CEO's Message: Heartbroken—First Quarter 2025

We received the tragic news last week that our beloved Pam Bailey, NACVA’s Executive Director from ~2006 to 2018, had passed away peacefully in her sleep on the morning of Friday, February 21, according to her sister. Pam was near and dear to my heart as she was one of NACVA’s first employees, and came as a blessing at a time that I desperately needed someone with her exact skills. In the early 90’s when NACVA was just getting launched, I was so overwhelmed that it felt like everything we were doing was on the verge of crumbling down. In speaking, rather complaining, to one of my partners, lifelong mentor, and first out of college employer, Terry Isom, he said, “Parnell, what you need is an executive assistant who can keep you organized, return calls on your behalf, type your correspondence, and who can help you to leverage yourself in all the ways you need if you are going to keep this thing (NACVA) you created going.” With little thought, I knew he was 100% right so I began my search.

Early into my search, I met Pam, and we hit it off instantly, so much so, it felt like I had known her from before and said, “Have we met before?” She smiled and said, “Don’t you remember me, I used to live with your best friend and came close to marrying him?” Feeling a bit chagrined, I started to mumble and then we both broke out laughing. It was at that moment I knew Pam was the perfect person for the job and boy, did she ever prove it. She had prior experience as the executive assistant to the husband of Mrs. Fields of Mrs. Fields Cookies fame. Also, she had served in that capacity working at Price Waterhouse. In other words, Pam knew what it meant to be to be an executive’s assistant and for the next two years, my training began. You see, I had never had an executive assistant, so I did not really know how to utilize her to her fullest potential. So, she taught me. My first lesson came on her first day. I left the office to go to lunch with my partner and when I came back, she scolded me saying, “If you want me to keep you organized, handle your calendar, and represent you when you are not here, you need to let me know when you leave and when you’ll be back. While you were gone, three people asked me where you were and all I could do is shrug my shoulders. Which doesn’t make me look very good.” She was right.

Pam was everything I could have ever hoped for and with her at my side every step of the way, over the next decade we rock-n-rolled with NACVA, tripling our size, significantly expanding our training and product offerings, adding dozens of new services, expanding our boards and committees, and so much more; it was just incredible. NACVA had been launched and was on its way to the Moon, none of which could have ever been achieved without Pam Bailey. In NACVA’s and the business valuation space, Pam is iconic. Everyone knew who she was and respected her. And those that knew her loved her for who she was, which was an always happy, joyful, friendly, caring, thoughtful, and dedicated hard-working person, all of which just oozed out of her. She had a very good heart. There are probably hundreds of stories that could be fondly told about Pam because she affected so many people in a positive and memorable way. Pam started working for me in 1995 and retired in 2018, after which she stayed in touch with NACVA members and employees who had become friends. With me, we always checked in with each other on birthdays and holidays, but periodically she would send me kudos for a CEO’s Message she liked, or about some good news she had come across from her NACVA friends. Regularly I would invite her to attend NACVA’s annual conference, at our expense of course, knowing there were many members that would love to see her.

Just recently, Pam had expressed interest in doing some part-time work for NACVA as a way to stay busy and earn some extra money. And I found the perfect place for her helping us with our State Chapter program. The morning that she passed away, I sent her a text asking if we could talk about a perfect opportunity just waiting for her at NACVA. With Pam, one could always expect an immediate response to texts, but it did not come which had me worried. It had been some months since we last communicated. I told my wife that I would call Pam on Monday if I did not hear from her, but sadly, that opportunity never came. I learned from Facebook on Sunday, February 23, that Pam had passed away, and on the following Monday, her sister replied to my text that Pam was gone.

Pam’s departure from this world leaves a hole in my heart as I am sure it will with many. To honor Pam’s legacy, I encourage the members that knew her to share their stories with the rest of us because there are many. Please submit those to me, Parnell1@NACVA.com, copy Melissa at MelissaC1@NACVA.com, and we will see that your stories get published in the Association News throughout the year.

In remembrance of Pam Bailey, March 7, 2025 (her birthday), thank you for the blessing that you were to so many and for all the good you left upon this world.