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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?

Introducing our second speaker for Uncomfortable Conversations | The Pause, happening this Thursday. 

Meet Cheryl Bergman, Executive Director of the @miwomenscomm.

Cheryl is a statewide policy leader driving economic opportunity and better health outcomes for women across Michigan. Appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2019, she brings together employers, healthcare experts, advocates, and policymakers to tackle the issues that actually move the needle - economic security, affordable childcare, and midlife women's health.

Before this role, Cheryl helped elect Michigan's first woman U.S. Senator and first woman Governor, and served as Senior Advisor on Governor Whitmer's 2018 campaign.

She's exactly the voice this conversation needs.

Join Cheryl and our powerhouse lineup of industry experts at The Pause on September 24th. 

Link in bio to register - spaces are going fast.
We love this trend, so we thought we’d jump on it and ask the team some “hard-hitting questions” to end the week. 

We’re a team made up of Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. Find out who knows the most about the classics. Any guesses?
We've received so many questions from new grads about breaking into a competitive market as a young professional. It starts with one thing according to @bodespeaks: being the salesperson of YOU. Emulate the leaders in your industry and show up where they show up.

It's not who you know, it's who knows you
Use the playbook of people you admire
Show up consistently and be seen
A handwritten note beats 100 LinkedIn messages, always.

See more Bode wisdom at her YouTube channel linked in our bio.
Meet our first speaker spotlight: Dr. Karen May, DC, CCSP, CCIP.

Dr. May owns and operates @mhneuropathycenter, and she's joining us for Uncomfortable Community Conversations: The Pause on September 24th to talk about something we don't talk about enough. 

Her career has spanned from elite sports medicine, including a stint as team physician for USA Bobsled and Skeleton as well as caring for pregnant moms and newborns and helping women navigate life’s transitions, always grounded in a belief in food as medicine and the body’s own capacity to heal. In 2017, that expertise was tested when a rare surgical complication left her fighting nerve damage in her own body. 

Drawing on decades of clinical practice and training, she rebuilt her health from the ground up — and has since helped thousands of people do the same. With over 20 years in holistic health care, she speaks today as both physician and peer.

Join us for The Pause on September 24th. Link in bio.
“It has been an incredible experience - getting to connect with women business owners from all across Michigan, learn from experts on planning for growth, and learn to lead to the best of my abilities for myself and my team.”

- @rcdutcher, CEO of @red66.marketing 

We’re looking for business owners who thrive in collaborative environments and can fully commit to the program—attending all in-person sessions, participating in one-on-one coaching, and engaging in every aspect of the nine-month fellowship. Participants who gain the most come ready to contribute, learn, and problem-solve alongside other committed business leaders.

Applications close on September 15.
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