Dr. Scott goes to Washington

When Monica J. Scott touched down in Washington, D.C. on May 11, 2015, she had no idea the magnitude of the event she was about to take part in.

Gathering at our nation’s capital for Small Business Majority’s inaugural Small Business Leadership Summit, Scott was a member of a group of the best and brightest small business owners who came to voice their opinions to policymakers, hoping to institute real change that would benefit the greater small business community.

As the CEO of Doctor Physical Therapy, an outpatient physical therapy clinic based in Woodbury, N.J, Scott was thrilled to be chosen to attend this three-day event of education, collaboration and action.

“It was an honor to be chosen to attend the Summit,” Scott said. “I was both thrilled and humbled by the fact that I was one of only 113 small business owners from across the country to be chosen to attend such an event.”

Small businesses like Scott’s are crucial to our country’s vitality and our economic success. That’s why it’s important for small business owners’ voices to be heard by lawmakers on the top issues they face. With this Leadership Summit, a select group of talented and innovative small business owners had the chance to do just that: interacting with policymakers who can help institute the change they need to continue serving as the driving force of our economy.

“Listening to the presenters was an awesome and inspiring experience,” she said. What inspired Scott even more was talking and sharing with her fellow small business owners.

“One of the things I will treasure most was the opportunity to network and learn from the other business owners in attendance. Part of the failure stories of being a business owner is you have to figure out so much on your own and hope that you can keep your financial curve greater than your debt curve. We all have had successes and failures, and we all had valuable things to share to help one another.”

The bonds that Scott formed with other small business owners during the Summit took her by surprise, as she wasn’t expecting to find such common ground with others across a variety of fields and locations, commenting that “people in completely different industries have ideas and success stories that have been instrumental in the growth and development of your own business.”

 

Small Business Majority Leadership Summit Networking Group 2015

A photo posted by Doctor Physical Therapy (@doctorphysicaltherapy) on

A major issue that Scott discovered impacted all small business owners to varying degrees is access to capital. The topic came up frequently on panels, in breakout sessions and in one-on-one conversations with small business owners about the difficulty of acquiring sufficient funds and resources to run and grow their businesses.

As a learning experience, the Summit taught Scott an important fact – her struggle as a small business owner is not unique to just her.

“All business owners, whether they have been in business one year or 30 struggle with many of the same obstacles and situations; the key is to be innovative in your methods of problem solving and utilize your assets and resources to find the solution that moves you to the next level.”

Ultimately, the Summit was an enlightening and rewarding experience for Scott, who found comfort and strength uniting with other small business owners, recalling it was a “fantastic opportunity to bring the business owners together and the community at large to share and provide information.”

When asked if she would recommend that other small business owners attend the Summit in the future, her response was quick: “Absolutely!”

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