At Home with Elizabeth Dole

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Welcome to Winning Ideas from Winning Women, an interview with an award-winning North Carolina businesswoman. This month’s winning woman is Sheila Hale Ogle. Part shrewd businesswoman, part Southern charmer, part tenacious pioneering entrepreneur, Sheila owns not one, not two, but three businesses. In addition to a long string of awards she has received over the years, Sheila was recently recognized as Office Depot’s National Business Woman of the Year. She also received the first North Carolina Business Champion Award from The National Federation of Independent Businesses. Clearly, it has been a good year for Sheila.

NCJW: Sheila, we know that you are the consummate entrepreneur. You own three separate businesses. You’ve won award after award. Where did your entrepreneurial spark come from?

Sheila Hale Ogle

OGLE: Well, my father owned a hardware store. But in my dad’s day, he wasn’t called an entrepreneur; he was just called a hard working business person. At 13, I went to work for him – selling fishing licenses, working the cash register, waiting on customers. Dad told me it was ok to work for someone else, but you could never make any real money unless you worked for yourself. That nagged at me until the day I took his advice.

OGLE: I was in my 40s and had just gone through a divorce. My children were grown and I was finally in a position where I could really ask myself: what did I want?

I remember asking my then-boyfriend, he’s my husband now, “what would you think if I just quit my job knowing that I didn’t have another waiting for me?” He encouraged me, and that Monday I quit. That day the idea for my business started forming in my mind.

OGLE: I realized that media research, planning and placement – that part of advertising that actually accounts for around 70 percent of the budget – was often overshadowed by all the hustle and bustle of the creative end of the process. I saw a need for a firm that focused exclusively on media. I wanted to run an agency that did one thing and did it extremely well. So that was the start of MRPP.

OGLE: My biggest challenge was when we had to cut staff as a result of September 11th. Some of these people were like family. We had been on a real high before that – our staff and billings had never been better. But 9-11 forced many of our clients – especially in travel and tourism – to cut back and even cancel advertising campaigns. It had a devastating effect on our business.

OGLE: My best business decision was admitting that I didn’t know everything and hiring people smarter than I was. That was the turning point for my business. The best lesson I’ve learned is to surround myself with successful people. The people on my staff are so bright and they make me look so good. Over the years I’ve learned that if a great prospective employee comes by, even if I’ve got no place for them in the company at that time, hire them because I can always make a space for them and have them grow into it. Then don't micromanage them. And be sure to give them the credit!

OGLE: Oh, the Mathews House is my fun business. It’s an event facility housed in a renovated 1920s mansion. For years, I drove by this magnificent house and mourned that it was just sitting there empty. I actually toured it hoping it would make a good office space for MRPP, but that didn’t work out. One day I had the idea that the mansion would be a wonderful space for weddings and corporate meetings. So, I hired a long time friend who was proficient in meeting and wedding planning. I knew her skills and I trusted her. I remember our first wedding. The bride was so pretty. It was a beautiful Saturday and suddenly I found myself crying, thinking: “This is everything I wanted it to be.”

A horse-drawn buggy ride for the bride and groom.	The Bridal Suite

The Mathews House opened in June 2001 and now every weekend is fully booked. The Mathews House incorporates everything I love – good food, entertaining and seeing people having a good time – and I’ve figured out how to make money out of it!

OGLE: You know the old cliché – “if the economy is bad, start a new business.” So that is what I did. Again, I found the right partners and we were off.

OGLE: I think it is my work giving back to the community. For example, I recently hosted a fund raising event for Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina at The Mathews House. This is a perfect example of using a for profit business to help a non-profit.

The other thing that gives me enormous joy is encouraging other women – by talking with them, and nominating them for awards and board positions. Thinking that I have a little to do with other women’s success is just an incredible feeling.

OGLE: If there is a negative in your life, think about how to make it a positive. For example, my lack of a college degree was a real negative factor for me for many years, but I turned it around and I made it a positive motivating factor in my life.

I’d like women everywhere to ask themselves: What negatives do I have in my life and how can I turn them around? How can I learn from my experiences so that I can achieve all that I want to out of life?