IsabelChancellor

Isabel Chancellor
President & CEO
IngenuitE, Inc.

"Inspiring" comes to mind when visiting with Isabel Chancellor. She has taken the opportunity with each and every challenge or crisis in her life to better herself professionally and personally. Her dedication to her family, her heritage, and her profession are obvious in everything she does. In her own words she considers herself living the "American Dream." The lead sentence of her professional profile and company history is the quote by Charles De Gaulle: "Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back upon himself."

Born in the United States the youngest of five children, Chancellor was raised in Mexico until her family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas when she was seven. Unable to speak English at first and living with seven members of her family in one bedroom of a three-bedroom home, she quickly learned English and graduated at the top of her class. She received a scholarship from Rice University, but felt the need to return to Corpus Christi to help her family financially when her father was unexpectedly laid off of his job at a local refinery and finish her bachelor's of business administration.

After working as a research assistant at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Chancellor moved with her husband Gary to Oklahoma where she worked part time for a year as a Spanish interpreter helping non-English speaking citizens understand their unalienable rights in America and caring for her two sons.

In 2002 Chancellor combined her business savvy with her husband's marketable Oracle experience to create IngenuitE, a leading software consulting firm with expertise in the full-range of Oracle e-Business suite with particular focus in Financial module implementations. Under her direction the company has seen tremendous growth and success, particularly in the public sector. Chancellor playing an instrumental part of securing her company's role as a beneficiary of the newly awarded Information Technology Support Services contract with the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center.

She is a national founding partner of Women Impacting Public Policy and serves on the Board of Advisors for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, Greater Oklahoma City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and The State Chamber of Oklahoma.

Please describe your company's mission and goals.

IngenuitE's mission is to provide exceptional consulting services on a national level to users of Oracle software, specifically Oracle Financials. Our goal is to expand our services internationally.

Where did the idea for your company originate?

My husband, Gary Chancellor, work for Oracle for several years as a consultant. It is a very marketable expertise and we talked a lot about combining his consulting abilities with my business background to start our own consulting company.

What made you decide to start your own company?

We definitely have always had the entrepreneurial spirit. We talked about starting our own company for several years because we knew we could be successful. My youngest son was diagnosed with autism; forcing me to make the decision to quit the job I loved working as an interpreter. I stayed home with him, but my desire was to return to a leadership role in the workforce, but I needed the flexibility to be able to care for my sons and those positions are hard to find.

In 2002, IngenuitE was born with the belief that I could be a mother, wife, and business owner without sacrificing my values. Soon after starting the company, my oldest son was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, another form of autism. This new crisis caused me to focus even harder on doing what I could to help my children and grow this new business by balancing what was important in my life and prioritizing my efforts at work.

Since insurance companies do not cover therapy for autism, it is a motivation to be able to provide our family the ability to provide the therapy our sons need along with having the flexibility to meet their needs and grow the company as well.

What are the some of the challenges that keep you awake at night?

Trying to do everything! I am currently pursuing my MBA/MIS degree at the University of Oklahoma, taking care of my sons, and getting new business is tough. However, the same things that challenge me motivate me and that isn't always bad.

What are you most proud of?

I am most proud of the fact that I have been able to balance pursuing my MBA/MIS, caring for my sons, and growing the business successfully.

What is your "If I'd only known then what I know now..."?

I would have completed my MBA/MIS before I had children. Other than that, there is nothing else I would change about my business experience because every step has taught me something new.

How has your position with the company changed?

I now have a part-time assistant and office administrator that has freed me from a lot of the daily administrative duties and given me the ability to focus on developing new business.

What do you find personally rewarding about being an entrepreneur and growing your own business?

As a woman, I am empowered that I can run my own business well and provide well paying jobs. The growth of my company depends on me so my reward is commensurate to my effort.

What makes the Greater OKC area a great place to start and grow a business?

Oklahoma City is small enough of a community that you have the ability to tap into a valuable network of entrepreneurs and business leaders, but it is big enough to have the resources to support a large start-up business. The Greater OKC Chamber of Commerce has also been a valuable resource in helping us to promote our business and developing leads in business.

What advice would you give an aspiring entrepreneur?

Be 100 percent committed to give a new business your all. You have to work hard and believe completely in your vision. If you don't believe whole-heartedly in your product and your business it is difficult to stay focused and enjoy success.