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We’re Dorothy Lynn and Jessica Selasky. And yes, we’re a mother/daughter team and even though working with your mother may seem difficult to some, it works for us. Jessica says “One of the reasons it works so well is that Dorothy is in Boca Raton, Florida and I’m in Cincinnati, Ohio, so we don’t see each other all that often. You might say we’re electronically related.”
Confidence Builders is thirteen years old now. Like any entrepreneurial business we’ve been through lots of ups and downs (mostly ups) and it’s a much more exciting trip than we ever imagined. We’ve met thousands of great people in these thirteen years.
What makes our lives so good is fairly simple—we get to see people laugh, learn and grow. Seeing the “aha” look on a manager's face when he or she gets a concept is the juice that keeps us going.
And we spend lots of time thinking about what needs to go into a program or training course. That’s fun for us. We like to do all the research—read the books and articles, talk to experts, then come up with the 6½ steps that will make the most sense to you.
We love to make our classes fun. It’s the only way we know how to teach. As we always say—laughter precedes learning. We live by that rule.
Dorothy has spent many, many years speaking about management subjects. She began her career in the early 70s at The Presidents Association, a division of American Management Associations, as their first female program director. She loved that job because she worked with many CEOs and their top management teams and she listened as gurus including Peter Drucker, Warren Bennis and Herb Cohen taught them the “principles of management.” She always said it was like earning her own PhD in management.
In 1983, Dorothy began her life as a small business owner and she hasn’t looked back. All these years she’s been learning as much as she can about how entrepreneurs think and act. And she loves to share what she’s learned.
In October 1994, Dorothy and Jessica formed Confidence Builders International, Inc. It has been their great privilege over the years to work with many outstanding companies and organizations.
When Jessica and Dorothy created Confidence Builders, they were determined to combine their interests and experience to help entrepreneurial companies grow and prosper. And they’ve done that. They’re co-authors of the popular book, Your Public Speaking Workout and they’re working on a new book called Non-Stop Confidence.
Jessica took the corporate route. Her first job was at General Electric in Houston, Texas where she won several Employee of the Year awards. In 1987, she moved on to Federated Department Stores in Cincinnati as Credit Promotions Manager. In 1990 she was asked to start up the telemarketing department for Financial and Credit Services known as FACS, where she built the department from 13 people to over 200. She won the President’s Award in both 1990 and 1992.
Jessica serves on the executive committee of Joy Outdoor Education Board of Directors, chairs FUNInc for the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce for Entrepreneurs, and is past president of the Greater Cincinnati American Society for Training & Development (ASTD).
Speaking of mothers and daughters, Jessica has two daughters, Jamie and Elizabeth. One of them is seriously considering representing the next generation of Confidence Builders. The other one flirts with the idea from time to time. Who knows? We might get both. |
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