Inc.

Bankruptcy, Jail, and a Second Chance

As founder of a $30 million technical support startup, Heather Blease was on top of the world. But when one mega-client didn’t deliver, her company came crashing down. After nearly a decade, Blease decided to launch the Brunswick, Maine-based SaviLinx, another technical support startup, with a new business model—and a new perspective.
LANDING ON HER FEET Heather Blease walking the runway at the decommissioned Brunswick Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine, which has been converted to a high-tech business and industrial park that includes the SaviLinx offices.

HEATHER BLEASE SaviLinx → Three-year growth 9,204.3% 2016 revenue $11.4 MILLION

BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR wasn’t something I set out to do. I told my father my favorite subjects were art and gym, and he suggested I go to college for electrical engineering. I wasn’t really math oriented, so it was a huge struggle. When the manufacturing plant I worked at was sold,

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