By Neal Wagner
nwagner@cdispatch.com
Friday, March 28, 2008 6:16 PM CDT

Sarah Labensky wears many hats.

She’s the owner of The Front Door and Back Door and The Green Olive restaurants.

And, if that weren’t enough, she also owns Wag — a store offering high-end accessories and gourmet treats for pets.

“It never really gets to be more than I can handle,” said Labensky. “I can definitely tell you that no two days are exactly alike.”

While job variety keeps Labensky planted at the three businesses she already owns, something else keeps her looking into the future for the next entrepreneurial idea: challenge.

“Being an entrepreneur presents me with lots of challenges,” said Labensky. “It gives me the inspiration to keep going and always think down the road and look for that next great idea.”

The friendly, red-haired business owner remains tight-lipped about her ideas for the future, though.

“Of course I am thinking about opening a new business in Columbus, but I’m not going to spill the beans to you — then people will steal my ideas,” Labensky laughed when asked what type business she is looking to start next.

Even though Labensky views owning three businesses as routine, at least one Columbus institution sees Labensky as one of the area’s greatest entrepreneurs.

Mississippi University for Women’s Center for Entrepreneurship awarded Labensky its 2008 Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award at the university’s Women in Leadership and Entrepreneurship Banquet Thursday on the MUW campus.

“She is really a person that all of us could learn from,” said Columbus Mayor Robert Smith. “She is what we would call an awesome leader in our city.”

The award was based on several criteria — such as success in finance and community involvement — and was funded by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Labensky is the first person to receive the award — which will be given out each year from now on, said Women’s Center for Entrepreneurship Director Lucy Betcher.

“Sarah is what we would call a serial entrepreneur,” said Betcher, soliciting laughs from the crowd of about 60 students, local businesses owners and MUW employees at the banquet.

“She has a pioneer’s spirit when it comes to business,” Betcher added. “It’s good for our community — her work brings a lot to Columbus.”

Labensky doesn’t think of herself as an entrepreneur, though.

“All I am really doing is setting a vision for myself and constantly making that vision better,” said Labensky. “What it actually comes down to is that the career choice that’s right when you are 25 might not be the right one to pursue when you’re 35 or 45.

“I didn’t set out to own three businesses; that’s just the direction my career took me in as I went on with my life,” Labensky added.

Labensky is a graduate of Murray State University and Vanderbilt University and is a certified culinary artist. She became the founding director of MUW’s Women’s Culinary Arts Institute in 1996.