your goals on a daily and weekly basis and achieve greater success, certainty and satisfaction in your life. Jennifer shares insights she got from traveling all over the country interviewing successful entrepreneurs as research for her upcoming book: Carve Your Own Road. Jennifer has a passion for understanding the entrepreneurial spirit and is helping people everywhere redefine how and where they work to achieve career fulfillment on their own terms.   Download - 30 minutes (mp3)

Bill Williams, Executive Vice President of Murphy Business and Financial Corp