People on the move in Gwinnett in May

Meredith Atha, general manager of Sterling Autobody Centers poses with Motorhead Garage co-hosts Sam Memmolo (L) and Dave Bowman.

Have you reached the pinnacle? Newly promoted? Taking on a different role or changing companies? Send details to newsroom@gbj.com and we’ll help spread the word.

Meet the May 2012
People on the Move in Gwinnett

Meredith Atha, general manager of Sterling Autobody Centers poses with Motorhead Garage co-hosts Sam Memmolo (L) and Dave Bowman. Sterling Autobody Centers, with five Atlanta-area collision repair shops, was featured recently featured on a 30-minute episode of Motorhead Garage airing on the Fox Sports Network and filmed at the Centers’ Lawrenceville location.

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Secrets for wardrobe branding

Sarah Hathorn (L), CEO of Illustra Consulting, pictured with one of her clients after an Intensive 1-Day VIP session.

by Sarah Hathorn

Follow the mantra ‘dress to impress,’ and watch your career accelerate.

Choices about how you dress convey a powerful message about who you are and what you represent. Your exterior brand is primarily defined by the way you look. Just as every ship sails under a unique flag, how you present yourself is a prominently visible emblem or logo of professionalism.

Use the handy acronym FLAG (Fit, Levels, Accessories, Grooming) to remember the key components of your wearable brand.

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Community icon retires from GMC Board

Kathryn Parsons Willis accepting the 2012 Gwinnett Medical Center Legacy Award.

Gwinnett Medical Center (GMC) advocate and fundraiser Kathryn Parsons Willis is the 2012 recipient of the GMC Legacy Award, receiving this honor as she retires from the GMC board of directors after 22 years of service. Willis will continue to serve on the GMC Foundation board of which she has been a member since the early 1990s.

“You don’t say, ‘No,’ to Kathryn,” explains David McCleskey, GMC board chair. “She is an inspiration to so many. To know Kathryn is to have a friend for life. You just want to be around her, so it’s never a hardship to help out.”

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Strokes don’t discriminate

Every four minutes someone dies of a stroke and it is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Throughout the nation each year, 795,000 strokes will occur at the rate of every 40 seconds. Furthermore, a stroke can affect anyone, at any age, although women and African Americans are at greater risk.

Gwinnett Medical Center-Lawrenceville’s Taylor Choi is a prime example of how a stroke can change a life.

Choi suffered a debilitating stroke in the left side of her brain in 1998. Within minutes, she went from being a healthy, carefree 18-year-old to not being able to perform normal daily routines such as speaking or walking. Although the stroke changed her life, being a stroke survivor has changed her soul.

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Gwinnett non-profit seeks skilled volunteers

Filling food pantry shelves is an ongoing challenge for Gwinnett cooperative ministry programs, like the one in Norcross that serves the community's homeless and hungry.

The Norcross Cooperative Ministry (NCM) is building a volunteer team to develop a marketing communications plan to help educate the local community about children and adults dealing with homelessness and hunger right here in Gwinnett.

Volunteer recruitment efforts include finding a team leader to help create the blueprint for a NCM marketing communications plan, outlining the strategies, objectives and elements needed. In addition, this team seeks skilled volunteers with expertise in storytelling, graphics, web site development, print and social media. NCM will need your help about three to five hours each week for a six-week period starting in June.

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Gwinnett seeks applicants for 2012-13 curriculum committee

Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) is seeking parents and community members as well as GCPS employees who are interested in applying to become part of the district’s committee that provides input on the school system’s curriculum. Individuals are invited to apply to become members of the school system’s GEMS Oversight Committee. The application deadline is Friday, June 1, 2012.

The GEMS Oversight Committee is a group of community and school system representatives charged with the annual review of the district’s Academic Knowledge and Skills (AKS) curriculum. After the review, the committee recommends revisions and additions to CEO/Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks for adoption by the Gwinnett County Board of Education. Committee members serve three-year terms.

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GGC alum and Gwinnett executives join board

GGC School of Business Board of Visitors (clockwise from top): Douglas Hickman, Lurline Craig-Burke, Patrick K. Barron, Connie C. Dudley, E. Deidre McDonald, Jonelle Faal, GGC School of Business Dean Victoria Johnson, Charles Oglesby and Karen Sortor (representing Joseph D. Chianese). Not pictured, Gene Chayevsky.

Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) seats its charter School of Business Board of Visitors – a consortium of prominent business and civic leaders selected from prestigious regional, national and international entities. Board members partner with constituencies outside academia to build private support for the scholarships, professorships and internships which bring outstanding students, faculty and programming to GGC.

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Banged up to beautiful

Jarrett Freeland, Sr., and son Buddy, owners of State Collision Center in Lilburn, have built a successful enterprise by earning their customers' loyalty.

Jarrett and Buddy Freeland, the dynamic duo father and son team at State Collision Center in Lilburn, are quintessential small business owners who have built a successful enterprise by putting people first.

Screeching tires and sounds of metal crunching; the “HOLD ON!” adrenaline rush or “What happened?” bewilderment – all memories from wrecks survived. In the aftermath of exchanging insurance information and the police report, a sense of calm envelops the individual who can confidently answer the question, “Where do you want it towed?”

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Take a swing at a second career

Keith Gockenbach, retired chemical engineer, author and professional golfer

Special Focus: Small Business/ Entrepreneur

As many as eight million people in the U.S. have finished one career and started a second, says Keith Gockenbach, a chemical engineer who retired to pursue dual second careers as a professional golfer and author.

Gockenbach chronicles his quest to play in the PGA’s Champions Tour for players 50 and older in his book, Inside, Outside, and On the Ropes: Life Lessons from Q-School and The Majors (www.insidetheropesgolf.com). He reveals the day-to-day struggles to revive the dream of his adolescence fairly late in life and shares the lessons he learned – lessons that can also apply to job hunters and those seeking a new, perhaps more gratifying career.

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People on the move in Gwinnett

Robert Patrick, Ph.D., Parkview High, and daughter Miriam Patrick, Duluth High, are Georgia’s top foreign language educators for 2012.

Keep your finger on the pulse of Gwinnett business by reading up on who is doing what.

Have you reached the pinnacle? Newly promoted? Taking on a different role or changing companies?

Send details to newsroom@gbj.com and the Gwinnett Business Journal will help spread the word.

Meet these Gwinnett professionals on the move in April 2012.

Father and daughter Gwinnett County Public School instructors are Georgia’s top foreign language educators for 2012. Robert Patrick, Ph.D., Parkview High, is the Foreign Language Association of Georgia K-12 Teacher of the Year. Miriam Patrick, Duluth High, is the Foreign Language Association of Georgia Teacher of Promise.

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