Megan: Michelle, welcome to Sheboss. To say that I am excited about today is a bit of an understatement, because this lady right here happens to be one of my dear friends. This is Michelle Epling, who is the Executive Director of the Madison Chamber of Commerce and one of the biggest champions of small business you will find in North Alabama. So cheers, Michelle, to you. Happy Friday!
Michelle: Happy Friday!
Megan: I’m excited that you’re here of course you’ve got to do this over a cocktail and it’s nine, but Michelle’s already been working for like eight hours this morning, typical of an ED of the Chamber of Commerce.
Michelle: Yes, I started at 5:55 this morning.
Megan: There you go. So, she is working behind the scenes for the city of Madison.
Michelle: Absolutely
Megan: So, thank you so much. Flourish is just such a huge fan of the Madison Chamber of Commerce. We are here in Madison. We love this city. My kids go to school here, we just love this community. So, talk to us just a little bit about how you got into this role. And there’s a huge history of your background, which some people know, but some people don’t. But how did you come to be and find yourself in the role of the Executive Director?
Michelle: Well, someone called me and asked me to go on an interview, and I love interviews and I was not going to turn it down. I didn’t actually think they’d hire me, but it was a fun opportunity to practice my interview skills at the time, and they ended up offering me the job, and three years later, we are having fun and just shining a joy on the city of Madison. That’s what I like to say. Some of my background, I think, really helped me get the job. So 13 years in corporate as a corporate sales trainer, and traveling the southeast, in corporate boardrooms, one on one with customers, teaching their employees how to cross sell products and services, building that culture within a company’s organizations.
My mom and I started our clothing business about 10 years ago. We did trunk shows. We did under the Christmas tree that expanded into our family pecan business, which we still have. We have the largest pecan business in North Alabama, and on top of 20 years of volunteering and giving back to nonprofits in the community, I always like to say it’s Jack of all trades and master of a few.
Megan: And you definitely have that entrepreneurial business mindset in your family.
Michelle: Absolutely.
Megan: Think about your dad, who is such a critical individual in this community and so influential, Joe Newberry, who currently is the president of the Redstone Federal Credit Union, a huge credit union, largest in the state?
Michelle: Yeah, it’s huge.
Megan: So, I mean, you’re all here.
Michelle: We are all here.
Megan: Your brother’s heavily involved with the local school board, and your girl- I mean, it’s just a family affair.
Michelle: It is, and we all just try to give back because the community, we feel like, has given so much to us, and we just feel like it’s our duty and honor to give back to the wonderful community we live in.
Megan: I love that your mom, Marie, was recognized as one of the Women Honoring Women through the Women’s Economic Development Council Foundation (WEDCF) last year, which was just awesome.
Michelle: That was quite a secret, that process we had to do. Yes, I had to work behind the scenes, secretly getting her resume. So, that was super fun. We had a nonprofit that had to interview her for something else, so we told the reporter had to get her resume for that interview. There was a lot of work behind the scenes to make that nomination happen and she did forgive me after.
Megan: What an amazing accolade. The Women Honoring Women is such an amazing event put on by women. The intent is to recognize and celebrate those influential females in our community who spend their lives giving back, truly.
Michelle: And she truly has. I mean, she was 30 years as the controller of one of the manufacturing plants at the time in Huntsville, Saint Gobain Industrial Ceramics. And while she’d worked full time. She was involved in Kappa Guild and Symphony Guild and all those while working full time before she retired. So truly very well deserved accolades, and I’m just so proud of her. And she’s just led such a wonderful example for me, truly the definition of altruism, my parents.
Megan: And grace and class, I just adore them. So let’s talk about the city of Madison, because we have been in this community now for about five or six years, but spent a good majority of our time in southeast Huntsville. So I’ve been in this town for about 20 years, and from the outside looking in as a community citizen, Madison was always this little kind of sleepy town.
Michelle: It’s where you went to eat at, if you went on a road trip.
Megan: Like let’s go all the way out there.
Michelle: To Madison, many years ago, that was-
Megan: Exactly and it seemed so far away, so separated, so distant. And when we moved out to this community a couple of years ago, I was completely blown away, and truly felt as though, and I don’t mean to sound cheesy, but this was my community, you know, because the people here-
Michelle: I want everyone to feel like that.
Megan: I mean, the people here are about community and about our school system and about giving back and it’s the fastest growing zip code in the state of Alabama.
Michelle: The number one zip code according to Niche.
Megan: I’ll give it two thumbs up on that for sure. It’s so exciting. And seeing just the development and explosion of growth, economic growth, industrial growth, educational growth within Madison County itself; Madison, the city, has really taken its own sort of path and helped contribute to that. So talk to us just a little bit about what Madison was, where Madison is today, where it is going and how you see things come into fruition from your perspective.
Michelle: I mean, I grew up in South Huntsville. Madison was that sleepy town over there and seeing the growth is just unprecedented. I mean, even as the Chamber President, I’m like, “Oh, I gotta call that business. I didn’t know they opened yet.” So, that is such an exciting- it won’t always be like that because we are only unlocked so, we’re not always- but it’s such an exciting time for Madison right now and finding our niche in our lane. I always tell people, you might work in Huntsville, you might work in Decatur, you might work in Athens, but you live in Madison, and the community, that’s where you plant your roots, that’s where you’re connected, and the schools are just second to none. I shout that from the rooftops, and I am very proud of it, because that is our future workforce. So when you talk about a Chamber of Commerce and you talk about businesses, that is the next generation, and educating the best of the best. I mean, the things we just come to expect in Madison City Schools are unheard of in other school districts, and I’m just so proud of each and every department and what they do and the volunteers that make that happen.
Megan: We were, I mean, as a parent of a child who was in middle school, when we transitioned from one school district to the other, we were blown away at the difference. It’s not to say that one was bad, it was just very different. It was very clear about the intention and path that is carved for students from day one, and it’s a very intentional path that they go down. You can tell that through our superintendents who walk the walk and talk the talk, to our businesses who pour money into the school system, who get involved in our local school board and all of that. It’s night and day. And on top of that, the schools are beautiful, the educational system-
Michelle: The dinosaur, there’s a life size dinosaur on that- Have you seen it?
Megan: Really?
Michelle: I mean, it’s huge. You got to drive by it. It’s so fun.
Megan: And there’s a jet in front of my son’s high school, a legitimate jet, which is just really cool.
Michelle: It is fun.
Megan: But besides the school system, I mean, the community itself has grown so much, and just the economic development and what’s happening with town, Madison and my sister’s visiting from out of town, and we live right by Mill Creek and the Greenway and all of that and she is blown away at how much green space we have everywhere we’re just surrounded by it which is just so exciting. So, talk to us just a little bit about the development in that aspect too, as far as business and industry and sort of who’s planted their roots here, from that perspective, and where do you kind of see some of that growth happening?
Michelle: Sure, we just did a major ribbon cutting yesterday for Sunbelt Rentals right there at the corner of Madison Boulevard and County Line Mechanical, what Sunbelt does, helping all the other construction that’s happening within our community. And it was just really exciting to be there for that ribbon cutting. And then you got Chicken Salad Chick opening up in two weeks. I got a ribbon cutting scheduled for that this week. And go over and look at what’s happening on County Line road, things are being built every day and getting approved. It really does start to feel like we’ve grown up and we’re truly- you don’t have to leave. What I tell people every day that we do a ribbon cutting, whether it’s for a medical office or it’s someone like Sunbelt Rentals, you no longer have to drive to Decatur or to Huntsville or to Athens to go to the doctor, to go to a dermatologist, to go to a plastic surgeon, and just the quality of life that impacts the Madison resident. I now can go to my dermatologist on my lunch break, versus I used to block off two to three hours because you’ve got to drive 30 minutes into Huntsville or South Huntsville, and then you have to wait for an hour, an hour and a half. I mean, that’s half your day. So, just the things that are opening, truly are changing the lives of our residents, and we are just beyond thrilled about that.
Megan: So when you and I originally met a couple of years ago; this was when you started the position for the very first time, three years ago?
Michelle: It was three years ago, November 2021.
Megan: Which is insane to me.
Michelle: That is crazy.
Megan: And it’s weird because I’m like, does it feel like yesterday? I feel like I’ve known you forever.
Michelle: Yeah
Megan: But just knowing where we both were in life and knowing what you envisioned to achieve for the Chamber, and what you envisioned to achieve for the community you knew being in that role for the very first time that you had a long road ahead of you. It was not an easy journey that you had, and I can validate that because I was there and watched it.
Michelle: Watched me [unintelligible 00:10:15] scrambled eggs one day.
Megan: We’ve all been there.
Michelle: We’ve all been there.
Megan: And I think one of the most beautiful things to witness that has consistently been woven throughout that journey is your desire to achieve success for the community, regardless of how hard that journey was going to be, regardless of how many doors you had to go bang on to raise money.
Michelle: We did the banging thing yesterday.
Megan: But you’re always doing the thing that needs to be done. And there’s never once been an effort that has been ever beneath you, regardless of the position that we carry, right because your goal has always been to be there for the city of Madison. That has consistently permeated through everything you’ve done, and it’s been such a beautiful journey to watch unfold. Because I can personally say, and I know our team can say this as well, where the Madison Chamber was a sleepy little chamber that had-
Michelle: 270 members
Megan: And how many members do you have now?
Michelle: 512
Megan: 512 you’ve doubled, it’s crazy. I was sharing this earlier when looking at the newsletters that are coming out. It’s like, ‘welcome our new members’, and you have to keep scrolling to see the list, which I just love.
Michelle: It is so exciting.
Megan: It is so exciting. And I don’t think a lot of people really realize the benefits that a chamber can bring to a small business. So we are a small service based business here. We literally sit with one foot in Madison, one foot in Huntsville, but we are actively involved in both chambers, but the benefits that it brings to an individual member are huge. So talk a little bit about what that means for whether you’re a small business, such as ours, or a larger business here too, the benefits are great either way.
Michelle: Absolutely, I think every business should join the Chamber. I think if you break it down, if you’re a small business, it’s based on the number of full time employees, so it’s only one or two person shop, I mean, you’re looking at $26 a month. I mean, I know that people look at, ‘Oh, it’s $300.’ Well, let’s break this down; if you break it down per month, what you get for those dollars far exceeds that. We have Friday flyers so any of our businesses can submit through our website a new marketing campaign every other Friday to go out to our over 4000 subscribers through our email list to get your message out at absolutely no cost to our members.
Megan: I look forward to those too, like who’s doing what.
Michelle: It’s fun to see what’s going on and then see how the businesses are changing. So maybe one week they’re focused on this, and it’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t know they were doing that.’ So, that is definitely a free service that you can take advantage of. Fundamentally, when I started, one of the things I did is I had the opportunity to meet with a bunch of other chamber presidents across North Alabama. We truly have regionalism up here in North Alabama. And I asked him, “What’s a chamber do?” I got offered the job and I was like, “What’s a chamber do?” How’s it any different than Rotary? I mean, Rotary puts on a luncheon and BNI puts on a breakfast networking event. There’s multiple great BNI- I said, ‘Well, what’s your public policy agenda statement?’ I think a lot of people don’t realize your membership dollars also invest in our public policy agenda which helps us to advocate for all 500 businesses.
So, we did a joint trip with Montgomery, the Huntsville chamber. That was a wonderful first trip on advocacy. So, there’s a lot of advocacy work that goes on behind the scenes that’s part of your chamber membership that people don’t realize, on top of the networking opportunities you have. We just did a wonderful event last week, Business Over Breakfast, over 100 people- Dr Nichols and Dr Carr, they didn’t give an update on the schools. They explained how to be a leader and leadership advice. I mean, I can’t tell you the number of people that walked out of that and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I learned so much.’ It’s almost like every leadership self-help book but heard from Dr. Carr, who’s our president of UA and our school superintendent. Just their wisdom, can truly just immediately go back in the office and implement the wisdom that day.
Megan: I love that.
Michelle: They did that. And so people don’t realize, ‘oh, I have to pay $35, $40 to go to this breakfast, but you basically read a whole leadership book in an hour.
Megan: And as a small business to capitalize on, as you mentioned, just the network portion of it. I mean-
Michelle: That’s the fun part. I love that part
Megan: Me too. We say this all the time where we sort of feel, and I know you can attest to this as well, where Huntsville, Madison County, this area, it’s like a half a degree of separation. Such a huge city, fast growing city, so much happening, so much that our economy is fueling on a national, international scale as well, have such an impact in aerospace and biosciences and this and that but everybody knows everybody, and you and I are probably connected, you know what I’m saying, that’s just how this community works.
Michelle: That’s how you grow your business.
Megan: People expect that here too, it’s very well received. I think, as long as you go into a relationship with an honest approach, and it’s not everything’s a salesy thing, but I think people receive that very well.
Michelle: Absolutely, and it’s all about the relationship. And I think that’s what a chamber offers you, is the opportunity to truly build those deep relationships and networks because your next lead might not be from who your key customer you think should be. It could be from an acquaintance you met and exchanged cards with, and they really liked you, and then something came across their desk, and they’re now referring it to you. So, I think people forget the impact that acquaintances really can have in building that strong wealth and growing your business.
Megan: Yeah, we always talk about us being a marketing company. We always talk about brand, the importance of a strong brand and I think- this is not my quote, I think Jeff Bezos said this at one point but when you think about your brand, your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.
Michelle: Yes.
Megan: And when you think about getting involved in the chamber and being an advocate for other small businesses and speaking on behalf of your areas of expertise and giving back for the right reason. There’s just something to be said for that so I think getting involved in that is just a win win across the board. And there’s a lot of exciting events coming up within the Madison chamber.
Michelle: We are having so much fun.
Megan: You guys have the best time. And I have to say, the Madison chamber, like a lot of chambers, have an ambassador program. Your ambassadors are the most adorable fun. We had so much fun with a group of them, ladies, at the rose ball, you both, if you remember. We had so much fun with a lot of your ambassadors. I don’t know, there’s just a different vibe with the Madison chamber, there just is, I don’t know what you’re feeding them on the annual Ambassador luncheons, but they have such a great energy.
Michelle: We are a part of a tribe or family. When you feel like you’re making an impact, it’s easy to express that. I heard it yesterday. I was going around meeting some vendors, and they said “Oh, your ambassadors already came by and pitched this.” And I just love that. It’s not just me, it’s not just my team, but we have this tribe of people. And I tell them this, that every major event I could speak and I say, “Y’all are the heartbeat of the Madison business community.” And then our board of directors, they really are the heartbeat of our organization. We might be behind the scenes making the center pieces and the graphics, but they are the ones that really, are truly building that culture together with us, it is just so fun.
Megan: It is so fun and they all have such great energy- it’s just awesome.
Michelle: And they get excited when they get- they’re just as excited for the referral as we are to receive it because they want us to,that’s just the biggest compliment, I think.
Megan: It’s exciting. So, we have which Flourish will absolutely be at. We have the Mayor’s Cup.
Michelle: The Chamber Cup
Megan: The Chamber Cup, the upcoming Golf Tournament,
Michelle: September 23rd
Megan: Okay, September
Michelle: Canebrake Country Club
Megan: Oh, fun.
Michelle: We’re really excited about it. It sold out last year, and we’re probably gonna even be able to do two flights this year, morning and afternoon.
Megan: Do you remember what gold we took home last year?
Michelle: I do. It was- I don’t remember what I called it, but it was-
Megan: We won, we had the highest score.
Michelle: Highest, we had the highest score. They won.
Megan: We won, I mean, that’s what we do. When Flourish shows up, that’s what we do.
Michelle: We win, always. Good team outing there.
Megan: We had a phenomenal time. It was so much fun. And I would think we were the last ones coming in. Don’t know why, I didn’t think we took too long. We just had a lot of fun. Celebrate Madison, we love Celebrate Madison.
Michelle: We love Celebrate Madison.
Megan: It is so much fun.
Michelle: It is. It’s our third annual Celebrate Madison, if you can believe it.
Megan: I remember the very first one.
Michelle: To see it grow. I mean, I think people look forward to it. It is just unlike anything else that’s done in our community. So, for the people that don’t know, Celebrate Madison is our version of a State of the City, but when you think of a typical State of the City, it’s that rubber chicken dinner at a table and we basically took everything about that and flipped the table upside down and said, “How do we involve the community?” You live in Madison because you believe in the schools, you believe in the community and the quality of life. And so we open the gates to the Toyota field. We give out 500 free hot dogs, soda and ice cream. The concourse is just lined with activities for kids, but for people over 21, there’s an over 21 section that we started last year. And then we also recognize the military. So that’s a big portion of Celebrate Madison. A lot of people that live in Madison are part of the military, and so giving out that Military Family of the Year award is a key part of it. And then hearing an update from the mayor and everyone else on what’s going on, and then what’s the next thing happening. And so we just love that, and look forward to it, and the free fireworks show and the face painting.
Megan: Fireworks are the best.
Michelle: Yes, it was so good.
Megan: It was so fun. And town Madison, at the Toyota field, where the trash pandas play, such a good time. Their fireworks are amazing. I think I can definitely speak on behalf of our team when I say anytime we get a chance to engage with Mayor Finley, I don’t know that we could have asked for a better mayor to represent our city. I may be biased in that, because he’s given frisbee disc golf, because we live right by Sunshine Oaks. He’s big into frisbee golf and so he was like, “Have you ever played?” I’m like, “No, I haven’t, but my boys really want to get out there.” Well, the next day, he shows up at my house with a box of Frisbee, you know what I mean, discs, for my son, and taught him how to play and like, that’s our Mayor. So, my son thinks that he’s famous now because he’s buddies with the Mayor. But I don’t know that there is truly a better representation of Community than from him and from his team.
Michelle: He and his team worked very hard to focus on the quality of life at Madison. We are so blessed with our Mayor, our City Council. I mean, they truly do so much behind the scenes that people don’t realize. And there’s a lot of work that goes into being the Mayor that people don’t see. And Mayor Finley has taken me right along with the joint partnership with the Huntsville Chamber for the Montgomery trip, and we’re just so blessed to have him at the helm.
Megan: It’s a lot of fun. People can complain all day long about a pothole, but when you really realize the stuff that goes on behind the scenes, it’s like, you got to put it into perspective a little bit. But we are so thankful that we get to be in your orbit for the things that you are doing in our community and it’s been such an absolute joy to watch your business flourish and I didn’t mean to be so cheesy about that but I truly do mean that though. And I know you know what I’m talking about, because it has not been an easy journey. And I think when you believe in community, and you’ve got the heart that you do and the passion and the grit that you learn from your parents, there’s nothing that you can’t achieve.
Michelle: And I have just a great team now.
Megan: You do
Michelle: The team that’s behind me, is truly- they always that we make magic happen and we make it look easy and it’s not. We have a whole team that works so hard behind the scenes.
Megan: And you guys can tell that you really love what you do.
Michelle: We do, the whole team does; and the board and the ambassador, I mean, it’s fun to watch it grow. We’re the ninth largest city in Alabama, let’s shout that from the rooftops and tell people every day, post positive things. There are Facebook groups out there that complain all day long. Well, there are a lot of good things that happen in Madison every day. So let’s get loud and shout from the rooftops the good things that are also happening in Madison, because, I don’t know about you guys, everyday I turn the corner, there’s something else that we’re blessed to have.
Megan: Yes, I agree. You are one of them.
Michelle: Aw
Megan: Cheers.
Michelle: Thank you.
Megan: Thank you so much for joining us.