In learning how to communicate with staff members and build a positive work environment, A. Snowden McFall’s says she drew insight from one of her early supervisors.
It was a lesson, she said, “in what not to do.”
“I think we’ve all had bad bosses,” she said. “I had a brilliant boss who used to come in and scream and yell at everybody on a regular basis. I’d say, ‘No, you have to be a cheerleader,’ and he’d say, ‘Nope, I’m not going to do that.’”
In her entrepreneurial career, McFall has focused on building people up, not tearing them down.
A public speaker, author and skills coach, she has launched enterprises aimed at inspiring and empowering women to rise in the workforce.
Her ventures include Fired Up! Professional Speaking and Coaching, and the nonprofit organization Success for Women Entrepreneurs.
In March 2025, she co-launched Women Making Change LLC, which produces a weekly newsletter profiling female leaders from around the globe.
“We saw so many women who were struggling right now, who’d lost their jobs, who’d lost business, and we wanted to bring inspiration and hope,” said McFall, who partnered with Jacksonville native and former college president Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole on the project.
Asked her definition of success, McFall recounted a conversation between Maya Angelou and Oprah Winfrey after Winfrey opened her Leadership Academy for Girls.
“She (Winfrey) was so excited … and she said, ‘This is my legacy,” McFall said. “And Dr. Maya Angelou said, ‘No, your legacy is every life you’ve touched.’ And that, to me, is everything. Every life I’ve touched is how I define success – every place I’ve brought light where there is darkness.”
After decades of entrepreneurship, McFall said she would counsel those starting a business to follow an old piece of advice on the topic.
“Always pay yourself first and take care of yourself so you can take care of others,” she said, adding that she didn’t follow that advice early in her career and paid for it.
Having firmly established herself, McFall is applying what she refers to as one of her superpowers.
“I ignite the spark inside the people I work with and blow into that flame and nurture it so they own their own gifts and talents and can share them with the world,” she said.