Sharon Oxendine

“We are being called by our Ancestors to return to the Wheel of Life. We are being called to bring in the Grandmothers, mothers, sisters, and divine feminine into all of our rituals. We are being called to look a little deeper at our friends, and our enemies, to find a place in our deep and wise souls to show compassion and kindness.”     – Sharon Oxendine

 

Sharon Oxendine

By Cathy Holt

Northern Regional Director of Mountain BizWorks

Sharon Oxendine is Northern Regional Director of Mountain BizWorks and Women’s Business Center Director. She makes sure that women are being served, under the SBA grant for the Women’s Business Center. Oxendine is in charge of Buncombe and Madison Counties; she works on membership, events, and loan development for small businesses for both counties, spending a day per month in Madison County.



Nurturing Small Businesses


“It’s a thrill
when someone is able to overcome obstacles against them, like when
other people say, ‘I bet they won’t make it in that market,’ to see
them work hard for their passion, and next thing you know they are
opening a store or a restaurant! It’s the best feeling in the world to
see that happen! I believe it’s a very nurturing thing that we do here.
The Director of Mountain Biz Work, Grove Walker Wilson, is very
client-oriented and treats the employees here very well; we work on
building relationships with our clients in turn. We have a lot of
respect for one another, and people who come here are valued.”


A Multiracial Organization


In
Hendersonville, the whole office is bilingual in English and Spanish;
many classes and events are in Spanish due to high demand. A new
employee is developing more Latino programs in the Asheville office.
Some of their grants specifically target the Latino and African
American populations. Soon they intend to work with the
Russian-Ukrainian community.


Life Experience


Sharon’s
background is in administration, marketing, and mental health. She
doesn’t have an MBA, but plenty of common sense and intuition. “I’ve
had to work hard to validate my intuition at times, but it can be more
important than an MBA. I work with a lot of people who have MBAs, and I
think they respect who I am even without that degree. I’ve had my own
businesses: a house cleaning business, a small restaurant that failed.
I was a single Mom with a house to keep up and a full-time job; I
learned to be resourceful. My life experience and job experience have
helped me to relate to our client base here.”


For eight years
Oxendine was a Substance Abuse counselor, working in difficult places
such as prisons and hospitals. She needed to learn “tough love” and
believes that has served her in setting firm boundaries around loans.
Her eleven years in sales and marketing for a top insurance company
taught her time management skills and efficiency.


When she first
came to Asheville, she took retail work until she could get
established. She started at Mountain Bizworks in 2003 as a Resource
Specialist and moved up into being Program Coordinator in a year and a
half.


Her family is Lumbee Indian. “I learned most of what I know from my grandmothers, and they still guide me,” she confided.


“I work for them.”


This is
Oxendine’s first real supervisory role, and her previous experience has
been useful. “It’s a good job fit,” she muses. “I’m glad I can step
into this role and accept the responsibility but not abuse it or think
it gives me privilege or power over others. I feel as if the employees
don’t just work for me — I work for them! You’re empowering other
people. That balance came with age and maturity, for me. At a younger
age, I had a lot of delusions!” she laughed. “I’m proud of this agency
for the role they take in our community and for being able to support
so many people who need hope and need skills to pursue a dream. We
don’t tell you whether your business is going to make it or not. It’s
up to the individual.”


“It’s hard work
— up to 12 hours a day,” she says. “But I am so emotionally, mentally,
and spiritually invested in this organization that it’s worth it.
Sometimes this place can be a refuge for people who are going through
hard times.”


Oxendine
encourages all women in business to attend the Women’s Business
Conference on May 31, an annual event which empowers women.