Deborah Pressley
 Jordan Parker

Meet the 2009 Athena Award winner

On July 1, 2009 at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting, Deborah Pressley walked across the stage to receive the honorary Athena Award. The Athena Award honors women in the community who demonstrate excellence, creativity, and initiative in their profession, who provide valuable time and energy to improve the quality of life for others, and who assist women in reaching their full leadership potential.

It was in May of this year when Deborah received a call from Carol Hensley, Assistant Vice President of Small Business & Entrepreneurship of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, who told her about being among the Athena Award nominees.
“At the time, I had no idea I had been nominated,” Deborah replies. “I had an overwhelming sense of enthusiasm and excitement.”

With 25 years of experience within the staffing industry, Deborah is currently the Vice President of Friday Staffing Services, an area leader in staffing, technical, and professional services. This year, she celebrated her 20th year with the company, and throughout those 20 years she has had the ability to grow and foster a budding career that has changed her life as well as the lives of many others.

In 1989, after having her son Aaron, Deborah decided to get back into the work force, admitting that she “couldn’t not work.” On her way to an interview, she happened to see John Modaff, owner of Friday Staffing, put up a “Help Wanted” sign. She immediately pulled over and introduced herself as a person with five years of staffing experience. Later that day she was hired as an Account Executive. From there, she was given a team leader position in 1997 and was then promoted to Vice President of the company in 1998.

“With Friday Staffing, we have the opportunity to help people turn their lives around,” she says. “We listen to what they’ve done with their careers in the past, but we also focus on where they want to be.”
“As a woman in business, there have been many women and men who have influenced my career throughout the years,” Deborah adds. Through their influence, they instilled in me the desire to be successful which I hope I can also pass along to others. I was constantly encouraged to stretch my talents to reach established goals.”
Deborah had the drive to work hard early on in life. When she was 13 years old and when she began high school as a Freshman at Fletcher Academy, she worked at the hospital in various departments to pay her tuition. “Nothing ever seemed impossible,” Deborah states. “I went through life with huge persistence, determination, and desire. My mother had such an influential presence on me as a child and would say to me, ‘When you do something, you do it right.’”

Deborah has taken that determination and used it to give back in all that she does today. She not only gives back to clients seeking job opportunities but plays an active role in the community by serving the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, the American Red Cross, the Children’s Mission Hospital Foundation, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, among many other associations. 

Deborah has been giving back or as she puts it “paying it forward” since 1981 when she began fostering children through “Singles for Foster Change.” She and her husband continued to sponsor and foster many more children in the Asheville area until 1999. It was a joy that influenced many of Deborah’s community involvements.

One of those involvements was with Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that raises money for children with life-threatening medical conditions. In 2000, she was awarded Volunteer of the Year for her work in starting the foundation’s Asheville chapter, raising thousands of dollars in the process.

Deborah’s community involvement  ties into her job at Friday Staffing in a fundamental way. “When you give back, you gain so much more,” she explains. “It’s important for women to feel potential — for them to have short-term goals that are achievable and long-term goals they can strive for.”

By using the inspiration she has gathered throughout her own life, Deborah creates within women the belief that they can grow and be successful. “The greatest gift of all is when you see a young woman you have helped in some small way give back to another young woman — that’s when you know that what you are doing is working.”

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