Events
Cary Entrepreneur Offers Business Start-Up Advice
RALEIGH, N.C. (February 10, 2011) - "It's like walking a tightrope every day." That's how Cary's Sheila Ogle describes the feeling of starting your own business. The established media professional, well-known community leader and successful entrepreneur shared the secrets of her success with about 100 small business owners at The Matthews House this morning. The event was part of the Wake Tech/Wachovia Center for Entrepreneurship Speaker Series.
Ogle spent 20 years in advertising before deciding to venture out on her own. "I started with a home office, a telephone and a rolodex," she says. She learned the power of marketing and networking, and today, her company, MRPP, Inc., is a respected source for local and national media in the U.S. and Canada.
Though her business suffered after 9/11, Ogle pressed forward. MRPP was in need of clients, so Ogle worked with partners to start a company that recruits patients for clinical trials. Integrated Clinical Trials Services was not only a business success, but became a major client for MRPP as well. "It's about not being afraid to try and not being afraid to fail," she says.
On top of all that, Ogle purchased a run-down 1920s mansion in downtown Cary and turned it into a unique event facility. The Matthews House is now thriving as a venue for banquets, weddings and corporate meetings. Ogle says she loves to share what she has learned. "Dreams and plans lead to more satisfaction than you can ever imagine!"
The Wake Tech/Wachovia Wells Fargo Center for Entrepreneurship was established in January 2010 with a grant from Wachovia, a Wells Fargo Company as a resource center for potential small business owners. The Entrepreneur Speaker Series is a quarterly program where successful entrepreneurs share stories about their business ventures. The Center also offers scholarships for curriculum programs for college credit as well as continuing education courses, seminars and events, one-on-one counseling, small business resources, and a virtual "colony" of entrepreneurs for sharing ideas online. More information can be found at http://entrepreneurship.waketech.edu.
