Yes, We Can

By Mary Ahern Snyder

7 years ago, at the end of 2014, I started a new company, Significance Inc., a government contracting company.?Today is International Women’s Day, and I join millions of women around the world who can say they’ve started their own business.?In fact, there are 12.3 million businesses owned by women in the United States alone.?40% of all U.S. small businesses are owned by women.?I’m in good company.?Each one of them had challenges and many of them had to go out on their own because no one else gave them an opportunity or believed in them.

Significance is now over 100 people strong, and I am proud of the continued growth we have experienced. But it wasn’t an easy road, and it didn’t happen under the best circumstances.?I built it out of necessity.?I did it without a business partner, investor or even a significant other to support the endeavor financially or emotionally.?Why would I put myself through that??Because I had a vision for a company that would be different and better.?The previous company I had co-founded and owned with a male partner was not moving in alignment with my personal or professional values.?Even though the timing was forced, it was time to seize the moment.?It was time to start something completely on my own that I knew would work by focusing on the things that I knew mattered--building strong, trusted relationships. I started this company by leveraging many of the existing relationships that I previously had.

I named the new company Significance for a reason (I CAN!!). I wanted to send a message to others in the male-dominated world that women actually “can”, even when many told us we couldn’t---or weren’t good enough, smart enough, talented enough, or whatever “enough”. The previous 10 years I had been made to feel that I “can’t”, and I think it was because I was a woman.?Admittedly, starting a business alone is very stressful, particularly if you have little or no capital.?Add on top of that “small” challenge that I was a single mom with three grade school aged kids and no income.?But what I had in my personal armory were relationships, a vision, and the tenacity to persevere.?Every entrepreneur is inherently a risk taker. There were some moments I felt that climbing this huge mountain was getting too hard.?But my survivor skills and adrenaline kicked in because success was the only option.?And I had very supportive friends and family who encouraged me when I started to doubt myself and lose my resolve.?

And then the “Imposter Syndrome” kicks in.?A KPMG study found that 75% of all executive women have felt imposter syndrome at some point in their career.?It’s that self-doubt and fear of being found out—proven to not be qualified for or up to the challenge.?There were many times I did feel like an imposter.?“Who am I to think I can be a successful business owner? If people only knew me, they would realize I have no idea what I’m doing”. “If people could see my laundry piling up and my disorganized kitchen, they would know I don’t have what it takes”.?But those moments would pass because I was motivated by the vision for the company and what I was trying to create--something that I can call my own work, that reflects my passions and my values.?Where I didn’t have to compromise my views of right and wrong or put my efforts into things, I didn’t believe in.?I WAS going to succeed, I WAS smart enough, and I DID have the experience and relationships to create a successful business.?In these moments of doubt, I reminded myself that I CAN.?

And to all the women out there who dream of starting their own business that they can call their own---Yes, YOU can too.?Go for it!