4 Lessons From a Decade of Empowering Women Entrepreneurs to Lead Boldly

Marsha Ralls, an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member in Asheville, North Carolina, and founder of the Phoenix Asheville. We asked Ralls about her groundbreaking experience in founding an exclusive group of women entrepreneurs and what she learned from it.

Empowering women entrepreneurs is a key focus in my intention to make a positive cultural impact on a global scale. As a leader, what are you but the legacies and lessons you share that help shape the next generation? 

A decade ago, I landed in a tough situation, both personally and professionally. However, something powerful emerged from that difficult season of life—I founded a group for women entrepreneurs that is still thriving today. I created the group as a safe space so that no woman, no matter where she is along her journey, would ever have to feel alone. Today, our members are CEOs and trailblazers on their own paths in a multitude of industries all over the world.  

The group, EO Women, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a sold-out summit in Montreal. Witnessing the growth that other women put into the community to take it to new heights is inspiring. It reminds me that you can’t reach great achievement alone. 

After a decade building a community of empowered women entrepreneurs and business leaders, I realized that life’s most profound lessons come masked as confirmations of what you already know inside but have not yet been able to put into words. The group’s anniversary summit helped me find those words. 

1. Authenticity is more powerful than adaptation.  

As a female leader, you become more successful by embracing feminine strengths instead of conforming to outdated norms. Too often, women find themselves off the beaten track in male-dominated industries. They are forced to decide between embracing bold femininity or conforming to traditional expectations in businesses. Don’t dilute your essence to fit into that mold. Instead, reshape the mold so that it fits your essence. 

2. Community accelerates transformation.  

Creating a safe space with like-minded individuals fosters reinvention and breakthroughs. Surrounding yourself with confident, successful women who recognize the leader in you, even when you can’t see it in yourself, accelerates growth. Women lift one another up and form new scaffolding from the wisdom of visionaries who came before them. You are never alone in your pursuit of success; you cannot champion great achievements alone. 

3. If there’s no trailblazer ahead, you are that trailblazer.

Taking the first step into a new realm, while daunting, creates future opportunities for others. Being the only woman in a room opens its door for future women leaders. Somebody has to go first. Hearing countless stories and perspectives of other women on their journeys to make a positive global impact left me energized and overwhelmed with gratitude. The future is female, and it’s arriving quickly. 

4. Impactful women leverage emotional quotient.  

The most impactful leaders are skilled at understanding, recognizing, and reacting to human emotions. That’s EQ, a quantitative system to measure your emotional intelligence. Women naturally lean toward having or developing high EQ, which is a powerful business asset. As your business grows, it is more crucial than ever to tap into the emotional capacity to engage, inspire, and support your employees and clients.  

Why EQ is fundamental to business success 

Unlike IQ, which measures how people solve problems and recognize patterns, EQ is not set in stone from early life. It can be developed and nurtured across your lifetime. That’s right. If you find your EQ skills lacking, you can practice and build them up, like a muscle. 

If you were a woman entering the workforce today, wouldn’t you prefer to work for a leader who understands the weight women carry across every aspect of their lives? The new generation of women knows that they can stand up for the standards and environments that feel most welcoming to them. 

EQ allows you to tap into and maximize the greatest capital asset in business—your people. It’s truly inspiring when a team of dedicated employees transforms a business. However, if you, as the business leader, are unable to recognize that an employee is struggling because of your limited emotional awareness, then you are falling short. When you don’t invest in EQ, you risk losing your people, your purpose, and ultimately, your legacy. 

A clear indicator that you are on the path to developing your EQ is that you continue to discover and notice new aspects along your self-awareness journey. While IQ may best serve you by solving a current problem, EQ can help you prevent future problems altogether by recognizing behavior patterns before things escalate. 

Gratitude for the gift of community 

If it weren’t for the deep emotional, financial, and spiritual upheaval I was thrown into 10 years ago, I may not have realized and appreciated how much I needed a community of women as much as I do now. I have learned that I tap into my most productive and impactful self when I find balance between my work, home, and fun.  

This community of business leaders, mothers, and sisters in shared experiences has empowered me with a perspective I could not have gained alone. Their grit—acquired from being the first women to go where none had ventured before—reminds me that the next level is always within our grasp. Together, the trailblazers and upcoming women leaders will rise beyond us, knowing that new heights are indeed possible. They need only to reach for them, together. 

The extended deadline for the 2025 Inc. Best in Business Awards is this Friday, September 19, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.