Millions of biscuits and millions of pies are made each day at Bama facilities in our area and around the world. Much of the continuing success of this award-winning corporation is due to Paula Marshall, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Diversity Officer of Bama Companies.
Ms. Marshall will be the special guest speaker for the 2017 P.E.O. Book Review Series in special conjunction with RSU’s Carl G. and Gladys L. Herrington Distinguished Lecture Series. Ms. Marshall will meet with students as part of this RSU Lecture Series.
The late Carl G. and Gladys L. Herrington established the Herrington Distinguished Lectureship Endowment in 1989 through the RSU Foundation as a way to provide exceptional educational opportunities for students. Mr. Herrington, a retired Exxon executive, served on the RSU Foundation Board of Directors and was a long-time supporter of the university. In 1990, RSU awarded him with the Jefferson Fellow Award. Herrington Hall, which houses the institution’s School of Professional Studies, was named in honor of the Herrington family in 1995. Ms. Marshall also presented the 2004 Herrington Lecture.
This lecture will take place in the Rogers State University Centennial Center Ballroom on Thursday, March 30 at 10:30 a.m. Admission is $10 and includes brunch. Tickets are available from any PEO member or by calling the RSU Foundation office at 918-343-7773 or calling Kim at 918-695-7217.
Paula Marshall started working in 1970 at the pie company started by her Grandmother, Cornillia Alabama Marshall in Texas. The business of Bama’s delicious pies was moved to Tulsa in 1937 by her son Paul Marshall and his wife, Lilah. By the time Marshall handed over the reins of the family business to his daughter, Paula, in 1984, Bama Pies had grown into a $33 million-a-year operation. As the youngest child in the Marshall family and as a woman, Paula had not been in line to take over the business. Paul Marshall had considered hiring a non-family executive or selling the company when none of his three sons wanted to be the next head of business. Then, during what Marshall called a “divine intervention,” he realized that his daughter, who had worked for the company for 17 years, knew how to run the business. She also had a bachelor of science degree in business from Oklahoma City University and later earned a doctorate degree in commercial science from OCU.
Under Ms. Marshall’s leadership, the Bama Companies has expanded its facilities, its markets internationally, and its sales volume. The Company won the Oklahoma Quality Award, the Sweeney award from McDonald’s for business excellence among its global suppliers, and the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. The mission of Bama Companies is “People Helping People Be Successful.”
Ms. Marshall has authored four books: “Finding The Soul of Big Business,” “Sometimes Being a CEO Looks Pretty Tough,” “Sweet as Pie, Tough as Nails: How a Teen Mom Turned CEO Conquered Giant Obstacles in Life and Business” and “The Executive Entrepreneur,” which she co-authored with Jim Stovall, a previous book review speaker.
Please join us as Paula Marshall tells her story of being a teen mom and unexpected CEO of the family business, and all the trials, frustrations, and thrills that were part of this adventure for her. All proceeds will go to scholarships for women, provided by Claremore P.E.O. Chapter BM.