October 20, 2007

10/20/2007 3:48:00 PM  
 
Taylorville graduate nominated as Entrepreneur of the Year

by Rachel Wells
Breeze-Courier writer

SPRINGFIELD - 1991 Taylorville High School graduate Michelle Klemm Tjelmeland is no stranger to accolades from organizations, businesses, and schools.

As a woman who earned her masters degree with a 4.0 grade point average, a baby on the way, weeks of bed rest and, perhaps most impressively, profoundly deaf ears, Michelle has always lived life with zeal. 

While studying to be a language arts teacher at Eastern Illinois University, Michelle began to lose her hearing at a rapid pace. Full lecture rooms became extra challenging and hearing aids could only help so much, but with long hours and a fighting spirit Tjelmeland graduated on time. Eventually, though, Michelle's hearing loss required her to give up the teaching profession she had worked so hard to join. 

The time had come to find a new identity. Tjelmeland returned to school and earned a master's degree in education and computer technology from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. When she signed up for the online program, Tjelmeland did not have a computer or an e-mail account, but a technologically based path was the only way Tjelmeland felt she could succeed without the ability to hear.

While accomplishing her goals in education and business, Michelle not only created a family but also dealt with the difficult decisions of her own hearing impairment as well as her young daughter's.

Throughout her adult life, Tjelmeland has been recognized as an individual of upstanding character, determination and business sense and her drive for excellence and the gushing energy she hosts is evidenced by the success of her own web development business e-websmart.com which Michelle estimates has grown 50 percent every year since 1999 by word of mouth alone.

Tjelmeland's latest honors began with a spark from a member of her own team, graphic designer Sharon Hewitt who now devotes nearly all of her professional energy to Tjelmeland's e-websmart.com.

Hewitt came across a nomination form for Inc.com's 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year and instantly thought of Tjelmeland.

The two first met at what Hewitt refers to as "some mom thing" and it was several weeks before she discovered her new employer was hearing impaired. Michelle announced in a speech a few weeks after hiring Hewitt that she was profoundly deaf. Hewitt can recall her own jaw-dropping reaction as well as that of a roomful of surprised college students.

Tjelmeland, who also created the Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation and its website ciafonline.org, has counseled hundreds of families faced with the difficult decisions inherent in discovering a family member's hearing impairment. The website provides a compilation of research necessary for cochlear implant candidates, but Michelle has done more than build a website for people in need.

Her unique perspective, as a cochlear implant recipient and the mother of a young girl who had the same surgery, is inviting to people who find themselves or their children in a similar situation. Michelle lends her cochlear implanted ears to twenty or twenty-five people each week who call seeking wisdom or comfort.

"I heard her speak at the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour and a lot of people will talk with her later ... they are compelled. She really cares about people. It's not just an 'oh, yeah, yeah, I was telling my story,' she's compassionate and wants to help others out too," said Hewitt.

Since its conception, the foundation has been able to aid a dozen families with the tremendous financial strain that results from cochlear implant surgery.

Michelle's charitable efforts, whether advising strangers or donating thousands of dollars worth of websites to nonprofit organizations, were only a small portion of why Hewitt felt compelled to nominate her for 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year.

Hewitt has observed Tjelmeland's entrepreneurial efforts through e-websmart.com as the company matured from just small business web design to design, marketing, logo development, branding and more.

Whether today's online culture is viewed by business owners as an unwelcome complication or a life-giving swirl of activity, it is a force that entrepreneurs must face. Many business owners choose to develop a website for their company but are at a loss for technological know-how. Others simply haven't the time. When Michelle Tjelmeland created e-websmart.com she provided more than technological rescue for other entrepreneurs.

Tjelmeland and her team create a personal and accessible relationship with customers, guiding owners of varied businesses through the otherwise tumultuous process of introducing themselves to today's online culture.

"Many times people come to us because we're known for web design, but what happens is that we don't want to just design their website and be done with it. We'll create a website for you but what are you going to do with it?" Hewitt said.

The full service attitude of Tjelmeland and her business are one of many characteristics that Hewitt believes makes her employer entrepreneur-of-the-year material.

"Like a true entrepreneur, she will look at it from all sides. How it affects all aspects of their business. Sometimes building a website can change a business completely because it's a whole other stream of how to receive business. You've got instead of people just calling you on the phone or sending you an occasional e-mail, it might ... turn your business into something bigger. And we make sure that people understand: What are you going to do when you start getting all that business? How are you going to handle it? Not to scare them, but to get them to plan. She's good at having them look at the entire picture."

Hewitt believes that efficient communication is also key to Tjelmeland's success.

"I've worked in environments where you can be meetinged to death, one after another after another meeting to the point where you don't get any work done, and then it's time to have a meeting again. Through constant communication we get to it, we take care of it, we move on. There's no 'let's ponder it for a week or two.' There's a lot more action."

If there's one truth to Michelle, it is that she gets things done.

"That's part of that true entrepreneurial spirit. Getting something done is not a matter of time, money, skills or talent. An entrepreneur will find all of those things. They will find someone who has the money, who has the talent. I've never ever heard Michelle come up with an idea that she didn't act on and accomplish in one way or another," Hewitt said.

And Michelle's ideas keep coming. She is in the process of launching her first book Market Your Mission: How to Market your Business or Nonprofit Organization and a mere six months after beginning book one, Tjelmeland has already begun writing a second Market Your Mission book for small to medium-sized business owners. Tjelmeland plans to launch a new book every year.

Hewitt is not the only person to recognize Michelle's outstanding efforts.

Tjelmeland was honored as 2005 Inspirational Deaf Person of the Year by the Oticon Focus on People Awards and as Small Business Owner of the Year by the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce.

She received a World Wide Web Gold Award in 2003, a Microsoft Start Something Amazing Award in 2005, and the 2006 Business Optimist Award from the National Association of Women Business Owners and Mirassou Winery.

Tjelmeland's e-websmart.com received a silver ADDY at the 2007 Central Illinois Advertising Association ADDY Awards before advancing to the national ADDY contest.

Michelle has also been recognized in publications such as Home Business Magazine, the State Journal Register, and SO Magazine.

The latest acknowledgment of Tjelmeland's efforts is part of a contest recognizing interesting people in the business community, specifically that unique entrepreneurial breed.

"They like inspiring others. It's a close-knit community. Entrepreneurs speak their own language," explained Senior Editor of Inc.com Rod Kurtz about the contests popularity among readers.

The website receives hundreds of nominations nationwide. After the nominating window closes in November, editors will select one outstanding entrepreneur as 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year and a number of others will be posted as Readers' Favorites. Individuals are chosen for their compelling narrative, an innovative idea, and business success.

Tjelmeland's nomination can be viewed at www.inc.com/entrepreneur/ where readers may post comments and rate all of the nominations.

Michelle Klemm Tjelmeland is a 1991 graduate of Taylorville High School and is the daughter of Taylorville residents Max and Sheryl Klemm. Tjelmeland currently resides in Springfield with her husband Joel and daughters Ellie and Lucy.  

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