Every entrepreneur has a defining moment. A moment when life forces you to stop, reflect, and decide whether to give up or level up. For me, that moment came when I least expected it—flat on my back, on bed rest, pregnant with my only child, facing the very real possibility of losing everything I had built. Before I became The SmallBizLady, I was simply Melinda Emerson—Former TV producer turned entrepreneur, a workaholic hustling in the streets of Philadelphia, running a video production company alongside. I thought I had it all figured out. But life, as it often does, had a better plan.
Life in the Fast Lane…
In the early 2000s, I was in the fast lane. I had built the largest woman-owned video production company in Philadelphia. My company Quintessence Group had earned a spot on the Philly 100 list, and I had between seven and eight employees. My then-husband had quit his full-time corporate job to join our business full-time. By all outward appearances, we were thriving. But beneath the surface, the truth was far more complicated. I was the CEO, the chief rainmaker, and frankly, the bottleneck. If I wasn’t there, business stalled. And like many entrepreneurs, I wore my exhaustion like a badge of honor.
Then came my pregnancy with JoJo, a miracle that came with complications. My doctor said I was high-risk and ordered me to complete the last six months of pregnancy on bed rest. This was in 2005, when working remotely was nearly impossible, as there was no WIFI in residential homes then. My world basically came to a screeching halt.
Every week, I underwent fetal stress tests, and every week, my baby and I failed. All I could do was pray and hope he would be fine. I was so afraid for my unborn baby, while simultaneously grappling with the reality that my business was spiraling down quickly without me there to lead the charge.
For the first time in my life, I had to sit with the silence of my own thoughts. Without the distraction of work, I was forced to confront some hard truths. I had built a business that could not survive without me. I was a hostage to my own success. My marriage was on life support too. My health and my future were uncertain.
What am I supposed to do next?
What saved me during that dark period was an old yellow legal note pad. I started writing down every lesson I had learned in my business—the mistakes, the missed opportunities, the expensive lessons. Day turned into night as I filled page after page. When I finally put down the pen, I looked at what I had created: a blueprint of what I wished someone had told me when I was starting out. I realized there was no one in the mainstream media providing actionable guidance to how to leave a corporate job and build a thriving business. Not one person saying, “If you have an idea for a business, here’s how you make it big without losing your shirt?”
There was an unmet need in the marketplace, and I thought that maybe—I was the one to fill it. Not sure what to do, I sought counsel from my Pastor, Rev. Dr. J. Wendel Mapson, his simple advice was to start praying about it. For months, I asked God, “What am I supposed to do next?” The answer came to me three times in a dream: “Become America’s #1 Small Business Expert.”
At first, I doubted this calling. But God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called. So, I began to study the people who had built brands as experts. They had books, were media experts, had consistent branding and lots of educational content. I realized if I was going to build a brand, I needed to do the same.
My first step was to get a book deal. I didn’t have a book proposal or an agent, but I have always been a great salesperson. The only editor I ever talked with bought my book from four sample chapters and a table of contents. I turned that yellow notepad from my time on bedrest into my bestseller, “Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months,” a practical, step-by-step guide for starting a business. I got my book deal, and my manuscript was due to the publisher by September 1, 2008.
But just as I was preparing to share my book with the world, the Great Recession hit, and my publisher told me they were shelving my book for eighteen months. They didn’t think anyone was going to be thinking about entrepreneurship while the economy was in freefall. I was devastated. I had poured my heart into that manuscript. But God had another plan.
At a National Speakers Association meeting in Philadelphia, I shared my story of disappointment about my book. The woman leading the meeting said, “Melinda, you need to learn this new social media thing everyone is talking about and start publicizing your book like it’s coming out anyway.” I was skeptical, but another colleague introduced me to Cathy Larkin, a local publicist who understood social media. I scraped together what I could afford, and she agreed to work with me.
Brainstorming
Cathy had a vision for building my author platform on a new social media site called Twitter. I didn’t even know what Twitter was. But Cathy insisted this was where I could build my audience. I tried to set up an account with my own name, but the handle was already taken. I was furious. Cathy, however, thought it was an opportunity.
We brainstormed ideas for a nickname. Then she said, “What about SmallBizLady?” And I said, “I think I can be her.”
From that moment, I started building the SmallBizLady Brand. I worked Twitter like a full-time job. I shared one helpful small business article a day, tweeted something personal—usually something funny about my toddler son—and answered one small business question every day. I did two critical things that elevated my brand. First, I launched my blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com, which has now over 5000 articles on it today. Then I started hosting #SmallBizChat, a one-hour live social chat every Wednesday night. And eventually, entrepreneurs from across the country—and around the world—joined in. I used my skills as a former television producer to make the chat feel like a professionally produced show. That little chat and my blog built a huge online community for my brand.
When the book finally launched in 2010, “Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months” became one of the definitive guides to starting a business., In fact’s it’s been in print since March 2010, translated into to multiple languages, and it’s in the third edition with Simon and Schuster. It’s sold over 100K copies worldwide.
These days, I host The Smallbizchat Podcast, and have 300K followers on X, formerly Twitter. My brand reaches one million small businesses a week online these days between my @SmallBizLady social media reach, the blog, The SmallBizLady Buzz newsletter and podcast subscribers.
My brand grew and grew from there: I became a columnist for the New York Times. I’ve done television appearances, media interviews, and speaking engagements all over the world including France, Nigeria, China, Panama, Singapore and Cambodia. I enjoyed consulting opportunities and influencer brand deals with over 150 corporate brands, and eventually I started coaching small business owners and created an online school. www.smallbizladyuniversity.com and I have a membership site that just supports women business owners www.smallbizladyacademy.com our content is in English and Spanish there.
Ending Small Business Failure
Oprah once said, “God can dream it bigger for you, than you can dream it for yourself.” I am living proof of this. My mission is to end small business failure. I never stopped giving away free, practical advice because I remember when I needed advice to reinvent my business.
Looking back, that high-risk pregnancy was the greatest gift of my life. It gave me the space to listen to God’s calling instead of my ego’s hustle. I learned that a business should never be built on one person, that how you burnout. If your business can’t run without you, it’s not a business—it’s a job you created for yourself with terrible hours.
Your mistakes can become your ministry, but consistency, visibility, and humility is required. The 18-month wait for the book to be released was my set-up for success.
If you’re reading this and life has knocked you flat, maybe it’s time to pivot right now. Maybe your business isn’t working. Maybe your soul is tired from burnout. Don’t be afraid to build another business—you’ll be smarter next time. Get a coach, enroll in a class. Don’t let burnout defeat you. Use a pause to ask yourself, “What life do I really want? Who will I specialize it serving? What products or services can best serve my ideal customer? How can I build a strategy to grow, scale and exit?” Do your research and pray. When God sends you the answer—whether it comes in a whisper or a thunderclap—be ready to act. Because if I could reinvent myself as the SmallBizLady from my lowest moment, so can you.
God Bless You. I’m rooting for you.
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