Leadership & LipGloss™

How Do You Pursue Excellence Without Losing Your Humanity? Carissa Imrecke Shares Her Journey.

Some leaders climb by force. Others climb by finesse. But the rare few rise by pairing excellence with empathy. Carissa Imrecke is one of them.

In this episode of Leadership & LipGloss™, Carissa, Vice President of Quality at Wells Pharma, opens up about the journey behind her leadership: from a young microbiologist determined to show up prepared, to an executive who now builds systems that protect patients, strengthen organizations, and elevate people. She reflects on the lessons shaped by two very different parents, the grit she carried into her early career, and the moment she realized leadership wasn’t about doing the work alone; it was about bringing people with her.

Together, Tamara and Carissa revisit their days at Memorial Hermann, long nights, weekend work, and the kind of camaraderie that reveals a person’s character. Carissa shares how she learned to “draw the pig” rather than default to blame. She explains how she discerns whether a challenge is about people, process, or platform. And she reveals why she believes true accountability begins with clarity, compassion, and courage.

Beyond the boardroom, Carissa opens up about navigating marriage, motherhood, and ambition, often all before bedtime. Her story is a reminder that excellence doesn’t require hardness; it requires heart.

This conversation is for anyone striving to lead well, build well, and become the kind of leader who never loses sight of their humanity along the way.

Leave a Mark: Pastor Willie Davis on Integrity, Purpose & Building a Legacy That Endures

Some lives do not simply unfold. They rise, chapter by chapter, like a story you can feel. Pastor Willie Davis’ life is one of them.

Before he carried the Olympic torch, before he became a police captain, and before he pastored congregations across Georgia, he was a young boy walking to church on Sunday mornings with his siblings and his mother, a woman whose work ethic quietly taught him discipline, perseverance, and responsibility.

His story is woven through segregated classrooms where teachers recognized his potential, a neighborhood filled with quiet giants, childhood neighbors who became barrier breakers, community pillars, and five decades of public service shaped by courage, integrity, faith, and an unwavering commitment to community.

In this episode of Leadership & LipGloss™, Pastor Davis takes us inside the seasons that forged him, the moments that sharpened his character, tested his resolve, and taught him what it truly means to lead.

From law enforcement and ministry to mentorship, community advocacy, and family, his journey reminds us that leadership is not defined by the positions we hold. It is defined by how we prepare, how we serve, how we show up when people need us, and what remains because we were there.

One powerful example of that legacy is the Covington Police Department Fuzz Run. Captain Willie Davis helped establish the race alongside Chief Bobby Moody to extend service beyond traditional policing and raise support for people in need. What began as a community race grew into one of Covington’s signature events and the primary fundraiser for Police Who Care, supporting law-enforcement families, community organizations, City employees experiencing hardship, and other families in need.

That is what leaving a mark looks like: creating something that continues serving people long after you have stepped away from the title.

Pastor Davis’ story is inspiring, but more importantly, it is instructive. These are lessons you can carry into your own leadership, your family, your work, and your community.

Lead with integrity.

This is how you leave a mark.

Continue the Legacy

To honor Pastor Davis’ life of service, courage, and community, you can continue the work he championed:

In this deeply human and hope filled conversation, Marcia Smith, LPC and Chief Executive Officer of MARR Right Side Up Recovery Center, joins Leadership & LipGloss™ to share the story behind her life’s work: helping women and families rebuild their lives through recovery, compassion, and courageous new beginnings.

Drawing on her lived experience, Marcia describes growing up with a father affected by addiction, finding strength in her mother and grandparents, and inheriting a family legacy of service that continues to guide her calling. She also traces her journey from working in the school system to leading a residential treatment program for pregnant and parenting women with substance use disorders and their children.

The conversation explores what healing truly requires: rigorous honesty, accountability, self-inventory, community, and the willingness to make a new choice. Marcia explains why treating the entire family system matters, how patterns can pass through generations, and what becomes possible when women are given support, structure, dignity, and space to begin again.

The discussion expands beyond recovery into the quiet seasons many women carry alone including motherhood, caregiving, divorce, aging parents, adult children, leadership, faith, and learning to prioritize yourself without guilt. Marcia shares how she continues her own inner work while leading others and why compassion never means carrying everyone else’s burden.

At the center of this episode is a truth for anyone who has ever wrestled with regret, shame, disappointment, or a chapter that did not unfold as planned.

Nothing in this world can make you unworthy.

If you have needed permission to release the past, recognize the patterns that no longer serve you, or choose differently, this conversation is your reminder: 

You can heal. 

You can make a new choice.

You can begin again.

And you are always worthy.

What makes a leader unforgettable?

In this episode of Leadership & LipGloss™, Tamara sits down with Leah Blackwell, a seasoned nurse executive whose leadership journey reflects the power of presence, purpose, and human-centered leadership.

Leah shares what it means to lead at scale without losing sight of the individual, how trust is built across complex healthcare environments, and why the way people experience your leadership matters just as much as the results you achieve.

From developing people and navigating high-level responsibility to building cultures where others feel seen, valued, and supported, this conversation goes beyond titles and organizational charts to explore the influence each of us carries and the kind of leadership that leaves a lasting imprint.

Because leadership is not confined to a position. It shows up in every room, every relationship, and every space you influence.

Titles shift. Systems evolve. What matters is how you led people.

In this episode of Leadership & LipGloss™, architect and creative visionary Jamila Hazel joins Tamara to explore what happens when the blueprint you were handed no longer matches the life you’re meant to live. With honesty, humor, and a whole lot of joy, Jamila shares how she released old expectations, reclaimed her voice, and began designing a life that feels aligned, intentional, and authentically hers.

From creativity and courage to identity and reinvention, Jamila opens up about the inner work that helped her rebuild from the inside out and invites you to consider what you may need to break, redesign, or rebuild in your own story.

This conversation is a reminder that joy is not accidental. It’s crafted. Protected. Chosen.

If you’re ready to rewrite the plan, trust your gifts, and build a life that finally feels like your own, this episode will meet you right where you are.

What part of your blueprint are you ready to redesign?

What happens when an engineer’s eye for quality becomes a philosophy for leadership?

In this episode of Leadership & LipGloss™, Tamara sits down with Ken Shelton, a textile engineer and senior executive whose career has taken him from rural North Georgia to leadership roles across some of the most recognizable brands in retail and apparel. Grounded in curiosity and shaped by systems thinking, Ken built a career defined by precision, discipline, and a deep respect for the craft of quality.

But the real story is how those same principles shaped the way he leads people.

Ken reflects on navigating executive spaces where he was often the only person who looked like him, the responsibility of creating environments where others feel they belong, and why influence (not a title) is the true measure of leadership. He shares how engineering trained him to see patterns, how global exposure expanded his worldview, and how quality became a lens for evaluating not just products, but people, culture, and opportunity.

The conversation also explores a different dimension of quality: quality of life. After decades of achievement, global travel, and professional ambition, Ken is thinking more deeply about family, presence, and what matters when success is no longer defined by the next accomplishment.

From textile engineering to executive leadership, Ken’s story is a study in precision, perspective, and people.

Because whether you are evaluating a product, building a team, or examining your own life, eventually every leader has to answer the same question:

What does quality really mean?

In this deeply personal episode of Leadership & LipGloss™, Tamara sits down with Mrs. Louise B. Adams, retired educator, administrator, community leader, and inaugural inductee into the Newton County School System Educator Hall of Fame. Mrs. Adams reflects on a career that began teaching during segregation and grew into a legacy defined by high expectations, discipline, preparation, and an unwavering belief in every child’s potential.

But her legacy extends far beyond the classroom.

Louise and her husband, T.K. Adams Sr., arrived in Newton County, Georgia, in 1959; Louise as a teacher and T.K. as a band director. Together, they wove education, music, faith, and service into the fabric of their family and community. Louise helped establish an after‑school tutoring program at Washington Street Community Center, while T.K. provided music instruction to local children, opening doors for students who might otherwise have been overlooked.

Their son, Timothy K. Adams Jr., carried that legacy even further. After T.K. was denied admission to the University of Georgia because of segregation, Louise later earned two graduate degrees there, and Tim went on to become the Mildred Goodrum Heyward Professor in Music and Chair of the Percussion Department at UGA’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music. A distinguished orchestral percussionist and educator, Tim has performed worldwide and served as principal timpanist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for 15 years, with performance credits that include Carnegie Hall.

Throughout the conversation, Mrs. Adams shares the leadership principles that guided her life: prepare well, follow through, care about people, keep your word, and use what you have to bless someone else.

Through education, music, family, faith, and community service, the Adams story reveals a powerful truth: one generation’s yes can create possibilities for the next.

Sometimes your yes does more than change your life. It changes what becomes possible for everyone who comes after you.

Washington Street Community Center continues the work Mrs. Adams helped build by creating opportunities, support, and educational resources for children and families in the community.

If this story moves you, consider making your own “yes” one of support. Your donation helps carry this legacy forward and invests in the next generation.

Support Washington Street Community Center:

www.washingtonstreetcommunitycenter.org/support-us

www.washingtonstreetcommunitycenter.org

A résumé tells us what you've done. The story tells us who you've become.

Leadership & LipGloss™ is where authentic conversations bring the stories behind success to life. Host Tamara sits down with leaders, changemakers, and everyday trailblazers to reveal how ordinary people use their seat to create extraordinary impact.