“Well, I’ve read the blog. Does that make me a blogger? I was going to respond on the page about exactly how incredible you, Phil and Ed are! I’m not sure if you really have any idea how these women are really feeling and what you are all doing for them. I get to sit with them afterwards and talk to them. Whether they open a business for themselves after these classes are over is not the only way their lives will probably forever change. They truly are so grateful for this opportunity and the fact you all take this time to meet with them on a Sunday. They obviously realize Sunday is a day that could be spent on non-working time.”

This email I received from Mona Lou of the SEEDs houses makes me understand why we are doing what we are doing and what its value can be. I felt the same way when I launched my former foster child’s business and saw how just the idea of having options and choices expanded his horizons. Loss of control is demoralizing, and dead end jobs with incompetent supervisors are a big contributor to feelings of being out of control. In my experience, the success of the business itself is almost secondary – the key is that entrepreneurship restores feelings of control over one’s own destiny.