Business students at the University of West Georgia recently took advantage of a rare opportunity to meet with faculty and community leaders to discuss major societal topics of the day as well as hear an inspirational message from UWG alumna Missy Dugan, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta.

The event, the McCalman Executive Roundtable, is hosted each year by the Richards College of Business and supported by Mary Covington, who is a long-time donor and board advisor for the Richards College of Business. The roundtable has been a staple of the unique experiences offered by the Richards College of Business since 1987 and has featured various guest speakers, including former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, former Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine and Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Health Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald.

The roundtable’s most recent installment featured Dugan, who encouraged the students in the room to find their passion, not be afraid to go for it and to do the best they can do each day.

“Because when you go to work every day and you love the people you work with and what you do, whether it be accounting, business strategy, finance or development, it is the most rewarding thing to be able to go to work each day,” Dugan said. “Because it’s not work. It’s a joy to show up each day.”

Dugan highlighted people who had made a difference in her life and in her career.

“I had the distinct pleasure of running Newt Gingrich’s offices here in Carrollton as well as some of the offices in Atlanta,” Dugan explained. “He was the first person who made a difference in my life, and here’s why: Newt never stops teaching. He never stops teach his audience or his staff.”

Dugan said Gingrich taught her a unique lesson when she was just 23 years old. He dropped her off at the McDonald’s on Maple Street and told her to introduce herself to every person in the building and learn one interesting thing about them.

“He told me that I had 15 minutes to do this because after 15 minutes he was going to walk through those doors, and I was going to introduce him to all those people,” she said. “But he taught me the power of allowing yourself to do that and the power of connecting with people and finding out something special about them.”

Dugan also elaborated on those she takes advice from, saying her father is always the voice she hears inside her head when she’s trying to make a decision. She also shared this wisdom that he instilled in her:

“Most importantly, my dad is the one who taught me that you show up every day,” she said. “You work hard every day. You are not given anything; you work for it. You make sure that you’re doing the job you want not the job you have. You dress for the job you want, not the job you have.”

She also advised students to build their own cabinet of advisors to help them through tough decisions in life.

“I call mine my Kitchen Cabinet,” Dugan laughed. “They can be anybody, but for me they are four amazing women, and I call them my trusted advisors because sometimes you can go with your gut, but sometimes you can’t.”

As part of the event each year, speakers ask the students, faculty and community members at each table to answer a question by discussing the proposed issue and coming to an agreement as a table. Dugan asked the tables two questions: “If money wasn’t a concern, what would you do for a living?” and “If you had to look at our national budget and keep one social service and discard another, which ones would they be and why?”

The question yielded lively discussion and a wide range of answers. Students said they were challenged by the answers but also enjoyed learning more about the different perspectives of their peers, professors and community leaders.