Women's entrepreneurship

Chicago salon owner uses creative energy to survive crisis and bring self-care back to her community

Sherry Spellers combined her two passions to create a small business success story: a knack for repurposing old trinkets, with the desire to make women look and feel beautiful.

Her journey as a hairdresser was marked from an early age, when a traumatic incident caused Sherry to lose her hair. “I felt so ugly and ashamed. I knew in that moment that I wanted to help women feel good about themselves, and hair was a great way to do that,” says Sherry.

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Despite setbacks from COVID-19, immigrant small business owner continues to chase opportunities for her business and community

As a first-generation immigrant, Anahi Rojas knows a thing or two about chasing opportunities. 

Anahi, owner of Professional Eco Cleaning in Oakland, Calif., moved to the United States 13 years ago to seek new economic opportunities and improve her life and that of her family in Mexico. Initially, she worked as a waitress but soon realized the language barrier would be a problem. She pursued other avenues and became a partner at in house cleaning cooperatives where she learned how to manage a business, and developed her conflict resolution strategies. 

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Small Business Majority Comments on CRA Proposed Rule Changes

Today, Small Business Majority submitted comments to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation regarding proposed rules changes to the Community Reinvestment Act. Some of Small Business Majority's concerns include that these proposed changes would negatively impact underserved entrepreneurs in low and moderate income (LMI) communities and disincentive banks from making qualified smaller-dollar loans that are the lifeblood of small businesses. 

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Energy runs high as So-Cal business owner sparks life into her community

Not long after accepting a voluntary early retirement package from her long time employer, Southern California Edison, Pat Watts found herself yearning to be back at work. So, she turned to entrepreneurship by taking some of the money from her retirement package and starting her own business. Little did she know, her business would end up expanding across the nation and her workforce training program would focus-in on her own community.  

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Wisconsin small business owner provides healthcare solutions for her community

In 2010, when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted, Sadie Tuescher’s office at her county job in Milwaukee, Wisc. was flooded with people looking for help enrolling in coverage through the new marketplaces created by the law. She was overwhelmed by the influx of clients but quickly adapted and learned everything she could about the new healthcare law. It wasn’t long before her insurance agent husband was calling her daily with questions about the ACA.

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California business owner brings your beauty routine back to the basics

Biome, headquartered in Riverside, Calif., encourages its clients to root their beauty routines in nature with plant-based organic beauty products including soap, shampoo, essential oils and more.

Owner Jaqueline Melissa Vrba explains “Without Mother Earth we are nothing. I want to remind people that all we need is what comes from her.”

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Lifelong caregiver turned business owner celebrates National Caregivers Month

Photo of small business owner Fran BonnerFran Bonner is not your average small business owner: She has been a caregiver for more than 67 years. When she was just 11 years old, her grandmother and great aunt both suffered from strokes, and Fran would spend her days going back and forth from school to home in order to make sure her loved ones were fed and taken care of.

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Air Force gave veteran small business owner the skills and connections she needed to succeed

When you think of a harpy, you may picture a mythological half-bird, half-human creature. However, Harpy Information Technology Solutions in St. Louis is named for a very real bird—an eagle—found in South and Central America. Co-owner Laurie Calkins describes the harpy eagle as an incredibly majestic bird and says she was drawn to it because of its unapologetic hunting techniques. 

“They go for what they want and they get what they need, no questions asked,” she says. 

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