Wednesday, July 18, 2012
A mother as well as a high-powered professional, Shimandle is as compassionate as she is driven.
Adie Shimandle has lived on the south side of Snellville for 33 years. She has seen the dirt roads become four-lane highways and the wide fields fill with houses, and her five children grow from a loving brood to nearly half a dozen still-loving adults. Originally from Norfolk, Va., Shimandle worked in the telecommunications industry for many years. She was with Northern Telecom (Nortel) for over 20 years, where she worked as marketing and project manager. Their technology helped to create a lot of platforms that we have today for wireless, according to Shimandle. The company was 104 years old before they went bankrupt. When she and her family moved here in 1979 they were excited about the area. All her children attended schools in the …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Wally Kelleman found her passion in helping the community's eldest citizens.
Wally Kelleman has been an overachiever since she was very young. She graduated high school at the age of 16 and was a member of three national honor societies: National French, National Honor and the National Quill and Scroll Society. She was a high school newspaper editor in Kingston, N.Y. At the age of 20, while the "flower children" were making history in a nearby place called Woodstock, she was already a wife, mother and registered nurse. She also worked part-time at a preschool. After over a decade in nursing, including seven years in cardiovascular care, she decided to take her career to the next level. She made several efforts to become a physician, but things never seemed to come together. A nun, who was the director of a nurse's …
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
As a local store marketer for Texas Roadhouse, Amy Roper focuses on building community relationships.
If you've been to any of Snellville's events on the town green lately, you've probably met Amy Roper. As a local store marketer for Texas Roadhouse, she's seen almost everywhere. “Texas Roadhouse only builds in small towns,” she said. “They go for smaller towns because they know the towns will embrace our culture and what we're able to do as a community. If the town's too big, we can't help everybody.” Her willingness to help the community helps keep the restaurant going strong. Even when things started to slump in 2008, the business didn't feel the pinch as badly as everyone else because of their “relevance to the community,” according to Roper. Since her husband, Sam Roper, became manager of the same restaurant, she has become a part of …
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Lisa McDonald hopes to bring her love for business to the next generation.
Originally from Jamaica, Lisa McDonald moved to Snellville nine years ago because of her husband's job. Before Snellville, they lived in Toronto. “From Jamaica to Toronto was a huge adjustment in terms of the climate,” she said. “As much as I loved Toronto, I like the quiet here. It's very family oriented, and there are lots of business opportunities.” As the owner of MyTrueBiz.com, a graphic design company, McDonald has the opportunity to work on everything she loves. It's a combination of marketing, technology and business organization. From website development to tech support, she covers a wide array of things related to business execution. She started the company in 2005, after she had her second child. “I started doing business …
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Ogunnusi has learned that even if you don't follow your dreams, they may just follow you.
What do you do after a graduate degree in international business and a career history in finance and sales? Become a dancer, of course. At least, that's what Trinette Ogunnusi is doing. Originally from Wisconsin, she moved to the Atlanta area in August of 1990 to pursue a degree in international business. (She wanted to work for the Foreign Service and enroll in the international relations program. Someone discouraged her by saying she was "too honest.") She transferred later to London's Schiller International University to finish her undergraduate degree, then finished her graduate degree at American Intercontinental University's London campus. Ogunnusi has a love for all the arts – dance, theater, music, archeology, and history. She also…
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Some challenges in motherhood are greater than others, as this week's Wednesday's Woman found out.
Keena Hester does a little bit of everything. Following in her mother's footsteps, she attended cosmetology school right after high school but found that it was not as a good a fit for her as it was for her mother. Hester, who is originally from Illinois, moved around a few times before meeting her husband in Iowa. They decided to change track and move to Key Largo, Fla., to start their new lives together. They lived there for almost eight years and reached a few milestones together. Their first child, Caleb, was born there, and their spiritual lives got in order at Key Largo Baptist Church. Her husband, Loren, worked for Publix and chose to come and work in Snellville back in 2002. Life fell into a comfortable rhythm – predictable, even. …
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Lakeisha Johnson, founder and director of The Faith Project, is passionate about volunteering her time to serve others.
Lakeisha Johnson has been exposed to compassion since she was a young child. Her mother, a role model and inspiration to Johnson, raised a host of foster kids as she grew up. “We would have about seven kids at a time,” she said. This unique upbringing gave her insight not only into the importance of family, but also the need for "compassionate people to give a helping hand" to those less fortunate. Johnson, who has a bachelor's degree in public relations and a master's degree in project management, works in finance at a corporate trust firm. As a lifelong volunteer, she found herself on the board of the Atlanta Outreach Project serving as treasurer. She wanted to do more than just serve on a board. She had so many ideas of what could be …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
In an effort to fill the gaps left by downsizing during the recession, Carol Counter inadvertently began her own company called My Time, Not Yours.
Like so many other people across the nation, Carol Counter found herself without a job a few years back. Rather than rely on unemployment or blame her troubles on the economy, she decided that it would be the perfect time to start her own business. “I thought, 'what can I do? What do I like to do? And what would people be willing to pay for?'” she said. Counter grew up in Minnesota, then moved in the 1980s to California, where she played oboe with the Sacramento Community Orchestra. She has a wildly artistic streak, and she sang with the Gwinnett Choral Guild for sixteen years. Music is a passion of hers, and although she does not play the oboe anymore, she does still sing. She has been actively involved with the New London Theatre in …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The sense of community in Snellville has grown within the past couple of years. Kelly McAloon is one of the reasons why.
As one of the founding members of the South Gwinnett Cluster Foundation and Snellville Tourism and Trade, Kelly McAloon is involved in much of what people love about Snellville. An Appleton, Wis., native, McAloon moved to Snellville about 35 years ago. She started off working for Marci Imports, located back then on the corner of Highways 78 and 124, from the late 1970s through the early 1980s. She quickly worked her way into a position as a purchasing agent. As an international buyer, she traveled to seven different countries purchasing gifts, wicker and rattan for 34 stores. A Mother's Love In 1990, McAloon and her husband were blessed to have their daughter, Michelle. She left the workforce to focus on her child. “Once Michelle was …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Cavanaugh's work as a life coach has transformed her own life, as well as her clients'.
Kris Cavanaugh, a Snellville resident of five years, is an author, motivational speaker and life coach. She has mentored and trained individuals for more than 20 years. “One of the things that I've always noticed with people in general,” Cavanaugh said, “is that they tend to be more reactive than proactive in everything.” She strongly believes that the more proactive you are, the more that things tend to happen. “It's not by luck,” she said, but things that you are doing in the background that sets off a ripple effect that ultimately results in your goals and dreams being reached. Many people, however, are simply spectators in their own lives, according to Cavanaugh. Her passion for life and insight are what led her to a career as a …
MWTW
8:26 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Adie is a dynamic force in the South Gwinnett and Shiloh area. Her community work has touched and helped many people and her efforts to improve the community are tireless. She is very visable and well respected. Snellville is blessed to have her. I believe her community career has just begun. more ›