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November 10th, 2005
Or be sure to visit www.istartedsomethingamazing.com to learn more!
 Illinois entrepreneur wins award from Microsoft
By Jerri Stroud
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
11/10/2005
Michelle Tjelmeland was 20 before she realized she had a hearing loss. Two years later, she was deaf.
Tjelmeland had been a reading teacher before the hearing loss forced her to quit. Then she had a child who showed signs of deafness, although many doctors dismissed her concerns.
 "We went to nine different doctors, and they all told us pretty much I was nuts," she said. Finally, a doctor in New Orleans confirmed the baby's lack of hearing.
Her daughter's deafness spurred Tjelmeland to seek cochlear implants for both of them as well as training for a new career.
Tjelmeland, who lives in Springfield, Ill., is one of five winners of Microsoft Corp.'s Start Something Amazing awards, recognizing people who use the company's technology to pursue everyday passions. She received the award Thursday from Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Wash.
 Tjelmeland, 32, has embraced technology, earning an online master's degree from the University of Illinois, starting a home-based Web site business with other stay-at-home mothers and launching a nonprofit foundation for families seeking cochlear implants, including a grant program for expenses that aren't covered by insurance.
Her business, e-websmart, has clients in St. Louis, throughout Illinois, and across the United States. She and her team design the Web sites so clients can update them with little or no assistance. The service includes training and technical support.
"I am the owner and founder, but I have a team of people working with me," she said. Two graphic artists, a copy writer and an information-technology expert - the only man - work with e-Websmart on contracts.
Charlie Houska, an artist based in the Central West End, said a friend of a friend referred him to Tjelmeland.
"She has taught me how to update (my site) and keep track of visitors and all that stuff," said Houska. "I love it. It's amazing and different."
Glenn Hodas, a Springfield-based political consultant, is another satisfied client. He said Tjelmeland first helped him with MapTheVotes.com, a site that contains dozens of maps showing how people voted in Illinois elections.
"I needed to get it going in about a week and a half," Hodas said. Tjelmeland jumped on his idea and met the deadline. She also designed two other sites for him. "She's really hands-on," he said. "She's got a super amount of energy."
Tjelmeland channels some of her energy into two other sites related to her pursuit of a cochlear implant for her daughter (www.iloveellie.com) as well as the nonprofit Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation (www.ciafonline.org).
Tjelmeland began researching the possibility of an implant for her daughter as soon as the child was diagnosed as profoundly deaf.
Although the implants are controversial, Tjelmeland was raised in a family with normal speech and hearing, and she wanted her daughter to be able to speak and hear as well. The operation occurred when the child, named Ellie, was a toddler.
Ellie, who didn't hear until she got the implant, began speaking at age 4. She's 7 now and in second grade, performing at grade level.
"She still struggles because she is hearing-impaired," said Tjelmeland, whose other daughter, Lucy, 5, has normal hearing.
"I know what my life has been like being hearing-impaired," Tjelmeland said. "It was a very lonely, devastating world.
"If I only had one day to live my life and I could get the implant, I would hands-down do it," she said. "It has given me my life back."
jerristroud@post-dispatch.com
314-340-8384
Local Illinois Business Owner Honored With Microsoft Start Something Amazing Award
Thursday November 10, 12:00 pm ET
Bill Gates Recognizes Founder of e-websmart and the Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation for Her Unique Use of Windows Technology.
REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- After conducting a five-month nationwide search, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT- News) today announced the five winners of its Start Something Amazing Awards, honoring Michelle Tjelmeland of Springfield, Ill., for her unique and inspiring use of Microsoft® Windows®-related technology to pursue her passions of building Web sites and helping families affected by hearing loss. Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates will meet with Tjelmeland today at Microsoft's headquarters, where he will present her with the award for the Culture & Community category and discuss how she integrates technology into the operation of her Web-development business, e-websmart (http://www.e-websmart.com/index.html), and nonprofit organization, the Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation (http://www.ciafonline.org).
"Today we celebrate the achievements of five highly creative individuals who used the Microsoft Windows platform to pursue their passions," Gates said. "Their stories, along with those of thousands of others who entered the Start Something Amazing Awards, are inspirational examples of the transformative power of technology."
The Start Something Amazing Awards were created to support the global awareness campaign called Start Something, one of the largest and longest marketing campaigns in the Windows brand history, which celebrates the countless possibilities for Windows to bring what people are passionate about to life using the hundreds of thousands of software applications and devices that work with Microsoft Windows XP.
When Tjelmeland became deaf at 22, she relied on technology to help cope with her hearing loss. She earned an online master's degree in computer technology and education from the University of Illinois, and started her e-websmart business out of her home. The company provided Tjelmeland with an avenue to successfully earn a living by using her Windows-based PC to communicate with clients and manage the business, from developing Windows Server(TM)-based Web sites and using Microsoft Office PowerPoint® for client proposals to tracking finances in Microsoft Office Excel®. After her daughter Ellie was born deaf, Tjelmeland developed the Web site http://www.iloveellie.com to share their inspiring story and connect with other families in similar circumstances. She also founded the Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing information, resources and support to prospective cochlear implant recipients and their families. With these efforts, Tjelmeland has relied on Microsoft Office, MSN® Messenger and Windows Media® Player to connect with people in the deaf community. Tjelmeland is also a member of The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce (http://www.gscc.org) and the National Association of Women Business Owners (http://www.nawbo.org).
"I can't imagine what my life would be like without technology," Tjelmeland said. "Everything I do involves technology -- from communicating with others to using my cell phone with text messages and digital camera on a daily basis -- but, more importantly, technology gave me my life back by helping me go from silence to sound."
As the winner in the Culture & Community category, Tjelmeland will receive $5,000 worth of the latest Windows technology, including a Media Center PC, Tablet PC and iriver H10 portable music device. She will also receive a once-in-a-lifetime travel opportunity for herself and a guest, by selecting one of four exotic National Geographic Expeditions to either discover the cultural and natural wonders of Bhutan, explore Tanzania and Zanzibar, take a classical journey through Greece, or chart China's past.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
NOTE: Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, PowerPoint, Excel, MSN and Windows Media are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Taylorville native meets Microsoft mogul today
TAYLORVILLE - Michelle Klemm Tjelmeland has been selected as one of five winners nationwide in the Microsoft "Start Something Amazing Awards."
Microsoft brought Tjelmeland and the other winners to Seattle where today they will meet with the company's founder Bill Gates.
Tjelmeland earned the top spot in the Culture and Community division of the Start Something campaign, a program intended to honor people who use Windows® and related technology to pursue their individual passions.
In addition to the trip to Seattle, she will received $5000 in Microsoft products and will take her choice of a National Geographic expedition to Bhutan, Tanzania and Zanzibar, Greece, or China.
The 1991 graduate of Taylorville High School who became profoundly deaf as an adult earned a master's degree in computer technology and education. She started a web development business - www.ewebsmart.com - that creates sites for clients across the county including one for Taylorville's SHADOW Home, to whom she donated her services.
When her daughter Ellie was born deaf, Tjelmeland shared their experiences at her web site www.iloveellie.com where she currently counsels more than three dozen families facing similar situations.
Through cochlear implant technology, both mother and daughter can hear now. Tjelmeland founded the Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation (www.ciafonline.org,) a non-profit and first of its kind organization that provides financial assistance for individuals and families experiencing financial difficulties from expenses related to cochlear implants.
"I cannot think about what my life would be like without technology," Tjelmeland stated. "Thank you to the creators of Microsoft software. You provide me and many others a lifeline."
Tjelmeland and her husband Joel live in the Springfield area with Ellie and their younger daughter Lucy. Michelle is the daughter of Max and Sheryl Klemm of Taylorville.
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