From GED To Harvard Then Inc. 500: How Two Teens Went From GEDs To Building The Fastest Growing Business In New Orleans

by Jane Wolfe, Scott Wolfe

Overview

WHEN YOU START WITH LOVE, YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING
In From GED to Harvard Then Inc. 500, be prepared to fall not just for a city but for a couple who firmly believe that the most wildly successful businesses don’t start with a sale or even a product … they start with a desire to engage with others.
When they bought a run-down little market in 1982, the Wolfes didn’t even consider the idea of failing. At seventeen and nineteen years old, Jane and Scott knew that if they were going to succeed, they needed to put their whole heart into their business. And it worked. The Wolfes found that success isn’t as much about what you sell—it’s about the feelings that your team members project and your customers walk away with. In short, it’s about love.
From GED to Harvard Then Inc. 500 walks with the Wolfes through their journey from the early years of Wagner’s Meat, its growth and utter destruction by Hurricane Katrina, their astonishing rebuilding, and the realization of running a New Orleans icon that has a little bit of everything ... and a whole lot of community engagement.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781946633378
Publisher:	Advantage Media Group, Inc.
Publication date:	04/21/2020
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	1,074,581
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

JANE WOLFE AND SCOTT WOLFE are the founders of Melba’s PoBoys, recognized in 2016 as the fastest-growing company in Louisiana by Inc. magazine and by GQ magazine as one of the best restaurants in the most unexpected places. Starting as teenage entrepreneurs in 1982, the Wolfes founded and operated some of New Orleans’ most iconic and fastest-growing businesses, including Wagner’s Meat markets and Wolfman Construction.

A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Jane also credits higher education for providing her with a broader, richer perspective on the finer connections between business, politics, and religion that drive a company’s success.

Over the course of their business career, the Wolfes’ businesses generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, received national recognition, and employed more than three hundred people.

SCOTT AND JANE WOLFE are the founders of Melba’s PoBoys, recognized in 2016 as the fastest-growing company in Louisiana by Inc. magazine and by GQ magazine as one of the best restaurants in the most unexpected places. Starting as teenage entrepreneurs in 1982, the Wolfes founded and operated some of New Orleans’ most iconic and fastest-growing businesses, including Wagner’s Meat markets and Wolfman Construction.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xv

What's Desire Got to do With It? 1

Shotgun 3

Know Truth 7

Two Kids with Geds 9

A Ten-Year-Old's Contract 11

Imperfection has Consequences 13

There's an Entrepreneur in all of Us 15

Ideal Situation 19

There's a Chance Here 21

Interest, Plus a Cadillac 31

Dream to Do Well 33

Accidentally Positioned 39

A House Built on Luncheon Meat 41

You Can't Beat … Wagner's Meat 45

Seven Words or Less 47

The Wrestle 49

Ice Cream Empathy 51

"What Do You Mean, 'can't Do It'?" 57

Double-Crossed 65

Troublemakers Are Price Sensitive 69

Beer-Biased Bureaucracy 73

Hello, Dol 79

"Can My Five-Year-Old Work At Wagner's?" 83

Unless You're a Cat 5 Hurricane 87

Insurance, Fema, and the Cabbage Strategy 95

Turning on Wolfman Construction 99

A Roof Over New Orleans 101

In Hot Water with the Navy 107

Let Harvard Tell Her "No" 113

Of the New Things 115

Eat at Melba's 121

Forget Coffee, What People Want is Comfort 123

This Store Will Not Exist Without Heart 125

Inc. 500 List and the Fastest Growing Company in Louisiana 133

Another Round with the Cabbage Cookers 135

The Power of Engagement 141

…And Slowing Down to See the Bigger Picture 147

Qr Codes 153

Photo Journal 161