In this episode of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-At-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with Janet Parker from Innovate Mississippi. Janet serves as the director of Business Development and marketing at Innovate Mississippi. She oversees all marketing, PT, corporate fundraising functions with the ultimate goal of working with partner organizations and companies to grow Mississippi’s innovation ecosystem — and the state economy. She is a Mississippian by choice — heralding originally from Illinois. In her past life, she was a VP for public relations for Maris, West & Baker Advertising, a business consultant and communications coach working with Fortune 500 clients in the US, Canada and Trinidad.

If she looks familiar, she was the hose of the Emmy-Award winning TV show, “Mississippi Outdoors” on MPB and has appeared on TV commercials, radio ads and print promotions.  She also had an 11-year career as an award-winning pharmaceutical sales representative. In 2012, she was named one of the Business Women in Mississippi by the Mississippi Business Journal.