
As women entrepreneurs explode in numbers, groups build strength via networking and innovation
BY REID CREAGER
When Melissa Barker was a little girl, she knew marketing was going to be her career. She might not have known she was going be part of a revolution.
As founder and CEO of Charleston, South Carolina-based Women Entrepreneurs Inc., Barker provides and oversees branding, design and digital marketing services in a collaborative, collegial environment for women who have started a business. Her company is No. 1 on Forbes’ Women Must-Watch List.
“I will always be building and creating,” she said. “I’m really passionate about helping women run their own business because it is something that we can continue to pour into and give us personal fulfillment.”
These women are successful professionals, often highly and multiple-degreed: lawyers, accountants, architects, proven retailers and, yes, inventors. Many are creative business innovators. Their careers are not side hustles. For them, this is not a lark. This is not a social group.
These women mean business.
And business is very good.
More than a group hug
The U.S. Census began tracking data on women entrepreneurs in 1972. Before then—and for many years afterward—this was a decidedly small and even minuscule segment of the population. No more.
If you think women entrepreneurs are still in the distinct minority, you don’t know the half of it. Because according to statistics reported by EarthWeb in November, female entrepreneurs are closing in on making up half of all entrepreneurs: 43 percent worldwide.
When Census tracking began in The Year Watergate Happened, about 402,000 women owned a business. Today, that figure is 12.3 million. And almost half of start-ups in 2021 were formed by women, according to human resources cloud software company Gusto.
So the emergence of women’s entrepreneurial groups, some of them large and multi-tiered, was a natural byproduct. In the case of Women Entrepreneurs Inc., Barker—who has started two companies on her own and cofounded another—aimed high when she opened this new endeavor (weinc.co) in 2017.
“Women start businesses for many reasons,” said Barker, who also spent almost six years as a global brand manager at The Coca-Cola Co. “Our focus is on women coaches, consultants, and professional service providers who have a vested interest in making their company succeed.”
Growing with change
Barker’s vast and varied marketing experience taught her the importance of constantly assessing and, if necessary, refining in order to provide unique services to customers. “If you’re doing what everybody else is doing, you’re not going to make it,” she said.
In the past year, she has re-branded and shifted her company’s mission to keep up with the torrid pace of growth and sophistication among women entrepreneurs.
The original mission—to make and promote connections, gather information and learn together—has evolved into putting that into practice via a series of action-driven challenges.
That theme is headlined by a series of competitions called the #VISIBLE Challenge, run through Instagram. Members are given one activity to complete every day for 21 days. Activities include claiming your Google Business page, updating your LinkedIn profile, or learning to use AI.
“We hear back from women who say, ‘Oh, my gosh. These things have been on my to-do list forever, and I would have never gotten to them if it weren’t for this!’” The challenge has members applying for grants, pitching for speaking opportunities, and even nominating themselves for awards.
A bonus of the challenge is tapping into women’s desire to excel and realize a tangible measure of success, with winners publicly recognized and winning prizes. “There’s a little bit of that leaderboard aspect there. You don’t want to let each other down.”
A deeper understanding
For Barker, understanding how successful women think reflects her own successes, and a deeper understanding of women and their priorities.
The three factors women value most, she said, are personal fulfillment, financial stability and time freedom. This is born of their general instincts, and roles they have assumed since the beginning of time.
“We’re natural nurturers,” Barker said. “Women select businesses that they know won’t take up more piece of the pie than what they can dedicate time to, because they know a chunk of that pie is family, parenting, community and volunteering.”
Her first question to newcomers is, “How do you define success?” Barker’s definition may differ from the norm.
“Men are much more debt comfortable, so they are more apt to take on a business loan or take on venture funding. This means when companies are deemed ‘successful’ based on the size of their debt, team, or office, women-owned businesses are often overlooked.
“I believe the definition of success has to change. For women, our metric of success is the amount of positive impact we can create for ourselves, our family and our community.”
Shoe shopping
To make getting help easy, Barker created a website with a boutique approach to marketing-related services so women can avoid the kind of debt and apprehension she feels are not compatible with true success. They are not buying an overwhelming, one-size-fits-all consulting or coaching package.
“When I launched these services for our women, I wanted it to be like buying a pair of shoes. There are no complex packages or fine print, and I don’t use confusing jargon.”
Women can purchase only what they need—be it a logo or a new website—and not what they don’t. Barker has the resources and accomplished experience to deliver detailed expertise, whether it’s
hers or someone else’s.
At The Coca-Cola Co., the University of Georgia graduate was in her late 20s when tasked with the immense responsibility of policing
the brand for the iconic, billion-dollar institution.
“My role was to review creative from all around the world and make sure we were maintaining the integrity of the brand. This included advertising from global campaigns like the Olympics all the way down to the right color red on a single Coke can.”
She emphasized that her company’s services can be as collaborative as members want—or don’t want.
Its membership—a done-with-you model of coaching and accountability, helps women learn the skills and tools they need
to market their businesses themselves. Meanwhile, The Studio—its done-for-you agency – employs a team of professionals skilled at launching and scaling brands.
Barker encourages women to leverage the Internet Age in starting and building their businesses—to save money and build confidence.
“The technology belongs to all of us. You can be your own advertiser. You can be your own PR agent. Using professionals
can help you build your brand faster and better. But if you don’t have the money, it doesn’t mean you’re out of luck.”
Camaraderie rewards
The more collaborative members “are the women I have a lot of personal fulfillment from, because I can really get in the trenches with them. It’s not just me giving them advice, which can be overwhelming. We’re actually doing it for them and with them.”
That feeling of inclusion is “the thing I get complimented on the most. It’s always the community aspect and the women that members meet. What’s really fun is, I will see two women who are members who start a business together or host an event together who met through our membership.”
She wrote her book, “Why #VISIBLE Women Will Win,” as part of the new #VISIBLE branding and to further emphasize and inspire women entrepreneurs of all kinds. It is the most important thing she has ever done for herself.
“I have been a fly on the wall of hundreds of women’s businesses. I’ve been a partner with many success stories, but I have seen women close their doors. I’ve seen some lose it all.
“So many of these sad stories could have been prevented: If they had a better support system, learned the right skills earlier, and had access to reliable professionals to guide them.
“My book was my way to say, ‘You might not be able to afford our membership, but my book is $32 and I will tell you everything I know about getting visible in 250 pages. I hope some of that helps your doors stay open one day longer.’”