Having helped build and sell more than one company, Paula knows it takes a team to build a strong, sustained success. One of her greatest strengths is the ability to take a diverse group of individual talents and fuse them into one cohesive whole - everyone involved and producing at their highest levels to create a team success. Today she helps others master this critical skill.

A tenured entrepreneur, Paula understands firsthand what it takes to make a go of a dream. She has helped numerous entrepreneurs develop business and strategic plans, put together executive teams, raise capital and fine-tune their businesses. She served on the advisory boards of a number of those companies. Some of those companies have gone on to great success - some being bought out for substantial profit, and some still thriving as a business entity. Not all have enjoyed this fate. As a realist, she has also had the unpleasant task of helping a few of them begrudgingly elect to close their businesses, proving that she is not afraid to make the hard calls when appropriate.

Paula has no apprehension about standing in front of a packed house. As a speaker on a local and national level, Paula has delivered lively presentations on topics ranging from using the internet to conduct business to establishing and growing strategic partnerships. Her more recent speaking focus has been on green and sustainable topics, including delivering lively presentations at the Atlanta Green Expo and at a “first ever” interactive CareerEco event (watch the short video recap here). Her topics are as varied as her work and life experience, but her love is helping others learn about green and sustainable practices and opportunities, and then motivating them to go out and doing something about it!

The Internet is certainly not a foreign object to Paula. While a partner with USWeb/CKS, she led the strategic consulting team in the Atlanta office. She's been helping businesses utilize the Internet as a tool since 1995. Her clients ranged from Fortune 100 businesses - including The Coca-Cola Company and MCI - to small businesses and start-ups. The fact that on-demand training can be delivered in a matter of seconds to  anyone connected is something that certainly excites her.

The value of and the work involved in owning and protecting intellectual property hasn't escaped Paula either. One of her earlier companies applied for and received a number of patents related to unified communications. They issued from 1997 through 2004 and included foreign patents. As a partner in that company, Paula participated in writing claims, searching for violators and negotiating licenses. The patent portfolio, foundational in the unified communications arena, was sold in 2004.

Paula holds a B.S. in biology from Emory University. During her years focused on neuroendocrinology research, she co-authored numerous scientific articles and studies. Her writings didn't stop there. Among her other published works are a co-authored textbook chapter on rural nursing. Her more recent publications include a guide for commercial printers to develop and then prosper from a green strategic plan. She's spending a lot of her time now developing on-demand training rather than publishing books. It allows her to use her creativity, unique teaching skills and some fun technology as well.

Paula also holds a technical degree in computer programming and hardware. Degrees are one thing, but her real education has come in the trenches and from her insatiable desire to learn through books, lectures and online materials, and assimilate prior knowledge with new opportunities. It seems she's always working to fill her “sponge” and never gives up trying.

Paula enjoys exercising and expanding her somewhat unique right brain as well. Her photography and art are spread across the United States. She has exhibited as part of a group and in a one-artist show. Her journalistic photographs have appeared in local and national magazines, newspapers and numerous websites.

Her interests outside work are as diverse as her work experience. A huge believer that educational opportunities are the greatest equalizer, for years Paula has served on the board of directors for the Decatur Education Foundation. She serves as the co-chair of the fundraising committee, and is Chair-elect.

Paula's also a founding board member of ZipToGreen – the web's first one-stop comprehensive destination for home energy reduction. The site officially soft-launched on September 1, 2009. At ZipToGreen, at no cost, users can learn how to save on their energy bills — plus find news, articles, products & more to help them achieve their energy reduction plan.

A lover of the outdoors, she's equally at home by the ocean or near the top of a Colorado peak. She recently had her best personal time ever in the Peachtree Road Race. (No, she didn't win in case you were wondering…)

There are many references to sports in Paula's talks and writings. Having played a number of team sports through the years, she's keenly aware and appreciative of the various roles team members play and the delicate nature of creating a championship level team. Some players are natural born super stars. Others are great at helping their team mates become super stars. The fluid dynamics of a great team is not only a concept Paula understands - she's lived it and won't ever forget it. (By the way - if you happen to meet her anywhere near a basketball court, challenge her to a free throw contest. She won't turn it down, guaranteed.)