Healing & Heart: Ucher Dent’s Pain Becomes Thomasville’s Gain

Tuesday, October 28

7:00 a.m.

Spark Thomasville Executive Director

You can hear the exhaustion in Ucher Dent’s voice when she describes watching her grandmother work her “fingers to the bone” for someone else’s dream when she had all the talent to build her own.

"God has given me the eye to see the best in people." - Ucher Dent

“I think with her, it was a mindset,” Ucher’s voice softens. “I don’t think she believed she was good enough to own her own business.”

You can feel emotion in your chest when she talks about it. It is a generational pain that motivates her today.

You wonder if she see’s her grandmother in all the underestimated entrepreneurs she meets…

Picture this: It’s 2020. The Covid-lock-down streets of Thomasville are quieter than usual, but something’s stirring.

Behind closed doors, kitchen tables become de facto boardrooms. Living rooms transform into mini warehouses. The sweet smell of homemade goods mingles with the sharp scent of ambition.

“During the lockdown, many people started homegrown, sidewalk businesses,” Ucher explains.

“These new business owners thought that because they had a tax identification number or they registered with the state, that’s all they needed to do.”

From Whispers to Workshops

This is where Ucher’s story ignites.

Instead of watching from the sidelines, she rolls up her sleeves and creates the “Mind Your Own Business” workshop.

She invites the business professionals she knows to present and be coaches at her workshop. Her goal is to fan the embers of entrepreneurial endeavor into roaring flames.

Imagine a room buzzing with conversation - the click of laptops opening, the scratch of pens on paper, the “aha!” moments you can taste in the air.

This influencer, community leader and therapist (who’s burning the midnight oil pursuing her doctorate while running TWO nonprofits) doesn’t just teach.

We want to give people who have the gifts and talents and skills to create legacy businesses a real chance.

Besides sponsoring “Mind Your Own Business” annually, her nonprofit, Juneteenth of Thomasville-Thomas County Foundation Inc., through community donations and support, establishes an annual scholarship that sponsors one underestimated entrepreneur in Spark Thomasville.

“We want to give people who have the gifts and talents and skills to create legacy businesses a real chance.”

This year’s recipient is Keyshonda Butler who distinguished herself at the 2025 Juneteenth celebration in Thomasville.

“She’s very persistent. You can tell she’s determined and motivated to be the best entrepreneur she can be.”

That scholarship? It’s transforming Keyshonda’s Key Provider LLC into a full-service event venue with:

• Event planning services

• Childcare

• Custom fruit creations

• A mobile snack truck

• And more

A Name That Echoes Through Generations

Ucher’s name, pronounced like “Oosha,” means “healing.”

As a licensed professional counselor, she doesn’t just see broken dreams - she feels the heartbeat of potential underneath people.

“God has given me the eye to see the best in people,” she shares, her hands pressed to her heart. “He is the author and finisher of my Faith and it is Him who makes this all happen. He has trusted me with His vision.”

In a county where minority business ownership sits at 5%, Juneteenth of Thomasville-Thomas County Foundation Inc.’s scholarship program with Spark Thomasville is creating interdependent relationships, nurturing what’s already strong in neighborhoods rich in culture and community.

Like you, I love to listen for the dreams in our community, feel the potential in someone’s story, and remember that Thomasville is worth every ounce of love we pour into it.

DeShay Williams

P.S. Know someone whose hands are ready to build but whose heart needs encouragement? Juneteenth of Thomasville-Thomas County Foundation Inc.’s scholarship could be their bridge from dreaming to doing. You can connect with her HERE.