Top 40 Under 40: Carolyn C. Shanks

JACKSON - When Carolyn C. Shanks, 39, was named president and CEO of Entergy Mississippi in late 1998, more than a few eyebrows were raised. It wasn't that the Senatobia native and accomplished businesswoman wasn't fully qualified. It was because young women were typically not considered for key positions

The year before, the Mississippi Business Journal had selected Shanks as one of the state's leading businesswomen. And while her appointment made perfect sense, it was also a highly visible breaking of the glass ceiling for women executives in Mississippi.

"I set my sights on a career path, but I can honestly tell you this position (of CEO) was a little bit unexpected," Shanks said. "I had been progressing and focused on certain things in the company I wanted to do. I had gotten to the point where I had achieved a lot of what I had set for myself. In the last couple of years, I was in the process of resetting goals for myself. When this happened this year, it provided a very unique opportunity."

An avid golfer, Shanks said playing golf helped cultivate business relationships that partly attributed to her success.

"Golf provides four hours of uninterrupted time with business associates where you can develop a real relationship," Shanks said.

As a result of her mother's death at an early age from breast cancer, Shanks immersed herself in volunteer efforts for cancer research, as well as other community projects. As chairman of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the Steel Magnolias Race for the Cure, she's moving closer to her goal to "lead the fight to find a cure for cancer so that others would not have to go through what my mother endured."

"At an early age, my parents encouraged my sister and me to reach beyond traditional boundaries to achieve our dreams," Shanks said. "That has been the driving force in my life."