By Jessica O. Swink
Editor, Small Business Insight
Photo by Paul Chin, Jr.
In the past two years, IntellecTechs has grown from one to 20 employees and from 12 to 200 clients. President Jeri Prophet Baldwin achieves this growth by creating a strong corporate culture and providing unparalleled customer service.
“I am technical, and I don’t know how folks in this business can run a business and not understand the technical side of it,” Baldwin explains. “If my employees are out on a job, I will work right alongside them. I honestly care about every customer and member of my team.”
Alongside running a growing IT support and web design company, Baldwin offers a free computer training class open to the public every Tuesday morning. She also developed a website (www.virginiaveterans.com) free to veterans that is a wizard-driven resume builder, and allows employers the opportunity to post job opportunities for free.
When asked if being a woman business owner is a challenging experience, she responded, “It’s hard work. Women business owners have to have a good support system to be successful.”
Baldwin’s support system includes being a member of Executive Women International.
“If women stopped worrying about each other and came together, we’d dominate,” Baldwin explains. “We work so hard, we almost push back.”
She recalls hearing other women business owners make remarks of “work hard and pay your dues like I did,” and forgo providing help to one another in times of need. However, Baldwin explains that women can finally get to a place to help other women achieve and reach higher places in business, and that she strives to do so when she gets the opportunity.
“There are not a lot of us out there, but you never know when they might get their big break and they are your teammate for life,” Baldwin says.
- Who were the other 2011 SBI Minerva Award Honorees? Click here to find out!
