Nashville’s Premiere Jazz Station, Jazzy 88, Spotlights Deborah Wagnon, Acclaimed Author Of “Marie Sharp: Made In Belize (The Authorized Biography)” In Recent Interview

Author of Marie Sharp: Made in Belize (The Authorized Biography), and well-known attorney, Deborah Wagnon, sat down with Nashville’s premiere jazz station (Jazzy 88) host, Sharon Kay, for a recent interview. The discussion focused on successful entrepreneur Marie Sharp‘s pioneering struggle to create a global brand, Marie Sharp’s Fine Food Ltd., and showcased snippets from the fascinating authorized autobiography.

To listen to the interview, CLICK HERE.

“Mrs. Sharp has told me how she feels, and I have recorded it. These are her thoughts, and she has a very strong opinion about creating something flavorful, food-based, and inventive but has substance to it,” says Wagnon. “The last chapter is called Women Who Dream, it is her advice to young entrepreneurs as to what to do, but more significantly what to avoid.” Wagnon adds, “She is a very practical-minded woman, she gives advice like ‘don’t quit your day job until you can survive from what you are doing.’”

JAZZY 88 WFSK listeners were treated to a lively informative dialogue that spoke to Nashville attorney’s global friendship with Marie Sharp, how Marie Sharp’s hot sauce was invented and what a reader can expect to learn more about when reading the biography.

To contact Sharon Kay, please contact skay@fisk.edu.

About “Marie Sharp: Made in Belize (The Authorized Biography)”

Deborah Wagnon’s Marie Sharp: Made in Belize (The Authorized Biography) tells the story of an extraordinary woman from Belize who overcame societal barriers, as well as personal and professional setbacks, to build a hugely successful worldwide business, Marie Sharp’s Fine Foods, Ltd.

The book traces Marie’s life from her early years in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, and Dangriga, Belize, through her 50-plus years of marriage, the creation of her first habanero pepper sauce, the development of her business, and her ongoing advocacy of and support for efforts to empower the young women and girls of Belize and Central America. The book describes how Marie overcame devastating events throughout the course of her career, including the loss of her first trademark, betrayals by business partners, the loss of her husband and the murder of her eldest son. Through it all, she persevered and continues to serve as a shining example of what is possible with hard work, passion and the will to succeed.

Marie Sharp: Made in Belize is a powerful and highly personal story that not only recounts an incredible life, but also highlights the ways in which Marie and other women like her are helping their cultures and societies evolve into more inclusive and supportive spaces for woman entrepreneurs and leaders.

About Marie Sharp’s Fine Foods, Ltd.

As a woman-owned, women-led business, Marie Sharp’s farm currently employs more than 125 full-time staff, with 85% of her workforce being female. At age 84, Marie proudly relishes her status as the “Queen of Habanero” across Belize and in kitchens around the world. At the start, Marie didn’t set out to become an influencer in the international hot-sauce market. But, her 40-year-long obsession with creating a high-quality habanero pepper sauce blend with her Melinda Estate fresh fruits and vegetables solidified her title. Marie started using habanero peppers from her family’s farm in Stann Creek Valley, Belize, to make hot sauce in the 1980s. Soon, word of mouth spread about the irresistible flavors of her sauces and demand for her products grew. Eventually, she emerged as a renowned Belizean businesswoman. Today, Marie Sharp’s products are sold in more than 30 countries and have received multiple awards for outstanding quality and flavor.

About Deborah Wagnon

Deborah Wagnon is a Stanford Law graduate (Palo Alto, California) with an undergraduate degree in Business from Georgia Tech (Atlanta, Georgia), and an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont’s Goddard College. She is an entertainment and IP attorney, and has represented with her various law partners internationally-known clientele including Shakira, Gloria Estefan, Olivia Newton John, and Reba McEntyre.

Wagnon is the mother of Guatemala-born Gianna, now a 22-year-old graduating film production major. After decades in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Nashville as a partner in high-end entertainment industry law firms, both large and boutique, as well as serving as General Counsel of Landmark Entertainment Group, a 400-employee production house for film, theater, TV, and amusement parks around the world, Deborah now divides her time between Savannah, Georgia, on her farm “Finca de la Casita,” and Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where she is a tenured full Professor of IP and International Law in the College of Media & Entertainment Department of Recording Industry.

Wagnon has owned and practiced via Portia Entertainment Group LLC, specializing in music, film and literary IP since 2007. Wagnon has authored historical fiction, nonfiction, academic textbooks, and now the approved biography of business icon Marie Sharp in Belize, as well as writing the screenplay adaption of her historical fiction novel about the life of one of the first women lawyers in Georgia (Great and Wide Sea a.k.a. Neva Majette). Wagnon is regularly interviewed and published as an expert in high profile entertainment and IP matters (New York Times, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal MarketWatch). She is founder of the International Classroom Initiative held at the University of Belize and at Universidad Francisco Marroquin Escuela de Cine (Film) y Artes Visuales in Guatemala City. Since its inception in 2013, the initiative has focused upon the development of creative opportunities for talent in Central America and other developing regions around the world.

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