July Lunch & Learn

 Upside Potential in a Downside Economy

Friday, July 16, 11:30 - 1:30 

Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce

Guest Speaker: Hattie Bryant

Producer and Host of "Small Business School" airing on PBS

Hattie Bryant will dip into the largest video library in the world about small business to introduce you to owners who have grown their businesses through thick and thin. The stars of her made-for-PBS television series are all owners who have been tested by fire and have emerged ever stronger to share how to survive the heat of turbulent times with time-tested principles like:
 
Make people more important than cash; solve more problems for customers; lavish praise on top performers; help employees build wealth; overcome the fear of firing a customer;  see your business as a lush garden that must be cultivated and pruned; face the fact that you may be the reason your business is stuck; hire your own boss;  turn tradition upside down;  let the numbers do the talking;  get buzz;  keep stretching; and keep smiling.
 
These aren't the lessons learned at business school. They're better because they're lessons of real business owners, captured on film across 34 states and 150 cities. These are real people who have been creating real jobs for more than 10 years. All leaders in their industry, loved in their communities-and heroes for any time.

Hattie Bryant is the producer/creator/host of Small Business School. She's been a small business owner since 1979 when she provided employee training for small companies of 100 or fewer employees. She developed courses based on the real stories and successful experiences of these small business owners and employees. She's presented seminars in most states and is a widely-acclaimed public speaker. 

Small Business School is a weekly, half-hour television show that began in 1994 and has been airing ever since. The show first aired on PBS-member stations in the United States, then on IBB Voice of America TV (VOA) around the world, then on cable stations throughout Canada, Latin America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, New Zealand,  Poland, China and more.
 
Small Business School is also the website where the key ideas of every episode of the show come alive within an executive summary, transcript, case study guide and streaming video.  In the first years of the production, PBS had a special feed to every college and university in the USA.  For that feed, case study guides were prepared.  Every inch of footage was tied to a key point.  Today, there are over 2000 key points with video, transcript and analysis.  These case studies have been in some of the most popular business textbooks by Prentice Hall and Thomson Learning.
 
Small Business School involves many people. However, the story begins with  two small business owners, Bruce Camber and Hattie Bryant. They felt there was something missing from television. There was nothing about the men and women who are more likely to invent a new product, create a job and support their community than those big business folks who seek and get most of the media's attention.  They also believe there is something profoundly wrong with much of television. Too much programming capitalizes on and glamorizes exploitation; there is not enough about creativity and the processes of creating something of value.         
 
In every show, Hattie takes viewers on a discovery mission to find out why people have been so successful within the businesses that they start from their mind and passions.
 
The last half hour of each Lunch & Learn is reserved for networking, so bring plenty of business cards.

The Lunch & Learn will be held at the Chamber of Commerce at 225 Church Street in downtown Huntsville. A map with directions can be found on the website.