Derek is a Forsyth County native, and was in the third graduating class of South Forsyth High School. He owns and operates Brandywine Printing Inc., a family-owned business founded in the early 80s. Brandywine Printing helps businesses succeed by providing printed materials that improve their image or make them more efficient.

Derek loves any kind of bird hunting with his dog Bonzai. Derek and his wife Kathy have been married since 1997 and have one daughter, Shiloh, who is pursuing a degree in music education at Young Harris College. Derek and Kathy are traveling a lot and enjoying the empty nest life!

Hugh Scott is Lecturer of Management for the Mike Cottrell College of Business at the University of North Georgia; UNG is the Military College of Georgia and one of six senior military colleges in the U.S. He teaches operations management, strategy and corporate social responsibility at several of UNG’s five campuses in the region. As an “instructional practitioner,” Hugh consults in leadership, organizational change, operations, and sustainability, and maintains a number of ongoing professional and executive coaching engagements.

Before retiring from a 35-year career with Alcatel-Lucent and its predecessor companies, Hugh was most recently Vice President of Global Services in the wireless business unit. Since 1997 he had senior executive roles in technology services, project management, and major account management, managing new and growing teams in cultures around the globe. He was Chief Operating Officer in Lucent Government Solutions, and led services deploying telecommunications infrastructure to Alcatel-Lucent’s “strategic industries,” including customers in the government, transportation and energy sectors.

Hugh has a BS in Management from Virginia Tech, and an MBA from Wake Forest University. He recently earned a graduate certificate in Applied Sustainable Operations from the Presidio Graduate School. Hugh and Cindy live in Cumming, Georgia, where they enjoy gardening, church activities, and the frequent visits of their two kids’ families that now include five delightful grandchildren. You can find a more complete professional profile on his LinkedIn page.

Ken Crowe has been working in Georgia higher education for 26 years and he currently serves as the Executive Director at the UNG Cumming Campus. In this role, Ken focuses on student success by supporting campus operations and facilitating partnerships between UNG and the many local community groups critical to achieving this goal. Ken has been with UNG for 8 years and previously served as the Associate Vice President for Facilities where he oversaw facility services for all 5 UNG campuses as well as new capital planning and construction. Prior to joining UNG, Ken worked at the University of Georgia, managing campus utilities and energy conservation, as well as the Board of Regents, as a liaison for facilities officers across Georgia. Educationally, Ken holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, a Master of Business Administration from Brenau University, and a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Leadership and Practice from the University of North Georgia. Ken is married to Lori Crowe and they have two adult daughters who both live in Charlotte, NC.

Scott is an International sales and marketing professional with 18 years experience working with marketing and sales professionals in the Consumer Products Goods industry. He has worked directly with the brand and sales marketing teams from Fortune 500 companies such as HJ Heinz, Georgia-Pacific and The Coca-Cola Company while being employed as a Global Client Director for The Nielsen Company. He is in his 8th year of owning Five Star Painting of Cumming & Alpharetta proudly based in Cumming, GA employing 12 men and women.

A few of his proudest awards within Five Star Painting are 2017 Franchisee of the Year, 2013 Rookie of the Year and Million Dollar Club for the past 6 years. When he is not working on his business, he is with his wife Sharon of 24 years and 3 boys; Griffin (21), Evan (18) and Luke (16). He enjoys travelling with his family, wood working, fishing and tennis. Scott loves being a member of his local Rotary and volunteers at his local church, Brown Bridge Community Church and is an active member of the local community by volunteering at his local Chamber of Commerce serving as an ambassador for new businesses.

CHARITABLE WORK

Volunteer at FCA Character Coach, Small Group Leader at Browns Bridge Church, Technology Chair for Rotary Club, Education Committee CAI, Chamber of Commerce Ambassador, Franchise Advisory Committee Member Five Star Painting, IFA Franchisee Ambassador for Neighborly, Sponsorship Committee Member for South Forsyth Lacrosse,

Chris Colson, Innovation Director, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Chris Colson, Director of Innovation within the Federal Reserve Financial Services, is a 25+ year veteran of the payments and financial services industry. Chris creates structures and processes to enable innovation and focuses on developing a creative spirit that pursues and develops ideas. He concentrates on key business challenges, new technology trends and gathers invaluable insights by engaging a wide variety of internal and external sources, including academia, fintechs, incubators, and start-ups.

Chris holds an MBA in International Finance, is a certified Cannabis Banking Professional, and has been granted two patents, with seven more currently pending. They range in subject matter from payments and virtual credit cards to identity verification. A forward thinker and education enthusiast, Chris is a graduate of Georgia Tech’s Flashpoint program, an accelerator for start-ups. He has been a featured speaker    for research firms such as Gartner, a presenter for pymnts.com at Harvard University, and a presenter at Finovate in San Jose, London, and Singapore. He currently teaches a graduate level class at the University of North Georgia on entrepreneurship. He has been a guest lecturer at York University in York, England and has authored several white papers on topics such as digital identity, the future of payments and mobile wallets.

In his spare time, Chris can be found on the lacrosse field coaching men’s lacrosse at West Forsyth High School.

My name is Lisa Parrish, I am co-owner of Instant Imprints of Cumming. My husband and I have lived in Forsyth County for the last 16 years. We have three amazing children, two daughters and a son, plus six fantastic grandchildren.  We decided to start this business to be able to focus on doing something for us and our family and to work in the community that we love.

I am a former front office manager/ receptionist/ dental assistant for the Medical College of Georgia, Dental School ,Orthodontic Department where I worked for 16 years prior to moving from Augusta to Cumming. Prior to that I worked in private practice Orthodontic offices and was a Army Wife with many interesting travels.

As a parent and grandparent, we see daily that the needs provided by BeMore are so very needed in our world today and hope to be able to help provide assistance in every way I can. Which is why I am a part of this wonderful group. And look forward to helping to provide these programs. This truly is the next step to help these young people with giving them the tools they need to succeed in life, and making good stewards in the process.

Christine is CEO & Founder of Create Your Best Life (CYBL) at home and work, which provides Leadership/Executive/Life coaching as a holistic approach for high achieving professional women. She is an author and speaker for motivational talks and facilitator of various personal development topics.

In addition to working with two of the leading authorities, Disney Institute and The John Maxwell Company, in leadership and culture she leverages over 25 yrs. of corporate experience with various positions in her career managing multi-million-dollar territories delivering high performance results. 

Christine has worked with organizations from Fortune 500 entities, middle market and small private companies, franchises,and government agencies.

She loves to inspire big dreams in other like-minded women to believe that “IT” is possible, whatever “IT” is, healthier mindset, improved family relationships, purpose, etc. and drive the highest level of ROI, in order to help others, create their best life personally and professionally, even if they think it’s impossible. 

In her own life, she’s embraced the mindset: Why not me? It’s given her the courage and the freedom to run the NYC marathon twice, gain her Executive MBA without an undergraduate degree, complete a sprint triathlon, travel America for a year in an RV with her husband and children (while working), and help countless businesses and leaders grow and thrive.

From an early age, Trish Kellogg, has been passionate about giving, knowing and supporting her local community. Throughout high school and college she balanced being a student-athlete on top of a myriad of internships and nonprofit volunteering. She became a respected, credible voice and was elected to UF’s Student Government Senate for 50,000 students.

Currently, Trish Kellogg is director of Beacon Hill Staffing, Associates. She founded this division in Atlanta in 2013 and is responsible for all company operations. She works directly with companies to formulate a hiring strategy.  She is distinguished by her ability to identify, leverage top talent. She has a contagious enthusiasm and passionate belief in people that inspires them to become prouder, stronger, and more valuable contributors to their organizations.

Trish grew up in Clearwater/St. Pete area and holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations from University of Florida. Trish has been married for 20 years to a Forsyth native, Brad Kellogg, and has one daughter. They have hosted orphans from Ukraine, Foster Parent to two elementary-aged sisters and served on several Boards of Directors including, Forsyth County Education Foundation, Leadership Forsyth, OnBoard, and United Way.

Meet Jalynn Barr. She’s the owner of Community Cup Coffee Shop. She has a degree in Business Administration at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California.

She’s a mom of 2 with a passion for coffee. After years of experience in food industry she decided it’s time to use that passion for the benefit of the community.