A Conversation with Aimee Greeter by Jaykia Lowe
Meet Aimee Greeter, a Junior League of Charlotte, Inc. (JLC) Sustainer and Senior Vice President at Coker Group, a national healthcare advisory firm. Aimee credits her mother for instilling a spirit of unceasing determination, which made her believe she could take on the world. She also helped Aimee foster a love for cold pizza for breakfast and drinking Crystal Lite lemonade. As an author to numerous articles and books, she is often interviewed in healthcare industry publications. Portions of this interview were originally published on the JLC Link Blog in August 2019. Tell us about yourself I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And before you ask, like most people from Wisconsin, I am indeed a huge Green Bay Packers fan. In fact, when the Packers opened up additional shares for purchase a few years ago, I begged my husband, who cheers for the Packers’ biggest rival team, to buy me one share as a Christmas present. I now like to brag that I am an NFL owner - You know, David Tepper [Carolina Panthers owner]and I are basically peers-hahaha! In Jessica Andrews’ song, Who I Am, there is one lyric that has always stood out to me, “and when the day is done, my momma’s still my biggest fan.” I have felt this acutely my entire life. I am so incredibly fortunate to have a mother who has been my champion since day one. She gave me the confidence to set big goals, to try hard things, and to never let minor setbacks stop me from achieving my dreams. When I think of the person who has had the biggest impact on my life, it is definitely my sweet momma! I have two older sisters who have been my role models, my inspirations and my sounding boards for my entire life. I am incredibly grateful for the example they set for me, first on what it looked like to be a kind sister, a great friend and a loving daughter, and now as we’ve gotten older, what it looks like to be an awesome mom. I would be lost without them. I did my undergrad at Michigan State, and then my Masters at Emory. Fun fact, I almost didn’t choose Emory for grad school solely because they didn’t have a football team. After four years at a Big 10 school, spending every Saturday in fall being obsessed with football, I couldn’t imagine not having a local collegiate football team to cheer for. I’m so glad I did, though, both because my Emory education was top-notch and because my roommate at Emory quickly became one of my best friends, and I can’t imagine my life now without her in it. 16
I’ve been in Charlotte for the last 15 years, where does the time go? I came to Charlotte as part of the Teach for America program. I taught sixth-eighth grade special education at Sedgefield Middle School. I will never forget the fear I had walking into a classroom with 12 special needs seventh-grade boys (I had an all-boy class that year) on my first day! It was a humbling experience, to say the least, to work with my students and I will forever be grateful for it. How has Junior League helped you develop your potential? I joined the Junior League in Atlanta while I was in grad school as a way to better connect to the community, make new friends and fill a significant desire I had to contribute philanthropically. I definitely did not appreciate the value of the organization when I first joined. Over the years, the Junior League has met all my initial goals, and done so much more. In fact, it is because of the League that I was first appointed as a Board member to a local nonprofit. That began a new way for me to serve the community, and without my League experiences and connections that supported me in being selected for that Board seat, I don’t think I would have had the confidence to continue to seek Board seats. Currently, women represent only 22 percent of seats on Fortune 1000 corporate boards. I believe organizations such as the League are well positioned to empower and support women as we work to change that, and I know from my firsthand experience that with the League’s support, it is possible! What is your favorite childhood memory? My family has huge celebrations for “Golden Birthdays,” which happen the year you turn the age of the day of your birth. For example, my birthday is August 6, so my Golden Birthday was when I turned 6 years old. I’ll never forget that my aunt gave me a new bike for my birthday that year. It was a gray and pink
