Heidi Walker Wins Cougar Business Pitch 2023

Turner College MBA student Heidi Walker was the big winner of Cougar Business Pitch 2023. The business that she pitched is called Mommy & Me Toys, Inc., which is a children's toy company that creates children's toys that spark faith and harness the power of play. One product line offered by the company, “My Pray and Play Pal,” is a doll that says one of four special prayers once its hand is pressed. With the win, Walker received a $3,000 grant to grow her business.

Even though the win came with a monetary prize, Walker indicated to Turner Business that the chance to simply participate in the competition was invaluable. According to Walker, “I not only enjoyed participating in the Cougar Business Pitch Competition, I learned a lot of valuable information on how to raise capital for my business and how to start getting potential customers interested in my company's product.” Turner Business thanks Kirk Heriot, professor of management and holder of the Crowley Chair in Entrepreneurship, for another fine job administering the competition.

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ABDC Releases 2025 Journal Review, Now Ranks Journal Edited by Phil Bryant

The long-awaited journal review being conducted by the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) has been released and there are a number of news items that relate to faculty in the Turner College. One of these is the ABDC's decision to now include Compensation and Benefits Review in its journal rankings. This is big news for the Turner College as its editor, Phil Bryant , is a professor of management in the Turner College. The ABDC is proposing that the journal enter its system for the first time as a C-rated journal. Acting Turner College Dean Tesa Leonce sits on the journal's editorial board, while Turner College management professor Mark James has guest-edited an issue of the journal. Published by SAGE, Compensation & Benefits Review is the leading journal for senior executives and professionals who design, implement, evaluate and communicate compensation and benefits policies and programs. The journal supports compensation and benefits specialists and academic ex...

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Turner Business Chats with Kevin Hurt about Leadership Research Program

Our 5 September 2025 profile of Turner College management professor Kevin Hurt has been a popular one here at Turner Business . That blog post focused mainly on the portfolio of leadership research that he has steadily built up over recent years into one that is unmatched in the Turner College. We recently visited with Hurt to discuss his research endeavors. The transcript of that visit appears below. TB: ‎ Turner Business recently profiled your growing list of research publications in leadership. What would be your assessment of how your research program in leadership has gone so far? KH: Overall, it has been a rewarding journey. I appreciate that the Turner Business profile acknowledged my work, particularly in the area of servant leadership. While journal publications are a measure of success for us as faculty, to me that success also includes building the next generation of leaders. It was the latter that inspired me to leave a Fortune 500 corporation and seek...

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