Feb 25, 2020 | News
Ten at the Top’s (TATT) signature young professional event, Pique, will be held on March 23rd at the Huguenot Mill and Loft in downtown Greenville, with ScanSource as the presenting sponsor. The keynote speaker will be Greenville author Sallie Holder, whose book, Hitting Rock Middle: The Roadmap from Empty Success to True Fulfillment, was released in January of this year.
A graduate of Vanderbilt University and the University of South Carolina Law School, Holder previously served as an attorney at Ogletree Deakins Law Firm and lives in Greenville. In addition to her recently released book, Sallie is a dynamic speaker who leaves audiences with the tools they need to make the changes they desire. She’s an expert on leadership, teams, change management, mindset, and motivation.
The material in the book comes from Holder’s own personal experience. After experiencing early success as a young attorney and other corporate positions—named a “Top Professional of the Year,” she had a six-figure income and enjoyed what society sees as a successful lifestyle—she coined the term “Hitting Rock Middle” to describe her feelings of dissatisfaction and emptiness.
Now an entrepreneur, business coach, and author, she has created a step-by-step plan to help others create a path to their greatest potential with true fulfillment and success. She shares that plan in her book, and she will speak to the young professionals at Pique about those themes. Holder’s books will be on sale at the event, and she will be available to sign the books.
“I am thrilled to have Sallie Holder on board as our keynote speaker for this year’s Pique conference,” said Virginia Cebe, a ScanSource employee, President of the ScanSource Charitable Foundation, and member of TATT’s Pique planning committee. “As a Greenville native, Sallie’s connection to the Upstate is strong. I truly believe that her primary message focused on ‘Hitting Rock Middle’ will empower the young professionals attending this conference to take their careers to new heights.”
Her speech will wrap up an afternoon event with panel sessions, executive roundtables, a LinkedIn Lounge where attendees can have a professional headshot made, and plenty of opportunity for networking for the Upstate’s young professionals.
Registration and networking begin at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, March 23rd, at Huguenot Mill and Loft (101 West Broad Street, Greenville, SC 29601), with the event beginning at 2:00 p.m. A networking reception will begin at approximately 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased here. For more information, visit the website or contact Sharon Purvis.
Feb 19, 2020 | News
There’s really no bad time to spend time with a good book, but this time between the holidays and spring feels like a particularly good time—and what could be better on a dreary day than browsing in a cozy bookstore?
In a perfect world (well, my perfect world anyway), every small town would have a bookstore and people would support those bookstores. The predictions that independent bookstores would go the way of the dodo in the age of Amazon and downloadable audio and e-books aren’t coming true for now, which is a good thing, because those locally owned bookstores are an important part of a vibrant community.
Alas, every town in the Upstate does not have a bookstore, but there are a handful of great independent bookstores in the area that are well stocked with a curated selection of books and staffed with knowledgeable booksellers.
In Easley, Poor Richard’s Booksellers occupies the building where the original public library was housed and has been serving the Easley community for more than 30 years. Their Facebook page is worth a follow for the quirky book-related memes mixed in with the announcements of new releases and other book news.
M Judson, situated in the thick of things in downtown Greenville, right on South Main
An author event at M Judson
Street, a block away from the Peace Center and across the street from Soby’s, is a book lover’s oasis. Billing itself as “more than a bookstore”—“a literary hub, a cultural lifestyle,” M Judson hosts a variety of events, from book signings to story hours to regular songwriters’ showcases.
Contrary to its name, Fiction Addiction offers a full range of books—yes, there is plenty of fiction, but also children’s, business and finance, biography and memoir, art, Christian fiction,
Fiction Addiction’s “Book Your Lunch” event
and more. Tucked into a strip mall off of Congaree Road in Greenville behind the Haywood Mall, it might be easy to miss, but it’s worth the trip to check out their large selection or one of their events.
A different kind of book proposal inside Hub City Bookshop
In downtown Spartanburg, there is Hub City Bookshop—one of a very few nonprofit bookstores around, housed in the Masonic Temple building on West Main Street. It, along with Hub City Press, is under the parent organization of Hub City Writers Project. The Hub City Press books are on display in the front of the store, but it is very much a full-service bookstore with a wide selection of titles. They, too, have a variety of events for readers and writers.
Is a good used bookstore more your thing? There are plenty of those in the Upstate too! Here is a sampling:
by Sharon Purvis
Feb 19, 2020 | News
Position: Program and Events Coordinator
Job Purpose:
The mission of Ten at the Top is to foster collaboration and increase collective capacity across the 10-county Upstate SC region around issues that impact economic vitality and quality of life. The Program & Events Coordinator is responsible for coordinating, facilitating, and implementing meetings, initiatives, activities, and programs focused around key regional issues within the five driver areas of the Our Upstate Vision. In addition, the Program & Events Coordinator will serve as the staff lead around the execution of TATT’s signature regional events.
Key Responsibilities:
- Coordinate, plan, and execute regular meetings and activities for committees around initiatives and driver areas.
- Maintain regular communication with committee members and other volunteers.
- Conduct research related to projects, initiatives, and driver areas.
- Build relationships with stakeholders in initiatives.
- Write program summaries, press releases, and support material as needed.
- Update web site components with information related to initiatives and committee work as needed.
- Serve as the primary coordinator for regional events with 300+ attendees.
- Represent the organization in a professional manner at meetings and community events.
- Be available to attend occasional early morning or evening events, as well as some travel across the Upstate.
- Promote events and related information on Ten at the Top’s social media outlets, in coordination with Communications Director.
- Assist with execution of in-house publications, managing databases and other projects as needed.
Position Information:
- Full-time 40-hour per week salaried position
- Salary Range: $40,000-$50,000 (depending on experience and background)
- Benefits include company health insurance, paid vacation, cell phone stipend, and paid holidays
- Applications will be accepted until the position is filled
Basic Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree
- Minimum of three years of full-time work experience in a professional setting
- Experience coordinating workgroups, volunteers, or committees
- Involvement in the execution of medium and large events
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher)
- Writing and editing proficiency
- Attention to detail and the ability to produce quality work in a timely manner
- Ability to manage multiple projects or initiatives at one time
- Ability to work independently and accomplish tasks with minimal daily supervision
- Ability to work collaboratively in an office setting
- Strong organizational, customer service, and networking skills
- Experience with graphic and web design programs preferred but not required
Interested candidates should send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to:
Dean Hybl
Executive Director
dhybl@tenatthetop.org
Feb 12, 2020 | News
We’re halfway through Black History Month, but there are still plenty of events across the Upstate celebrating the achievements of our African American citizens, bringing to light little-known pieces of history, and not shying away from the fact that there is still work to be done to achieve racial equity.
As part of Black History Month, Greenville News is commemorating the 50th anniversary of school desegregation in Greenville County through February 17th with a series of articles that you should definitely check out for a variety of perspectives on that momentous occasion.
Aside from events that are happening this month, the South Carolina Office of Tourism offers the Green Book of South Carolina, created by the S.C. African American Heritage Commission, with more than 300 African American heritage sites across the state, from historic churches and schools to museums and historic districts. Users can search by category, by map, or by a list of locations, or they can choose themed tours.
African American Heritage Sites
Here in the Upstate, there are plenty of heritage sites listed in the Green Book of SC, but a couple that are definitely worth a visit are the Bertha Lee Strickland Cultural Museum in Seneca and the Benjamin Mays Historic Site in Greenwood.
Completed in 2015, the Bertha Lee Strickland Cultural Museum, named for the woman whose property was purchased for the museum, was conceived to tell the story of African Americans in Oconee County and around South Carolina. The motto of the museum is “Honoring the Past—Elevating the Future,” and the mission, in part, is to “honor the lives, accomplishments, contributions, diversity, and struggles of African Americans and their ancestors.”
The current exhibit at the museum is “521 All-Stars: A Championship Story of Baseball and Community,” based on the book of the same name, chronicling the Gamecock baseball league of Rembert, SC, made up of African American players. (For more about black baseball leagues, check out The Other Boys of Summer, a film that is being screened in various locations in Spartanburg on February 17th-18th.)
Benjamin Mays, the 6th president of HBCU Morehouse College, was born to sharecroppers in Epworth, in southern Greenwood County. From those humble beginnings, he went on not only to a career in higher education, but also to distinguish himself as a Civil Rights leader. His childhood home was moved from Epworth to Greenwood, where it is part of the Benjamin E. Mays Historic Preservation Site. The other buildings on the site include a museum with photographs and collections of Mays’ writings and speeches and the original Burns Springs one-room African American school, also from Epworth.
Check out our calendar for more Black History Month events across the Upstate!
Feb 10, 2020 | News
Ten at the Top’s (TATT) signature young professional event, Pique, will be held on March 23rd at the Huguenot Mill and Loft in downtown Greenville, with 
ScanSource as the presenting sponsor. The event focuses on connecting young professionals across the Upstate, giving them opportunities to network as well as to hear from experts on topics that are relevant to their working lives.
In this 5th year of Pique, the program will feature 3 breakout panel sessions along with executive roundtables, a LinkedIn Lounge, and keynote speaker Sallie Holder. Additionally, there will be plenty of opportunity for networking, sharing ideas, and discussion of future collaboration.
During each of three breakout sessions, attendees will have four choices: one of two panel sessions, the executive roundtables, or the LinkedIn Lounge, sponsored by AFL, where they will have an opportunity to have a professional headshot done.
There will be three panels, each running twice to give attendees the option of hearing them all if they choose. The first, “Negotiating Your Best Career,” will focus on knowing what to ask for in order to achieve professional goals; in the second, “Community Engagement: Building Your Career Outside of Your Office,” panelists will talk about how community engagement can help you become a well-rounded and outward-thinking individual; and the third, “Conflict Management: Effective Communication for a Peaceful Workplace” touches on a topic that can be challenging at any age.
For many young leaders who want to make an impact on their local community, one major barrier is having access to current decision makers who are helping shape the region. Pique hopes to foster collaboration and bridge the gaps between young professionals and the Upstate’s top executives through the executive roundtables that have been a very popular feature of past Pique events.
Local author Sallie Holder will be the keynote speaker. Her book, Rock Middle: The Roadmap from Empty Success to True Fulfillment, was released in January, and copies will be available for sale at the event.
A graduate of Vanderbilt University and the University of South Carolina Law School, Holder previously served as an attorney at Ogletree Deakins Law Firm and lives in Greenville. She coined the phrase “Hitting Rock Middle™” and the revolutionary BE BOLDER strategy to help people create their biggest, boldest, most successful careers. In addition to her recently released book, Sallie is a dynamic speaker who leaves audiences with the tools they need to make the changes they desire. She’s an expert on leadership, teams, change management, mindset, and motivation.
Following her talk, attendees will head to the reception, which will once again be catered by Cribbs Catering.
Registration and networking begin at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, March 23rd, at Huguenot Mill and Loft (101 West Broad Street, Greenville, SC 29601), with the event beginning at 2:00 p.m. The reception will begin at approximately 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased here; click here for complete information. Contact Sharon Purvis at spurvis@tenatthetop.org with any questions.
Feb 5, 2020 | News
For the second time in four years, Due West Robotics is sending a team to the FIRST Robotics world championships, where teams from more than 70 countries will compete for the title. When I wrote about the first team in 2017, I interviewed Charles Angel, who was then the mayor of Due West, over the phone. This time, I went to Due West to meet Angel and the team, see the robot, and hear their presentations about their designs.
The idea of the robotics program in Due West was born in 2011, when Angel’s son Ethan got a LEGO Mindstorms kit for Christmas and got hooked on robotics. That summer, Angel took Ethan and some friends to a robotics camp at Clemson, where he met a couple of FIRST Robotics coaches. They encouraged him to start a team, and even though there were naysayers who said kids from Due West (population 1,247) wouldn’t be able to compete with kids from Greenville and Columbia and Charleston, he started.
The naysayers, needless to say, were wrong. Due West Robotics fielded a state-championship team, Tornado of Ideas, in 2017, and this year, the Spartans of TOAST team came out on top of more than 300 teams in South Carolina and will head to Houston for the world championship in April.
Each year, FIRST Robotics announces a theme for the challenge, and this year’s theme is City Shapers. For the FIRST LEGO League teams like Spartans of TOAST, here are two pieces of the challenge: one is to design a robot that can perform a series of missions that relate to the topic. All teams receive a mat with graphics printed on it so that they are all practicing the same missions and judged on identical tasks.
The second piece is to come up with an invention that addresses a challenge related to the topic and design a prototype. The Spartans of TOAST decided to take on an outbreak of hepatitis A in the state, creating a dry hand sanitizer to kill germs that spread the disease. They call their invention the “Germ Toaster”—which led them to their team name (TOAST is also an acronym for “to obtain anything, start thinking”).
Team member Stone Driggers explained that the stainless-steel box (which does resemble a toaster oven) has motion-activated LED lights that stand in 
for the germ-killing UVC lights, which will be in the working prototype. UVC lights have been used to sanitize instruments and rooms in medical settings, but their invention is unique in that it directly sanitizes the skin, Jackson Dunn told me. Team members Georgia Wojtkowski, David Clarke, and Zackery Humphrey filled in more details about the device—including the fact that the team is currently working on filing a patent on it, with guidance from physician and inventor of multiple medical devices, Dr. Jeff Deal out of Charleston, SC.
After the Germ Toaster presentation, I got to see the robot—named Flower Power in honor of the late Dr. Woodie Flowers, a professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, who died in October of 2019. Flowers specialized in engineering design and product development, so it is a fitting tribute.
The robot’s performance while I was watching had some hiccups, but the team explained to me how it should have worked if all went perfectly. “So,” I asked them, “when you were at the state tournament, did it all run like clockwork?”
There was a pause, some sheepish grins, and then someone said, “That’s a firm no. We messed up a lot.”
Angel said, “This is your overcoming story, right?”
Overcome they did. After the first round, the Spartans were in last place, and a couple of team members skipped lunch to try to work on what went wrong the robot. Before the second run, one of the team members said to Angel, “Mr. Charles, we could go from last place to first place right now!”
They didn’t—they ended up 6th in the mission challenge. But the competition is judged on four criteria: the mission challenge, the invention, a presentation about the design of the robot to a panel of engineers, and another presentation about the team’s core values—which include things like team identity, working together, role delegation, and budgeting. The team excelled in those other three areas, which was enough to put them at the top of the competition.
And now the Spartans of TOAST will take their Germ Toaster, their Flower Power robot, their can-do attitude, and all the skills they’ve learned this year to Houston to see what they can do against teams from all over the world.
by Sharon Purvis
