Challenges to Building an Entrepreneurial Business

The Presidents' Forum of St. Louis
February 07, 2008

Jennifer Q. Williams
President
Saint Louis Closet Company

Speaker Biography:
Jennifer is and has always been driven and goal oriented. Whatever she sets her mind to, she accomplishes ten-fold. She is sure of herself and her abilities and makes decisions easily and quickly. Her competitive edge is key to her success as an industry leader in a male dominated business. She has built Saint Louis Closet Co. to a multi-million dollar company that employs over 50 people and provides her customers with 100% customer satisfaction. Her business has risen to the top due to her attention to detail, unwavering commitment to service, and love of doing what she does best.

Career Accomplishments:

The list of career accomplishments and awards for Jennifer is long and impressive:
1994 Arthur Andersen’s Top 25 Business Award
1995 Small Business Administration’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Missouri
1995 Small Business Administration’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the entire Midwest Region
1995 Selected by The White House to participate in the Midwest Region Economic Conference where she met President Bill Clinton
1996 Jaycees 10 Outstanding Young St. Louisans
1996 St. Louis Business Journal’s 40 Under 40
1997-1998 Director of Maplewood’s Special Business District
1997 Maplewood’s Business Person of the Year
1998 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist
1999 Small Business Administration’s Women in Business Advocate of the Year finalist
2000 Founding Member and Board Member of National Closet Group
1997-2007 Listed as one of the top 100 Fastest Growing Woodworking Companies in the United States by Wood and Wood Products (ten years in a row)
2005 25th Anniversary Board Member for The Magic House
2005 Named “St. Louisan of the Year” by Bill McClellan, St. Louis Post Dispatch, for her fight against eminent domain.
2006 & 2007 Honorary Chairperson for the BJC Friends of Wings Hospice Care
2007 Honorary Board Friends of Wings
2007 Keynote Speaker for Maplewood’s Women’s History Month
2007 St. Louis Business Journal Top 25 Most Influential Businesswoman Award
2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist
2007 Cover St. Louis Woman Magazine
2007 Awarded the Maplewood “Key to the City” for revitalization of building

Community Involvements:

Jennifer is committed to her community and never hesitates to give back when and where she can. Her main passions today are City of Maplewood and reviving the business community as well as the residential community, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, BJC Friends of Wings Pediatric Hospice Care, Breast Cancer, The Dove Foundation, The Magic House, The Kirkwood Library, The Maplewood Library and the Kirkwood School District. She also spends much of her time speaking to college and high school students about the benefits and challenges of Entrepreneurship and women about the challenges of business ownership.

Download the MP3 archive of this presentation (Help with this)

The download and use of these audio recordings is made available to the public at no charge. The materials may be copied and shared in their current form, but they may not be edited or altered in any way. Full ownership and all copyrights to the recordings and materials remains with The Entrepreneurship Institute.