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FTER EARNING AN engineering
degree, Teresa Beaudoin spent sev-
eral years as an engineer and a con-
sultant. But her creative side won out and she became
an actress in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, her mother
began suffering from the devastating effects of
Alzheimer’s back home in Shreveport, Louisiana, and
Beaudoin decided she needed to be closer to her.
“I gave up everything and moved to Dallas, which I
chose because it was a bigger city than Shreveport with
better medical facilities—plus I was still single and I fig-
ured it would be
an easier place to
meet someone,”
she says. Her
mother moved in
with her and for
18 months,
Beaudoin took
care of her, with
breaks provided
by her father and
sister. Meanwhile,
through a friend,
Teresa met her
future husband,
Reginald, and he
quickly proposed.
The couple and
Teresa’s siblings
were able to hire a
full-time caregiver
so her mother
could move back
home to
Shreveport.
When she joined Reginald’s new promotional prod-
ucts distributorship, Already Gear (UPIC: Alrea724), in
2006, Beaudoin was totally unfamiliar with the promo-
tional products industry. But she rapidly caught on.
Today, she is the COO while her husband is the CEO;
and their skills complement each other. “My engineering
background allowed me to bring technical advances to
our software and practices, and understand and master
technical things that have equipped us to do business
more efficiently,” she says. Plus, being married to her
business partner makes communication easier. “We
often talk shop at home,” she says.
Besides her role at Already Gear, Beaudoin still acts
occasionally and spends a lot of time mentoring young
girls. “My parents and sister have always been awesome
mentors and they definitely helped me succeed,” she
says. But she knows that not everyone is as lucky as she
was, which is why serving as a mentor is so important to
Beaudoin.
“I mentor a 9th grader now. I’m almost like another
mother. I pick her up and take her places she hasn’t
been; I show up to all her events; I give her advice; I
encourage scholastically; I enroll her in extracurricular
activities; I buy her and her sister school clothes. I also
sponsor a group called Journey of a Young Lady, Inc.
and provide encouragement in business entrepreneur-
ship,” she says. She recently accepted an award for her
efforts on behalf of the organization at a black-tie
event. Her twin four-year-old grand-nieces are also a
big part of her life and she spends a lot of time helping
to raise them.
Besides mentoring, what do you enjoy doing when you’re not
working?
I am a foodie, so I like to try exciting foods as well as cook
them. I use an app called Foodspotting where I take pictures
Entrepre-Nice
A
TERESA BEAUDOIN CREDITS SUCCESS TO FAMILY, FAITH AND THE IMPORTANCE OF
MENTORING
BY JULIE RICHIE
NOVEMBER 2015 •
PPB
• 83
CONNECT
LEFT
Teresa, her husband, Reginald, and their dog, Ella.