Teresa Wade is an accomplished singer-songwriter turned award-winning sustainability advocate and business advisor. As an entrepreneur, songbird, and solution finder, she has created meaningful success in the golf, franchise, nonprofit, sustainability, and music industries. And it’s not hyperbole that she’s received international recognition for it. Teresa has been described as a talented, tenacious, and a magnanimous woman who says that the secret to her plethora of triumphs is to know the joy of doing what you love.
What she loves is entrepreneurship; and it all started with chickens. Teresa's childhood home in the granite quarry town of Stone Mountain, GA was situated on five acres of family land. It was sort of a “Little House on the Prairie”, with cows, horses, dogs, cats, goats, chickens and more. Teresa fondly remembers the scent of gardenias and humid summer air, and the sparkle of fireflies at dusk. With the wind blowing in her hair, she would gallop on horseback across her own “prairie”, and dream about how she would someday make her mark on the world. In revisiting those memories, she now says, “it was pure bliss then, as it is now to let my imagination lead the way for dream living."
Teresa's parents were savvy, self-educated business persons. They wanted her to learn about entrepreneurship at an early age, on their little farm, complete with chicken coop, built by her dad. Her mom helped Teresa broker her first deals to sell the chicken's eggs to a few neighbors and friends in her church. Teresa collected and delivered eggs weekly. They went to the bank together and opened an account for the "egg money". It was the start of Teresa's college fund and her life as a business person.
Entrepreneurship
Being an entrepreneur is in Teresa’s DNA, as her parents harnessed their motivation, creativity, and grit to build and operate multiple small businesses. From their example, she learned how to turn a dime into a dollar. Teresa honors the privilege to live her American Dream and she has always revered the freedom and control she has as a business owner.
Her passion for excellence fueled her tenacity and work ethic at a young age. She was an honor roll student, an equestrian competitor, and a 12-year classical piano student, “I was (and am) an overachiever,” she said. During her 15-year professional music career she did it all, wrote and sang the songs, produced the recordings, marketed the product, and toured to promote, perform, and make an impact.
Teresa says that she is motivated by projects with purpose, and she aims to pass this priority on to her clients. “It’s just what I do,” the business advisor said. “I like to develop ideas, build a system, and get the product or service out there as solutions for others.” She aims to help others realize the freedom and destiny control that comes with being an entrepreneur.
Through her Atlanta, GA based Net Positive Franchise entity, this franchise consultant and business advisor works with entrepreneurs to make an impact with their brands. She also mentors individuals as they explore business ownership through franchising to achieve their professional, financial, and lifestyle goals.
“Entrepreneurship is my passion, my purpose, my path; I am a visionary. But I’m also a strategic thinker and a realist, applying intellect and gut to push or pull ideas to fulfillment, or drag them to the recycle bin. My advice to entrepreneurs . . . exhaust your dreams; something amazing will happen.”
Songbird
Teresa Wade’s bluesy melodies and real-life lyrics reflect her upbringing in the heart of the south, and the highs and lows of the journey called life. Her stories in song reference magnolia trees, church on Sunday, sweet southern delicacies, fishing with her dad, and of course, love and heartbreak – all that started for Teresa as a towheaded kid in Georgia.
Teresa started piano lessons at the age of five and went on to excel in classical piano competitions, perform as a soloist, and serve local congregations as church pianist or organist. She landed her first paid music gig as a pianist at a neighboring church; her dad drove her there each Sunday – she was only twelve years old.
After completing an undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, the songbird loaded her dog into her jeep, and headed for Nashville, TN to pursue her music career dream. For 15 years, Teresa honed her songwriting skills in Tennessee, as a staff songwriter for Charlie Daniels Music and BMG Music Publishing before releasing her own album. Country and pop artists in the US and Europe have recorded her compositions. She wrote nine of the 11 songs on her own album The Real Thing, released in 2005 on Klimbing Kudzu Records. “The Kudzu Song,” her second single from The Real Thing, is autobiographical about her Georgia roots that still keep her growing tall.
Between her Miss DeKalb County title (1993) and her professional music career, Teresa has performed for causes and events across the southeast US, including NASCAR, listening rooms, festivals, concert halls, and more. She also took her music, faith, and messages of hope to orphans in Russia on three mission trips. Read more.
Philanthropy
After a successful music career in Nashville, TN, Teresa earned an MBA from Belmont University, with a focus on marketing, negotiations, and international business. For her capstone assignment, she spent a month in Europe leading a team to research and develop a plan to market and distribute an American product there. She led the team to win the session’s Know Europe International Business Award. Her first project post graduate school was directing the pioneer Green Business Summit annual events at Lipscomb University 2008-2010. The summit hosted leaders from businesses such as UPS, Walmart, Waste Management and more, from across the US.
In 2010, Teresa set out on a new adventure to connect individuals, government, industry, and communities for the focus on sustainability and environmental stewardship. She founded and directed Experience Green, a 501c3 nonprofit organization on Hilton Head Island, SC.
In five years, Experience Green’s team of volunteers produced dozens of educational events and activated multiple change initiatives. Experience Green conducted the first Baseline Sustainability Assessment (carbon footprint) measurement of Hilton Head Island, SC, and helped The Sea Pines Resort achieve GEO Certified® status for its facilities and for the RBC Heritage PGA TOUR event.
Teresa’s leadership and the efforts of Experience Green have impacted behaviors for thousands. And in 2017, Teresa traveled to Mallorca, Spain to receive the first-ever International Sustainable Golf Destination Award on behalf of the Hilton Head Island community collaboration for sustainability.
Her dad, one of her heroes, served in World War II in the US Navy. Today she honors his memory by supporting “golf fore good” events with organizations like Hope for Warriors, a national project that provides assistance to service members and their families. She also plays golf and performs for Cool Kids Campaign events to support initiatives that improve the quality of life for pediatric oncology patients and their families. Read more.
Sustainability in Golf
Because of her smooth swing, long tee shot, and low scores, many assume that Teresa played golf in college; not so. She picked up the game in her late 20’s as a new challenge with networking benefits, but she never imagined it to be a powerful platform for change.
“The golf business is challenged with balancing economic profitability with conservation efforts to nurture habitat, reduce impacts, and more,” she said. “The concept of sustainability in golf is about balancing resource management to produce a golf experience that is optimal for the golfer, nature, and the bottom line.”
Experience Green, Teresa’s nonprofit entity on Hilton Head Island, SC, created the first in the US sustainability in golf program. Teresa strategically orchestrated a collaboration with The Sea Pines Resort and RBC for an experiential education initiative that impacted the local golf community, garnered national attention, and was recognized internationally.
Teresa’s continued commitment to make a difference, led her to develop education programs and create a community effort for action that garnered Hilton Head Island the first ever International Sustainable Golf Destination Award 2017. The award recognizes high performance and commitment across three core areas of sustainability - nature, resources, and community. The winning entry included the GEO Certified® distinction for the RBC Heritage PGA TOUR event, The Sea Pines Resort, and 14 more local golf facilities as GEO Certified® or in process in the Hilton Head Island, SC area. She traveled to Mallorca, Spain to accept the award that was presented by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators. Read more.
Solution Finder
Teresa is zealous about making a difference for more than just the bottom line and she has a variety of specialties to back that up. She’s a creator that can write a musical masterpiece with a blank piece of paper and a guitar. But she’s also a strategic developer who can organize and implement pioneer projects on time, on budget, and with a unique flair for impactful ROI. Through all of this, her Georgia peach persona shines through; whether as a mentor, speaker, consultant, performer or philanthropy champion she strives to inspire others to make a difference too.
Teresa’s mantra is to “think big, but know that the world is small, and that everything is connected.” She applies that principle to foster collaboration. She uses the platforms of music, entrepreneurship, and golf as “people-connectors.” She’s proven this efficacy and advanced community sustainability efforts, cultivated entrepreneurship, and raised millions of dollars for charity.
Teresa is a mass of contradictions and an expert in many vocations which lend to the vivid descriptions in her songs. One those compositions, I’m Livin’ It, describes how she feels about her “one precious life.”
This entrepreneur, songbird and solution finder is a true renaissance woman; a multi-talented performer, golf diva, beauty queen, mentor, strategist, innovative marketer, and more.
And it all started with chickens.
“I'm livin' it one moment at a time, charting a course of my own design. I’m just getting to know myself, and I’m liking me just fine.
Yeah it’s my life . . . and I’M LIVING IT!”
DESIGNATIONS & AWARDS
Master of Business Administration
Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business, Belmont University
Business Negotiations and Mediation Certification
Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business, Belmont University
Certificate of Graduate Studies in Sustainability
Institute for Sustainable Practice, Lipscomb University
Bachelor of Science
Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Georgia
Certified Franchise Broker Designation
Franchise Brokers Association
FTC Sales Compliance Certification
Franchise Brokers Association
Accredited GEO Verifier
Golf Environment Organization
International Sustainable Golf Destination Award
International Association of Golf Tour Operators
Green Business Leadership Award
Institute for Sustainable Practice, Lipscomb University
Know Europe International Business Award
Ecole de Management de Normandie
Town of Hilton Head Island Commendation
Hilton Head Island SC
