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Building What We Needed for Women-Owned Businesses

Share the goods.

People standing around talking to each other upstairs.

19 years as a woman-owned business gives us some serious street cred when it comes to building and leading programs for women-owned businesses. We built what we needed before we aggressively grew and what we needed after the growth. 

Women own around 40% of U.S. businesses and receive around 10% of the funding they need to grow, leaving them to navigate entrepreneurship largely on their own… and it’s exhausting. 

In an article Kim wrote last year for Corp! Magazine, she pointed out:

When a woman CEO needs growth capital, she completes Personal Financial Statements, compiles three years of tax returns, and prepares detailed projections before any bank will schedule a meeting. Her male competitor discusses the same credit line over drinks at the country club, where documentation comes up after the handshake, if at all. 

We’re not the kind of company to sit around and wait for someone else to solve the problem, which is why we built what we needed as a woman-led small business. No matter where you are in your business, there is a place for you. 

Each program is built, taught, and led by business owners for business owners, because no one understands your journey better than those who have been there. 

The Program for What Comes First

The Women’s Owners Network is built for the one-woman shop, solopreneur, the smaller business, the one that needs support to take it to the next level – whatever that might look like and however you choose to define it. 

The six-month program integrates the emotional with the practical—tackling leadership, finance, crisis planning, paired with structured support for the isolation, emotional volatility, and decision fatigue that comes with owning your own business.

It’s designed by entrepreneurs who have navigated the same terrain and understand that sustainable business growth cannot be separated from the support network and resilience required to sustain it.

Think of it as your own board of directors, including Kim Bode and a group of kickass mentors, instructors, and coaches who will offer perspective, guidance, and feedback along the way.

Did we mention access to special events, including an exclusive retreat? 

*The program tuition is $1,500, and there is a cost to attend the retreat. 

Applications close for the 2026 Women’s Owners Network cohort by 10/1.

*If you are not accepted into the November cohort, you will be considered for the March 2027 cohort. 

The Program for What Comes After

You have the revenue, employees, success and you’re burned out. If you don’t get out of your business to work on your business, you’ll walk away from your business.

Through mentorship with experienced business leaders, peer-to-peer learning with women who understand your challenges, in-person sessions to tackle the hard stuff, and the WEF Learning Hub keeping everything connected, you’ll have comprehensive support designed around your reality as a business owner.

This is about building what you want next with peers who understand where you are and those who have been there before.

Apply for the Women’s Entrepreneurial Fellowship by 9/15

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Recent Musings

Something on Your Mind?

This is why we do what we do. Most women business owners are left to navigate business ownership alone, juggling hiring, cash flow, and strategy while trying to keep the lights on. It’s overwhelming and it’s lonely.

The Women’s Entrepreneurial Fellowship is designed to change that. It’s an intentionally small cohort because real support doesn’t happen in a crowded room. Participants will receive the support they’ve been missing, and the tools, knowledge, and networks needed to scale - all guided by people who have built and grown businesses themselves.

If you’re a second-stage business owner ready to grow, this program is for you. Applications close on September 15. 

Apply at the link in bio.
Perimenopause results in a brutal shift in energy, productivity, motivation, and mental clarity. We are leading companies, people, and navigating and holding up the world while the general public gets the ‘ick’ at the mention of our bodies, physicians hand out antidepressants as a solution, and there is little to no education or awareness on the subject.

Combine the two and you get our next Uncomfortable Conversation: The Pause, presented in partnership with the SBAM Women’s Business Council.

Let's get uncomfortable together. Register for the conversation. Link in bio.
The Women's Entrepreneurial Fellowship supports Michigan's established women business owners with the resources, insight, and connections it takes to break through growth barriers and scale with confidence. Through the next 9 months the walls will come down, challenges become shared-problem solving, and wins become everyone's celebration. 

Ready for what is next? Applications are due by September 15th. Link in bio. 

@bodespeaks @smallbusinessassocofmichigan
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