Women's Business Summit Columbus

Amanda Newman

Amanda Ray Newman is a dynamic keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, artist, and storyteller whose vibrant blend of art and personal empowerment inspires audiences to activate their hidden gifts. With an M.Ed in Counseling from Auburn University and over 20 years of creative experience, she has built a portfolio featuring 200+ murals in schools, churches, homes, and businesses worldwide.

Amanda’s keynote offers transformative insights that ignite purpose, meaning, and legacy, inviting individuals to “Color Outside the Lines” and reframe their life experiences. Her engaging presentations and interactive workshops serve as a catalyst for creative transformation, while her global initiatives—such as the Do-Good Project and her missionary work in Rwanda—underscore her commitment to building thriving creative communities.

Robbie Parks

Robbie Parks is a Business Consultant at the UGA SBDC in Gainesville. In this role, she leverages her 20+ years of experience to teach entrepreneurs how to launch, manage and grow their businesses. Her areas of expertise include marketing (traditional and digital), communications, graphic design, brand design and management, process analysis, CRM implementation and administration, and search engine optimization. Robbie holds a dual certification as a Certified Digital Marketing Professional (CDMP) | AMA Professional Certified Marketer (PCM) from the Digital Marketing Institute and American Marketing Association and obtained a certificate in Nonprofit Organization Management.

Lindsay deOliveira

Lindsay deOliveira is the founder of Soothe Beginnings, the award-winning baby brand and The Blox winner redefining pacifier safety and starting a bigger conversation about what parents should expect from baby products. A Certified Breastfeeding Counselor and former optician, she transformed a personal need into a trusted, science-backed solution for modern families.  

Rashmi Hudson

Meet Rashmi Jain Hudson, the founder of Alltimate Luggage. With over 20 years in marketing at a Fortune 200 company, Rashmi developed a passion for travel that began when she immigrated from India. Her experiences highlighted the common challenges of packing and traveling. Now, using her marketing skills and insights from her own travel experiences, Rashmi has created Alltimate Luggage to change how we pack and travel. Motivated by a desire for new experiences in retirement and adventures with her husband, Rashmi aims to help fellow travelers with her innovative designs. Get ready for a new way to travel, brought to you by a packing and travel expert.

Tracey Herring

Tracey Herring is the Small Business Manager at the Columbus GA Chamber of Commerce, where she works closely with both startups and established businesses to identify challenges and connect them to the right resources for growth and long-term success.

A proud native of the Columbus, Georgia area, Tracey brings both personal passion and professional expertise to her work, serving as an advocate for the local business community.

She is a graduate of Columbus State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Leadership and Community Development. A 2024 graduate of Leadership Columbus, Tracey continues to demonstrate her commitment to community involvement.

Tulu Kaifee

Tulu Kaifee is the Procurement and Finance Specialist at the UGA SBDC. She joined the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center’s Multicultural Business Division in October 2023 as a procurement and finance specialist. Tulu has spent over 20 years in the financial services industry with experience in the consumer, small business and commercial lending segments serving entrepreneurs across Georgia. Tulu’s passion to serve multicultural and underrepresented communities gives her a unique edge incorporating Inclusion, Equity and Belonging strategies to attract and retain talent in a competitive environment.

Twila Kirkland

Twila Rhodes Kirkland is a native of Columbus who retired after a forty-seven-year career in sales and management positions in the credit union, banking and media industries. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Auburn University and is a graduate of the Georgia Banking School. She previously held certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources from SHRM and was a Certified Digital Consultant. She firmly believes that networking is deliberate action that fosters personal growth, collaboration and career success.

Connie Wilkes

Connie has been a trusted State Farm agent in Columbus, GA for 33 years, where she has built a reputation for excellence. She has qualified for the prestigious Crystal Excellence honor within State Farm’s Legion of Honor program and is a multi-year qualifier for the Ambassador Travel Program. As a top-tier producer in the Columbus Market Area, Connie leads an incredible team of professional sales and service members dedicated to serving Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

A 1984 graduate of the University of Georgia, Connie is also a graduate of Leadership Columbus. Her extensive service in the community includes board memberships with Stewart Community Home, Columbus Specialty Hospital, Uptown Columbus, St. Mark UMC and the Optimist Club of Columbus.

Connie has been married to her husband, Mark, for 40 years, and together they have two children and two grandchildren. When not working, Connie is an avid UGA Bulldog fan and enjoys traveling and spending quality time with family and friends.

Sheree Mitchell

Sheree is a graduate of Columbus State University. She founded Growing Room Inc. in 1988 in response to a need in the Columbus, Georgia area for personalized and quality early childhood education and care.  She began with one local school and continued from there, adding additional local schools.  As parents across the country repeatedly requested for Growing Room schools in their areas, Sheree founded Growing Room Franchise System, Inc.  She felt this would allow her to continue her mission of providing quality early childhood education and care across the country.  She has always believed it is important to treat children with respect and to provide them with an enriching environment with nurturing teachers and a planned, developmentally-appropriate curriculum for all ages, beginning in infancy.

Sheree was named the National Small Business Person of Year, as well as the Georgia Small Business Person of the Year in 2004 by the U.S. Small Business Administration.  She was honored with the Thomas Y. Whitley Award by Columbus State University and the Concharty Council of Girl Scouts named her a Woman of Achievement in 2004.  In 2000, she earned the honor of being named Women in Business Advocate of the Year in Georgia and in the Southeast.