Business World May Soon Be in for a Rood Awakening

It’s only fitting that Lisa Rood is one of the catchers on the North Hollywood High softball team because the catcher traditionally is the player in charge on the field.

But it really doesn’t matter where Rood plays. If she takes control of the team with the leadership expertise she has displayed the past two years, North Hollywood may soon be experiencing “Sweet Success.”

That’s the name of the Junior Achievement company that elected Rood president last year--a company that packages and sells “gourmet” jelly beans known as “Jelly Bellies” for $15 a box.

During an 18-week Junior Achievement program, Rood’s 52-member company made a $3,900 profit and was selected the top company in the nation ahead of about 5,000 other organizations at the Junior Achievement National Conference at Indiana University last August.

And this year, with profits already exceeding $14,000, Rood’s group is making last year’s effort look like a garage sale.

“Our goal is $15,000,” said Rood, who maintains a 4.0 grade-point average. The 17-year-old senior juggles softball, Junior Achievement and an academic load that includes advanced placement classes in calculus, English, physics and, of course, economics. How does she keep on top of things?

“Well, I had it all figured out with softball, school and JA,” Rood said. “But now I’m going through interviews for college and that’s taking some time.”

College for Rood won’t be any small business, either. She is flying to Boston today to check out Williams College and is awaiting word from Princeton and Yale. She’s already been accepted to California and UC San Diego.

“I’d like to go back East,” Rood said. “But I don’t know yet.”

Until then it’s business as usual for Rood, who always carries a thick schedule book to keep matters straight.

“It’s not easy,” she said about running the company. “But I love it. I don’t do things unless they’re fun.”