For Mickey Laukhuff Walker, entrepreneurship was all about passing on the spirit – “giving our young people and others an incentive to reach their potential through their dreams, ideas, talents, hard work and ambitions…making this a better world to live in.” A founding member of the Society of Entrepreneurs, Ms. Laukhuff Walker was the first woman to own a stained glass company in the United States. She began working with glass during WWII when she ground prisms for bombsights, and thus found her true love. After the war, she worked at Binswanger Glass and in 1960 fulfilled her dream of having her own company when she created Laukhuff Stained Glass. Until she sold it in 1986, she created beautiful pieces for churches, homes, offices, restaurants, and hotels all over the world. Elvis Presley was one of her biggest fans, commissioning pieces for both the pool table and the front entrance at Graceland.

Ms. Laukhuff Walker was truly an inspiration to entrepreneurs, particularly women. She wrote a book about her experiences in a time when very few women even worked. She persevered and grew her company to one of the top ten businesses in the industry.

Ms. Laukhuff Walker has given of her time and talents to many organizations throughout Memphis, including the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the Memphis Symphony League, the Child Advocacy Center, the Pink Palace Museum, and the Memphis Arts Council, just to name a few.