"More to Life Than Making a Living"

Vickie Henry~Northwood Graduate She was supposed to be taking shorthand. But, Vickie Henry could not stop getting caught up in the letter her boss was dictating. She pestered him with question..."So Mr. Smith is coming to town," she would say, "What's the plan?"

Vickie, 'he would say', just take the letter.' I should've known then that my entrepreneurial side was going to win out," said Henry, who now owns a mystery shopping company in Dallas called Feedback Plus, Inc.
Henry grew up in lola, Kansas, a "little-bitty town," she said. She grew up wanting to get to the big city. She went to cosmetology school after graduating, but landed a banking job when she was just 18 years old.
For 6 years she worked at a small New Mexico bank, where she did everything but make loans. It made her a valuable commodity when she moved to a larger city and went to work for a bigger bank. She ended up a the First City Bank in Dallas, and eventually was made vice president.
Toward the end of her 15 years as a banker, her bank used the services of Feedback Plus, Inc. - allowing mystery shoppers to use the bank's services and then report on their experiences. Feedback Plus provides businesses with the results as a way to gauge customer satisfaction.
Henry loved the idea. In 1983, she ended up joining Feedback Plus as partner and decided to leave the bank.
"You know when I left the bank I had a company car, a Mastercard and Visa for expenses...a secure banking job," she said. "I left and went on straight commission. But, it wasn't scary at the time. I really wanted to do it."
People told her what she was doing was risky, but she was excited with the new opportunity. And, within three years, she bought out her partner.
"It was pretty intimidating to be in charge," she said. "I was totally alone. I kind of panicked a bit. After a year of having it by myself, I thought, 'this is good.' I could make a decision instantaneously."
Now Henry said she thinks she was destined to be her own boss. Her father was an entrepreneur, managing and running a plant for 38 years.
"I never really set out to have my own company. It's great to have a plan, but don't let that plan get in the way when opportunity presents itself," she said.
These days Henry is not as involved in the day-to-day operation of the business. She devotes much of her time to her public speaking business, dubbed "Would You Do Business With You?" She happened to speak on the campus of what was then Northwood Institute and learned about their external degree program on the Texas campus.
Throughout her career, she continued to take college classes, always trying to keep abreast of trends or areas where she believed she needed more education. She accumulated the credits but wasn't getting closer to a degree, until she talked to Northwood.
"I had a vision of a light at the end of the tunnel. I really can get my degree," she said.
Henry enrolled and said the flexible course schedule helped her graduate summa cum laude with a bachelor of business administration degree in 1993.
"You know I had my own company and was successful ... but I'd go to my Executive Women meetings ... and I'd think, I bet I'm the only one in here without a degree. It started to bother me. So I made up my mind to do it," she said.
Henry speaks to different associations, has served on governmental boards and served as president of the Executive Women of Dallas. She was the Merrill Lynch nominee for Entrepreneur of the Year and is active now with the Fellowship of Professional Women. She received the Northwood Outstanding Alumni Award in 1998, and said she is grateful for both the honor and the degree.
"The thing I loved about Northwood is I could come back to my company and immediately use what I learned," she said. "Every class I took at Northwood I could use."