20 Under 40

Z2 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013 ● WWW.THESTATE.COM ● THE STATE, COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA

Community leaders climb ladders to success. But those who pull othersup with them enjoy an added sense of richness in their own lives andenrich the lives of their communities.

Each year, The State honors 20 rising business stars under the age of 40in the Midlands who are committed to improving life in South Carolina’scapital city.

This year’s class is filled with young professionals who are raising upthose around them even as their own profiles rise.

They mentor students because they remember what their mentorsdid for them. They help repair homes and also stock them withessentials because they want people to know that somebodycares. They carry on traditions of service – from givingmanicures in nursing homes to holding hands of thevictimized – instilled by generations that came before.

They do this even as they stay up until midnightworking on proposals, help lead largeorganizations through transition and landcommunity-transforming economicdevelopment deals.

Meet these tireless advocates whoare stepping up to lead theColumbia community intothe future – the 10thannual class of 20under 40 honorees.

— Kristy EppleyRupon

20 rising business starscommitted to Columbia

Haley Bowers 9Holt Chetwood 7Wesely Donehue 20Sidney Evering 16Kevin Felder 11Katie Fox 4John Frick 8Jenny Isgett 19Amanda Loveday 17Heidi Johnson 4Sam Johnson 8Terree Korpita 3Jay Schwedler 15J.P. Scurry 13Monica Scott 6Keith Shah 10Nick Stomski 12Allison Waymyers 14Alan Wilson 5Vida Yousefian 18

INDEX

Bios compiled byKristy Eppley RuponPhotographs byKim Kim Foster-Tobin

WWW.THESTATE.COM ● THE STATE, COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA ● MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2013 Z3

Age: 39

Occupation: Assistant vice pres-ident for sales compensationservices

Family: Husband, Gary; step-daughters, Megan and MaryKate

Education: BS, computer infor-mation systems, Columbia Col-lege; currently in the MA pro-gram, organizational changeand leadership program at Co-lumbia College

Community/professional high-lights: Volunteer with HomeWorks and Harvest Hope; YouthCorps board member; fund-raiser for National Down Syn-drome Family Alliance in Green-ville; United Way of the MidlandsYoung Leaders Society member

In her own words: It’s very re-warding to help someone solve aproblem or gain exposure to a

new idea or technique. My goal isto make a positive impact on oth-ers in whatever way I can by uti-lizing my knowledge and talent.

What saying do you live by?Treat others as you would wantto be treated.

Your life changed when: I grewup in a rural part of West Virginiawhere furthering one’s educa-tion beyond high school was notcommon. My parents and Imoved to south Florida when Iwas a junior in high school. If Ihad not been exposed to a differ-ent environment at that point inmy life, it’s hard to say where Iwould be today.

What did you want to be whenyou grew up? I still don’t knowwhat I want to be when I growup! I do know that I want to con-tinue being in an environmentwhere I feel my contributions

matter and that I can have a posi-tive impact on the growth ofothers.

In a recent community serviceproject, you took service to thenext level by not only repairing ahome for a family in need but al-so cleaning, replacing house-hold items and stocking thepantry. What drives you to goabove and beyond? I want oth-ers to know that people reallycare about their well-being.

How do you balance work andcommunity service with con-tinuing your education and hav-ing a personal life? I generallyfocus on what needs to be doneone week at a time. If I thinkabout everything I need to do ov-er the course of the next fewmonths, I feel very over-whelmed. As the saying goes, theonly way to eat an elephant isone bite at a time.

Terree Korpita


Age: 35

Occupation: Director of The-atre Operations, Harbison The-atre at Midlands Technical Col-lege (and I’m a strategic plan-ning facilitator on the side, be-cause I’m a huge nerd whochooses to do that in her freetime)

Family: Single (unless youwant me to talk about my fan-tastic parents and sibling)

Education: Undergraduate de-grees in education with a minorin theatre from the Universityof Missouri; Masters in ArtsAdministration and an MBAfrom the University of Cincin-nati (MA from the UC CollegeConservatory of Music)

Community/professionalhighlights: Founder of Colum-bia’s New Audience RoadShow; chairwoman of SpeakerSelection and Event Produc-tion for TEDxColumbiaSC;former captain of COR’s Pro-mote Columbia committee;Leadership Columbia 2011;former production managerand board member of the Co-lumbia Quadsquad Rollergirls

In her own words: I want peo-ple to know that they are im-portant, and I usually do that byplanning events that offer themthe chance to learn somethingor to feel something new. TheColumbia community has beenamazingly welcoming towardme, and by developing interest-ing experiences for my neigh-bors, I return the favor (andhelp welcome the folks who aremoving in after me!)

What saying do you live by?“Make good choices.” And, ifyou can’t make a good choice,at least make a choice that willlead to a terrific story.

My life changed when: I saw ahigh school production of TheSound of Music when I wasabout 4. It’s one of my earliestmemories (I remember I hadChicken McNuggets for thefirst time that night, too). Fromthat point on, I’ve alwaysthought “if I could be a part of

the theatre, why would I doanything else?”

What did you want to be whenyou grew up? A teacher or asinger or an actress (and that’sexactly how I said it in elemen-tary school). There was a briefmoment of interest in profes-sional journalism before I wascast in a school play and refo-cused my aspirations.

Tell me about the New Audi-ence Roadshow. How did youdream it up and why do youstay involved in it? I foundedthe Road Show as part of myformer position with the SouthCarolina Arts Commission.The SCAC was part of a nation-al initiative at the WallaceFoundation that focused on in-creasing the size of arts audi-ences and we had a little moneyto try out new ideas. The RoadShow was initially an experi-ment to see if we could increasearts participation among peo-ple in their 20s and 30s on a ci-ty-wide basis via hands-on artseducation. If we understoodchoreography more clearly,would we attend more danceconcerts? “Roadies” – as partic-ipants are called – learn the ba-sics of multiple art forms fromartists, musicians, dancers andothers who work at arts organi-zations in our city. Roadieshave about an 80 percent re-turn rate to the organizationswe visit. They become sub-

scribers, volunteers, donorsand board members. The RoadShow only required grantfunding in its first year of oper-ation, and the partnering artsorganizations stuck with it af-ter that period because they digtheir new audience members.

I kept leading the RoadShow after I moved on to a newjob because I really believe thatour lives are better when we’reinvolved with the arts, and I be-lieve that helping people un-derstand what’s happening on-stage makes them more likelyto show up. Personally, some ofmy best friends were the firstRoadies – probably because Ilove being around people whoare curious and adventurous.

What do you hope to accom-plish at the new Irmo-area the-ater? Harbison Theatre is aprogram of Midlands Techni-cal College. MTC plays a hugerole in the economic vitality ofthe Midlands, and we under-stand that access to excellencein the arts is one attribute thatattracts and retains smart peo-ple in our community. Housedon the college’s Harbison cam-pus, we are definitely accessi-ble to those in Irmo, but we seeplenty of audience membersdriving over from downtownand beyond! Harbison Theatreis a great opportunity for MTCto offer educational experienc-es in and through the arts.

Katie FoxAge: 39

Occupation: President and CEO,Big Brothers Big Sisters of GreaterColumbia

Family: Husband, Michael GibbsHill

Education: Western WashingtonUniversity, B.A.; The New Schoolfor Public Engagement, M.S.

Community/professional high-lights: Tutor with the MidlandsReading Consortium since 2009;pet therapy volunteer at LexingtonMedical Center since 2008; Uni-versity of South Carolina Women’sClub member since 2007; USCWomen’s and Gender StudiesPartnership Council member; “IBelieve Anita” committee mem-ber; volunteer advocate for theSexual Trauma Services of theMidlands; Girls Inc. of Greater Co-lumbia board member, 2009-2010

In her own words: I’m lucky tohave a job that allows me to serveothers on a daily basis. Since muchof the success of the nonprofit sec-tor, especially an organization likeBig Brothers Big Sisters, dependson volunteers, I try to find a way togive back, too. It was important tome to find a volunteer role that isvery different from what I do forwork. Therefore, instead of writ-ing grants on a volunteer basis, Iread with a child once a week andvisit the hospital with my dog as apet therapy team.

My life changed when: Going toChina for the first time as an ex-change student in 1993-1994 wastruly a life-changing experience. Ittaught me so much about myself

and opened my eyes to all of thewonderful diversity of this world.

What did you want to be when yougrew up? When I was young, Iwanted to be a marine biologist. Istarted college as a music perfor-mance major only to start studyingChinese and switch my major toEast Asian Studies. Chinese stud-ies led me to the nonprofit sector,and now I am the executive of ayouth-serving organization. Istrongly believe that we are re-warded for taking advantage ofnew opportunities and challenges,even if they don’t lead us where weexpect at first.

You had an exciting career in NewYork after college. How did youend up in Columbia? I moved toColumbia in 2007 when my hus-band finished his Ph.D. and got ajob teaching Chinese languageand literature at the University ofSouth Carolina.

You volunteer with pet therapy.How do animals make a differ-ence for sick people? I saw what adifference a visit from a dog madefor my father when he was in thehospital. When he got out, hedidn’t talk about the doctors, thenurses or the procedures. Hetalked about the dog that came tovisit him. It is such a small thing forme and Daphne to visit the hospi-tal for an hour or two, but it bringsat least a little bit of joy and smilesto the faces of patients. Daphne isalso there for the nurses and otherhospital staff, for whom I have somuch respect, to brighten up theirday and maybe relieve a littlestress.

Heidi Johnson


Age: 39

Occupation: Attorney General ofSouth Carolina

Family: Wife, Jennifer; son, Mi-chael, 4; daughter, Anna Grace, 3;dog, Nate, almost 77 (or 11 in hu-man years)

Education: Francis Marion Uni-versity and University of SouthCarolina School of Law

Community/professional high-lights: Lifelong member, First Pres-byterian Church of Columbia; EagleScout since 1991; member, SouthCarolina Army National Guard, cur-rent rank lieutenant colonel; foun-ding member, West Metro Rotaryclub

In his own words: My three brothersand I were taught at a very early agehow important it is to serve our com-munity, state and nation. That is whyall four of us are all Eagle Scouts andofficers in the military. I apply those

childhood lessons of service in myrole as Attorney General every day.

My inspiration is: My wife, Jenni-fer. She is able to maintain a pro-fessional career, be a wonderfulmother to our children and stillfind time to support me in my ca-reer. Her ability to take care of ourfamily is an inspiration to me.

My life changed when: My one-year deployment to Iraq had aprofound impact on me. Seeingan entire society living in abjectpoverty provided me with a newperspective. The hostile condi-tions that we lived in helped me toappreciate what a blessing it is tobe an American.

What do you aspire to? Watchingmy children grow every day moti-vates me to give them any and ev-ery opportunity that I either didnot have, or was unable toachieve, when I was growing up.

Being a great role model and pro-vider for my family is myaspiration.

You have worked to establishBadges for Baseball in Colum-bia. Why is that initiative so im-portant? I was blessed to havemany mentors throughout mylife. Each of them left a lasting im-pression on me and guided me tobe a better person. Without thesementors, I would not be where Iam today. Badges for Baseball is amentorship program that uses thegame of baseball to team up lawenforcement officers with chil-dren and provides them withgreater access to positive rolemodels in their communities.

You recently were promoted tothe rank of lieutenant colonel inthe National Guard. How did youbecome involved in the Guard,and why do you stay involved? Igrew up in a family where all of

my male role models served in themilitary, so it seemed like a logicaland natural choice for me to join.There are several reasons I havestayed involved in the NationalGuard. The first reason goes backto a conversation that I had withmy dad on the day I was commis-sioned a 2nd lieutenant in 1996.We had just left my commission-ing ceremony at Francis MarionUniversity and were heading to afamily lunch. As we walked intothe restaurant, he told me some of

the best friendships he ever hadwere gained from his service inthe National Guard. I can honest-ly say that the same is true for me.The relationships I have devel-oped through my service are amajor reason for my continued in-volvement. Another reason is theamount of personal developmentI have gained from my time andservice. I enjoy the constant men-tal and physical challenges, and Ibelieve those challenges have aid-ed me greatly in my everyday life.

Alan Wilson


Age: 29

Occupation: Director ofmarketing, Dennis Corp.

Family: Single

Education: BA in art withconcentration in graphicdesign, Newberry College

Community/professionalhighlights: Family Con-nection of SC, board secre-tary; Newberry OperaHouse Guild; PawmettoLifeline Young Lifelinemember; Newberry Col-lege Women’s League; Ep-worth Children’s Home2013 Picture Perfect Galamarketing chair; First Re-sponders RemembranceMemorial Committee;member of St. Andrew’sLutheran Church, serveson communications team;elections freelancer for theAssociated Press

In your own words: I loveseeing the hard work weput into proposals turn in-to great projects for ourfirm. For example, one ofthe largest contracts ourfirm has ever received was

the result of a proposal thatwe stayed at work prepar-ing until after midnight. Itis nice to see that our timeand effort ultimately paysoff. It is also exciting to seehow our firm’s completedengineering projects im-pact the communitiesaround South Carolina.Whether it is a pedestrianbridge in a rural countythat increases recreationopportunities for residentsor a road design that im-proves safety for citizensof the Lowcountry, theseinfrastructure improve-ments make significantdifferences in our state.

Who was your inspirationin life? My professors atNewberry College. When Ibegan college, I did nothave a declared major.During my first semester, Itook an art class that I real-ly enjoyed. At the sametime, graphic design be-came a major at NewberryCollege. My art professors,Tania Sosiak and BruceNellsmith, really encour-

aged me to pursue my pas-sion and made learning artand graphic design fun!My junior year, they sug-gested I attend the Univer-sity of Georgia’s StudyAbroad Program in Corto-na, Italy, where I took pot-tery, bookmaking, photog-raphy and art history. Al-though these were not di-rectly related to graphicdesign, each of these clas-ses enhanced my skills ingraphic design and my cre-ative eye. Additionally, myprofessors at Newberryassisted me in finding sev-eral internships, includingthe Newberry Magazine.These opportunities al-lowed me to hone my skillsas a graphic designer and amanager. Even though Ihave graduated, we stillstay in touch, and they pro-vide advice to me asneeded.

Your life changed when:Growing up, my parentsalways encouraged my sis-ters and me to be involvedin the community. We vol-

Monica Scott

unteered at an assisted liv-ing facility after schoolonce a week from the timeI was in middle school untilI graduated from highschool. We visited with res-idents, assisted with artsand crafts projects, helpedwith parties and other ac-tivities and gave mani-cures and pedicures to theresidents. At first, Ithought our work therewas trivial, thinking,“What difference could amanicure really make in aperson’s life?” However, af-ter working there for awhile, I began to see theimportance in the resi-dents’ lives. One after-noon, as I polished an el-derly woman’s nails, shespoke to me about her lifeand faith and asked me torecite the Nicene Creedwith her as I painted hernails. Through this experi-ence and others of a simi-lar nature, I learned that

people respond to my ac-tions in all kinds of waysthat I cannot expect or pre-dict. As a manager, thisknowledge has enabledme to encourage othersand to help them excel inall of the work we accom-plish together. Since thatday, I have tried to live bythe motto of Aesop’swords, “No act of kind-ness, no matter how small,is ever wasted,” becauseyou never know how youractions will impact anoth-er person’s life.

You started your career ingraphic design. How doyou use your creativity togive back to the communi-ty? Even though I often donot have time for volunteerwork during the day, I findways to use my artistic anddesign skills for charitiesat night or during my owntime. For example, I loveworking with Family Con-

nection of SC, a local non-profit that makes connec-tions for children with spe-cial healthcare needs. I en-joy designing invitationsand other graphics for thegala. Through my workwith other nonprofits, I al-so design posters and ad-vertisements, plan variousevents, address invitationsin calligraphy and createvarious publications.

Why is it important for youto mentor young internsjust coming in to the busi-ness? Some of my bestportfolio pieces comingout of college were frommy internships and volun-teer assignments. Now as aprofessional, I enjoy host-ing interns at Dennis Cor-poration. The interns learnfrom working in our mar-keting department, and weultimately learn fromworking alongside theinterns.


Age: 37

Occupation: Midlands MarketPresident, Wells Fargo

Family: Wife, Marni; children,Emerson, 9, Annie, 8, Jack, 5, andLocke, 1

Education: Clemson University,BS in business management

Community/professional high-lights: Columbia Chamber ofCommerce, board member andexecutive committee; UnitedWay of the Midlands, boardmember and development com-mittee; board member for Mid-lands Technical College Founda-tion, EngenuitySC, St. LawrencePlace, SC Higher EducationFoundation and Junior Achieve-ment. Member of the ColumbiaRotary Club and Midlands Busi-ness Leadership Group. NamedOutstanding Young Banker for2012 by the SC Bankers Associa-

tion and Young Professional ofthe Year in 2007 by the ColumbiaChamber of Commerce.

In your own words: I am blessedto have a job that allows me to in-teract each day with a wide rangeof people with differing personal-ities, beliefs and opinions. I ap-preciate that no day is the same. Ienjoy connecting people and or-ganizations that can help oneanother.

What saying do you live by? Ro-mans 1:16: “For I am notashamed of the gospel, because itis the power of God that bringssalvation to everyone who be-lieves.” My faith defines who Iam. It impacts how I interact withmy family and friends and mydealings professionally.

What did you want to be whenyou grew up? I wanted to be aMajor League Baseball player. It

did not take long for reality to setin. If I had only been bigger,stronger, faster and able to hit acurve ball, I might have had achance.

Transitioning from Wachovia toWells Fargo was a tremendousundertaking. What did you learnas you helped lead that transi-tion? The transition reinforcedfor me the importance of keepingthe customer’s experience at thecenter of every decision that ismade. I am privileged to workwith a fantastic group of bankers,and we worked to communicateclearly and often to make sure ev-eryone understood their respon-sibilities. We removed obstaclesthat hindered our team from do-ing their job well. We encouragedour team and then got out of theirway to allow them to do their job.

What is your most rewarding civ-ic activity? I enjoy working with

the talented staff of the UnitedWay. They impact thousands oflives in the Midlands by provid-ing assistance and funding for anumber of important causes, in-

cluding children’s reading pro-grams, feeding the hungry andproviding shelter and life skillsfor the homeless and lessfortunate.

Holt Chetwood


Age: 25

Occupation: Special as-sistant to the mayor ofColumbia

Family: Single

Education: University ofSouth Carolina, Englishand political science

Community/professionalhighlights: I have had thepleasure of co-chairingthe 2012 and 2013 Fa-mously Hot New Year cel-ebrations. I serve on theboards of Columbia Op-portunity Resource, theHuman Services AdvisoryCommittee of MidlandsTechnical College, SeniorResources, SC After-school Alliance, the Nick-elodeon Theatre, theTapp’s Arts Center, andchair the Capital CityClub’s Membership com-mittee. I am also a co-founder of the TalentedTenth.

In his own words: Colum-bia is my home. It is whereI was born and raised. Icould not ask for a betteropportunity than to workin the mayor’s office andimprove my hometown.Beyond being rewardingprofessionally, I have an

opportunity to help thepeople that mean so muchto me, to help those thatjust need a chance, and togive back to a city that hasblessed me beyondmeasure.

Your life changed when:There are two key pointsin my life that were life-al-tering. Master TracyGoodwin, my Taekwondoinstructor, made an im-mense impact on my life.Through him I learneddiscipline and tenacity.The second key pointwould be when I beganworking for former StateRep. Anton Gunn. Hetaught me how to make adifference.

What did you want to bewhen you grew up? Mypediatrician, Dr. WilliamTaylor, told me that I’d be6’6” like my idol, MichaelJordan. So, I had thedream of being an NBAplayer. However, I’m near-ly a foot shorter so otherdreams quickly began totake shape. I wanted andstill have a desire to be anattorney. I became a Taek-wondo instructor at theage of 9, which was veryrewarding and therefore I

developed an interest inopening a martial artsschool. I am still growingup ...

Not only have you stayedin the Columbia commu-nity instead of taking yourtalents to a bigger city,but you also work to en-sure others stay here, aswell, and become in-volved. Why is that impor-tant? Columbia will reachits potential when our tal-ented, bright leaders feelthat they can and shouldblossom right here in theirhometown. That willmean the realization of afew things: more entre-preneurs, more creativity,more energy, and a betterColumbia.

You helped bring Fa-mously Hot New Year’s toColumbia to increasetourism. Why are eventslike that important to thecity? These new and dif-ferent endeavors helpchange Columbia’s cul-ture. They help to stretchour creative muscles sothat we become a strongercommunity that is able toattract more cultural tour-ism and realize what weare truly capable of.

Sam Johnson

Age: 37

Occupation: Vice Presi-dent for Government Re-lations, The Electric Co-operatives of SC, Inc.

Family: Single

Education: B.A. (Philoso-phy), University of SouthCarolina 2000; J.D., Uni-versity of South Carolina2003

Community/profession-al highlights: Helped es-tablish an endowedscholarship at the USCSchool of Law in memoryof the late Judge Marc H.Westbrook; volunteerswith the Sexual TraumaServices of the Midlands;serves as a guardian onHonor Flight trips for mil-itary veterans; volunteerswith Trustus Theatre.

In his own words: If I’veever worked hard or beencompetent at my job ortried to help others, it isonly because doing so hasbeen drilled into my(hard) head for 37 years

by my family. My parentsand grandparents (what ablessing to have them allstill with me) have alwayswalked their talk and Iwant them to be able to beproud of me.

What saying do you liveby? I don’t always live upto it, but “from everyoneto whom much has beengiven, much will berequired.”

Your life changed when?When I stopped worryingabout where my pathwould take me and fo-cused instead on trying tomake sure that each ofmy steps was well-placed.

What do you aspire to?As I sat at the funeral of afriend and mentor, JudgeMarc H. Westbrook, I re-alized that he hadsqueezed every bit ofgood – personally, profes-sionally and spiritually –out of the (too few) yearsthat he had on this Earth.When my life is over, I

hope the same can be saidfor me.

What drives your desireto be a consumer advo-cate? I think everyonewants to feel a sense offulfillment from theirwork. I’m privileged torepresent consumer-owned, not-for-profit en-tities. Staying centeredon our consumers keepsme motivated, makes mebetter at my job and ulti-mately makes me happierat the end of each day.

What is your most impor-tant accomplishment inthe community? I’vebeen privileged to see thedifference that organiza-tions like Sexual TraumaServices of the Midlands,the Oliver Gospel Missionand the Jubilee Academymake in the lives of thepeople they serve. Eachof these organizations ac-complishes meaningfuland lasting change in ourcommunity and each is soworthy of support.

John Frick


Age: 35

Occupation: Marketing Directorat M.B. Kahn Construction Co.

Family: Husband, Robert; son,Dalton, 10

Education: B.A., English, Colum-bia College, 1999; currently en-rolled in Leadership for the NewSouth at Columbia College

Community/professional high-lights: Lexington County SchoolDistrict 1 Educational Founda-tion Board; Friends of the Lexing-ton Main Library Board; Lexing-ton Medical Center FoundationAmbassador and Women ofHope; presenter at career fairs.

In your own words: I enjoy work-ing with communities, school su-perintendents, political leaders –all who are improving the Mid-lands. I like to hear from the stu-dents and teachers. I recentlyspoke to high school studentsabout their future careers. A stu-

dent asked, “How much moneydo you make?” I told her that sheneeds to find something she en-joys doing, or the money wouldnot be worth it.

What saying do you live by?“How wonderful it is that nobodyneed wait a single moment beforestarting to improve the world.”(Anne Frank) I tell students theycan start now on their careers,and help each other and the com-munity in the process.

My life changed when: I traveledacross Greece during my senioryear of college. You see people indifferent circumstances and cul-tures, yet you have so much incommon. We all want our fami-lies and children to be happy, pro-tected, educated. We can all bene-fit from connecting with eachother.

What do you aspire to? When Iread that kids who aren’t reading

on level by grade three are sixtimes more likely to drop out ofschool, I started doing more withthe library. Education has be-come a personal mission for me.Sometimes that means I am mix-ing up fruit punch at an event forkids, and the next hour, I could bemeeting with school leadersabout a new program. Educationis a big part of the solution to ourproblems, but it’s more than abuilding. It takes a lot of people tomake it work.

Your “Granny” (Millie McKenzie)instilled the philanthropy bug inyou. How have you carried on hertradition? My grandmother did littlethings for people – took them chick-en stew if they were sick; gave kids aride to church; traveled to nursinghomes with an electronic keyboardso the ladies could play churchhymns. She was the Original Ran-dom Acts of Kindness Queen. Iwork for some nonprofits that are

doing good things for people. ButGranny was special. No person orgroup could replicate her. She waskilled tragically in a car accident, onthe way home from visiting a sickperson. Sometimes you don’t real-ize the impact people have on yourlife until they are gone. When I amtired, I think about how much timeand money she sacrificed in order tobrighten the lives of other people.

You’ve been described as the“Help This Person Now, Howev-er We Can” director. What was

the most challenging businessdilemma you have faced? Everybusiness dilemma evolves fromthe personal dilemma of sacrific-ing family time for work, or viceversa. I have an inner June Cleav-er saying, “You should be at homehelping with homework.” In to-day’s hectic society, we strugglewith stress and over-bookedschedules. If true work-life bal-ance exists, I don’t have it figuredout yet. But I’m fortunate to workfor a community oriented compa-ny, and my family is wonderful.

Hayley Bowers


Age: 37

Occupation: Assistant VicePresident of CorporatePlanning and StrategicServices for BlueCrossBlueShield of SouthCarolina

Family: Wife, Laura; twobeautiful yet manipulativedaughters, Olivia, 5, andSydney, 3

Education: BS, Drexel Uni-versity; MHRD and MBA,Clemson University; PhD,University of SouthCarolina

Community/professionalhighlights: President, Ro-tary International’s SpringValley Chapter; co-chair-man for the USC School ofPublic Health Capital Cam-paign; editorial boardmember for “Social Work

in Public Health”; advisoryboard member, USCSchool of Public Health;member of iTs|SC, SouthCarolina’s insurance tech-nology and services cluster,managed by New Carolina.

In his own words: I enjoysolving problems – particu-larly issues related tohealth care and education.My current role affords methe opportunity to wear afew “hats” that are associat-ed with both fields. The factthat my company has agreat history of service, andintends on positively im-pacting the community forthe long term, is simply abonus.

What saying do you liveby? Oscar Wilde once said,“Most people are otherpeople. Their thoughts are

someone else’s opinions,their lives a mimicry, theirpassions a quotation.” I’vetried to be original … per-haps in vain.

My life changed when: Ifound out my second childwould be another daughter.There is a certain perspec-tive on self-preservationneeded when you realizeyou are the minority in yourown household. Havinggirls to raise changes youroutlook on the world. It’seven worse when theyknow how much you adorethem. Over the past 15years, I have been trulyhonored to have a numberof mentors. These individu-als have gone above and be-yond to provide input, in-sight and perspective, all ofwhich has benefited me

greatly. And while mydaughters represent a sig-nificant life-changingevent, my sustained growthhas been driven by my for-tune of mentors.

What did you want to bewhen you grew up? Thenext Joe Montana. Prob-lem is when you are the sonan Indian engineer andIrish nurse, there’s not toomuch genetically in yourfavor…

How were you selected tobe part of the recent eco-nomic development trip toIsrael and what did youlearn from it? I was select-ed due to some of my recentcommunity and economicdevelopment work for thestate and Midlands. Likeany travel, I’m alwaysamazed at how limited my

perspective is and howhumbling it can be to learnand draw from other cul-tures. Likewise with re-spect to Israeli businessesand people, it was a greatopportunity to share someof the unique qualities ofSouth Carolina in order tobuild stronger relation-ships for future growth.

What drives your involve-ment in iTs|SC and how

are you helping it achieveits objective? I relish work-force development oppor-tunities. My colleagues iniTs|SC and I get excitedanytime we can be involvedin the development of ourcommunity and economicbase through the attractionof new talent. South Caroli-na has a lot to offer – whywouldn’t we promote that,and increase the talent pooland culture for our state?

Keith Y. Shah


Age: 33

Occupation: Senior ac-count executive, GloryCommunications Inc. andCEO of B. Euniek Music

Family: My beautiful brideTisha and 17-month-oldBenjamin

Education: Bachelor ofArts in Communication,Wake Forest University,2000

Community/professionalhighlights: Choir andpraise team member atRight Direction ChurchInternational, Columbia;2008 Radio AdvertisingBureau/Broadcast MusicInc. FastStart Scholar;founder of Caravan ofLove

In his own words: I love tosee my clients’ businesses

grow over time as a directresult of the creative, tar-geted marketing cam-paigns I help them design.As their businesses grow,the communities we liveand work in become morevibrant.

What saying do you liveby? “Whatever you feed,will live; whatever youstarve, will die,” – from mypastor, Dr. Herbert BaileyJr. If we live by this simpleprinciple, we will becomethe person we dream ofbecoming, in our profes-sional, spiritual, and inter-personal lives.

My life changed when:Benjamin Piper intro-duced me to having a per-sonal relationship withGod through Jesus Christin 1997. My life changed.

My focus changed, myhabits changed, my familychanged, and my life wasset on a course for truesuccess.

What do you aspire to? Iaspire to inspire as manypeople as I can, and to al-low my daily actions toleave a legacy of integrityand faith for my genera-tions that follow.

How did you become in-volved in gospel rap andwhy is it important inreaching young people to-day? I learned how to rapduring recess as a studentat Crayton Middle School.When I became a Chris-tian, I decided to use thesame talent to rap aboutGod, instead of the ob-scene subject matter Iused to rap about. Young

people are influenced byrap music, either positive-ly or negatively. I use rapto communicate to theyoung and young-at-heartthat God is real, present,relevant and vital to livinga life that overflows withenduring achievementand authentic happiness.

You started the Caravan ofLove to help one person.What do you envision forit? When I met Mary Sin-gletary, she shared withme the touching story ofher 52-year-old brother,Wendell, now bedriddenand blind after a debilitat-ing series of asthma at-tacks and cardiac arrest.To ease his transportationto and from therapy eachweek, I spearheaded acampaign to buy Wendell

a handicapped-accessibleminivan. Through thiscampaign, local, regionaland national communitiesare coming together, em-bodying the premise thatfor us to truly live, we mustgive. I envision that afterwe raise the money to buyhis van, we will not only

have more than enoughmoney to help the Single-tarys with the expensessurrounding Wendell’sneed for 24-hour care, butthat each year, we are ableto assist other members ofthe Greater Columbiacommunity who have sim-ilar needs.

Kevin E. Felder


Age: 28

Occupation: Commercialreal estate broker, NAIAvant

Family: Wife, Teri; daugh-ter, Ava

Education: University ofSouth Carolina under-graduate, Moore School ofBusiness with double ma-jor in Real Estate and En-trepreneurialManagement

Community/professionalhighlights: Central Caroli-na Realtors Circle of Excel-lence recipient, 2007-2010;Central Carolina RealtorsNew Life Member, Circleof Excellence 2009; CoStarPower Broker, which high-lights the top three brokersin the market dividedamong sectors, 2010 and2011 Industrial Leasing,2011 Sales Transactions;NAI Avant Top ProducerAward 2011 and 2012; So-ciety of Industrial and Of-fice Realtor Designee;

Leadership ColumbiaAlumni; 2012 Belle IsleWahoo Tournament, 3rdplace; 2010 Healthy Learn-ers Golf Tournament 1stPlace; South Carolina Eco-nomic Developers Associ-ation Member and Com-mittee Member; Commit-tee of 100 Member; Com-mittee of 100 KershawCounty Member; SouthCarolina EconomicGrowth Partnership BoardMember; Leadership Co-lumbia Alumni Associa-tion; Harvest Hope FoodBank Committee Member;SIOR National Young Pro-fessionals CommitteeMember; SIOR CarolinasMember; University ofSouth Carolina Alumni As-sociation; Ducks Unlimit-ed Member

In his own words: Seeingthe landscape change inthe Columbia market andknowing that I contributedto the change is very re-warding for me. When I

can see that what I do on adaily basis has a positiveimpact in my community, itreconfirms why I love do-ing what I do. As for mycommunity involvementefforts, I very much enjoygiving my time to helpthose in need. HarvestHope is a great example,especially in this recentmarket downturn. Whenyou hear the stories aboutpeople struggling that dodeserve better, it confirmswhy I get involved and do-nate my time to help thisorganization serve thecommunity.

What saying do you live

by? I have a quote in my of-fice that I found when Ifirst started my profession-al career that I apply to mydaily life: “The only thingthat stands between a per-son and what they want inlife is the will to try, and thefaith to believe it’s possi-ble.” This quote inspiresme to believe in myself and

Nick Stomski

that anything is possiblewith hard work. I look atthis quote every day andapply it. It is one thing tolike a quote, but another tointegrate it into your life.

My life changed when:When I was given the op-portunity to be a broker atNAI Avant. Comingstraight out of college noother real estate firm want-ed to give me a chance. Icontinued to hear that Ineeded a few years of pro-fessional experience be-fore I could move into thebrokerage arena. I wastold I was too young and itwould be difficult for thefirm to hire someone freshfrom college. Gene Greengave me the opportunity,and I will never forget thathe took a chance on mewhen no one else would.

What did you want to bewhen you grew up? I want-ed to be a millionaire! I was

not sure how I was going toget there, but knew that iswhat I wanted to be….

What drove your successin the real estate businessduring the Great Reces-sion and its effects overthe past five years? Ex-pensive habits and numer-ous hobbies. When I start-ed in 2006 with NAI Avant,the phone rang, you an-swered and off you went toget another deal done. To-day, the phone doesn’tring, and when you do finda deal, it takes three timesas long to get it across thefinish line. I made a choicein 2009 that I was going tomake every effort to estab-lish long-term relation-ships. I wanted to associatemyself with good, hard-working people in thecommunity. I was willingto roll up my sleeves andwork hard.

Tell us about your involve-

ment with Harvest Hope? Igot involved through a col-league at work. I have ad-mired Ben Kelly’s driveand being across the hallfrom him, we becamefriends. He introduced meto the board and thought itwould be good to get in-volved with this organiza-tion, which he has been apart of for numerous years.Today, I sit on the facilitiescommittee. I act as asounding board along withthe other committee mem-bers. Our responsibilitiesinclude real estate deci-sions, logistics, improvingefficiencies, and operatingbudgets. While on the com-mittee I have assisted in se-curing the former US FoodService building in Green-ville, securing warehousespace in the Columbiamarket, as well as aidingthe group in reducing theirunnecessary space andoverhead.

City Year ColumbiaCelebrating 20 years!

City Year is an education-focused, nonprofit organization that partners

with public schools to help keep students in school and on track to

graduate. City Year AmeriCorps Members commit to a year of full-

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 20 UNDER 40 HONOREEAllison Spry Waymyers

From the advisory board, staff and corps members!


Age: 36

Occupation: Commercial RealEstate, vice president, ColliersInternational

Family: Wife, Pence; children,Thomas, 4, and Mary Henley, 3

Education: Heathwood HallEpiscopal School, BA fromWashington & Lee University,IMBA from the Moore School ofBusiness at the University ofSouth Carolina

Community/professional high-lights: Involved with the Colum-bia Development Corp., The Co-lumbia Museum of Art, The Ur-ban Land Institute, The UnitedWay, Leadership Columbia, Trin-ity Cathedral, Washington & LeeAlumni Chapter, Palmetto Base-ball League, YMCA Youth Soc-cer and Home Works.

In his own words: One word: re-lationships. Our business com-

bines financial, economic devel-opment and real estate knowl-edge to assist in fostering growthin our communities; however, atthe end of the day, we are as goodas our relationships. These rela-tionships are based on character,trust and faith. I think these traitsare equally as important in ourprofessional and communityendeavors.

What is your inspiration? Thefollowing came from John Fol-som, our CEO, and is a great day-to-day reminder: “Focus OnWhat Matters.” I also read thefollowing the other day andagree: “Two of the most impor-tant things in life are your repu-tation and your character. It’s ve-ry important what other peoplethink of you. That’s your reputa-tion. But it is even more impor-tant what you know yourself tobe. That’s character.”

Your life changed when: Toughto pick one moment, but achieve-ments and disappointments insports, work and academicstaught me the importance of de-voting myself to a goal and work-ing diligently to get there. Thesupport and direction that myparents, coaches and teachersprovided was invaluable. Butmeeting my wife and having chil-dren have been the most signif-icant changes in my life.

What did you want to be whenyou grew up?A professional ath-lete. Football, basketball or base-ball — it changed depending onthe season.

What’s the most exciting realestate deal you have worked?Two. No. 1: a large medical officesale lease-back of 22 propertiesfor a North Carolina health caresystem. This was a complicatedtransaction that included a great

team effort to get it to market andclose it in a tough economic time.No. 2: The sale of 912Gervais/911 Senate Street in theVista. I worked on this project forsix-plus years and was ultimate-ly able to attract a national retail-er (that had not been made pub-lic as of presstime) to be the leadtenant in the redevelopment ofthis property. The relationshipsthat were forged in this processand the potential impact that itwill have on our community

make it especially gratifying.

How did it feel to be named theyoungest VP at Colliers Interna-tional South Carolina? I think ev-eryone enjoys a “pat on the back”or vote of confidence from timeto time. Hopefully, it provides ev-idence that your hard work andthat of those around you is bothappreciated and yielding results.In my case, it would not happenwithout the support of my family,colleagues and community.

J.P. Scurry


Age: 29

Occupation: Development& External Affairs direc-tor, City Year Columbia

Family: Husband, WilliamWaymyers Jr. (marriedAug. 2012); two dogs,Shorty & Cali (short forCalico)

Education: B.S. in market-ing, specialty of interna-tional business, Spanishminor from the Universityof South Carolina; M.A. inorganizational change andleadership from ColumbiaCollege

Community/professionalhighlights: Junior Leagueof Columbia, provisionalclass member; LeadershipColumbia 2012; C.O.R.Board of Directors; Co-lumbia Urban League’sYoung Professionals mem-ber; S.C. Chapter of Amer-ican Association of BlacksIn Energy, served as the or-ganization’s youngestpresident in 2010; UnitedWay; Lamplighters Philan-thropic Organization, for-mer president; WorldwideWho’s Who Of Executives,Professionals and Entre-preneurs, VIP designee fornonprofit sector; NationalCouncil of Negro Women -Columbia Section’s LivingThe Legacy Award; DeltaSigma Theta Inc. RichlandCounty Alumnae Chap-ter’s Phenomenal WomanOn The Move Finalist.

In her own words: Towhom much is given,much is required, and I’mblessed! I want to be ablessing to others. Everyperson deserves an equalopportunity to excel.When I moved here fromBeaumont, Texas, for col-lege, it was quite an adjust-ment. There are great peo-ple here, and we need to letthe world know. I movedhere in 2000 and never left.I feel an urgent need to ed-ucate and expose our

youth so they’re empow-ered to pursue their educa-tion and attain a comfort-able quality of life. I enjoyensuring that young lead-ers know everything aboutour city and state, sothey’re not excluded fromthe critical conversations.

What saying do you liveby? If you’re not part of thesolution, you’re part of theproblem. Learning whatyou don’t want to do in lifeis just as important asknowing what you want todo. Sometimes to be aleader, you must standalone.

My inspiration is: My fam-ily. My parents Goya andWillie Spry set the bar ex-ceptionally high for meand my brother, Allan, bytheir daily example. Weweren’t given allowances,nor rewarded for goodgrades – it was expected.My husband is a lineman,who risks his life daily onthe job, without complaint.He’s always on call and of-ten works holidays, typi-cally in extreme weatherconditions, but he loves hisjob. He inspires me, andreminds me I have nothingto complain about.

My life changed when: Isacrificed studying abroadin Spain to pursue mydream internship with theCarolina Panthers. It wasan extremely hard deci-sion, but I figured I couldalways go to Spain, but Icouldn’t pass up my dreamjob! The late Dr. Jeffrey Ar-pan, (former USC chair ofInternational Business)and his wife, Luz Rodri-guez-Arpan, taught me it’sall about perspective. Whynot help make Columbiadiverse and help give it aninternational flair? I’venever forgotten that. TheNFL internship allowedme to interact with CoachJohn Fox, and transition to

the NFL along with thenrookie Travelle Wharton.When I got to run out ofthe tunnel with WarrenSapp and chat with JuliusPeppers, and joke withSteve Smith ... I had topinch myself.

What did you want to bewhen you grew up? I want-ed to be a civil rights attor-ney, or corporate attorneythat handled internationalcases. I aspire to be a se-nior-level executive andbusiness owner, that is anagent of change who glad-ly opens the doors of op-portunities for others. Iwant to be Charlotte Berry

(longtime philanthropistand fundraiser in Colum-bia) in my next life.

What did you learn being ascout for the NFL? Ilearned that it is extremelyhard to grow vertically as afemale, but particularly asa young African-Ameri-can. Unless you have achampion to block hurdlesfor you, it can be extreme-ly difficult to get a fairshot. Like other profes-sions, the sports sector isvery political. When work-ing with the NBA and atAugusta National GolfClub, the absence of mi-norities at the senior ad-

ministration level was as-tounding to me. The pipe-line of athletes that transi-tion to staff needs to bestrengthened. That’s why Ienjoy encouraging youngathletes to look past theircareer span as an athleteand focus on how to lever-age relationships toachieve their long-termgoals.

It took courage to leave astable job with a big com-pany to go to work for anonprofit. What drovethat decision? If I couldget a dollar for every timeI’ve been asked that thispast year, I’d be rich! It

wasn’t a hard decision atall; I didn’t even give it asecond thought. My goalis, (and always will be) togrow as a professional, usemy skills, and apply my ed-ucation. Every young pro-fessional wants to be ap-preciated and respected.Be willing to take risks.Though it is a recession,there is a multitude ofcompanies looking to ex-tend their talent pipelineand invest in bright indi-viduals that can take themto the next level. What aturn on! When you knowyour worth, you don’t set-tle and it’s easy to expectto be set up for success.

Allison Spry Waymyers


Age: 38

Occupation: President and CEO ofthe Sumter Development Board

Family: Son, Jes, 7

Education: BS in economics,Clemson University

Community/professional high-lights: Honorary Commander79th Fighter Squadron, 20thFighter Wing Shaw AFB; Leader-ship South Carolina Graduate2010; Tuomey Fellow; South Car-olina Economic Developer of theYear 2011, SCEDA; OutstandingAchievement Award 2012, Great-er Sumter Chamber of Com-merce; State Director SouthernEconomic Development Council.

In his own words: Someone (ofcourse in the economic develop-ment industry) once said thateconomic development might bethe closest thing to God’s worknext to speaking from the pulpit.

As an economic developer, I par-ticipate in my craft because at theend of the day I can rest easyknowing I am doing my part tomake my community a betterplace. It is an interesting fieldthat mixes so many professionaldisciplines – law, engineering,sales and marketing, construc-tion, negotiations and so forth. Iguess I wasn’t good at any ofthem so I found a field that I coulddabble in all of them.

What saying do you live by? Livelife without regrets because thebest is yet to come. I truly believewe all make mistakes and I makemy share of them but if we canpick up and move on and not livein fear of failure and carry theburden of regret, then life’s beau-ty will reveal itself and greatthings will come our way.

What did you want to be whenyou grew up? I don’t think I ever

really knew what I wanted to doand I still don’t know, but I am en-joying life and my job immensely.I get great satisfaction from see-ing transformations occur and Inever really expected to be doingwhat I do in Sumter, SC. It’s agreat community and I am proudof the accomplishments we havemade and hopefully there aremore on the horizon.

What was your role in helpingland the Continental Tire deal? Iguess I could equate my role inthe Continental Tire’s recent de-cision to construct a $550 million,1 million-square-foot facility inSumter as that of a quarterback.My role was to make sure theplaybook designed by our com-munity leadership was executedflawlessly. My responsibility wasand continues to be to make cer-tain the Sumter community is inthe best position possible to win

deals and to provide the leader-ship of the community with theinformation to allow them to cre-ate solid economic developmentpolicy, which in turn results injobs being created.

What challenges do you face re-cruiting industry in the currenteconomic climate? How doeslanding Continental affect that?Economic Development is aslow, arduous effort, with posi-tive results taking sometimes

years to achieve. But we recog-nize it as it is and understand thatin order to succeed there has tobe vision and leadership. It takesa perfect storm to land a projectand it takes seamless efforts ofeveryone involved believing inthe vision. Continental will havea “game changing” impact on thegreater Sumter community forthe next 50-75 years and the op-portunities that will arise are im-measurable at this point, but thepossibilities are endless.

Jay Schwedler


Age: 38

Occupation: Attorney anddirector of diversity withParker Poe Adams &Bernstein

Family: Wife, Wendee;sons, Sidney, 8, and Chris-tian, 5 months

Education: University ofSouth Carolina, BS in Busi-ness Administration; Uni-versity of South CarolinaSchool of Law, Juris Doctor

Community involvement/professional highlights:Former board member forCity Year Columbia; Lead-ership South Carolinaalumni; mentor to USCLaw School students; S.C.Chamber of Commerce di-versity council member

In his own words: Numer-ous people have made andcontinue to make tremen-dous sacrifices so I canhave the opportunity topursue my goals. I believeit is imperative that we allgive back in some capacity.Sometimes something assmall as an encouragingword can have a huge im-pact on someone’s life.Much of what I do profes-sionally and for the com-munity centers around en-suring that young peopleare not only provided op-portunities for success, butare prepared to take ad-vantage of them.

What saying do you liveby? I don’t have a particu-lar saying that I live by, butthere is a passage of scrip-ture in the Bible, Romans 8:38-39, that I use as a sort ofspiritual “5-hour energy”whenever I’m feeling a lit-tle down. It reads: “For I ampersuaded, that neitherdeath, nor life, nor angels,nor principalities, nor pow-ers, nor things present, northings to come, Nor height,nor depth, nor any othercreature, shall be able toseparate us from the love of

God, which is in Christ Je-sus our Lord.” In a nutshellit states that nothing canseparate me from the loveof God and I find that ex-tremely reassuring.

My life changed when: Ilost my father to cancer in2007. That momentchanged my life in severalways. First and foremost, ithelped to reinforce a factthat I’ve always known tobe true and that is God is incontrol. Through all thepain, through all the tears,through all the emotionalwaves of sadness thatcrash against your con-science when you lose aloved one, there remainsfor me this one immutablefact – God is in control. Andwith this knowledge comesa very real peace andstrength that carries youthrough it all. My father’sdeath also helped me toplace things in life in theirproper perspective. As myfather was lying on hisdeathbed, I didn’t thinkabout the car he drove northe clothes he wore. What Idid reflect upon was howhe was always there forme, how he got up andwent to work every day,how he sacrificed to pro-vide a better life for hisfamily and how the great-est example of being a manhe provided for me was notby what he said but by whathe did.

What do you aspire to? Iaspire to continue to tryand help bring people to-gether. Unfortunately soci-ety, in my opinion, has got-ten to be far too label-ori-ented. We’re either Demo-crat, Republican,conservative, liberal, Yan-kee, Southern, gay,straight, black, white, 1percenters, 99 percentersand on and on and on. Weplace these labels on eachother and make prejudg-ments based upon them in-

stead of getting to reallyknow one another. Humanbeings are not like fooditems, where you can justread a label and think youknow everything you needto know about that person.People are much morecomplex than that andwhen you fail to realize thisyou risk building up artifi-cial barriers that lead todistrust andmisunderstandings.

What have you learnedfrom working with young,aspiring lawyers in your“Life in a Law Firm” pro-gram or with young peoplethrough City Year? Hope

springs eternal. Throughall of the challenges thatwe face as a society, thereare selfless young peopleout there who are willing tomake amazing sacrificesand go above and beyondfor the benefit of others.We are often bombardedby negative images ofyoung people in the media,but when I see the quietwork and sacrifices madeby young people like thecorps members and staff atCity Year Columbia I’m in-spired to know that hopeand goodness endures.

You have been called a“bridge-builder” in your

work with your law firm.What is the most challeng-ing thing about being abridge-builder? The thingI’ve learned about “build-ing bridges” so to speak isthat although our divisionsmay not be as wide as theyonce were in the past, theyare oftentimes still as deep.Maybe we can all eat in thesame restaurants now, butstill far too rarely do weshare the same table. Oursuperficial interactionsgive us a false sense thateverything is OK, when ve-ry real issues sometimeslinger right beneath thesurface. For example withrace relations, it seems that

we would rather not havethe difficult conversationsabout race because it mightmake us uncomfortable.Yet it is through these diffi-cult conversations thatmeaningful breakthroughsoften occur. We all need tofeel loved and secure, weall want what is best for ourfamilies and we all wantthe right to pursue happi-ness. The key to buildingbridges is to help people re-alize and truly understandthat internally, at our core,we are all the same. Oncepeople come to this realiza-tion, accepting externaldifferences becomes agreat deal easier.

Sidney J. Evering II


Age: 28

Occupation: Executive di-rector of the South Caroli-na Democratic Party

Family: Husband John Lo-veday; two furry children,Bella and Molly

Education: Bachelors inJournalism and Mass Com-munications from the Uni-versity of South Carolina

Community/professionalhighlights: Junior Leaguemember, former presidentof the Columbia Chi Ome-ga Alumnae Chapter; USCSchool of Journalism andMass CommunicationsAlumni Society; NancyWalton Laurie LeadershipInstitute; SCSPA and SIPAfacilitator.

In her own words: I have apassion for politics thatconstantly motivates me. Ienjoy working with thepeople of South Carolinaon political processes andhelping them understand

the impact of the right tovote. My work is not part ofa 9-5 profession and while Iput a great deal of time andeffort into it, I am gratifiedby how much I get out of it.Moreover, I am proud to bea female figure in the male-dominated profession ofpolitics. I believe morewomen should be involvedin the process, and I thankall the women before mefor allowing my generationto have even more optionsthan others have hadbefore.

What saying do you liveby? “In life you have to setout in good faith for else-where and lose your bear-ings serendipitously.” Mylife has always been abouttaking chances and travel-ing the road with unexpect-ed twists and turns. I enjoybeing outside my comfortzone because it is in thoseexperiences that I growand learn the most.

My life changed when: The

real turning point in my lifeoccurred when I moved toNew York City to work forNBC. During my time atDateline, I worked with ma-ny producers and on-air tal-ent covering a variety of sto-ries. These stories includebringing a face to the guerril-la conflict in Darfur; puttinglives to the innocent whospent time in prison forcrimes they didn’t commit;telling the life story of Gram-my Award winning perform-er, P!NK; and understandingthe dark side of sexual preda-tors. Leaving home, living inNew York City and workingon Dateline opened my eyesto the wider world and the di-versity within it. Every story Iworked on at NBC taught meabout our world and the hu-man elements in them.

What did you want to bewhen you grew up? As ayoung girl, I always wantedto be the next Katie Couric.I think good journalists areable to capture the details

and emotions of a storythat can have a lasting ef-fect on the viewer. I’ve al-ways respected and ad-mired the professionalismand creativity that is re-quired to be a successfuljournalist in today’s24-hour news cycle and so-cial media popularity.

Who is the most interest-ing political personalityyou have met? Vice Presi-dent Joe Biden is probablythe most interesting politi-cal personality with whomI have had the opportunityto talk. When I interviewedhim as a presidential candi-date in 2007, he conveyedthat honesty and receptive-ness was more importantthan power and prestige. Inmy experience, Joe Bidendoes not hide behind aguard of any kind, but rath-er shares his beliefs andpersonality. I admire himfor saying what he believes

and doing so with no apol-ogies. Our vice presidentleads with a spirited initia-tive and I wish more politi-cians made a differencewith their spirit andenterprise.

What did you learn as anassistant producer on “ToCatch A Predator”? “ToCatch a Predator,” taughtme never to judge a bookby its cover. Too many “nor-mal” people with “normal”jobs have dark sides thatare frightening and threat-ening. As a result of experi-ences behind the scenes,my future children willhave strict parental onlinecontrols! Fans of the pro-gram might be surprisedthat it took many of uswatching hundreds ofhours of disturbing record-ings and interviews to findthe most entertaining piec-es for each one-hourepisode.

Amanda Alpert Loveday


Age: 34

Occupation: Civil engineer

Family: Husband, Payam;son, Bayan Ian, 16 months

Education: Bachelor of sci-ence in Civil Engineering,Baha’i Institute for HigherEducation; currently pur-suing Master of Science inCivil Engineering fromUniversity of SouthCarolina

Community/professionalhighlights: Co-founderand director of Hybrid En-gineering Inc.

What saying do you liveby? I live by hope and per-sistence. By many people’sstandard, my life has beenanything but ordinarysince I was born! I wasborn right before Iran’s1979 Islamic Revolution in-to a Baha’i family in themiddle of the governmentcurfew. Founded by Baha-’u’llah (1817 -1892), the Ba-ha’i Faith is the youngestindependent world reli-gion. “The Baha’i Faith up-holds the unity of God, rec-ognizes the unity of HisProphets, and inculcates

the principle of the one-ness and wholeness of theentire human race. It pro-claims the necessity andthe inevitability of the uni-fication of mankind.” Rightafter the Revolution, theIran’s government put inplace systematic measuresto suffocate the Baha’icommunity both economi-cally and socially. Sincethen, more than 200 Baha-’is have been executed orkilled, hundreds morehave been imprisoned, andtens of thousands havebeen deprived of jobs, pen-sions, businesses, and edu-cational opportunities. For-mal Baha’i administrationhad to be suspended, andholy places, shrines, andcemeteries have been con-fiscated, vandalized, or de-stroyed. From a veryyoung age, I started experi-encing these persecutionsin different situations,from the attack to mygrandparents’ home andmy grandfather’s arrest todifficulties registering forschool and later on deniedaccess to higher educationpurely based on my reli-

gious belief. Throughoutall these years, in spite ofall of the persecutions, theBaha’is of Iran never losttheir hope and with persis-tence saved their unity andnot only managed to sur-vive for more than 30 yearsbut also established the Ba-ha’i Institute for HigherEducation (BIHE), an un-derground university,which now offers 5 associ-ate programs, 17 under-graduate degree programsand 10 graduate programsand is recognized by mostuniversities around theworld.

My life changed when: Iattended BIHE, experienc-ing first-hand that any-thing can be achieved ifyou believed in it. The in-stitute started with offer-ing only liberal art classeswith no specific major andlater on different majorsstarted to shape. Our clas-ses were held in people’sliving rooms a couple oftimes during the semester.At the beginning of eachsemester we were givenbooklets which basically

told us what to study fromweek to week and what ourassignments were. The on-ly way of communicatingwith the teachers duringthe semester was througha group of people called‘Peiks,’ which means mes-sage carriers. The Peiksfrom all around the coun-try would collect students’assignments and deliverthem to a central system inTehran which would thendistribute the assignmentsto the instructors. Once theassignments were gradedthey would come back tous through the same sys-tem. Using telephone andthe postal service were ve-ry risky and would endan-ger both students andteachers. Today, all of theircommunications arethrough internet whichmakes it faster and safer.

What did you want to bewhen you grew up? Askthis question from anyone

who grew up in a Persianfamily, you only get two an-swers: a doctor or an engi-neer! I guess I wasn’t anexception.

What drew you to the engi-neering profession, espe-cially considering you hadto attend an undergroundhigher education institu-tion to earn your BS? Myfather was in constructionbusiness back in Iran.Growing up, I watched himspread out the construc-tion drawings on our din-ing room table and study-ing them for the work thathad to be done next day. Iwould sometimes get thechance to help him pro-duce some detailed shopdrawings. That’s how I fellin love with engineering.

Why did you decide tostart a business duringthe Great Recession? I al-ways wanted to start myown company one daywhen I had more experi-

ence, but I never thought itwould be this early for me.When I first came to theUnited States in 2005, Ijoined a local civil engi-neering company where Igot to know my colleagues,Doug Clary and LarryWatts. I knew civil engi-neering but not the busi-ness. Working with Dougand Larry who had startedthe branch office of thecompany we worked for, Ilearned a lot about thebusiness of civil engineer-ing. When I was ap-proached by them aboutstarting Hybrid Engineer-ing in 2008, though not inthe best economy, I knewthat it was a chance of alifetime and I jumped rightin. We figured if we couldmake it then, we couldmake it anytime. Sincethen, Hybrid has grownfrom three employees tonine, with 5 of them civilengineers, and stillcounting.

Vida G. Yousefian


Age: 35

Occupation: Assistant vicepresident, serving as attor-ney and agency represen-tative, for Old Republic Na-tional Title Insurance Co.

Family: Husband, Chris;two stepchildren, Carrieand Laney

Education: BS, Universityof South Carolina; JurisDoctor, Campbell Univer-sity School of Law

Community/ProfessionalHighlights: Palladium So-ciety of Historic Columbiaexecutive board member;member of Contemporar-ies of the Columbia Muse-um of Art, Junior League ofColumbia and Rotary Clubof Five Points; Urban LandInstitute member; boardmember for the PalmettoLand Title Association.

In her own words: I havenever been the kind of per-son who sits around andwaits for things to happen,

I want to be the personmaking things happen. Ireally believe that you getout of things what you putinto them. You have to bepersonally invested toachieve your goals and youhave to be passionateabout achieving them. Ilove my job because I playan integral role in the suc-cess of the 150 law firmsthat I oversee. I have theunique opportunity towork with people all overthe state. In my communi-ty, I belong to groups thatwork toward improvingthe quality of life for thepeople of Columbia andSouth Carolina. I love col-laborating and networkingwith so many differentpeople with different per-spectives. It really gives mean opportunity to learnand grow as an individualand then pour that back in-to the community and myprofession. Building andfostering relationships

with others in the commu-nity is very important tome. I also believe there ismuch to gain from servingothers.

What saying do you liveby? “To whom much is giv-en, much is expected.” Ihave been blessed with agreat family, great friends,a great job and so many op-portunities in life. I feel ob-ligated to use my gifts andtalents to extend a hand tothose who may not havehad the same opportuni-ties and to help my com-munity grow. I also feel anobligation to do the verybest I can no matter what Iam working on as a way toshare the gifts I have beengiven.

My life changed when: Idiscovered running when Ijoined the cross countryteam in seventh grade. Ihave learned so many lifelessons through this exer-cise. I learned about set-

ting long term goals andhow important the shortterm goals are to ensurethat you get there. I devel-oped the mindset of “Don’tquit until you get to the fin-ish line.” I have discoveredpersonal achievement Inever thought possible. Ihave learned that the “painis worth the gain.” Hardwork always pays off! Thebiggest gain is that runningis vital to my mentalhealth. It is my own per-sonal therapy. When hav-ing a bad day, I go for a runand shake it off.

What did you want to bewhen you grew up? I al-ways knew that I wanted tobe an attorney. I alwaysthought I wanted to prac-tice criminal law; however,sometimes life takes youon a different unexpectedpath and mine wound up inreal estate. While my workis not the traditional prac-

tice of law, my law degreecomes in handy every sin-gle day.

You have been involvedwith the Palladium Soci-ety, raising money for theHistoric Columbia Foun-dation. Why is it importantfor young people to get ex-cited about Columbia’shistory? ConsideringSouth Carolina was one ofthe original 13 coloniesand Columbia is our capi-tal city, I think everyoneshould have an interest inpreserving our history. It isimportant to know wherewe came from so that wecan see how far we havecome and where we are go-ing. It is important to pre-serve what those who wentbefore us worked so hardfor. Preserving our heri-tage, whether throughbuildings or artifacts, is im-portant so that we can tellour “story” and our unique

traditions can be passeddown to future genera-tions. We need the energyand fresh ideas that youngpeople bring to the table.

In addition to all of yourother duties, you are apopular adjunct professorat Midlands Tech. What doyou enjoy about teaching?Hands down, the students!I learn as much from themas they do from me. Theyinspire me every semesterwith their hard work anddedication. I teach from6-8:45 in the evenings.Most of my students arecoming in from full-timejobs and leaving to gohome and tend to families,household chores andhomework. They are trulythere to earn their degreeand make a better life forthemselves and their dedi-cation is evident. Their sto-ries are truly motivating!

Jenny Sarvis Isgett


Age: 33

Occupation: Political consultantand tech entrepreneur

Family: Wife, Elizabeth

Education: University of SouthCarolina

Community/professional high-lights: Founder of Donehue Di-rect and Pub Politics, a localweekly show encouraging politi-cal discourse in politics; leads aSunday School class and starteda social media ministry at FirstBaptist Church of Columbia.

In his own words: I do what I dobecause sitting on the couch andwasting my life away in front of aTV seems like the dumbest ideain world. Work is a means to anend – experiencing more andpushing ideas that can changethe world.

Who was your inspiration in life?

My father. He was a drug addictwho abandoned his kids and nevergot his life together. I don’t want tobe that guy. My favorite band, TheAvett Brothers, has a line in theirsong “Head Full of Doubt” that says“decide what to be and go be it.”Those are the words I live by. Thefirst step in being better is decidingto be better. The second step is justbeing it.

My life changed when: I was inhigh school and my guidancecounselor told me that my momdidn’t have the money for me togo to college. That’s when I toldmyself that no one else could tellme what I can and cannot do. Noone else controls my destiny. I do.I firmly planted into my mindthat anything can be done by in-vesting a lot of sweat equity.

What did you want to be whenyou grew up? Scotty from StarTrek. Politics was just a hobby

and an interest. I showed up atthe University of South Carolinaas an engineering major becauseI was the nerd who wanted tobuild technology. Then I startedworking at the State House andrealized that people were doingpolitics as careers. I quicklychanged my major to politicalscience and started working onevery political campaign thatwould have me. Somehow Istumbled into being a politicalconsultant and eventually mytwo loves – tech and politics –merged into my current careerwhere I get to teach politiciansacross the country how to usetechnology to win campaigns.

Why did you create Pub Politics?We have a tendency to categorizepeople as “bad people” or “my ene-my” if they disagree with us politi-cally. That marginalization puts usso at odds that we find ourselves

stagnant and unable to move on themost important issues facing ourstate and nation. Good people candisagree and once we realize thatour opponents typically are goodpeople, with good intentions andjust a different way of seeing theworld, we can typically find somecommon ground. Pub Politics is myattempt to bring the two sides to-gether in a civil and fun manner so

that we can talk about issues likeadults. What better way of doingthat than over a pint of beer?

What drives your entrepreneur-ial spirit? A lot of people are driv-en by money, but that’s not me.Being an entrepreneur gives methe resources and flexibility to dowhat I want to do, when I want todo it.

Wesley Donehue

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