My Story

CATHY JOBE

Consultant/Coach/Project Manager

I grew up as an only child, shy but loved to read and write. People would say I was really smart but I was an underachiever. Initially, I attended UT Chattanooga majoring in Pre-med Chemistry and Psychology but life would lead me to become an LPN in 1990. My completed degrees are B.S. in Healthcare Management and MBA Project Management. Growing up around physicians and scientists as my mother worked in research at Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University, I’ve always had that village around me who inspired and poured into me. The only problem is that although my mother would try to give me the world, I never wanted it. I had a sensitivity for those suffering and lacking, therefore, I thought I should only have just enough.

I caught the entrepreneur bug when I worked my first job at age 16 at Bojangles, a chicken restaurant. I noticed that there were a lot of sales during the rush hours in the morning and the evening. I would learn from hanging around the manager how much was made daily. It just didn’t make sense to me when I added up how much everyone was paid in a day and how much revenue came in. I began to research more about how much each product cost and how much it would cost to open a restaurant like that (before the Internet age). That’s when I began to dream.

If you asked me what I wanted to be in life, I would tell you that I wanted to be a Psychiatrist but I would use the money to buy a laundromat, a hotel, a lot of property and a nursing home in the country. Since reading, “Think and Grow Rich” at age 20, I stayed with the mentality that working for someone was just my way to support a business until fully viable. As a nurse, I would go to places others refused and I was known as an advocate and liaison for the patients, families, my fellow employees and at times leadership. I was a natural relationship builder but a loner. I believe in making things right which caused a lot of trouble at times. My quietness would not let the trouble lead to me.

I’ve been an entrepreneur since the age of 23. My first business was a group home for the mentally challenged and elderly. I changed the structure from a Partnership to a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit within the first year due to the struggle to provide the needs of the residents with just their monthly checks. My second nonprofit was founded out of my observation of nurses and other female healthcare workers around me, it was called the Women’s Awareness & Empowerment Organization. I’ve always motivated others by challenging them when told why they couldn’t accomplish a particular goal. I was known for asking, “How do you know it’s hard unless you tried it”.

Other businesses for me include a clothing store for children, a hair and beauty supply store, an athletic store, and an online lingerie store. For the last 15 years, I would use my consulting company, now called A&E Coaching Group, Inc. as a pass-through for various administrative services I provided especially 501(c)(3) preparation, filing for government procurement, and other business filings. I have a life insurance license and have had a real estate and mortgage broker license in the past. I’ve bought a total of 4 houses in my lifetime in which none of them have been bought in a traditional way. Due to life changes, I was forced to leave and I moved to Orlando in 1999. I’ve since lived in Atlanta, Miami and back to Orlando prior to coming back home. I’ve only been back in Nashville for 3 years to take care of my mother who passed March 2017.

The overall culture of A&E Coaching Group Inc. reflects the belief that each individual should feel that they are a very important person (VIP) and that their offering to society is meaningful. Transparency, honesty, and integrity are words that stand out front at all times. We realize the common issue of feeling “stuck”. Although I work with both business owners and leaders. but my passion and current mission is “All Things Nonprofit”. I am a visionary that can assist you with securing the resources you need to empower yourself and your organization toward success!