On May 24 at the Memphis Botanic Garden, MBJ held an event honoring this year’s Super Women in Business. If we could bottle the energy that evening, there is nothing we couldn’t achieve: world peace, houses on Mars, the end of world hunger. The room absolutely hummed from this collection of exceptional women. There was joy, surely, and thankfulness.
But, more than that, it spoke of potential — of these women leading the way with persistence and engagement, with sheer doggedness. What could these women do? What could they not do? Many have forged their own paths. Others had an audacious vision and saw it through. These women are leaders — and we’d be wise to follow. - Susan Ellis
Tricia Adrian
Member, Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh PLLC
Tricia Adrian has practiced law for more than 16 years and has reached the top of two separate firms. She became a partner at Farris Bobango six years ago before joining Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh as a member three years ago. Adrian practices law in the commercial real estate space, an industry that is traditionally male-heavy. Adrian handles everything in commercial real estate, from the preparation and structure of loans to PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) incentives. While navigating complex real estate transactions, she also finds time to raise two young daughters and volunteer for half-a-dozen nonprofits.
What glass ceiling have you yet to break through? My firm has a large number of female attorneys and members, so I do not feel I have any glass ceilings to break through in my own work. But the reality of the commercial real estate industry in general is that it remains heavily male-driven. Whatever practical support or mentorship I can provide to those women coming up behind me, I do because we are all in this together.
What superpower would you need as a Super Woman In Business to break through this glass ceiling and why? Women have an inherent superpower in efficiency. They tend to wear so many hats — from worker to mom, friend, and daughter — giving us the ability to get things done in a fast and effective manner.
Who is your biggest mentor and why? Throughout my career, I have had a number of mentors and attorneys teach me how to practice law in the transactional field. While in law school, I interned in the legal department at FedEx. Those attorneys taught me what to look for in a law firm and practice area during my job searches right out of law school. The attorneys at Farris Bobango, where I worked for 10 years, taught me how to practice law, and negotiate and close deals. Currently, I reach out to Allison Gilbert, Andy Cobb, and Billy Moss with any real estate-related questions.
Ashley Argo
Director, credit and financial risk, First Horizon Bank
Ashley Argo’s biggest mentor is her grandmother. “[She] was never paralyzed by emotion or fear of failure,” Argo said. “When faced with hardships in her life, there were no other options than just ‘keeping on.’” Lessons learned from her grandmother have helped Argo find success in her life and career. In 2004, she started with First Horizon as a staff accountant. Today, she’s an EVP and director of credit and financial risk with the bank, a role that has her overseeing organizational programs supporting the identification, evaluation, mitigation, measurement, and monitoring of First Horizon’s financial risks. She’s also been a leader beyond her own division and has served on the leadership council of the bank’s Employee Resource Groups, co-hosted its first biennial Leadership Forum, and chaired its Women’s Initiative Employee Resource Group.
What glass ceiling have you yet to break through? I am blessed to work at an organization where glass ceilings have already been broken for the most part. Ceilings I have yet to break through are either perceived, imaginary, or self-imposed.
What superpower would you need as a Super Woman In Business to break through this glass ceiling and why? I would say mind control, but not in the traditional sense where superheroes control the minds of others. … I would love to tame the part of my own mind that is overly self-critical and questions my abilities and how I handled situations. The ability to control that would remove the perceived or imaginary glass ceilings imposed by my mind.
What superpower would best equip someone entering into your profession today? I would say super-sensory skills are needed to navigate careers that may be less based on interpersonal interactions and through virtual means. The ability to sense dynamics in a meeting — from a leader or colleague or those you lead — are still critically important to success, but they’re more difficult now with elevated uses of technology that have replaced in-person interactions.
Cecilia Barnes
Partner and general counsel, BLP Film Studios LLC
Cecilia Barnes believes the superpowers that would best equip young women entering her profession today are “hard work and tenacity.” Look at Barnes’ life, and you’ll see she has both. After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and her J.D. from Vanderbilt University, Barnes launched her legal career in Memphis. And for more than two decades, she’s worked for a variety of notable organizations, like ServiceMaster and Memphis-Shelby County Schools. She says her current job could be her most important. Barnes is a partner and general counsel with BLP Film Studios, where she oversees the legal issues in all departments, including marketing, sales, distribution, finance, HR, and production. And if you haven’t heard of BLP yet, you probably will — because it aspires to become one of the largest Black-owned film studios in the country.
What glass ceiling have you yet to break through? As an African American female attorney, I have been exceptionally blessed to receive several mentoring and professional growth opportunities in my legal career. Now, I’m mixing those experiences with the knowledge of my business partners at BLP Film Studios. … When completed, BLP Film Studios will bring increased revenue and job opportunities and aim an international spotlight on Memphis for being a hub for Black and brown content creators. Collectively, we will break into a world that will provide more chances for people of color to bring storylines from our communities to the big screen.
What superpower would you need as a Super Woman In Business to break through this glass ceiling and why? I tell young Black women to be optimistic about their professional opportunities. … Young people have every reason to be optimistic about their opportunities, provided they are prepared and open-minded. We have to be open to new environments, working with people who don’t look like us, and carving a place where one doesn’t currently exist.
Regena Bearden
Chief marketing officer, Memphis Tourism
Regena Bearden is a person most synonymous with the organization that is the official destination marketing arm for Memphis. With 33 years as part of Memphis Tourism — including 15 years serving in her current role — Bearden has led the marketing and public relations efforts of the entity to help grow the local tourism economy. In 2019, the Bluff City recorded its highest visitor count to date, with 12.4 million visitors coming to Memphis, resulting in $3.6 billion in spending and 47,000 tourism jobs. And when the pandemic wrecked the travel and tourism industry, Bearden and Memphis Tourism came up with strategies that adapted to the new normal, such as campaigns to attract the driving-to-destinations market. When Bearden isn’t finding ways to attract visitors to the city, she’s sprucing up the area by working with Clean Memphis to push forward and keep Memphis and Shelby County clean and green.
What glass ceiling have you yet to break through? I consider myself very lucky to work in a place where two-thirds of our C-suite is made up of women. However, that is not the case for most. Looking back at having a seat at the table when few women were allowed to sit at the table, I remember being ignored as the only female serving on a local board and was completely invisible to the men in the room. … When we don’t listen to women in the room and didn’t give them a voice, it is a serious mistake.
What superpower would best equip someone entering into your profession today? Confidence is key and most definitely a superpower. Women entering the marketing space are also required to have a willingness to keep learning, stay on top of trends, and be nimble. The marketing industry is constantly evolving. Confidence allows you to not get frozen in fear: Just jump out there, do your research, and take action. Never stand still, and always embrace change as a new opportunity to learn.
Casey Bryant
Executive director, Advocates for Immigrant Rights
Let’s grab a dictionary, shall we? Looks like we’re going to need all the words to describe Casey Bryant. Here are some used by their Super Women nominator: Innovative. Problem solver. Compassionate. Thinker. Renaissance person. Seeker of knowledge and experiences. Open. Adventurous. Passionate. Visionary. In 2018, Bryant founded the nonprofit firm, Advocates for Immigrant Rights (AIR), which seeks to represent some of the most marginalized in our society — detained immigrants and immigrants who are LGBTQIA. Wrote Bryant’s nominator of the firm, “AIR fights for the rights of immigrants but also for the expansion of those rights to ensure that all people are equally protected by the laws of the United States.”
What glass ceiling have you yet to break through? I am still in the process of creating my dream job. It has taken a long time to establish the kind of organizational structure that I believe is essential, not just for me, but for others to be able to thrive and grow.
What superpower would you need as a Super Woman In Business to break through this glass ceiling and why? I have never had the luxury of being able to focus on one particular area of practice, because as an attorney working in the nonprofit sector, there are so many needs to be met. If I could have a superpower, it would be the power of multiplication so that I could replicate myself over and over until I could do all of the things that I need to do.
Who is your biggest mentor and why? I have never had a singular mentor figure but have relied on many people in my life to give me advice, to support me in my endeavors, and to validate my feelings. Some of these people are in my family, many are friends, and a few have been strangers.
