About

Virginia Gean is a lecturer at the School of Management of California Lutheran University. She has been a member of the faculty for the past 12 years. She is popular among the School of Management-MBA, Undergraduate and the Professional students at CLU where she teaches Accounting, Finance and Business.

Prior to joining the CLU faculty and in keeping with the entrepreneurial spirit of her family, she founded and managed her own apparel business for 14 years. Her business was manufacturing women’s business suits and was marketed under the brand name, Vergianni. She eventually sold this business and proceeds were invested into commercial real estate in California and South Carolina. She enjoys being an investor in commercial real estate, primarily in apartment buildings, as well as other ventures, which also include a nursery, growing flowering plants in industrial hot houses. Her wealth of experience from being an entrepreneur and a businesswoman enriches her classroom performance for students.

She has published numerous scholarly papers in peer reviewed journals. She has made numerous professional presentations at both national and international business conferences. She has been selected to be the keynote breakfast speaker at the ASBBS international conference in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2017. The four female interviewees included in her book, A Village of Knowledge will be featured in her address.

Virginia Gean is passionate about business. This body of knowledge that she has written about and recorded on business leaders is a book entitled, A Village of Knowledge, leaders who all live in one community. The stories of these great business leaders are educational, inspiring and thought provoking, surely to entertain and enlighten future generations. She has interviewed business leaders, such as John Shields who is widely known to have built the Trader Joe's brand into the mega retail store that it is today, amongst other business leaders, such as Steve Dorfman, the CEO of Hughes Company. He brought great innovation to the field of satellite communications and technology at Hughes, enabling companies such as TBS and CNN to become 24/7 television networks and as leader of Hughes, he also developed Direct TV, which was recently sold to AT&T for $50 billion.  This three year body of research has enabled her to bring real business stories to the students and bring the subject of business into a dynamic platform.

Other interviews that she has conducted include a day spent with the very successful business leader, Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-Fil-A at his corporate office in Atlanta, Georgia.  This article was entitled "From Boarding House to the Board Room:  A Spiritual Billionaire." 

Education

Master of Business Adminstration, Accounting and Finance, Pepperdine University                                

Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Georgia

Professional Designation: Certified Management Accountant (CMA)                       

Professional Affiliation: Institute of Certified Management Accountants

Teaching and Professional Experience: 

Adjunct Professor, Pepperdine University, 2003-2008

Lecturer, California Lutheran University, School of Management, MBA,Professional and Undergraduate Programs, 2005-Present  

Courses Taught at the Undergraduate & Graduate Level:                               

            Managerial Accounting

            Principles of Financial Accounting

            Foundations of Accounting and Finance

            Entrepreneurial Business

            Environment of Business

ONLINE Courses Taught at the Graduate Level:

     Managerial Accounting  

     Foundations of Accounting and Finance: (I designed the online syllabus for this course.)

 

Continued Education:                                                                                         Spring 2003                           Completed the following courses:

• Principles of Real Estate Appraising-California State University-Northridge
• Income Property Appraisal- California State University-Northridge
• Appraisal Report Writing- California State University-Northridge
• Standards of Professional Practice- California State University-Northridge
• Currently Researching the Pursuit of an EDD Degree

   

                  

 

Expertise

Career Objective:  To share my theoretical knowledge in the classroom with students using my years of practical experience to enrich their classroom experience.

Summary:  30+ years professional management, sales, accounting and marketing experience

 

Formed a Real Estate Development company which focuses on acquisition of:         1998-Present

• Residential and Commercial Real Estate-primarily Apartment Complexes  

                              Acquisitions included experience in the following areas:

•                           Site Location
•                           Cash Flow Analysis
•                           Capital Funding
•                           Building relationships with Bankers, Brokers, and Real Estate Agents
•                           Commercial Property Management

 

Developer and Partner of Forest Lake Nurseries                                                  1990-Present

•                          A nursery that specializes in flowers and plants with over 18 hot houses
•                          Co-owner and consultant to Forest Lake Nurseries
•                          Currently $3.25 million in annual sales
•                          Recently purchased 75 acres for further development of Forest Lake Nurseries         

 

Partner of Byrd Properties                                                                                   1990-2014                                                                                                                                                      

•                          Land Holdings include hundreds of acres at intersection of Interstates I-95 and I-20                                         in South Carolina
•                          Land has been and continues to be developed, sold, and leased to such companies as
•                          Wal-Mart, Hampton Inns, Magnolia Mall along with hundreds of other companies

 

Real Stock, Inc.dba Carat Collectors, Los Angeles, CA                                             1995-1998

                        Accountant

•                            Prepared Annual Operating Budget
•                            Prepared Monthly Financial Statements
•                            Negotiated debt financing

 Vergianni-Apparel Line                                                                                        1982-1995

• President and Owner
• Created a Women’s Apparel Line “Vergianni”- which was manufactured in Miami Beach, FL and Atlanta, GA.   Started in specialty T shirts, which developed into women’s suits and accessories
• Responsible for manufacturing, distribution, financing, designing, marketing and advertising of the line
• Managed five regional sales representatives throughout the United States
• Sold to stores such as Nordstrom, Neiman-Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Cache, Icing, Wal-Mart, Neiman-Marcus Christmas Catalogue, Kohler Bath Catalogue and hundreds of small boutiques
• Vergianni apparel was used in fashion magazines’ editorial content such as Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Washington Woman among others
• Grew business to $2 million in annual sales

 

Publications

Included In This Section Are:

Scholarly Paper Publications,

Gean, F., Gean, V., and A. Devenport (2013) . “Interaction of Multiple Failures: A Linear Path to Our Financial Crisis”, Journal of Accounting and Finance, Vol. 13 (6), pp. 11-28.

Gean, F., and V. Gean (2014). “From Boarding House to the Boardroom: A Personal Interview with Truett Cathy” Journal of Business and Economics, Vol. 5, No 12, pp. 2275- 2281.

Gean, F., and V. Gean (2015). “The Desirability of an Integrated Learning Methodology for Enriching CVP Analysis”, Journal of Business and Accounting, Vol. 8, No.1, pp. 127- 137.

 Gean, F., Petro, F., and V. Gean (2015) “Reclassifications for more Meaningful Presentations of Cash Flows”, The Business Review, Cambridge, Vol. 23, No. 2, December, pp. 30-36.

Gean, F., and V. Gean. “A Three-Way Cost Classification Model for Understanding the Supply Side of the Firm”. The Journal of Business and Educational Leadership, Vol. 6, No. 1; Fall 2016.

Gean, Virginia and Gean, F., "Pygmalion Syndrome and Misunderstanding the Duality Accounting Concept".  The Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, Volume 23 (2), March 2018

 

 

 

Included In This Section Are:

Other Publications,

Gean, Virginia (2016) "Retired Business Leaders Have a Lot To Teach",  Pacific Coast Business Times, Vol. 16, No. 49. February 05-11, 2016, p. 17A.

 

Written by CLU Echo Staff Author, Mario Granados and Editor Drew Thomas, entitled, "Learning From Leaders With Virginia Gean", The Echo: CLU Student Newspaper, Vol. 64, No. 15, March 2, 2016, p. 6.  This was an article published in the CLU Echo Student Newspaper, which highlighted the research that I did for my book, A Village of Knowledge and the philosophy of Business Leaders who live in one community.  A brief description of a few of these leaders is listed below. 

 

Included In This Section Are: 

Scholarly Paper Presentations,

“Interaction of Multiple Failures Behind the Financial Meltdown: A Something for Nothing Mentality” was presented at the 12th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Business in Honolulu, Hawaii, May 2012.

  “From Boarding House to the Boardroom: A Personal Interview with Truett Cathy” was presented at the 21th Annual Conference of the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences (ASBBS) in Las Vegas, February 2014.

 “Desirability of Proposed Reclassifications For More Meaningful Presentations of Cash Flows” was presented at the International Business Conference, Clute Institute in Maui, Hawaii, January 2015.

 “The Desirability of an Integrated Learning Methodology for Enriching CVP Analysis” was presented at the 22nd Annual Conference of the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences (ASBBS) in Las Vegas , February 2015.

 “Reclassifications For More Meaningful Presentations of Cash Flows”, was presented at The Finance, Economics, MIS, and Global Business Research Conference, Miami, FL, December 2015. (Received Best Presenter Award at the Conference for this paper)

“A Three-Way Cost Classification Model for Understanding the Supply Side of the Firm” was presented at the 23rd Annual Conference of the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences (ASBBS) in Las Vegas , February 2016.

“Pygmalion Syndrome and Misunderstanding the Duality Accounting Concept” at the Finance, Economics, Management, IT, Marketing, MIS,

Global Business, and Healthcare Management Research Conference, in Miami, Florida, December 2017.

 

 

 

 

 

Included In This Section Is:

Keynote Speaker at the 24th Annual American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences Conference

Virginia Gean was selected to be the keynote speaker for the ASBBS 24th Annual Conference in March 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The speech was entitled,  "Success Stories of Women Leaders in Business and Education" and focused on, The Unique Leadership Attributes of Women.  The speech was based on interviews of women interviewed in my book, A Village of Knowledge.

Included In This Section Is:

BEST PRESENTER AWARD

Best Presenter Award at the Finance, Economics, Management, IT, Marketing, MIS, Global Business, and Healthcare Management Research

Conference, Miami, Florida, December 2017.

 

 

 

Included In This Section Are:

Book Publications,

 Gean, V., and F. Gean,     A Village of Knowledge-Volume I

AuthorHouse Publishing, Release Date August 2018.

This book is a compilation of biographies of 16 accomplished individuals all living within the same complex called University Village located in Thousand Oaks, CA.  The attributes of leadership gleaned from the interviews of each individual are described in a separate chapter.  Volume I includes seven chapters.

 An introduction to the book and four sample chapters have been included in a support module for your review.  These chapters are based on interviews of John Shields (Builder of Trader Joe’s Brand), Robert James, Steve Dorfman, and John Bardgette.

 

Gean, V., and F. Gean    Robert James Biography

This biography was commissioned by his sons to be written for a 90th year birthday gift.  It is about 500 pages in length.  It is an expansion of his chapter in the book described above and is based on hours of recorded interviews with both Robert James and his three sons.  This is a self-published book presented to the family earlier this year of 2016.

 

Included In This Section Are:

Scholarly Papers Submitted for Publication,

 “Pygmalion Syndrome Prevents Understanding the Important Duality Accounting Concept”

 Submitted to The Business Review Cambridge

 

 “A Classroom Project That Avoids Compartmentalization and Achieves Cross Fertilization Across Different Fields of Study”

  Submitted to The Business Review Cambridge

 

Included In This Section Are:

Scholarly Papers In Progress,

"From Chaulk to the Chip: An Evolution of Classroom Technologies".  Updating a paper presented in Cancun, Mexico in 1997.

"SOX and SEC Acts: The Twin Towers of Financial Reporting".  Reworking a paper presented in San Francisco in 2013.

"150 Curricula to Meet the 150 Hour Requirement. This paper is based on an exhaustive review of curricula all oer the country.  My goal is to have all three of these papers published by 2018.

 

 

 

Grant Funding