Businesswoman serves across Louisiana
Long before she made a career in caring for those in need during a time of grief, Nell Shehee learned the importance of working hard while giving back to her community.
“I come from a family of very strong, independent women,” said Shehee.
Shehee was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Her mother, Virginia Shehee, was a businesswoman and politician, known for her energy, compassion and community-mindedness. Virginia Shehee became the first woman to be elected as a Louisiana state senator in 1975 and helped save the historic Strand Theatre in downtown Shreveport.
Nell Shehee has continued the legacy of her mother, who died in 2015. Shehee is a licensed funeral director and coowner of Rose-Neath Funeral Homes, Crematorium and Cemeteries as well as Rose-Neath Flower Shop. She is also president of the Kilpatrick-Rose-Neath Foundation and founder and president of the Nell Shehee Foundation Trust.
“One of the requirements that my mother had of us was to volunteer,” said Shehee. Now she serves on several nonprofit boards and service organizations, including Caddo Career and Technology Center, Red River Radio and Louisiana State Exhibit Museum Board.
Her proudest initiative, however, is through the Virginia K. Shehee Most Influential Woman Awards, which celebrate women of northwest Louisiana for their incredible work in the community.
Now, it’s Shehee’s turn to be honored. She is the USA TODAY Woman of the Year for Louisiana. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Question: Who paved the way for you?
Answer: My grandmother Nell Kilpatrick and my mother, Virginia Shehee. They were both strong, independent businesswomen who had a lot of responsibilities to take care of their employees and their families. My grandfather, Lonnie Kilpatrick, passed away in 1956. He started the businesses with the life insurance company and funeral homes, and when he passed away, my grandmother took the reins. My mother moved back home, and they did what they had to do to make that business grow and be successful.
What is your definition of courage? Courage is standing up for what you believe in when it’s unpopular, when it’s not going to benefit you. Courage is being comfortable with being uncomfortable. Courage is going outside of yourself, and looking at someone who is not being treated fairly or equally because of their race, color, religion, sexual orientation, and reaching out a hand and helping people in need.
Is there a guiding principle or mantra you tell yourself?
There was a book called “The Little Engine That Could.” It was a children’s book, and the important line in that book was “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” My mother, Virginia, read that book to us and that was her mantra. She was a woman in the ’50s and ’60s and ’70s and was the only woman in the boardroom full of men, and she went places where women normally didn’t go and in business, and she succeeded. I think she was very good at not listening to naysayers and thinking “I think I can, I think I can.” To believe in yourself, even though it’s so simplistic, it’s important because after all, you have to take steps to get things done.
Who do you look up to?
I look up to anybody that takes care of people, regardless of where they come from. We have a lot of disenfranchised people in the world. I admire people who work for nonprofit organizations who take care of people who have very basic needs that need to be met.
What advice would you give your younger self ?
Be who you are, be proud of who you are and to trust your instincts. Trust your instincts, that’s very important, and never let anyone tell you that you’re bad because you are different.