Two Upper Cumberland leaders said the just-completed Leadership Tennessee Signature Program helped them understand the challenges the state faces.
Community Business Leader Lisa Uhrik said she learned the state has a strong set of resources, reliable data and a group of dedicated people, to help find solutions to problems. Urik said attending the program made her understand how best to find solutions.
“You know, there are things that you see on the news, but talking with Mayor Young, talking with the people who are making those decisions and who are part of these dynamics it was so illuminating and invigorating, too, because they’re being smart about strategy,” Ukrik said.
Robert Owens and Uhrik are the fourth and fifth members ever selected from the Upper Cumberland.
Uhrik said she left the year-long session feeling inspired to do something great in the broader state community, not limiting her business ventures to the Upper Cumberland. Uhrik gained a familiarity with other regions, counties and iconic cities while exploring the state.
“It’s planted in me a vision of seeing a community bookshop in every county of Tennessee before I die, and that’s going to be a life piece of work,” Uhrik said. “And I can see how that fits in with healthcare, with education, and with housing and with all the other things that we care about.”
Uhrik said she learned cultural information about the different areas of Tennessee. Uhrik said through this experience, she also could see the unique decision-making aspects of these areas, how they function differently than others in the state.
“I had no idea that East Tennessee was a bio-synthetic capital of the country, maybe the world in terms of their high technology,” Uhrik said. “I had no idea that East Tennessee was the home of the Long Island iced tea. There was so many things that I learned about East Tennessee, and the same thing happened when we went to Memphis.”
Uhrik said she learned the state is small enough for every action to have an impact, as she had the opportunity to make friends with state leaders.
Uhrik said she developed a better understanding of how government systems are interconnected, needing to be addressed correctly to achieve her goals. Uhrik said she learned it is important to identify the working portions of a process and support them further to accelerate any progress.
“My hope is to have the biggest impact that my husband and I can have in this lifetime,” Uhrik said. “And Leadership Tennessee looked like a real wonderful opportunity to try and maximize and learn some valuable things.”
Uhrik said she appreciated the opportunity to be in the midst of the great leaders of the program, learning from them. Uhrik said she was able to bring lessons of value back with her to Cookeville.
Uhrik is CEO of Franklin Fixtures and Executive Director of Plenty Downtown Bookshop. Owens is the Tennessee Tech Senior Executive for Access, Belonging, and Community Outreach.