Annual CityScope® Southern Woman Issue
Photography by Hacker Medias / Shot on location at the Hunter Museum of American Art
Our community is made up of countless distinguished Southern women leading the charge in their respective fields. The journey is never easy, but it’s the support received along the way that makes all the difference. In their own words, six local women share the experiences, lessons, and people that helped shape their careers and influence their success.
I was born and raised in Chatta-nooga where I learned early on the value of hard work, education, and family. Although my parents divorced when I was young, both remained active in guiding me, along with a village of supportive family members, including my grandmothers, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Education was always a priority, and I fell in love with learning, earning both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from the University of Tennessee. While working as a chemist, I discovered my passion for dentistry while volunteering with Dr. Eleanor Woods, who became my mentor and inspired me to pursue dental school at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. I eventually specialized in pediatric dentistry, combining my love for children and dentistry. Family has always been at the core of my values, a sentiment deepened by caring for my mother during her battle with stage 4 breast cancer. They’ve shaped who I am today.
As the eldest daughter of Indian immigrants in small-town North Carolina, I often felt like an outsider. However, my mother’s remarkable kindness and my father’s influence led me to become an engineer. At the University of Florida, I was one of only two women in my class, and after relocating to Chattanooga, I faced doubts on job sites. Utilizing these challenges strengthened me, teaching me to connect with people, grow as a leader, and navigate adversity, which led to creating and selling two companies. My husband, Dane, and I built a successful company, selling our first product to ACT in 2011, and later started from scratch, created new products, and sold to private equity in 2023. These experiences shaped me, inspiring me to mentor other girls and women breaking barriers. Philanthropy is central to my life, and as the board chair of Erlanger, I am fortunate to be able to impact our community. However, my proudest achievement is raising two daughters who have built their own careers and families. Family is everything to me, and the strength and love we share is what sustains us. To me, that’s one of the best qualities the South has to offer – family comes first, always.
My great-grandmother, Mary MacMillan, MD, reported to duty at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane a century ago as the first female intern in the state of Washington. She answered the call to care for the suffering regardless of a patient’s background – she was a physician. I believe that legacy is often inherited, that some are born with the passion of their ancestors – a genetic imprint. For generations, my family has upheld this responsibility to care for all, and I’m proud of that. Over the past 20 years in my profession and through the Clinica Médicos project, I’ve learned a lot about healthcare, but more importantly, I’ve learned a lot about people and relationships. I’ve learned that to truly care not only for your work but also for your family and your faith comes with a cost – it takes sacrifice. And that cost is definitely worth the price; it’s a noble pursuit.
Growing up in LaFayette, Georgia, I was blessed to be surrounded by the warmth, resilience, and deep-rooted values that make the South so special. My mother and grandfather instilled in me the importance of hard work, faith, and perseverance – lessons that became the foundation of my journey. Their unwavering love and guidance taught me that success is not just about personal achievement, but about lifting others along the way. Family and community were at the heart of my upbringing, shaping my deep commitment to service. Now, as dean of nursing and allied health at Chattanooga State Community College, I have the incredible opportunity to inspire and support the next generation of healthcare professionals. As a mother and now a grandmother, I cherish the opportunity to continue the legacy of family connectedness and embrace all that it means to be from the South. My roots have given me so much, and I am grateful every day for the chance to give back, lead with heart, and help build a brighter future.
I grew up in Chattanooga with my parents, Tom and Susan Flanagan, and my two sisters, Katie and Jennifer. I graduated from the Baylor School and went on to graduate from Vanderbilt University and then pursued my career in pediatric dentistry from there. I am now co-owner of Splash Smiles Pediatric Dentistry with my sister, Jennifer Cole. My husband, Brian Webb, is an orthodontist, so we spend a lot of time talking about teeth! We have three kids – Cooper, Caroline, and Lucy. We love to travel, and I think getting to watch my kids see new things and places is such a special thing. I think my relationship with my family and the closeness we still share is a huge part of what shaped me into who I am today. Our love of Chattanooga and the experiences we had growing up here drew all of us back, and it is fun getting to share a business with my sister and also have my kids grow up with all their cousins within a couple miles of each other. Owning a small business is tough work, but we have received such great support from our friends and the Chattanooga community in growing our practice to what it is today.
As a third-generation Floridian, I was raised with distinct Southern traditions infused from my grandparents who migrated from Southern Georgia in the early 1900s. The food, the family get-togethers, church on Sundays, and the role of the matriarchs left a lasting impression. I was never a great student in high school, but I always knew I would attend college. My mother achieved her degree at 35 and never wavered from conveying the value that education would bring to anyone’s life. Seeing her grit to make it happen while working and raising a family was the inspiration I needed to tackle it myself. My first degree was in political science, and I was aiming toward a law degree. But, once I got into the workforce, I never looked back. My first professional job paid $16,000 a year! It was the first of many stepping stones that led me to leadership in healthcare over 30 years ago. Many influential leaders played a role in my journey to realizing my capacity to learn and to lead others. My core values have been to make my best effort, no matter the challenge or the reward, and always treat everyone as a pivotal part of the team, regardless of their role. This has served me well in creating teams and inspiring others to find their contributions to achieving the mission at hand.
