clarionsecurity.com

While some people know from their first waking moment that they’re going to be entrepreneurs, others probably didn’t give it a thought until destiny gave them a push. She had a career in finance, living in Texas for 10 years and then moving back to Memphis, her hometown, still in the banking trade. She was contemplating retiring and staying home with her children, but her husband, Larry, told her one day, “I think you could start a company. My husband had a little bit of exposure in the security business,” she says, “and when I looked at it

When you’re in a business where your employees are in potential life-threatening situations, you pray for their safety, you give them the training and the tools they need, because they are that barrier person between the clients’ assets and those who would harm them,” she says. For the first three years of the company, Heathcott provided a meal for every guard who worked an eight-hour shift. And here’s where the CEO thinking comes in: When a manager delivers a sandwich to a guard, Clarion’s supervisor gets a sense of how the job is going for the client who wants more quality control over the officers’ presence. They said they’d rather have a bonus or a higher base wage than a sandwich-per-shift, so Heathcott phased in both over the course of a few years.

What does this honor mean to you, both in a personal context and as a reflection of the Memphis business community? "Personally, it's gratifying to be recognized by a premier national women's organization whose mission is to propel women entrepreneurs to greater success. Memphis Women's Business Accelerator as a way to invest in and help grow other women-owned businesses. As far as the Memphis business community, the City, Chamber and many other organizations have really come together to encourage and help support and grow women, local and minority entrepreneurs.

My husband had been a partner in another security venture and I learned enough to understand that the Memphis market presented a great opportunity to bring a fresh approach to a typically male-dominated industry. Convincing prospective clients and employees that we could provide quality security and a trusted place to work without any references or background in the business. Once my company was established, I realized there were so many other woman-owned businesses that could use the knowledge and network that I had found from my years of learning and growing my business. That inspired me to get involved as an officer of the local chapter so that I could do my part to help and move forward every women-owned business in Memphis.