Joni Bicknese | SW: Winner of 2009 Ralph Mosley Award for Excellence
Joni Bicknese wins the 2009 Ralph Mosley Award for Excellence!! |  | Southwestern Blog | Geoffrey Kidney | | Joni Bicknese is the winner of the Southwestern Business Resources 2009 Ralph Mosley Award for Excellence! Joni has been the Senior Career Counselor for SBR/Southwestern Career Services for the last 11 years, and has impacted countless of Southwestern Company students starting their career. Joni also worked with Southwestern from 1978 to 1986, starting as a student dealer and moving all the way to Sales Manager. Read More. | Dan Moore | DSA inTouch: Moore Addresses Professors of Entrepreneurship
Dan Moore Addresses Professors of Entrepreneurship for DSEF |  | Direct Selling Association inTouch Newsletter | | Dan Moore kicked off the 2010 annual conference of the United Sates Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) in Nashville on January 14th. Conveniently, the Southwestern Company’s 2010 Great Recruiters Seminar was being held in the same hotel at the same time! As the openeing keynote speaker, Dan highlighted the value of an entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial experience for young people. | | Read More. | Mike Myers | The Wall Street Journal: Texas Footbal Boosters Think Big
Texas Football Boosters Think Big | | The Wall Street Journal | Hannah Karp | | In college football, the most indispensable players are not necessarily star quarterbacks. Sometimes they're the overeager alumni who write big checks and weigh in from the sidelines. And in that department, nobody can mess with Texas. Read More. | Kate Raidt | KVUE Austin: Balancing Career & Family
Balancing Career and Family | | KVUE Austin - ABC Morning Show | Melissa Gale | | Kate (Walker) Raidt (SW: '92-'00) is interviewed on Austin's ABC Daybreak Morning Show. Kate discusses her new book, Million Dollar Parent, in which she addresses what she calls an American epidemic, career minded parents living beyond their means and neglecting their children. View the video. | Erik Wesner | Entrepreneur: We're having an Amish moment
 | We're having an Amish moment | | Entrepreneur Magazine | Geoff Williams | | "AMISH ENTREPRENEURS" may sound like two words that don't belong in the same sentence, but the Plain People have moved far beyond selling butter and cheese on the roadside... A book about Amish business wisdom, Success made Simple, is due out in March, and its author, Erik Wesner (SW: '98-'07), recently pointed out that the deeper we get into the 21st century, the clearer it becomes that the Amish haven't caught up with the rest of us. We're catching up with them.
Read More. | Lee McCroskey | Tennesean.com: Giving a little goes a long way
 | Giving a little goes a long way | | TENNESSEAN.COM | Lee McCroskey | | "It's not about me." That's my personal mission statement, and I check in with it pretty often because it's easy to get distracted by work, by responsibilities. Then there's the economy, war in the Middle East, the health-care debate. You get the picture. Read More. | Branch Fields | COLLEGIATETIMES: Tech grad finds career in opera
 | Tech grad hits the right notes, finds career in opera. | | COLLEGIATE TIMES | Mary Anne Carter | | "Hello?" answered Branch Fields. (SW: '89) His voice was thick and deep, saturating the white noise of the spotty cell phone reception. It removed all doubt of a misdialed number and confirmed that for Fields,
Fields shared details about his upcoming performance and his start in the opera world with the Collegiate Times during an interview last week.
Read More. | Rory Vaden | Oprah.com: Dr. Oz interviews Rory about Public Speaking
 | Successful Public Speaking | | Oprah Radio | Dr. Mehmet Oz | | Two-time Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking Finalist, Co-Founder of Success Starts Now! (Southwestern Training), and creator of the Take The Stairs World Tour, Rory Vaden (SW: '01-'05), was recently contacted by Oprah Radio and Dr. Oz. Rory went to meet Dr. Oz and his wife Lisa in New York to be interviewed on their Oprah Radio show discussing one of their common pastimes; Toastmasters International. Listen to the interview. | Ed Nash | Nashville Nfocus Magazine: The Players
The Players | | Nfocus Magazine | Ellen Nelson | | Nashville is full of people committing selfless acts, dreaming big and being good. This month, we recognize eleven individuals who are not just making Nashville a better place to live—they're changing the world. Southwestern alumnus Ed Nash (SW: '97-'03) is profiled as one of Nashville's Players. Read More. | Ray Lang | MX Sports Introduces the Ray Lang Good Neighbor Memorial Award
 | MX Sports Introduces the Ray Lang Good Neighbor Memorial Award | | MX Sports | Rachel Fluharty | | At this year's Air Nautiques AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn Ranch presented by Amsoil, MX Sports will be unveiling the Ray Lang Good Neighbor Memorial Award, in honor of Ray Lang (SW: 88-99), who passed away last year after suffering severe chest trauma in a racing accident. Lang was 40 years old. Read More. | George Armistead | Nashville Business Journal: Full of George
 | Armistead's office full of George | | Nashville Business Journal | By Turner Hutchens | George Armistead’s (SW: '71) office is full of George, and not just his 6-foot-8-inch frame.
From floor to ceiling, the walls are full of his photos, his awards, his art. There are photos of Armistead with a past Republican president or two and family photos that include his three small dogs. Read More. | Rory Vaden | DU Today: Alum achieves success by taking the stairs
 | Alum achieves success by taking the stairs | | DU Today | By Jessica Centers | | Even as a student at the University of Denver, Rory Vaden (SW: '01-'05) talked to people incessantly about how to be successful. The key, he said, was self discipline. To be successful, you had to do the things other people weren’t willing to do. His college roommate — and a fellow member of the Pioneer Leadership Program — heard the argument often, and used it to make fun of Vaden once on an airport escalator: “Mr. Discipline doesn’t even take the stairs,” he said. Read More. | | | Emily Shenton | managementtoday.com: 35 Women Under 35 2009
 | 35 Women Under 35 2009: Heroines For Hard Times | | managementtoday.com | By Emma De Vita | | Southwestern Alumnus & Edinburgh graduate Emily Shenton (SW: '98) has been named by Management Today as one of the "35 Women under 35" who are shaping UK business and society. A great honor. Read More. | | | | | David Belaga | NASA Licenses Hydration Beverage Technology to SW Alumnus
 | NASA Licenses Hydration Beverage Technology to SW Alumnus | | Wellness Brands Inc. | | To help keep astronauts at peak performance during missions, NASA researched, qualified and patented a highly effective electrolyte concentrate formula that maintains and restores optimal body hydration levels quickly and conveniently. Developed as a remedy to dehydration, it helps prevent the loss of body fluids during heavy exercise, heat exposure and illness. NASA has issued an exclusive license for the technology to Wellness Brands Inc, Boulder CO (Founder – David Belaga) which will market the formula under the brand name The Right Stuff™. Read More. | Quayle Hodek | treehugger.com: 7 Hot CEOs and Their Cool Green Companies
| 7 Hot CEOs and Their Cool Green Companies | | treehugger.com | By Kara DiCamillo | Southwestern Company alumnus Quayle Hodek (SW '97-'99) was recently named one of the hottest eco-CEOs by treehugger.com. Quayle and fellow SW alumnus Shea Gunther founded Renewable Choice Energy in 2001.
Read More | |
Marty Pyle | Sun Publications: Sculptor creates lasting impression of ...
Sculptor creates lasting impression of American hero |  | SUN PUBLICATIONS | By Linda Friedel, Staff Writer | Abraham Lincoln has been on Martin Leo Pyle’s (SW '78-'84) mind for years. Now the Overland Park artist is honoring the man he admires in a lasting way.
Pyle received a commission from the Lincoln Statue of Leavenworth Committee in Leavenworth, Kan., to sculpt an 8-foot statue of Lincoln. The statue, Pyle’s first major art piece, will be erected near Leavenworth City Hall & unveiled Dec. 3. Read More | Herb King | islandpacket.com: Hilton Head developer dies of burns
Hilton Head developer dies of burns suffered March 24 |  | islandpacket.com | By Josh Lanier | | Herb King, who sold with George Bulter's organization from 1972-1975, passed away April 2nd. Herb had been severely burned last month in a fire near his home. After his bookselling days Herb moved to Hilton Head, SC with some of his fellow bookmen. A very successful businessman, Herb had a long list of companies and developments to his credit. Read More | Adam Nubern | redandblack.com: I Would Bike 4,000 Miles
I WOULD BIKE 4,000 MILES: Cyclist builds homes for families in need | | 
| redandblack.com | By Shanessa Fakour
| A University student will bike 4,000 miles across the nation this summer to help families affected by the mortgage crisis build new homes.
"I have a lot of encouragement," said Adam Nubern (SW '06-'07), a senior from Statesboro. "It's not about me going through a temporary moment of pain, but about families needing a home and a place to have relationships." Read More | Dan Moore | Direct Selling News: Reaching Gen Y - A Dual Perspective
Reaching Gen Y: A Dual Perspective | | DIRECT SELLING NEWS | By Dan Moore, Southwestern Co. and Sarah Baker Andrus, Cutco | | Perhaps like no other generation before it, Gen Y presents direct sellers with new opportunities—and challenges—in retention, retailing and recruiting. For two industry leaders, The Southwestern Company and CUTCO, Generation Y makes up the majority of their field. Dan Moore, President, The Southwestern Company, and Sarah Baker Andrus, Director of Academic Programs, CUTCO, shared with Direct Selling News their successes in reaching this unique demographic.
Working with Generations—for Generations!
The Southwestern Company is America’s oldest direct selling company, with direct selling operations starting in 1868. For 140 years, college students have sold Southwestern books (and more recently, software) door-to-door. Today, students from approximately 350 colleges and universities participate in this entrepreneurial program and learn principles of salesmanship, business management and the invaluable character traits of integrity, perseverance and service to others. Read More | Whitney Ferré | Her Nashville: Help Unleash Your Inner Artist
Whitney Ferré Will Help You Unleash Your Inner Artist | | HER NASHVILLE | By Abigail White Plachy | |  Whitney Ferré is about to fly to L.A. to promote her first book, The Artist Within: A Guide to Becoming Creatively Fit (Turner). Three of her four kids — ages 9, 7 and 5 — are enjoying a day off from school, watching TV in the den, when the Comcast guy shows up to fix an Internet problem, which requires unplugging the television. Instead of whining that their show was interrupted, the children wander into the kitchen, where Whitney and I are enjoying a cup of coffee, and ask if their crayons are done. Earlier that morning, they had made multicolored crayons by cutting up old crayon stubs and melting them in muffin tins. The crayons are indeed ready, and the kids run upstairs, paper and crayons in hand. “If you’re a mom with almost any age kid, get a spiral sketchbook and some Crayolas and keep it in the kitchen,” Ferré suggests. “Even if you have five minutes, sit down with your kid and do a scribble drawing together. In those five minutes, you’re completely present with your kid, you’re sharing and communicating.” Read More. | Dortch Oldham | The Tennessean: Oldham Drive tells story of determined...
Nolensville: Oldham Drive tells story of determined developer | | The Tennessean | By Vicky Travis |  | | Last week, I was perusing Tennessean.com and stopped on this headline: "Southwestern former CEO Dortch Oldham mourned." I read about a tremendous man who had made his own success and helped countless others succeed.
The headline caught my eye because we've all driven down Oldham Drive a thousand times on the way to the post office or the library. And Dortch Lane is perpendicular to Oldham. "Dortch" and "Oldham" aren't common names. Surely this man and our streets are somehow related, right? Yes, they are. Read More. | Dortch Oldham | nashvillepost.com: GOP stalwart & former Southwestern...
Dortch Oldham dies at 89
GOP stalwart and former Southwestern Co. CEO shaped many lives | | nashvillepost.com | By E. Thomas Wood | 
| Dortch Oldham, who helped turn Nashville's Southwestern Co. into a sales dynamo that influenced the lives of thousands of young people who worked for it during college, passed away yesterday after a long illness. He was 89.
Born into humble circumstances in the farming community of Pleasant Shade, Tenn., Oldham hitchhiked to Nashville at the age of 16 with a few dollars in his pocket and a notion to go to work selling bibles door-to-door for Southwestern, one of the city's oldest companies. Read More. | |
Whitney Ferré | NewsChannel5: How To Bring Out The Artist Inside Each Of Us
How To Bring Out The Artist Inside Each Of Us | 
| WTVF Channel 5 | Interview by: Tuwanda Coleman | | Whitney Ferré (SW: 1992-1995) was featured on Nashville's Talk of the town on CBS affiliate WTVF News Channel 5. Her new book The Artist Within, A Guide to Becoming Creatively Fit will be in stores by Nov. 14th. View the Video | Tom Black | Nashville Business Journal: The ‘practical’ art of the sale
The ‘Practical’ Art of the Sale | | ‘Boxcar Millionaire’ gives motivation to small businesses |  | Nashville Business Journal | By Linda Bryant | Tom Black’s (SW '71-'78) life began in the tiny town of Nickerson, Kan., a long way from the corporate offices in Middle Tennessee where he served as CEO of two public companies — Private Business and Open Solutions.
Black’s parents weren’t members of the local country club. They were dropouts who worked low-paying jobs and were so destitute the family lived in a railroad boxcar. Read More. | Jeffrey Zyonse | Fortune: How to sell in a lousy ecomomy
| How to sell in a lousy ecomony | | Fortune Magazine | | Southwestern alumnus Jeffrey Zyonse (SW '91-'92) gives some familiar advice on how to sell. Jeff is currently a Regional Sales Director with Hartford Financial Services group. Read More. | |
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Iain Tait | iinews: 20 Rising Stars of Wealth Management
 | 20 Rising Stars of Wealth Management | | Institutional Investor News | Mark Malyzko | | Once Again, Institutional Ivestor News has identified 20 individuals we expect to shape the wealth management arena in the years to come. Iain Tait (SW: '96) is profiled in the second annual edition of 20 Rising Stars of Wealth Management. The cream of the crop, these individuals are ready to lead the way forward in a demanding an growing sector of the financial services industry. Read More. | Marsha Blackburn | Laurel Leader-Call: ...become McCain's running mate?
Could a Jones native become McCain's running mate? | | Marsha (Wedgeworth) Blackburn’s name surfaces in some political circles | | The News-Commercial | By Noah Lee Sanford | | 
| |
| — Tenn. Congressman Marsha Blackburn (SW '71-'75) may very well be a part of history in the making when senator and presidential hopeful John McCain names his running mate. Blackburn, a native of Jones County, could become the first female Vice-President of the United States.
Blackburn, 56, grew up in the Powers community outside of Laurel, where her parents, Hilman and Mary JoWedgeworth, and many... Read More. | Charlie Jones | WHTM: Charlie Tremendous Jones Continues to Inspire
| Charlie Tremendous Jones Continues to Inspire | | ABC 27, WHTM | Reporter: Dennis Owens Posted by: Bryan Peach | |  Charlie Tremendous Jones is battling cancer in the same way he has lived the past 81 years. The motivational speaker has counseled some of the biggest names in politics, religion, and sports since 1950.
Including thousands of Southwestern salespeople. Charlie has long been considered an honorary alumnus and great friend of the Southwestern Company.
He has sold millions of books and given away millions more. His voice is muffled now because of an inoperable tumor on his lung, but his message is not. Read More. | Mike Myers | dallasnews.com: To enter TX Business Hall of Fame
Mike Myers, Kern Wildenthal to enter Texas Business Hall of Fame | 
| dallasnews.com | Columnist: Robert Miller | | Two businessmen from Dallas – Mike Myers, (SW '55-'61) chairman and president of Myers Financial Corp., and UT Southwestern Medical Center president Dr. Kern Wildenthal – will be inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame. Mike Myers, a Southwestern Company alumnus, built three successful businesses while a full-time student at the University of Texas. Those businesses paid for his education and provided him... Read More. | Laurie Silva | BRIDGES Camp on Good Morning Arizona
BRIDGES Camp on Good Morning Arizona |  | Laurie Sliva, founder of BRIDGES Camp for Girls, talks with the host of Good Morning Arizona about the summer camp and how girls can develop positive body images and build leadership skills. Laurie sold with Southwestern for five summers in the 1990's. View the Video | Vladimir Chemadurov | Direct Selling News: Mary Kay Comes Home to Houston
 | Mary Kay Comes Home to Houston | | Direct Selling News | February 2008 | | Mary Kay’s former home is located in the historic Old Sixth Ward, the oldest intact neighborhood in the city of Houston, and the first Houston neighborhood to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The current homeowners, Vladimir (SW:'95-'04) and Emily Chemadurov, have close ties to the direct selling industry. Read More. | E. Kean & D. Wiebracht | Chicago Tribune: Men's suites at your doorstep
| Men's suits at your doorstep | | chicagotribune.com | By Ellen Warren | | Former bookmen Eric Kean (SW '00) and Daniel Wiebracht (SW '02-'06) bring the fine Tom James suits to the businessmen and women of Chicago's doorsteps. Read More. | Scott Jones | Capital Journal: A driving force behind fund-raisers
| Jones a driving force behind area fund-raisers | | Capital Journal Staff | Rebecca Cruse | | Scott Jones, (SW: '72-'76) was recently recognized with an Outstanding Volunteer Fundraising Award. - The east wall of Scott Jones’ office is lined with awards presented to him from nonprofit organizations–organizations that he helped build and has helped flourish throughout the years. Read More. | |