Meet Chanda Lightsey: Director of All About Business

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chanda Lightsey and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chanda, how would your deploy a million dollars, if you had to invest it right now?
If I had $1 million dollars to invest right now, my goal and dream is to have money to invest in Women-Owned businesses. I want to provide funds for women to expand and grow their businesses or provide start-up capital for a female entrepreneur. I founded All About Business in 2005 which is a networking group for entrepreneurial women where we network and share resources to help each other grow. I would also establish a scholarship program for young and inspiring female entrepreneurs. God placed this passion on my heart years ago and it is my goal to accomplish this dream.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Well I consider myself a serial-preneur because there are so many areas that I touch. I initially started my entrepreneurial journey years ago by opening my first employment staffing agency with a friend of mine. We both were working for a local staffing agency in sales and recruitment, we grew that agency and quickly realized hey we could be working for ourselves so we respectfully resigned our positions and opened our own agency and that was the beginning of my path of entrepreneurialship. I am most proud of All About Business a Consortium of Women Entrepreneurs! I founded this group in April 2005 and we have only scratched the surface, my goal is to be able to provide funding for other women-owned businesses and to provide start-up capital for young and inspiring female entrepreneurs. Is being an entrepreneur easy, absolutely not, I have started several businesses and failed miserably however my failures have been learning lessons for me and I am sure there will be more failures to come but I truly believe where there is a will there is a way. I will continue striving for my goals and dreams no matter how long it takes me. I used to get upset with myself if I was not at a certain point in my life where I thought I would be and my plans were just not working out, I had to put my feelings and emotions aside and stop worrying about what others thought, I will continue pursuing my passions and along the way help as many people as I can.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well I am a Foodie as well as a Freelance Photographer with an emphasis on Food Photography so I love experiencing new local restaurants so we would check out restaurants we haven’t visited before and try new cuisines. I enjoy live music we would probably catch a show at the Atlanta City Winery, for fitness we would probably take a hike up Stone Mountain or Kennesaw Mountain and hit the trails of the Silver Comet. We would also take advantage of adult night skating at Sparkles Skating Rink in Cobb County. Atlanta and the surrounding areas is filled with entertainment there is so much to do.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I surround myself with women who motivate and inspire me and who I can learn from. Here are a few of my Mentors, Crystal Spellman of Spellman Consulting Group, Belinda Grimes of Belinda Grimes Fashion & Designs, Natasha Thompson of Construction Concierge Partners, Mary Norris of CelebrityMary, Latreese Bray of TowneLake Academy to name a few.