Meet Our Mentors

Dr. Mike Mahaffey

Mahaffey Orthodontics

Dr. Mike Mahaffey has practiced orthodontics for 25 years, including the last 15 in Peachtree City. He has past experience in both buying and selling orthodontic practices. He has overseen the growth of his business and the construction of his current owner-occupied building, and manages his employees and the financial aspects of the practice. A member of a national orthodontic study club, he appreciates the importance of having a group of mentors and colleagues to share best practices. His passion is providing an excellent patient experience, and loves staying current with technology that helps his patients and the practice.

Patti Kadkhodaian

Lead Grow Rich, Golf Rider, AJAKO (Former Owner)

Patti Kadkhodaian is a seasoned entrepreneur who is passionate about small business strategies. She built her promotional products business, AJAKO, from the ground up and sold it in 2016 after 25 years of operation. She and her husband, Frank own Golf Rider, a family business that has been in operation for two decades. Patti is also the founder and owner of Lead Grow Rich, a consulting firm that provides coaching and training to leaders and entrepreneurs who have a desire to take their organizations to the next level. She holds a world-class coaching, teaching and speaking certification as an Executive Director with The John Maxwell Team.

Ellie White-Stevens

Dirt1x

Ellie White-Stevens is Creative Director at marketing agency Dirt1x, which stands for Do It Right The 1st Time.

Known as the Marketing Guru, Ellie assists small businesses with growth strategies. Her team creates compelling sales materials and brands that last. She crafts stories, creates taglines, builds websites. And still makes time for community leadership.

Ellie was the first Young Professional of the Year for the Fayette Chamber. Ellie is a coach with PowerCore. She serves with the Board of the Business Women of Fayette and Coweta. Ellie chairs the O Christmas Tea committee, raising over $100,000 in the last eight years for the victims of domestic violence.

Andra Prowant

Vista 4D Coaching

Andra Prowant is a Certified Life Coach and Emotional Intelligence Practitioner who is passionate about helping professionals master levels of success, and maintain them with optimal energy and focus. With 20 years of experience in sales and business development, she understands the soft skills and mindsets necessary to meet goals, minimize stress, and develop strong relationships. As a catalyst for growth and breakthrough, she delivers strategic tools to develop internal resources and transform obstacles into opportunities. Andra currently serves as VP for the Business Women of Fayette & Coweta, and on the Board for Pathway Home for Women, an addiction recovery program.

Chuck Ogletree

South-Tree Enterprises

Chuck has been involved in the construction and real estate development business for over 28 years. He built South-Tree Enterprises from the ground up and turned it into one of the most respected commercial construction companies in south Atlanta. Chuck has an innate ability to keep a project team focused on the big picture as well as the bottom line. As a former bank board chairman, he understands all aspects of business development. He is passionate about sharing his knowledge and experience with young entrepreneurs to help them navigate the challenges of starting a small business.

Cheryl D. Curtis

Financial Advisor

Cheryl has been in the financial services industry since 1998 and joined Merrill Lynch in 2013. Born and raised in Atlanta, she enjoyed 22 years in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she ran her own sports retail business and later worked on the senior management team at two community banks. Cheryl holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Furman University in Greenville, SC, and a Masters in Business from the University of Maine. She resides in Peachtree City.

Phil Downs

Medical & Dental Technology Solutions

When Phil Downs started working as an engineer at the Boeing Company, he thought that he was contributing by using his college-educated mind to identify process issues and by coming up with brilliant ideas. His boss gradually taught him that being an problem-solver, not an idea-man was the way to contribute.

This lesson has helped Phil be successful at 2 Fortune 500 companies, 2 software start-ups, and for the last 14 years at his own IT services company.

He welcomes the opportunity to share a few of the lessons he has learned in his 32 years contributing in a amazing varies of business situations.

Luci McDuffie

Commercial Lender

Luci is a commercial lender with United Community Bank and has been in the banking industry for 29 years. Raised in a small town in South Georgia, Luci understands the importance of character as it relates to business and building relationships within the local community. Her experience encompasses financing commercial construction, business acquisition, equipment purchase and operational lines of credit for most business sectors including commercial, industrial, medical and professional. She finds particular enjoyment and satisfaction in working with clients to help grow their business.

Sheri Waynick

Lizard Thicket Franchising

Sheri Waynick, founder of Lizard Thicket, has over 30 years of experience in the retail clothing industry. She comes from a family of entrepreneurs, so business ownership, is certainly in her blood. As the CEO of Lizard Thicket Franchising, she oversees all the buying, distribution, and marketing for each franchised location. There are currently 22 franchises, with 6 more in the pipeline for 2017. Sheri is knowledgeable in the areas of establishing a small business, transforming your business into a franchise, business planning, and overall operations of a retail store.

Matt Ramsey

Warner, Hooper and Ramsey, P.C.

Matt Ramsey, a native of Fayette County, is a graduate of Georgia Southern University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science. Matt is a partner with the law firm Warner, Hooper and Ramsey, P.C., a general business practice that focuses on a variety of commercial matters including business transactions, commercial real estate and land-use related litigation and estate planning. Matt’s litigation practice has an emphasis in representing property owners in eminent domain and other property rights related litigation. Matt previously served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 through 2016 and retired as the House Majority Caucus Whip.

JohnMark Conklin

J.H. Stillman L.L.C.

JohnMark Conklin is a successful business owner who is passionate about leveraging the power of business to enact social change. In the years since his graduation from Liberty University, JohnMark has built a book recycling company that has created jobs, positively impacted the environment, and promoted literacy around the globe. He has traveled to forty countries across five continents and is excited to share his experiences with other young entrepreneurs.

Jason H. Bass

JasonHunter Design, Night Market, Brewery Hours

For Jason Bass, entrepreneurship and community are intimately intertwined. A self-described “community guy,” Jason takes up the mantle of leadership for many neighborhood initiatives in Fayette County. As the CEO of website development and digital marketing firm JasonHunter Design, he actively participates in chambers of commerce throughout the Atlanta area, where he uses his talents, network, and resources to mentor fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners through community initiatives such as StartUp Fayette, 1 Million Cups, MENTORise and S.E.E.D. He also utilizes his skillset as a web development professional to support the technology needs of many community-based charitable organizations.

Maxine White Levy

Maxine White Levy is a recently retired attorney with more than 30 years experience in the financial services industry. Her career included in house counsel positions with the U.S. Small Business Administration and two large financial institutions, as well as a solo practice in New York. She has served on boards of not-for-profit organizations and an independent school, and participated in mentoring programs at the college and law school levels. Her philosophy in life is that each one can teach one. “Mentoring is an opportunity to teach someone and while we can all learn something from our own mistakes, it’s less painful when we learn from the mistakes of others.”

Norbert C. Von Lotten

Norbert C. Von Lotten is the founder and CEO of Growth Management Strategies LLC (GMS), who writes professional business plans and marketing & sales strategies helping business owners acquire the necessary funding needed from banks and other lending institutions.

Prior the launching GMS in 2016, Norbert began his financial services career working for SunTrust Bank in 1995 as a Bank Manager. After enjoying a successful career in various senior management roles for the past 23 years, he now provides knowledgeable insight to business owners and entrepreneurs helping prepare them for the next steps in starting, developing and growing their business.

He has a proven record of success in driving profitability and is passionate about refining business ownership through robust strategic initiatives, and is a strong advocate for entrepreneurial growth and development.

He holds an MBA from the University of Saint Mary’s and a BS in Business Management & Economics.

Dr. Tom Bramorski

Dr. Bramorski is an instructor at the University of Georgia Terry College of Business and professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin. He has started and operated small businesses and has collaborated with Small Business Administration in Wisconsin in assisting future entrepreneurs wanting to establish a small business. Dr. Bramorski has extensive consulting experience and offers lectures at Universities and private training institutions in Europe. He is a former Fulbright Senior Lecturer in Oman and in Poland.