Page 19 - Tonilee & Bobbye Social Media Special Edition Oct Nov 2011 (1)

Advancing quickly through the ranks, this young woman who had obtain an Executive MBA. Attending San Diego State University on
begun to show interest in the nursing field at the age of 14, found weekends, Bobbye soon graduated with her Executive MBA with
herself in the acute neurological department, then to administra- a primary focus on entrepreneurial start-up companies. Bobbye
tion, and finally in the Intensive Care Unit where she specialized in adds, “This was the time when dotcoms were taking off and I had a
heart transplantation. Tonilee loved her patients and her job, and great interest in the technology involved in these businesses. Hav-
was even called upon to write training manuals in her specialty. It ing come from the medical field, where computerization was way
was during her work in this position that her own heart would be ahead of the curve, I was ready to tackle this career change.” Aside
affected, when she met the man who became her husband: Rob from a busy career, Bobbye also dedicated time and energy to her
Adamson was the Cardiac Surgeon who ran the transplant unit at church and it was through this church group that Bobbye would
Sharp. They married soon after and started raising a family. When meet Tonilee and forge not only a long lasting friendship, but gain a
complications occurred during Tonilee’s second pregnancy, she business partner.
was forced to be on bed rest for three months. It was then that she These two dynamic women had much in common, both coming
stopped doing patient care and was presented with a new chal- from the healthcare industry, being technologically savvy and want-
lenge. Tonilee explains, “The CompuServe system had just been ing to give back to others. Bobbye explains, “We met in a church
group in September of 2000. We both had similar
interest in health care and computer technology
and also teaching. Tonilee was teaching in the
hospitals and I was teaching in the laboratory
environment. We came together with a desire to
help women. Our main focus was to empower,
motivate and inspire women allowing them to
stand up and take notice of their talents and
abilities.”
Tonilee explains the rapid growth of their gather-
ings. “Our small church group grew quickly over
the next five years. We went from 50 women
to 500 in a very short time. Soon, we found
ourselves with a national platform where we
were writing books, speaking to women’s groups
and broadcasting on a syndicated radio program
where we centered our message around helping
women to be inspired and motivated.”
With Bobbye’s business acumen she realized
that they were handing out money to others
for projects they were capable of undertaking
themselves, “In 2006 we started not only writing
our books but publishing them. We didn’t just San Diego
pay people to do radio for us, instead we did it Woman
ourselves. We became our own radio and video
producers and our own web designers. We
basically realized after paying thousands and 19
thousands of dollars to others that we had the
ability to learn to do it ourselves.”
And they did, not only for their church group, but
before very long they found themselves be-
ing called upon by other women’s organizations
brought into our hospital and we were one of the first hospitals to across the country. “We started putting on events and helping other
go online. So I stopped doing patient care and started teaching companies with their book publishing and conferences. When our
computers. Working in ICU with high tech equipment provided me conferences started to draw over 1500 women, we realized that
with a basic understanding of how computers work, and before long we had something very valuable, and it was time to make it into a
I was training all departments in the hospital.” Tonilee continued business. That is how Media4Women Enterprises was founded in
in this position for a while until she decided to quit work and stay 2009.”
home with her three children. Even with her busy family, she still In reality Bobbye and Tonilee had already been operating as a
found time to volunteer at her church and began teaching. This business for two years, but this is when they decided to make it for-
was the venue at which she would meet Bobbye Brooks. mal. “We started Media4Women to help women start businesses.
Bobbye was born in a small town in Western Tennessee and went Our business in a box program provides all a customer needs to get
off to College at Murray State in Kentucky. She received a Bache- up and running. Before long men were calling wanting to know if
lor’s degree in psychology and chemistry. With primarily a pre-med they could utilize our services, necessitating the creation of Media
background, Bobbye ended up with a position working in an ana- Enterprises.”
tomic pathology lab after graduation. She too advanced quickly in Dividing their time and talents, Tonilee runs Media4Women and
her field and became the VP of operations in six short years. In her Bobbye heads Media Enterprises, but both women work closely
new position Bobbye traveled frequently, and when her company together in both companies. Tonilee (affectionately called TL by
decided to relocate her to San Diego for nine months to oversee Bobbye) explains, “We are a good team because Bobbye is a very
the construction of a new facility, she jumped at the opportunity. It astute business woman. I, on the other hand have that nursing
would be a lucky move for Bobbye who ended up falling in love and heart to help the woman; the emotional stability of a woman, the
marrying Tom Brooks, the contractor who was building her new lab. mental stability of a woman. We come together and make a great
Bobbye took a position with a large lab in the Los Angeles area; team because we have the heart and mind that we are constantly
an infectious disease lab and one of the first to test for HIV. It was trying to advance women in all of these
at this point that Bobbye decided she wanted to return to school to