Winning Ideas from
Winning Women
with Tana Greene

Dreaming of owning your own business is one thing, but actually pursuing that dream is another, especially when the obstacles seem insurmountable. The president of a multi-million dollar staffing company located in Cornelius, North Carolina, Tana Greene, realized as a teenager that she had a passion and a dream of being a successful entrepreneur.

As a single mother who had not even finished high school,
the odds were against her.

As was typical back in the 1970’s, Tana’s mother had a hard time understanding her daughter’s entrepreneurial bent. She had always envisioned Tana as a teacher, nurse or secretary, just as she had been. However, with a lot of sweat, tears and determination, and while raising her son, L. J., Tana was finally able to earn a business degree from Commonwealth College in Virginia in 1979. After graduation, Tana accepted a position as a secretary at the college, where she truly loved her job working for the institution that had given her a new start on life.

Tana Greene

Tana’s passion for her work did not go unnoticed by the college administration, who then offered her a job as a recruiting officer. The job sounded great, but working on commission while supporting her son by herself was a scary risk for Tana to take. But she took a deep breath and agreed to the new role. Her risk paid off, and within six months she had made well over $30,000 on commission.

Realizing she had a knack for helping people to find a career path, Tana stepped out of the college world and accepted her first job in the staffing industry. Here Tana found her calling helping others find a career that they were truly passionate about. Tana says, “I loved working with people who didn’t think they had options in their career, and giving them a chance to experience their passion for the first time.”

Now, 25 years later, Tana is the President of StrataForce, a successful staffing company she owns with her husband, Mike. The history of StrataForce goes back to 1987, when Tana was only thirty years old. She got her business off the ground in Norfolk, Virginia, as a franchisee of a national staffing company. Over the next few years, the company expanded to multiple offices throughout Virginia and, in 1991, Tana ventured into North Carolina, with her first office in Charlotte. With the term of her franchise ending in 2002, Tana decided to go independent under the name of StrataForce and open up many more offices across North Carolina.

Like other entrepreneurs, Tana’s business has been fraught with ups and downs. When she initially started the franchise, her goal was to work towards selling her franchise back and then retiring early. But this dream came crashing down in 2001. First, the franchisor had lured away the woman she had been training to take her place, then she lost her largest account, and then 9/11 occurred. Taking what could have been a devastating end to her business, Tana made the wise decision to take StrataForce independent and hire a strategic performance team to help with the tough decisions. The goal of the strategic performance team is to make the company grow so that it will be valuable enough to sell someday. Without the help of consultants, Tana knew that the stress of the business would take a toll on her personally as well as professionally.

Tana is grateful to have so many mentors in her life, but the one she admires most is her father. “My father stands out from all the rest,” Tana tells us. “He was a man of integrity and core values.” When faced with difficult decisions, she always sought the advice of her father, who would then ask her, “What does your gut tell you?” Although that answer was not exactly what she was looking for, she did realize that was the best advice any young woman could have received. “You can look at the numbers or listen to expert advice, but in the end the answers are right inside you if you stop and listen,” Tana says.

When asked what advice she would give other women business owners, Tana says,

“You can run a business, but you can also run it into the ground.
You’ve got to run the business like you’re going to sell it tomorrow.”

In spite of her professional success, Tana is most proud of her children and their own accomplishments. Both appear to be following in Tana’s footsteps as great entrepreneurs. L.J has designed a line of clothing and signed his first contract with a retail store, and Kelly, 9, regularly brings in $30 a day from a lemonade stand that she sets up on the golf course. “If there is such a thing as an entrepreneur gene,” Tana says with a smile, “then I guess the whole family must have it.”