From kudzu jelly to "Scorned Woman" hot sauce, Dot Williams (BSHE '65 Family Development) has Georgia products to meet customers' needs whether they live down the street in Macon, on the west coast of the United States or across the Atlantic.

Williams bought "Only Georgia" Food Gift Products two years ago, a year after she embarked on her first entrepreneurial effort producing a monthly real estate guide to homes for sale in the Macon area.

"The magazine is strictly advertising," she explains. "Realty companies buy advertising and we take photos of all the homes that are for sale, design, print and distribute the publication."

While the realty magazine provided Williams an opportunity to get her feet wet as a business owner, it's clear from a short visit that Only Georgia offers Williams an opportunity to use creativity that was noticed more than 30 years ago by a nutrition professor.

"I remember Miss Newton, who taught nutrition, telling me that I was very talented with my hands and very creative," Williams recalls. "Although my degree was in family development, the general education I received from the school gave me a background that I've drawn from throughout my life. It gave me the knowledge to make a choice."

While Williams waited until she was in her mid-fifties to begin a business, she has accumulated a lengthy resume of volunteer activities that have allowed her to hone many of the skills required of an entrepreneur, such as organizational skills, the ability to lead a group, and knowing how to set priorities.

Currently, she is the president of the Alpha Omega Pi Foundation, a national organization dedicated to her college sorority. She also has served in a variety of positions with local, district and state garden clubs, including serving as president of the local board, as the district director, and as editor of the state newsletter and a board member of the state organization.

During the holidays, Williams and her staff - primarily daughters Julie Williams Canady and Dawn Williams Burkhalter - prepare Only Georgia boxes to go around the world.

"This year, we sent boxes to Canada, Korea, England, Scotland and several other countries," Williams says. "There's also the lady in California who orders our bacon on a regular basis."

The production area for Only Georgia is tucked into a corner of imedia, the printing business that also involves the entire family. Formerly known as Williams and Canady Printing, imedia includes Williams' husband Ron as chairman; son-in-law David Canady as president; and daughter Dawn as senior vice president/chief financial officer.

Stacked on shelves that run the length of the production area are the products found in Only Georgia gift boxes: Pek-A-Peaches candy and Pecan Log Rolls; honey roasted peanuts and pecans dipped in white or dark chocolate, praline style or toasted; peach preserves, peach-shaped tortilla chips, Vidalia onion dressing, and stone ground grits; and more, and more, and more.

Lining the walls are pictures of what goes in the different boxes - which range from the $14 "Munch Box" with cookies and candy to the $70 "A White Columns Holiday" box that includes peanut crickle, peach honey, and peach-flavored tea bags.

"I've always enjoyed a challenge," Williams says of her entrepreneurial efforts. "I'm a type-A personality and I've always tried to exceed my limit. Every day I look forward to getting up. I have a ball."

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