INDIANAPOLIS — A Hoosier woman is creating space for other women in business to reach their full potential not just in the state, but across the country.
“I don't do business with businesswomen, I do business with entrepreneurs,” Yolonda R. Lamar, Founder of Women Entrepreneurs of America (WEA) said.
A grind that wasn't always Lamar's focus.
"I wanted to go to an HBCU. I wanted to be an adult parole officer. Criminology and sociology were my background. No aspiration of being a business owner at all,” Lamar said.
All it took was one conversation about turning the work she was doing at the time into something much greater, that steered Lamar to bet on herself.
"I ended up getting fired. So, I had something to fall back on. So, I started an employment agency. It's called Labor USA Employment Agency,” Lamar said.
It was Lamar's first business that had challenged her to keep going.
“I was finding out that I was hiring people that were leaving corporate trying to start a business, but they needed a job,” Lamar said.
That sparked the idea for a nonprofit to support others seeking entrepreneurial opportunities.
"In 2002, I implemented Women Entrepreneurs of America,” said Lamar. "We are the source. And I realized even when I started out, that we make it happen."
22 years later, Lamar has developed 23 chapters stretching across the country.
“I got the Midwest covered. We got Chicago, Indianapolis, and Detroit. We got Kansas, we got St. Louis. Then it went back east because I had some colleagues that I went to school with so we had Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey. Then we went out west. And then we had Texas. We had Arizona, and then right in between California, Alabama and it just started just because people started hearing about it," Lamar said.
Before she knew it, Lamar was sitting on something amazing. Giving resources to foster goals beyond many women's wildest dreams.
"We had reached our 1,000 marks six months ago,” said Lamar. “I would say roughly between 500 to 600 women have grassroots started their own business. We're talking about everything from employment agencies to dog-pooping businesses. You name it,” Lamar said.
Lamar, who is also known as "Madame Founder," tells WRTV’s Amber Grigley, she hopes the work she's doing is sending a message loud to all women ready to take that leap in entrepreneurship.
"I hope they gain more knowledge in working together to form collaborative opportunities,” Lamar said.
