Sandra Yancey the CEO and Founder of eWomenNetwork came to Savannah this week to speak at the local eWomenNetwork chapter’s monthly Accelerated Networking Event.
Her talk was fabulous and I’ve got to say that Sandra Yancey is a tremendously good public speaker. She had the whole room captivated for the entire time she spoke and the audience was silent for the entire time. Getting a room full of 80 women to be quiet for a few minutes can be an accomplishment but Sandra spoke for nearly an hour and a half! The time had passed so quickly while she spoke that it felt like less than half that time to me.
Starting a New Business
Sandra spoke about some of the struggles it takes to get a business off the ground and running profitably. She shared how close to failure she’d been at the beginning of her business and how she was able to acquire the skills and knowledge she needed adapt her business turn it into a successfully growing venture.
As Sandra Yancey spoke she filled her talk with stories and anecdotes ranging from her own personal experiences to relating the classic children’s story of The Little Engine That Could.
Most Valuable Asset
Sandra shared what she thought was the single most valuable asset in her business career, and it wasn’t what I expected. It wasn’t capital reserves, marketing savvy, or the ability to come up with earth shaking new ideas.
Instead she said the most valuable asset for your business is Access.
By access Sandra meant the ability to connect with the people who can provide what you need. As a way of explaining she shared the story of Marion Luna Brem and how she went from entry level car sales person to owner of multiple car dealerships with annual revenue measured in the tens of millions of dollars. Love Chrysler in Corpus Cristy Texas is one of her dealerships.
Apparently after Marion had worked her way up to General Manager of a dealership and had been successful in that position for a while she wanted to own her own dealership. Trouble is she didn’t have the $800,000 she needed at the time to open a dealership.
And she didn’t have the collateral to get a loan of that magnitude. But what she did have was a successful track record of running a dealership and a stack of testimonial letters from satisfied customers.
So what she did was put together a package with copies of all those letters and sent them to several different CPA’s. She asked the accountants if they knew anyone who would be interested in investing in a car dealership partnership with someone who knew how to get that kind of customer response.
One of them knew an investor who ended up fronting the cash and the rest, as they say, is now history.
Marion Luna Brem didn’t have the money she needed to launch her business, nor did she know anyone who would be willing to provide it. However she was smart enough to figure out a way to gain access to someone who was.
Sandra Yancey is right. Access is tremendously valuable. It makes sense.
Photos from the Event
Here are a few photos from the event for you.
eWomenNetwork meeting in Savannah this week.
Gorgeous with some eWomenNetwork Ladies.
Sandra Yancey gave a great talk about what it takes to successfully get your business up and running profitably.
Sandra Yancey gives Gorgeous a gift of appreciation.
Sandra Yancey and Savannah TV personality Jessica Kiss.
Local News Coverage
And finally I’ve got a copy of the local news story that aired in Savannah with Jessica Kiss from theCoastalSource for you to check out.
It was a very successful event by all measures. The immediate feedback I got from chatting with some of the members afterwards was that they were able to walk away with some great information and encouragement to help them move forward in their businesses.
To a person they were glad they heard what Sandra had to say.
Chris, Gorgeous is the Savanah Chapter President of eWomenNetwork, right? Way to go Lisa! Is there a chapter anywhere in Maine? New England??
Savannah…sorry!
Yes, Sherry. Gorgeous is the Executive Managing Director of the Savannah chapter. She started it from zero nearly 2 years ago.
You can find out more about event locations by going to the eWomenNetwork web site and clicking on their Event Map which is linked on the font page.
It looks like they have a chapter that serves both Portland, ME & Portsmouth, NH. You can click through to look at the event details and get the contact info for the Managing Director up there.
I’ve seen Sandra Yancey on internet videos, she’s great. You’re right, it is hard to get 80 women to be quiet in a room together when giving a speech … I’ve tried!