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About The AuthorAbout the Author I want to give you a little bit about my background so you understand where I coming from as I write this website. I’m not writing this site as an academic exercise, but rather for the average person who would like to start their own business and try to truly live the AMERICAN dream. My name is Debbie Wicker and I’ve been involved with many different businesses for the last forty years. Starting from the time I was ten years old and my father decided to start business by creating a small chain of convenience grocery stores. Working with him for ten years I learned a lot about business much good and much bad.
College
After high school I decided to go to the University of Wisconsin and was the first member of my immediate family (I’m the youngest of five children) graduate from college. I majored in Business Administration with an emphasis in Computers. While in college I worked my way through as an “on campus” consultant, helping all of the other students and other departments of the university learn to use the computer. It was a fascinating job that I really enjoyed.
After Graduation
When I graduated in 1980, there were few business majors with a computer emphasis and even fewer women with that major. I had an opportunity to interview with many companies, and the hard part was deciding which company to work for. The country was is the middle of a terrible recession but EVERYBODY needed computer people, so I had many jobs to choose from. I decided to pursue business and computer consulting, so I accepted a position with Arthur Andersen & Company. I worked there for 12 years, traveling around the globe as a computer and business consultant. Again, I saw the good and the bad of business. Much of the reasons I left Andersen were because of ethical problems that started long before Enron. While at Andersen I went into HUNDREDS of companies, large and small, in many different industries. I tended to be involved with Revenue systems so I learned a lot about how different companies operate. One company I worked at stands out-- Allis Chalmers. I was there in their best sales year and also the following year when they declared bankruptcy and failed. Because I was responsible for designing and implementing the Dealer Repossession System for the financial arm of the company, I was able to see the company’s failure first hand. I learned a lot from this experience about what it takes to say in business even during very challenging times.
Publishing the Magazine
After leaving Andersen I decided to begin working with my husband, who had purchased a newspaper on Indy Car Racing and was trying to decide what to do with it. We did some market research (thanks to the University of North Carolina) and decided to launch a monthly, four-color national magazine on Indy Car Racing. This went VERY well for several years until the industry got into a civil war, split into two leagues and eroded the fan base. After successfully selling the Magazine and website, I moved back into consulting and ran an office of about 150 consultants again working with MANY companies over a six year period. I’m now back in my own business called Mission Enabled that creates websites for Not-for-Profit organizations and allows them to share the revenue for their repurposed content.
Other Organizations
- I’m involved with the University Wisconsin as a mentor to MBA students and also on the curriculum committee for the business/computer department. - I’m on the leadership council for the National Federation of Independent Businesses and also on the Federal Healthcare Reform Committee (A huge issue for startup businesses) - I’m also a board member and volunteer consultant for “Just Between Us Magazine” a magazine for Christian Women in Leadership Why I writing this website
I’m writing this site to try to use all of my varied experiences to help you create a successful business. I started and helped to start many businesses and I think my experience and pragmatic approach may be useful for the average person to start and succeed at business. I’d love your feedback about the site and please contact me and let me know if there any areas I haven’t covered that would be useful for you. I hope the site is useful and GOOD LUCK starting your own business.
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