Chamber Insider Blog

To see the FULL list of SBA Finalists, click here.

1.  Tell us your story of how your company got to where it is today?
Evergreen Sportsplex started with four AstroTurf, FIFA certified fields in 2013 to meet the increasing demand for rectangular field time in Loudoun County for youth athletics. What began as an idea to help with the supply vs demand issue, turned into changing the way youth athletics are looked at. Not only did we want to create an amazing facility for the entire family but we wanted our Evergreen branded teams (Evergreen Lacrosse and Evergreen FC) as well as all of the different youth and high school teams and organizations to feel part of a community.

We started with an amazing, small but mighty team of individuals that are responsible for managing the 44-acre facility; all with a passion for sports, competition and creating not just great athletes, but the next community leaders. We implemented programming, with the help of our amazing partners such as Inova Loudoun Hospital and CroppMetcalfe Services, to create a place where our children would be challenged athletically, academically, address the needs of nutrition and implement our Evergreen Cares program to infuse our athletes into the nonprofit community to give back to the county that affords them so many opportunities.

Being part of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce has made such an impact on awareness of our state of the art facility and all of the different programs we are creating to ensure our students are set up to be successful future leaders of Loudoun and beyond.

2.  What would it mean to you and your company to win a Small Business Award?
If Evergreen Sportsplex were to win a Small Business Award, it would mean so much to the entire team. As with anything that is new and different or trying to change the way things have always been done, we have had some challenges. Winning an award would mean that others see as much value in what we are trying to accomplish as we do.

3.  If you weren’t running your own business, what would you be doing?
As the VP of Marketing, I don’t run the business but feel as his business is my own and have a lot of pride in what we are doing.

4.  What book are you reading right now? / What is your favorite book?

I am reading “Dream Build Believe” by Stephen Mackey. It is an inspirational book about overcoming challenges to create your dream life and how the bumps and bruises along the way make the journey that much more interesting.

5.  What is your favorite app (computer/phone)?
My favorite app is Yummly. I love to cook, don’t get to do it as often as I would like and love to check out new healthy recipes.

6.  If you have 24 hours off, and your family was out of town, what would you do?
Right now…hahah..sleep. Based on my current health situation, sleep is what my body needs the most of to recover and heal as I recently had a stroke. Before my strokes, I probably would have gone out with friends.

7.  What is the smallest thing that has made the largest impact on your business?
Being there. Where? There. Making an effort to be at as many networking functions as possible to talk everyone’s ear off about how great Evergreen is and how they need to be part of this growing family tree of partners and clubs.

8.  What did you want to be when you grew up? / What was a childhood dream that you had?
Depends on when in life. In kindergarten, I wanted to be the crossing guard. I liked that she could control traffic and make sure kids got home safely. Later on in life, college, I wanted to be a political strategist or lobbyist on Capitol Hill. That is until I took a year of poly-sci classes and decided that there wasn’t enough of a creative outlet for me and changed to marketing.

9.  Who is the one person that has influenced you the most in your career?
My biggest influencer has been my husband Justin. He is the epitome of an Entrepreneur. He is one of the most creative people I know and is such an effective leader to his team and his community. We sit around and I pick his brain all of the time about different aspects of business and how he would “do it”.

10.  What is your favorite thing about living/running a business in Loudoun County?
I love living in “Loco!” I like the mix of technology and innovation and how it sits right next to all of our amazing agriculture. There is such a movement here about Buy Local, Shop Local and Support Local that I have never experienced anywhere else. This community has given me so much support over the years both personally and professionally that I am truly humbled to be part of such an amazing place to live, work and play. 

Thanks, Carolyn Dobson, of Evergreen Sportsplex, and congratulations on your nomination!
Click here to see all of the “Meet the Finalists” posts.
We will be continually posting them as the event approaches.
The 22nd Annual Loudoun Small Business Awards is Friday, November 4th!  Register Here