ugaalumniownedbusiness

Joining us today is Shelton Wilder, a UGA graduate with a Bachelor in Business Administration. As a savvy serial entrepreneur, she has started a luxury lifestyle management company, a celebrity fashion stylist business, and invented the Shemie, which she debuted on Shark Tank. She is now the CEO of the Shelton Wilder Group and has become one of the top luxury real estate agents in Los Angeles. The Shelton Wilder Group has achieved a staggering $300 million in total sales, putting her in the top 1.5% of realtors nationwide. She was named 2021 Real Estate All-Star by Los Angeles Magazine and nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year by the LA Business Journal, and in Forbes Magazine she was named to the Top 10 Business Professionals to look out for in 2022 list. But life has not always been a smooth ride as we will hear from her having hit rock bottom in more ways than one, including surviving bankruptcy and achieving sobriety, but like every good “bulldawg in business,” she picked herself up and found her passion for real estate and is now one of the most successful realtors nationwide!

Jay Bailey, President and CEO of the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), commands a $40 million dollar project that is the largest center in America, dedicated to empowering African American entrepreneurs and small business owners. Jay is an Atlanta native and die-hard Georgia Bulldog, He has been recognized by 3 U.S. Presidents for his leadership and community efforts. In 2012, he was one of eight Americans honored at the White House as a “Champion of Change: Following in the Footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”

Dedicated to service, he is the National Point of Light Award and a Presidential Lifetime Volunteer Service Award recipient from the Obama Administration and officially named an “Amazing Atlantan” by the city of Atlanta. He is a recipient of the coveted Whitney M. Young National Community Service Medallion, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major for Service Award, a New Leaders Council Fellow, member of Alpha Phi Alpha and the 100 Black Men of Atlanta.

Jay is married to NBC news correspondent Blayne Alexander and together with their daughter Sage live in Atlanta.

In this episode, meet Doug and Jane Root, UGA college sweethearts and co-founders of Rustic Roots Wood in Monroe, GA! Doug started their reclaimed wood business after embracing his entrepreneurial spirit and finding the courage to walk away from his long-time family business, Atlanta Lightbulb. In changing careers, he went from the known to the unknown to become an incredibly successful purveyor of reclaimed wood and wood products. And in it he has found more than just success, but also renewed joy in his career. And if the reclaimed beams that he sells could talk, the stories rich in history and intrigue they would surely tell, but since they can’t literally talk, Doug shares some of those stories with us, including one with George Washington.

Jane started college at UGA, where her and Doug’s love story took root, and then graduated from Medical College of Georgia with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing. Jane first served as a nurse within the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta network, first on the hematology and oncology floor and then as a nurse coordinator for the spina bifida clinic. Her and Doug are the proud parents of 2 smart and beautiful teenage daughters, Riley and Elizabeth Root.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Podcasts!