CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 55 Photography by Michelle Bir BY COURTNEY PHILLIPS According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, the percentage of women taking over the management and ownership of their family business has increased significantly in recent years. In 1994, only two percent of family businesses were women- led. Currently, women lead 11 to 12 percent of all family firms and North Carolina has the third fastest growth of women-owned businesses in the country. Local women grow their family businesses in Fayetteville I n Fayetteville, four homegrown women bring fresh perspectives to traditionally male-dominat- ed fields, serve as strong role models for women in business and have fun doing it. Whitney Allen Austin, Gen- eral Manager of Green Side Up Garden & Gifts Long before Whitney directly im- pacted the profit margin of the whole- sale nursery, landscaping and mainte- nance business that her parents, Charles and Cindy, founded in 1979, she and her two siblings, Charlie and Lorna, were part of Green Biz. Attending nursery trade shows and spending aernoons doing homework in the business office when they were children, the siblings were well-qualified to work in the nurs- ery as soon as they were of age. Shortly aer Whitney graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009 with dual degrees in economics and management, her dad approached her with the idea of opening and managing a garden center. While well-positioned for such an endeavor, she never assumed she would be a part of the family business when she was growing up. "If that had been the case, I probably would have gone to school for Horticulture at N.C. State. ey have a great program," said Whitney, who ur- gently added, "but I'm still a Tarheel." In May 2010, Green Side Up Gar- den and Gis opened for business with Whitney at the helm. Each day brings a unique set of challenges, some of which are attributable to one of Whitney's fa- vorite facets of Green Biz: family. Her dad is the CEO, her mom is the CFO and her brother is the VP of Operations. "My employers and supervisors are my parents. At times, my brother is my boss. It can be difficult to be at work one minute with your boss, then the next minute, be across the table at Christmas dinner. Constantly, we have to remind each other that we are not at work." Whitney accredits her success in business to teamwork, both with her family and her employees. "I think it is so imperative to surround yourself with a great team. I am so fortunate to have AT THE HELM feature Whitney Allen Austin of Green Side Up with her father, Charles Allen

• Cover