I Am Not the Same Woman Who Started This Business Six Years Ago

Six years ago, I started a business with a vision and a lot of determination.

What I did not realize at the time was that building a company would end up rebuilding me.

The woman who started this business believed that working hard, being kind, and showing up with integrity would be enough.

And for a little while, it felt like it might be.

But leadership has a way of teaching you lessons you cannot learn any other way.

Over the past six years, I have learned things no business book prepares you for.

I have learned that not everyone who smiles at you wants to see you succeed.

I have learned that some people will celebrate your work publicly while quietly undermining you in private.

I have learned that building something meaningful attracts both incredible supporters and unexpected critics.

And I have learned that leadership often requires standing firm in moments when it would be much easier to stay quiet.

In the early years, conflict shook me.

I would replay conversations in my head wondering if I said the wrong thing. Wondering if I should have handled something differently. Wondering if maybe I was the problem.

Back then, I walked into rooms feeling like I still had something to prove.

Today, I walk into those same rooms knowing exactly who I am.

Not because the road has been easy.

But because it hasn’t.

There have been partnerships that did not work out.

There have been people I trusted who ultimately showed me their intentions were not the same as mine.

There have been deals that fell apart after months of work.

And there have been nights where I sat at my kitchen table exhausted, wondering how I was going to keep everything moving forward.

Because while I was building this business, I was also raising two kids.

Being a founder is hard.

Being a single mother building a company while trying to show your children what resilience looks like is something else entirely.

There were days I had to be strong in rooms and strong again when I walked through my front door.

Homework.

Doctor appointments.

Teenage emotions.

Real life.

Leadership does not happen in perfect conditions.

It happens while life is still unfolding around you.

Some days I was building a company.

Other days I was just trying to hold everything together.

But something happens when you walk through enough of those moments.

You stop trying to please everyone.

You stop explaining yourself to people who have already decided not to understand you.

And you stop shrinking to make other people comfortable.

You start trusting your instincts.

You start protecting your vision.

And you start realizing something that took me years to fully understand.

When a woman stops seeking approval, she becomes very difficult to control.

That realization changes everything.

Six years ago, I was building a business.

Today, I am building rooms.

Rooms where leaders can speak honestly about the challenges that come with growth. Rooms where relationships matter more than titles. Rooms where collaboration replaces competition. Rooms where women know they belong at the table.

That is what EmpowHER has become.

Not just events.

Not just networking.

A community.

The woman who started this company six years ago had a dream.

The woman writing this today has the scars, the wisdom, and the resilience that come from building something real.

And the truth is…

I am still evolving.

Because leadership is not a destination.

It is a journey that keeps shaping you into the woman you were meant to become.