Life & Work with Alisha Hargett of Marietta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alisha Hargett.

Hi Alisha, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I spent 31 years in the natural gas industry, 25 with SCANA Energy and 6 with Atlanta Gas Light Company. I was looking to move to the next level in Executive Leadership when I was asked to consider taking an appointed position and being the running mate of someone running for Clerk of State Court in Cobb County. I asked for the weekend to fact find, consult my friends in the legal profession, and talk to my children and parents, as well as pray about the offer to run with the Clerk, as her appointed Chief Deputy Clerk.

I immediately called a civil attorney friend of my former VP/GM, he said I would be great in the role and had the right personality for it. I then contacted a friend who is a Fulton Co. Superior Court judge, who said the same as well and proceeded to tell me why I was cut out for elected life, I then talked to my two adult children who were on board and advised me to say yes, I then went to talk to my parents and the only concern was that being that it is an elected position that I could possibly be looking for a job in 4 years, if we won, and what would happen, if we did win, since we were running against the incumbent. Lastly, I turned to God and asked Him to let me know if this was the door that I was supposed to walk through. I still had not made my mind up because I would be giving up a lot with my current Corporate career, especially my nice perks, P-card, robust budget and connections, I had until Monday evening to make up my mind and I still had not made a decision. I called one of my good girlfriends who once had a show on OWN and she told me that she thought I was swimming upstream and to walk through the door that God had opened for me. I still was not convinced,

Monday came and I made the call and just decided to go with it, since it was the door that God opened. I accepted the call to serve in a different way. I called Tahnicia to tell her that I agreed to be her running mate. So began my foray into Public Service life. I didn’t tell anyone outside of my good friends and family until the right time. I worked a full-time job, volunteered with my coworkers, served my community with my Sorority, finished Leadership Cobb-Class of 2024 “the Class that Brings the Heat”, was inducted into LiveSafe Resources’ Academy of Women Leaders and became a Board member, was appointed to the Executive Board of MUST Ministries , all while running for office in Cobb County. I eventually let 2 of my co-workers know. I felt that was best, in the event that we didn’t win, I would still have my then current job to fall back on. I did inform my VP that I would be working on political campaign; but didn’t give any specifics.

The primary came and my name did not appear on the ballot as told, so I was able to campaign with my candidate under the radar until it came time for the general election. I was told that my name would appear as the running mate for the Chief Deputy position in the State Court election. I told my family and children and prepared them. I braced for questions from my VP and other co-workers who live in my county. I was trying to fly as low under the radar as possible. Elections drew near and I heard rumblings that one of the Directors in my County had seen my name on the sample ballot. I braced for potential backlash. There was not any until I turned in my resignation. My name was on the ballot and pending a win, I would become an elected official in Cobb County. On December 18th, 2024, I was sworn in as the 1st Afro-Caribbean Chief Deputy in Cobb County, serving under the 1st African-American Clerk of State Court in Cobb County.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It was not as bumpy as I thought it would be. There was/is a learning curve and delay transitioning from Corporate life in the Energy Industry to being an elected official in local government. There are delays, funding , systematic and bureaucratic delays that you do not face at such a slow pace in the corporate world. I am a skilled, trained and natural-born leader, so the biggest challenge was learning the Court Systems and how the numerous systems work, not necessarily work together. I also had to adjust to not being completely trained in everything, some things I have had to learn on the fly or thanks to my supportive management and supervisory staff.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am the 2nd in command for the 2nd highest court in the county. “The Clerk of the State Court performs all administrative functions of the State Court as prescribed by law and court rules. This office is responsible for maintaining accurate and complete records of all court proceedings, including all traffic offenses, misdemeanors and certain civil actions. In addition, all monies of the court are received and disbursed by the clerk.

The office is organized into divisions that enable the office to perform its functions more efficiently for the judges and the general public. These divisions are Criminal, Civil, Courtroom Deputies and Accounting.” (source:https://www.cobbcounty.gov/courts/state-court/clerk/about)

I am most proud of my journey in leadership, considering how shy I was when I first moved to the state of Georgia from New York. I have always had a servant’s heart and learned how to tailor that to my own style of leadership. As a lifelong learner, with several certifications in Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, and Corporate Communications, I have applied all of these teachings into my own style of leadership that mirrors my personality and is more teaching and mentoring versus straight managerial. I am big on partnering with those that I lead to help them become better leaders. Now I use my corporate knowledge and background to bring “Corporate to the Courthouse” . I bring a lot of the new, modern and effective principles of corporate leadership to an at times antiquated court system in our particular courthouse. I believe that I what sets me apart is my varied background and career path. I do not come from local government, although I have worked in a different form of government; but that sets me aside from the typical Chief Deputy Clerks or Clerks in general in my County.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I have always had people in my life to lead and guide me from various areas of my life. My parents, children, my ex-husband, my Regulatory teammate, my lawyer friends, my former VP and VP/GM, my energy industry friends, the women in energy leadership at Georgia Power, AGL, Southern Company, AABE Atlanta, my Leadership Cobb Class of 2024 and the Leadership Cobb Alumni group. I have been blessed to have had help along the way at various times in my life and my career.

My closest confidantes outside of my parents, children Jasmine & Justin Hargett, are my Sorority Line Sisters , my Leadership Cobb Sisters, and my close and best friends. I have a close; but small group of friends who are in leadership and that are my sounding board. I also have the two women leaders that I serve on the Board of AABE Atlanta with as the 2nd VP.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cobbcounty.gov/courts/state-court/clerk/about
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/alisha-hargett
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGS9M9RXT5w