Owner of NIWard Management Group and Kentucky Specialty Sauces
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Photo by Mick Jeffries
Like many of us, Nancy Ward understands what it’s like to have dream. This Kentucky woman is credited with a successful 27-year tenure within the government, with a variety of positions primarily related to information technology and project management. Yet Ward was still hungry for more.
With what she credits as her biggest accomplishment, Ward’s vision of developing a successful gourmet food business has become a reality with Kentucky Specialty Sauces, the company she started in 2003.
As an avid cook, Ward said she became interested in the food industry when family and friends encouraged her to bring one of her signature recipes into the food market. After more than a decade of success, she has started a consulting practice to help others achieve their dreams within the gourmet food industry.
“We have recently partnered with Ouita Michel of Holly Hill Inn, Wallace Station and Windy Corner Market to develop her bourbon mustard and pickled okra, and other products are also in the works,” she said. “My skills and experience in the industry assist our partners in achieving outstanding results in product development and cost savings.”
The youngest of four children, Ward was raised in Bowling Green, Ky., and credits her family as a “longtime southern Kentucky family with the center of our lives being hard work, family, horses and traditional Kentucky foods and cooking.”
After graduating from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in political science, Ward moved to Los Angeles and worked part-time in an attorney’s office before working with Johnson & Higgins, an insurance brokerage firm on Wilshire Boulevard.
“I realized how much I loved Kentucky and missed it,” said Ward. She moved back to the Bluegrass and earned a research and systems analyst position with Kentucky state government.
Ward did a lot of strategic planning for information technology and became assistant director for the Kentucky Information Resources Management Commission, which directed technology operations across Kentucky state government. She then became commissioner for the Department of Administrative Services for the Kentucky Revenue Cabinet.
Ward ended her career in state government as executive assistant in Governor Paul Patton’s office, serving as deputy project manager for Empower Kentucky, a statewide management initiative that oversaw more than $70 million in business improvement projects across the cabinets of state government.
During her tenure in state government, Ward also earned her master’s degree in business administration from Xavier University. After retiring from government, she started to work toward making her dreams come true, developing a strategic planning and project management practice, NIWard Management Group.
“We can learn so much from each other,” said Ward. “Partnerships with the community are very important. They can be very strong and supportive. You have to give back to your community.”
Ward’s business began with just one sauce and has grown into a multi-level industry. She lives in Lexington and what was once produced in her home is now produced in Louisville, Ky.
As for advice for other entrepreneurs considering a career change?
“Believe in yourself,” she said. “This was my second career. Don’t be afraid of a challenge or making mistakes. Find your passion and make it work for you.”