Smart 50 Specialty Award Winners
2015 Impact winner
Kimberly A. Blackwell
CEO
PMM Agency
Kimberly A. Blackwell, CEO of PMM Agency, started her business 16 years ago, pursuing her dream. Success was about making payroll and empowering other people by employing them. Now, it’s more about looking at others and how she can contribute by creating and making a difference.
“As you are continuing on your journey, bring others along. A candle loses none of its light by lighting others. So, look at how you can help others along the way,” Blackwell says.
Part of this year’s Smart Women panel discussion, Blackwell also enjoys watching employees who have left the company succeed in other roles.
“Believe in yourself, but be true to your self,” she says. “For me, authenticity in your leadership is very important. People see it. They know it. It can be contagious.
“I would also say look at how you’re challenging yourself. If it doesn’t challenge you; it likely won’t change you.”
Blackwell says when you put your head on the pillow at night, if you are content in your success then you can rest easy. Don’t let others define what success means for you.
Leaders need to …
… create a culture where people feel the freedom to come up with new ideas and business solutions, whether that’s tactics or strategy, Blackwell says.
You need to cultivate a sense of value around ideas.
Smart companies understand …
… “that you cannot be in the now. You need to be in the next, looking forward,” Blackwell says.
“Smart companies understand the value in being flexible and nimble.”
Smart companies are looking at how to bring in smart people of all generations. Tenure doesn’t mean as much as it did; instead good people have diverse experiences, thoughts and ideas that can contribute to the overall growth plan.
2015 Innovation winner
Margie Pizzuti
President and CEO
Goodwill Columbus
Everybody knows Goodwill for its community retail stores, but Margie Pizzuti, president and CEO of Goodwill Columbus, says they’ve been able to leverage the footprint of its stores to expand into other areas in order to generate earned income for its programs.
“It’s taking our basic book of business and really leveraging it in a lot of different ways,” she says.
The organization generated $1.5 million last year from salvage or after-market items, getting value from the items that don’t sell in the stores. It’s also very engaged in e-cycling, which isn’t just computers, but anything that has a plug.
Goodwill Columbus recently started doing e-commerce. It gets thousands of books donated to the store, which sell for $1.99, Pizzuti says. If they sell those same books online, they’ll go for two, three or four times that amount.
“We’re also going to start an eBay version, so we’re going to sell our donated clothing and other items as well,” she says.
Leaders need to …
… give all of their employees permission to take calculated risks, open dialogue and conversation in order to bring forth ideas, Pizzuti says.
“It’s not just the individuals in the C-suite that have really good ideas, but folks who are on the front line who really know what’s going on in the organization and in the community,” she says.
A strong leader is comfortable and confident enough to take ideas from all avenues, and all employees.
Smart companies understand …
… that they need to constantly innovate, and you can’t be complacent about where you are in the marketplace, Pizzuti says. Take advantage of all opportunities — constructively exploit them.
“Goodwill has a really powerful brand; what did we do and what can we do going forward to leverage that brand to make sure that we can continue to innovate,” she says.
2015 Sustainability winner
Edgar W. “Bill” Ingram III
Chairman of the Board and CEO
White Castle Systems Inc.
As the CEO of White Castle for 37 years, Bill Ingram is a servant leader.
His daughter, Lisa Ingram, who is president of the company and has been gradually taking on more responsibility along with some of her cousins, says just one small example is that three years ago the company got rid of reserved parking spots. Ingram had one of the best parking spots, but now you often will see him walking from the back of the lot.
He’s also been instrumental in helping ensure the family company makes it to a fourth generation. Ingram has hosted annual family meetings over the past 17 years, with an outside family adviser.
Through that, Lisa says the company has put together a family employment policy, built a family values vision, put outside directors on its board, developed a succession plan and created a family ownership survey.
“Overall, it’s a great way for family business to continue the legacy for generations to come, because that’s ultimately our goal,” she says. “And it wouldn’t have happened without the CEO’s support.”
Lisa, on her father’s leadership:
“My father is a very quiet, thoughtful leader, who is very open to letting you try a lot of different things — celebrating your success and learning from your mistakes.”
