Today we’d like to introduce you to Anne McSweeney.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Over my 22-year career as a Licensed Master of Social Work– I have a unique and diverse background in medical social work (hospice, home health and dialysis) as well as experience in community relations and community education. Through the years, my unique background has allowed me to cultivate many relationships with healthcare professionals across Georgia and have found a “niche” in developing Continuing Education (CE) trainings for them. I’ve been developing these trainings for about 14 years and started my own company, CEU Creations about 8 years ago (our original company name was CEU Concepts – but we did some rebranding in late 2017 to CEU Creations to better reflect our mission and also trademarked our name).
Many healthcare and other professionals (social workers, nurses, case managers, counselors and the like) must obtain a certain number of Continuing Education (CE) hours to maintain their licensure. In keeping up my own license, I attended countless hours of CE training seminars throughout the years. I noticed that many were lackluster at best – very expensive and often lacking engaging content. I knew that when it came creating a true, learning experience with engaging, interactive content, I could do better.
The “CEU” in CEU Creations, my company, doesn’t stand for (the official acronym) ‘Continuing Education Units’ but ‘Creative. Educational. Unique.’ In addition, another part of the “lightbulb moment” was to bring the costs of the seminars down, I would supplement with sponsors, companies that want to be in front of healthcare professionals. Our goal is for our participants to have an interactive, high-quality learning experience at an affordable price.
When I first started the company in 2010, I did much of the work on my own with some assistance from part-time contractors. From that point, we have grown tremendously. We now have 3 full-time team members and several contractors. In fact, one of our full-time team members is my husband Steve McSweeney. He joined our team in May 2017, as Operations Manager, to spearhead the IT portion of our online trainings. Our team has really solidified over the past year and we have such dedicated, passionate team members who truly love what they do and go above and beyond for our company.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It’s not always been a “smooth road” but I’ve always had a wonderful support system around me to help. From my husband (who has been my biggest supporter) to my family, friends, colleagues and mentors – who have patiently guided me and taught me so much. Also, my colleagues and event attendees– who provide us with positive thoughts and tell us how our trainings really make a difference in their lives – that keeps us going!
I think one of my biggest initial struggles was learning the business side of running a company. I’m a Master of Social Work by training… so, I was trained in social work, counseling etc. – but did not have any formal business training. I’ve had several mentors who have really helped me along the way. My father, also an entrepreneur, Steve Bistritz and my business coach, Nan O’Connor have both been incredible mentors to me and have taught me a tremendous amount. In addition, I truly have a love of networking and connecting, especially with other entrepreneurs, and I try to learn whenever I can.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with CEU Creations – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We provide continuing education trainings (again, many of these CE trainings are required by these professionals to keep their licensure) in a unique and innovative way. We are known for “out-of-the-box” content and engaging/interactive presentations.
We are trying to overcome that stereotype that CE trainings are boring and not fun. We believe that you can learn and have fun at the same time, in fact, one of our hashtags is #nomoreboringCEUs! It is our hope, that after attending one of our CE trainings, the participant leaves invigorated, energized and with a valuable education that they can implement in their daily practice.
In addition, another unique aspect of our business model is that we bring in sponsors who want to be in front of the healthcare professionals. This drives down or eliminates registration fees for our attendees. This also allows the healthcare professionals to connect with these sponsors that provide valuable resources to the community. So, we have innovative/engaging/unique content, lower prices and support of sponsors that want to be in front of their target audience. It’s truly a win-win-win for all involved!
Another service we provide is Educational Consulting services to companies. We help other companies to develop CE training courses that they can present as they wish. We have a process where we assist them in vetting out presenters and then we develop the content, powerpoint and get it accredited through the various licensure boards. We have educational consulting clients throughout the United States.
As a company, I’m very proud of the collaborations that we’ve had with other companies – from UGA School of Social Work, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, The Greater Atlanta Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses Association, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine – Georgia Campus and The National Aging in Place Council/Atlanta Chapter to name just a few. The power of these collaborations comes from pooling resources, interactive brainstorming and has resulted in tremendous benefits for all involved.
I’m also very proud of the unique, creative content that we provide at every one of our training events. I’m very involved with the creative process of planning the content for each of our events and love finding innovative learning techniques, engaging speakers, and unique topics to provide an incredible learning experience. In addition, I’m also extremely proud of my collaboration with Tom Willner. Tom is a cancer survivor, musician, playwright and author who wrote a musical about his diagnosis, treatment and ultimate survivorship of cancer.
When I read about Tom’s musical in the AJC in 2015, I immediately thought how it would be innovative and creative to pair education for healthcare professionals with his musical about the patient experience. We had our first collaboration in 2016 and since then we’ve been featured in several National Conferences. We even started a company together, Center Stage Education where we use music to provide healthcare education.
I’m very proud of our accomplishments in a relatively short time and the growth that we’ve seen in our company. We’ve put in a tremendous amount of blood, sweat and tears; but in the end, it’s very satisfying to see the results. I also enjoy mentoring and trailblazing for other social workers that want to start a business of their own. I want to show them that social workers can “wear many unique hats” including that of an entrepreneur.
Last but certainly not least, I think the biggest reward is the feedback from our participants – telling me things like “AMAZING! Best workshop ever!, “I’ve never seen anything like this before” or Best CEU EVER!!!” It touches my heart to know that our work impacts the professionals that provide care and then, in turn, has the power to impact and improve outcomes for so many patients, clients and families.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We have been expanding our live CE trainings in other states – so, we are very excited about doing more of this! We have an inaugural training in June in the Charleston, SC area and Aiken, SC as well. We are looking into expanding our live training events into other states as well.
Also, with the popularity of technology and phones, people are learning in different ways. They want an “experience” and they want to be involved in that experience… they don’t just want to listen to someone “talking at them”. In addition, online courses, streaming and webinars are becoming more popular as well. We strive to constantly connect with our audiences, whether live or online, to exceed their needs and be sure we are staying on track of emerging trends in learning technologies or hot topics.
Contact Info:
- Address: 300 Colonial Parkway, Suite 100, Roswell, GA 30076
- Website: www.ceucreationsinc.com
- Phone: 770-880-9873
- Email: anne@ceucreationsinc.com
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