Business owners, founders, and entrepreneurs are built to do – to drive things forward, to lead, to make a difference. But in that process, they often get caught up in working in their business, rather than on it.
Nine months ago, 13 women business owners from across Michigan walked into the first session of the Women’s Entrepreneurial Fellowship ready to do the work. They came from manufacturing, marketing, early childhood education, retail, technology, fitness, food, and more. They were past the startup phase, managing teams, driving revenue, and making decisions with real consequences, and they were ready to think differently about what comes next.
This June, they were honored at the Small Business Association of Michigan’s annual meeting after completing the program, and the results were worth celebrating.
A Framework for the Long Game
The connective thread throughout the year was the 10-Year Shift, a framework introduced in the very first session, asking each member to think beyond the to-do list and toward the business and life she is actually trying to build. That question followed the group through every session, every mentorship conversation, and ultimately into the June capstone, where each member presented her own Shift to the full cohort.
One member calculated how many hours per week she was still doing work that did not need to be hers, and what it was costing her. Another walked the cohort through three succession scenarios she had developed for her firm. Another described building toward a future where she controls her own fund and continues placing capital in the hands of women. Each presentation was thoughtful and specific, and showed how powerful it can be when you provide the space and the permission to focus on what comes next.
The Part You Cannot Fully Measure
The program data is strong: a 96.7 percent session attendance rate, eight expert-led sessions, five of which hit full attendance, and every survey respondent giving the program a perfect score and saying they would recommend it to another woman business owner. But what stayed with people were the connections they made along the way.
Women described this group differently than other business networks they had been part of: more honest, more specific, less performative. Business owners who entered as strangers left as peers who had watched each other make hard decisions in real time, and cheered each other through them.
One cohort member put it plainly: “The other women in that room are not your competition. They are your curriculum.”
Another, navigating a loved one’s cancer diagnosis and the weight of a family business, described the fellowship as the first time in a long time she had felt genuinely seen. She closed her capstone presentation with a simple message to whoever comes next: do the program, believe in yourself, and lean into the support when it is offered.
What Comes Next
Applications for the 2026-27 cohort are open. The program is designed for women who are past the startup phase, running teams, driving revenue, and ready to build toward something lasting. If that sounds like you, or like someone you know, apply now.