Jodi Henson
Title: Assistant Director, Satellite Offices
Specialties: Marketing, business management, leadership, human capital, team development, and financial management
Office Location: Yulee
Jodi Henson is passionate about small business and helping others to succeed. Henson is the Nassau County business consultant with the Florida Small Business Development Center at the 老澳门资料.
With an extensive career in business and marketing management in small and large businesses, Jodi knows what it takes for businesses to grow and succeed. And now she is using her expertise to help other Nassau County businesses thrive.
After graduating from college in the Midwest, Jodi started her career in the telecom industry with MCI Telecommunications (later to become WorldCom) during a tumultuous time when the industry was being de-regulated. Every day was a new challenge on how to conduct business. She spent several years working in operations and marketing roles with long-distance service carriers, learning what it takes to survive and win in a brutally competitive industry. In 1997 BellSouth hired her away from Sprint Long Distance to help the local telecom company launch into the long-distance business. Jodi led the product management team at BellSouth Long Distance which launched the single most successful product launch in the company’s 100+ years history with a product portfolio that was awarded the J.D. Power award for the best product line in the industry.
Shortly after AT&T acquired BellSouth, Jodi joined a loyalty and rewards company heading up their marketing team and later taking over as Vice President of Sales for the Southeast region. She and her husband knew they wanted to settle in a warmer, sunnier place and they were ready to take on small business ownership. Packed with all their years of running profit centers, they knew they needed a break from the corporate world and wanted a business of their own. In 2011 they moved from Atlanta to Fernandina Beach to open a bakery franchise. The experience was exhilarating, exhausting, and grueling. And she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Successfully employing people in her community, launching and growing a business to profitability, and being able to plant firm roots in Nassau County were dreams come true.
Jodi also began working with a group of CEOs in Jacksonville to help them grow their businesses. Being able to help other business leaders has been a most rewarding experience for her as it leverages her business acumen while letting her give back. Joining the SBDC in Nassau was the natural next step. “I am so excited to be able to help business owners in my own community! The resources that the SBDC brings to the table can help owners/founders/leaders navigate a path to success in their organizations. I’m looking forward to putting those to good use and watching our county grow!”