Dr. Emily C. Blalock

Education

• B.S., University of Southern Mississippi
• M.S., University of Georgia
• Ph.D., Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Dr. Emily Blalock serves as Program Director of Fashion Merchandising and Associate Professor of Business for Belhaven University. Blalock earned her B.S. in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing from University of Southern Mississippi in 2004, and a M.S. in International Merchandising from University of Georgia in 2006. She spent the next ten years as Lecturer and Internship Coordinator in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors at the University of Georgia. During that time she taught twelve fashion classes including five she introduced with innovative curriculum: Global Retailing, Retail Entrepreneurship, Retail Development in Ghana: A Case Study in Entrepreneurship, Trend Forecasting, and Social Entrepreneurship Service Learning. Her legacy at UGA includes Couture a la Cart - UGA’s first retail concept operated by students selling student designs; the Ghana Community Trade Program linking Georgia small business owners with Ghanaian artisans and designers; and the Interdisciplinary Certificate in Entrepreneurship. There she was awarded FACS teacher of the year in 2015 and UGA’s advisor of the year in 2011. As internship coordinator she prepared over 300 students for the practical realities of the professional workplace and fashion industry. She mentored students in resume writing, cover letters, business etiquette, interviewing skills, and career readiness.

Blalock believes that fashion is more than designing and marketing pretty clothes, but the fashion business can empower the most marginalized to improve their own wellbeing and immediate life situation. Blalock has dedicated her free time to volunteering with diverse women’s groups by providing skills training (sewing, jewelry making, effective communication, hygiene, professional writing) and teaching entrepreneurial start-up classes. She has collaborated with nonprofit organizations to start entrepreneurial projects and enterprises in USA, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Honduras.

Most recently, she lived and worked in Shanghai, China, for seven years. There she earned her Ph.D. in Public Administration from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. She was able to combine her interdisciplinary focus of women entrepreneurs, micro-enterprise, and public policy. During this time, she published three articles dealing with women’s issues in entrepreneurship and Chinese policy. Her current research focus is the Shanghai Fashion Industry and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Governance.

Blalock has been married for 18 years to Brent Blalock and they have a whimsical six-year old daughter named Rosemary. Blalock is also an avid reader, swimmer, and artist.

Publications

• Blalock, E. C., Fan, Y. & Lyu, X. (2023). A systematic literature review of Chinese entrepreneurship: utilizing feminist theory with implications for public policy, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development.
• Blalock, E. C., & Lyu, X. (2023). The patriot-preneur–China’s strategic narrative of women entrepreneurs in Chinese media. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 1-34.
• Fan, Y., Blalock, E. C., & Lyu, X. (2022). A meta-analysis of the relationship between public service motivation and individual job performance: cross-validating the effect of culture. International Public Management Journal, 1-16.
• Blalock, E.C. & Lyu, X. (2021). Legitimate but ‘not for me’: The role of validation in migrant entrepreneur understanding of COVID-19 business support policies in Shanghai. Growth and Change: A Journal of Urban and Regional Policy, 52(3), 1482-1508.
• Lowe, T. B., Hunt-Hurst, P., & Blalock, E. (2018). The Ghana community trade program: Interdisciplinary Ghana study abroad program. In Creating Successful Bridges through Study Abroad: An International Social Work and Cultural Competency Approach. Samson Chama (Ed.). NY: Nova Science Publishers, 77 – 94.
• Smith, B., Lowe, T. B., Hunt-Hurst, P., Okech, D., Blalock, E., & Dery, A. (2013). The lifeline program: A case study of workforce education programs combating poverty for females in Ghana. International Education, 43 (1), 50 – 64.