{"id":2593353,"date":"2022-02-11T16:00:50","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T16:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.worldbusinesschicago.com\/?p=2593353"},"modified":"2022-02-11T16:00:50","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T16:00:50","slug":"black-history-month-spotlight-cedar-concepts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbusinesschicago.com\/black-history-month-spotlight-cedar-concepts\/","title":{"rendered":"Black History Month Spotlight: Cedar Concepts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldbusinesschicago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/BHM-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2593356\" src=\"http:\/\/www.worldbusinesschicago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/BHM-2-300x219.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"559\" height=\"408\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Contributor: Markayle Tolliver, Coordinator, Community Impact<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During Black History Month, World Business Chicago will be spotlighting inspiring Black business leaders, founders, and entrepreneurs. This week we spotlight the owner and founder of a Chicago-based chemical manufacturer. Meet business owner Linda McGill-Boasmond of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cedarconcepts.net\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cedar Concepts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Cedar Concepts manufactures surfactants, lubricants, and chemical intermediates &#8211; and ships over 50 million pounds of product annually.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Born and raised on Chicago\u2019s Southside. Linda credits much of her success today to her parents. Linda\u2019s father was a pre-medical student before marrying her mother. After they were married, Linda\u2019s mother became a housewife &amp; <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Linda\u2019s father took a job as a production supervisor at a chemical plant. Linda says, \u201cI was a \u2018daddy\u2019s girl.\u2019\u00a0 He spoiled me to the nth degree, but also emphasized the importance of hard work. He told me I could be President one day if I wanted it badly enough\u201d. Linda\u2019s father said &#8211; \u201cI don\u2019t care what you decide to do in life, just be the best at it.\u201d My parents, along with hearing Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech, convinced me at a young age I could be whatever I set my mind to &#8211; and I wanted to be a doctor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Linda shares her path to business and entrepreneurship &#8211;\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAfter genetics and anatomy classes, I <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">knew<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I was <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> going to be a doctor, but I held on to my dream in science. After working at a number of Fortune 500 companies, it was at a small chemical company where I progressed to operations manager and became a partner in the company.\u00a0 Not long after that, the founder died. They decided to sell the company.\u00a0 I thought, \u201cjust my luck,\u201d figuring I would be bought out and back to pounding the pavement looking for another job. My accountant asked why I didn\u2019t buy the company. I remembered a long discussion I had with my former manager who had encouraged me to become a supervisor. She had talked about the importance of owning and manufacturing something. It struck a chord in me because that was one of my dreams \u2013 not just for myself, but so I could help others make a difference in their lives. Whatever my ideas in that area, I certainly hadn\u2019t planned to spend my money on a chemical company. I didn\u2019t think the time was right in terms of my finances. Then, my accountant introduced me to a banker who turned out to be a friend from the neighborhood. She put together a package that convinced me I could do it. I made an offer to the surviving partner &#8211; he was so happy. I think he was waiting for me to come to the realization that I should do this. Not only that, I realized there was a plan after all!\u00a0 In retrospect, it looks like one of those old \u201cagainst all odds\u201d movies you picture yourself in but are surprised to discover <\/span>the hero is you<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Linda shares her advice for the next generation of leaders &#8211;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAs hard as I\u2019ve worked to achieve all of this, I could not have done it alone. God is foremost. Beyond that, someone has been there for encouragement or to provide a resource I needed every step of the way \u2013 relatives, friends, co-workers, people from my own and other cultures if I\u2019m not afraid to ask. Look around you. Acknowledge all people you meet with respect. They are an important part of your network and tomorrow or 15 years from now, they could be the friend, associate, partner or service provider who will be there for you when you least expect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For more information about Linda Boasmond and Cedar Concepts visit the website at <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/cedarconcepts.net\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">http:\/\/cedarconcepts.net\/<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contributor: Markayle Tolliver, Coordinator, Community Impact During Black History Month, World Business Chicago will be spotlighting inspiring Black business leaders, founders, and entrepreneurs. This week we spotlight the owner and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Black History Month Spotlight: Cedar Concepts | World Business Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbusinesschicago.com\/black-history-month-spotlight-cedar-concepts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Black History Month Spotlight: Cedar Concepts | World Business Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Contributor: Markayle Tolliver, Coordinator, Community Impact During Black History Month, World Business Chicago will be spotlighting inspiring Black business leaders, founders, and entrepreneurs. 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