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The Purple Crayon That Built a Leadership Philosophy

Women's Journal Staff on July 18, 2026

By Rose Walsh

Leadership philosophies usually take decades to form. For Sheryl Raphael Whitaker, MBA, Leadership Transformation Expert and Founder & CEO of EdenAnthony Elite Talent Solutions LLC, the lesson that would shape her life’s work arrived in first grade.

Her class had finally done it. They walked in a perfect straight line all the way back from the library, and another teacher praised them in front of everyone. That meant an extra snack, their teacher’s standing reward. The class was thrilled.

Then they got back to the classroom.

The teacher pointed at a broken purple crayon on the floor and looked directly at Whitaker. “You stepped on it.” She hadn’t. Her classmates knew it too, and some of them spoke up for her. It didn’t matter. The teacher called her lazy. Careless. And she took the reward away from the entire class.

Whitaker was six years old, bused into the district with her sister, in a school where few children looked like them. She wasn’t upset about being in trouble. She was upset because the teacher knew she was wrong, and she didn’t care.

“I thought she stole my joy that day,” Whitaker says. “But I was six. I didn’t know the difference yet. She took my happiness. The snack, the pride, the moment. Joy? That was always mine. I just didn’t have the language for it.”

Understanding that difference is where her work begins. Happiness can be taken. Joy cannot. Whitaker helps leaders, and anyone leading a life, learn the difference between the two and get back to joy so they can lead from that place. Even when life does its thing. Especially when it gets hard.

The Lesson That Never Left

What began as a childhood injustice became a lifelong lens. As Whitaker advanced through her career, the same pattern kept showing up in conference rooms and boardrooms. Different crayons. Same energy. Leaders wielding authority without accountability. People punished for things they didn’t do, dismissed when they spoke up, watching their happiness get taken by someone who knew better and didn’t care.

By then, she knew what was hers to protect.

“Joy isn’t a mood or a personality trait. It’s the operating system,” Whitaker says. “It’s how I lead, how I heal, and how I help leaders rise into the kind of presence they didn’t know was possible. One grounded in energy, purpose and heart.”

Joy is also not a feeling. It is not an emotion that comes and goes with circumstances. It is the internal foundation a person leads from, and it cannot be taken by anyone. That truth is what separates Whitaker’s work from the crowded field of workplace wellness. Leadership is reflected in the everyday moments when people feel heard, recognized and trusted. Protecting another person’s dignity changes how they experience themselves, their work and the leaders who guide them.

A Career That Confirmed It

Over the next three decades, Whitaker held leadership roles at State Farm, AutoOne Insurance, AIG and USAA, where she led enterprise learning transformation for more than 37,000 employees. Every organization had its own goals and challenges. The common thread never changed: people performed at their best when they felt valued and supported.

Those conditions don’t happen by accident. They’re shaped by leaders who are intentional about how they show up every day.

That conviction eventually became the JoyShift™ Method. When she founded EdenAnthony Elite Talent Solutions LLC, named in honor of her late father, Whitaker built a place where she could help leaders align performance with integrity, authenticity and joy.

Her best-selling book, It Starts with Joy: The Inner Shift that Changes Everything, carries the same conviction to readers: meaningful leadership begins with the inner shifts that shape everyday decisions. When people understand the experiences and beliefs driving how they lead, they build trust, navigate change and create cultures where others can succeed.

Creating Space for More Conversations

As host of It Starts with Joy LIVE, Whitaker continues the conversation each week, welcoming founders, executives and thought leaders to explore leadership, resilience and the experiences that shape the way people lead.

“Every guest brings a different perspective,” Whitaker says. “Together we’re exploring what it means to lead with authenticity, courage and joy.”

She is also honoring her 2026 100 Joy Talks commitment, speaking with organizations and communities throughout the year about joy-centered leadership and its impact on workplace culture.

What Was Always Hers

Over 50 years later, the lesson hasn’t changed. Everything a leader is handed can be taken back. When Whitaker stands in front of a room of executives today, she’s not teaching them anything new. She’s reminding them of something they knew before the world taught them to guard the wrong things. Titles get taken. Budgets get cut. Rooms go quiet when the news is bad. None of that was ever the foundation.

“That’s what leading from joy looked like in my world,” Whitaker says. “It looked like care. It looked like high standards. It also looked like giving people the space to become more than their job description.”

The teacher took the snack. She never touched the joy.

To learn more about Sheryl Raphael Whitaker, visit sherylraphaelwhitaker.com To watch It Starts with Joy LIVE, visit @itstartswithjoylive.

How Unsecured Business Funding Helps Women Entrepreneurs Scale Faster in 2026-2027

Women's Journal Staff on July 18, 2026

Women-owned businesses in 2026-2027 are scaling faster than the overall small business market, generating $1.9 trillion in annual revenue, and doing it with less access to traditional capital than the economic contribution warrants. Unsecured direct lending is the most practical structural response to this access gap.

The capital access gap facing women-owned businesses is not a perception or an anecdotal pattern. It is a documented, measured, statistically significant, and persistent reality confirmed across multiple Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey cycles and independent peer-reviewed academic studies spanning more than a decade. Women business owners are approved for smaller loan amounts, declined at higher rates, and pay higher interest rates than statistically comparable male-owned businesses when applying through traditional bank lending channels that rely on relationship networks and collateral assessment as primary evaluation inputs. These disparities persist after controlling for business size, industry, credit score, time in business, and operating history, confirming that they reflect the subjective, relationship-based, and collateral-dependent elements of traditional lending evaluation rather than any objective difference in the quality or creditworthiness of the businesses being evaluated.

The economic consequence of this capital access gap is measurable and significant. Women-owned businesses that receive adequate growth capital at the right moments grow faster, survive longer, and create more employment than those that do not. The working capital gap is not a minor inconvenience in the scaling journey of a women-owned business. It is frequently the specific constraint that prevents a business from taking the next growth step that its market position and operational quality fully justify.

The Compounding Effect of Capital Access on Women-Owned Business Growth

The relationship between adequate capital access and business growth outcomes for women-owned businesses is not linear. Research on small business financing shows that businesses that receive appropriate capital at critical growth moments do not simply grow faster in proportion to the capital received. They achieve growth inflection points that would not have been reachable through organic cash flow alone, and the revenue generated by those inflection points creates a permanently expanded capability to access capital in the future at better terms and higher amounts.

A women-owned marketing agency that uses unsecured working capital to hire its second professional at the right moment creates a capacity that allows it to serve a larger client, whose retainer income funds the third professional, whose addition creates the capacity to win the enterprise contract that reshapes the business’s revenue profile. The first working capital advance that funded the second hire was the specific intervention that initiated this compounding sequence. Without it, the agency might have grown organically to the same scale eventually, but the timeline compresses when capital enables growth at the pace of opportunity rather than at the pace of available cash flow.

Why Unsecured Direct Lending Produces More Equitable Outcomes

The structural mechanism that produces more equitable lending outcomes for women-owned businesses at performance-based direct lenders is not a diversity program or a demographic preference. It is the replacement of subjective evaluation with objective measurement. When a lender evaluates what a business deposits in its bank account as the primary qualification input rather than who owns it, the specific mechanisms that produce gender-based lending disparities in traditional channels, relationship network bias, collateral profile differences, and subjective creditworthiness assessment lose their transmission mechanism. A woman-owned professional services firm generating $40,000 in monthly deposits is evaluated identically to a comparable male-owned firm with the same deposits, because the evaluation is of the cash flow rather than the owner.

Business Loans IQ named Fundivi its top-rated business lender in its 2026-2027 evaluation. The broader principle holds across performance-based lending. When qualification rests on measurable cash flow rather than on relationship networks or collateral profiles, the subjective factors that drive gender-based disparities in traditional channels have far less room to operate.

Scaling Strategies for Women-Owned Businesses Using Unsecured Capital

The most effective scaling strategy for women-owned businesses using unsecured capital follows the same framework that works for all high-performing small businesses: specific investment thesis, documented expected return, conservative sizing, impeccable repayment performance, and progressive relationship building that produces better terms with each successive cycle. What is different for women-owned businesses is that the starting point for many is the first experience of genuinely equitable lending evaluation, which changes the entire relationship with business capital from a market that has historically failed them to one that evaluates them accurately on merit.

Women business owners can begin with Fundivi’s prequalification for unsecured business funding. Business Loans IQ offers a comparison of top-rated business lenders for those weighing their options. For a closer look at the field, one roundup examines the best small business loans for women-owned businesses, and another surveys the best unsecured small business loan options available on the market.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Do Women-Owned Businesses Face Capital Access Gaps In Traditional Lending?

Research identifies four primary mechanisms: relationship-based lending that advantages borrowers in established banking networks from which women have been historically excluded, collateral requirements that reflect personal asset accumulation patterns shaped by historical wealth gaps, subjective creditworthiness evaluations that introduce unconscious evaluator bias, and geographic concentration of bank lending infrastructure away from areas with high women business ownership. Performance-based direct lending addresses all four by evaluating objective bank account data rather than any of these traditional inputs.

Are There Specific Loan Programs For Women-Owned Businesses?

Yes. The SBA WOSB Federal Contracting Program opens access to government contracting set-asides that build documented B2B revenue, strengthening commercial lending qualification. CDFI programs in many cities have specific lending pools for women entrepreneurs. Women’s Business Centers provide counseling and financing connections. These programs complement performance-based direct lending rather than replacing it, serving different stages and needs simultaneously.

Does Wbe Certification Improve Access To Unsecured Direct Lending?

WBE certification does not directly improve commercial lending rates or approval odds, but the supplier diversity contracts it enables generate creditworthy B2B revenue from major corporate clients, which is precisely the bank account deposit pattern that strengthens performance-based qualification. Businesses with WBE-sourced corporate contracts often qualify for better terms than pre-certification because the revenue profile has improved, not because the certification itself is evaluated.

What Is The Fastest Path For A Women-Owned Business To Access Same-Day Funding?

Routing all revenue through a single dedicated business bank account for at least six months, maintaining a clean banking history with no overdrafts, applying before 11 am on a business day, using a digital bank connection rather than uploading statements, and responding immediately to any verification request are the five specific actions that most reliably produce same-day approval and disbursement from AI-driven direct lenders.

Can A Women-Owned Startup Access Unsecured Capital Before It Is Six Months Old?

The same options available to all early-stage businesses apply: personal loans, business credit cards on personal credit qualification, equipment financing for specific asset purchases, and CDFI microloans with flexible operating history requirements. Performance-based direct lending opens at the six-month operating history mark for businesses with revenue above the lender’s minimum threshold.

How Does Fundivi’s No-Personal-Guarantee Option Benefit Women Business Owners Specifically?

The no-personal-guarantee structure for qualifying borrowers eliminates the personal asset exposure that traditionally made debt financing more personally risky for women business owners who had worked to build personal financial reserves. Without a personal guarantee, the business financing obligation is contained within the business entity rather than extending to personal assets, making the financing choice less personally threatening regardless of any business performance outcome.

What Repayment Performance Pattern Produces The Best Subsequent Terms For Women-Owned Businesses At Fundivi?

Zero failed payments throughout the repayment period, combined with early partial repayment when cash flow is strong, produces the strongest positive repayment signal. Business owners who pay slightly ahead of schedule demonstrate cash flow management quality that Fundivi’s ongoing relationship model rewards with higher approved amounts and lower rates on renewal applications, improving scaling capacity with each repayment cycle.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or lending advice. Funding availability, approval decisions, rates, repayment terms, and personal guarantee requirements vary by lender and applicant and are subject to underwriting. Readers should independently verify all claims, review applicable terms and fees, and consult a qualified professional before obtaining business financing.

Mandayo Global Ltd Transforms Business Pricing Strategy

Women's Journal Staff on July 18, 2026

Mary Masamo, founder of Mandayo Global Ltd and a business coach known for her work in pricing strategy and business expansion across Africa, has built her professional reputation around a simple but often overlooked idea: most service providers are not underpaid because they lack talent, but because they lack structure around how they assign value to their work. Through her work with startups and professionals navigating cross-border business, Mary Masamo has become a vocal advocate for treating pricing not as an afterthought, but as a core business function that directly determines long-term sustainability.

The insight did not come just from theory. It came from observation.

Early in her career, Mary Masamo found herself in a negotiation scenario that would later shape the foundation of her coaching philosophy. She was working alongside a small business during a pricing discussion with a potential client. What stood out was not the negotiation itself, but what happened inside it. The business owner, instead of holding firm or strategically adjusting terms, began lowering their own price in real time, attempting to “secure” the deal. By the time the conversation ended, the agreement had been won on paper but weakened in practice. The service being offered had not changed in value, but the compensation had.

For Mary Masamo, the moment revealed something deeper than a simple negotiation mistake. It exposed a structural issue that recurs among service providers: a lack of pricing confidence and strategy, which often leads to long-term revenue loss disguised as short-term wins. The lesson she took from it became the backbone of her coaching philosophy, summed up in a principle she continues to emphasize today: you do not get paid what you are worth, you get paid what you negotiate.

That distinction is central to understanding the modern service economy. Across industries, professionals are increasingly building independent businesses, consulting practices, and digital service offerings. Yet many of them still approach pricing as a reaction rather than a system. They adjust based on client pressure, market comparison, or emotional discomfort rather than structured value positioning. According to Mary Masamo, this is where most revenue leakage occurs, not at the level of skill, but at the level of negotiation behavior and perceived authority.

Her work through Mandayo Global Ltd focuses heavily on addressing that gap, particularly for professionals and startups looking to expand into African markets. As global interest in African business ecosystems continues to grow, Mary Masamo has positioned her coaching around helping service providers understand not only how to price their services locally but how to structure offers that can scale across different economic environments. In her view, pricing strategy becomes even more critical in emerging markets, where assumptions about value and affordability vary significantly from one client segment to another.

What separates her approach from traditional business coaching is the emphasis on negotiation structure rather than just pricing models. Mary Masamo often encourages clients to think beyond the number itself and instead consider how terms, deliverables, timelines, and scope can be used as leverage points in a negotiation. In many cases, she argues, professionals focus too narrowly on lowering or raising price, when in reality the stronger strategy is adjusting the structure of the deal while maintaining value integrity.

This perspective has gained traction among early-stage founders and independent service providers who are beginning to realize that pricing is not just a financial decision, but a positioning tool. A well-structured pricing strategy signals confidence, clarity, and market understanding. A weak one often signals uncertainty, even when the underlying service is strong. Mary Masamo’s coaching philosophy reflects a broader shift in how entrepreneurship is evolving. The rise of digital platforms, remote consulting, and cross-border service delivery has created more opportunities than ever before, but it has also introduced more competition and greater pressure to differentiate. In that environment, pricing becomes less about guessing a “fair rate” and more about strategically defining how value is communicated and captured.

Her upcoming work continues to focus on this intersection of pricing psychology and global business expansion, particularly for professionals looking to enter African markets through structured, sustainable approaches. Through Mandayo Global Ltd and her coaching programs, she works with clients to refine not only their pricing systems but their overall understanding of how value is perceived across different business environments.

At the center of her message is a consistent theme: expertise alone does not determine income. Structure does. Positioning does. And most importantly, negotiation discipline does.

For Mary Masamo, the goal is not simply to help professionals charge more. It is to help them stop leaving value on the table in the first place. To learn more about Mary Masamo’s work in pricing strategy and doing business across Africa, visit www.marymasamo.com and explore her coaching programs at Mandayo Global Ltd. Follow @mary_masamo for insights on pricing, negotiation strategy, and building stronger, more profitable service-based businesses.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for general informational and editorial purposes only. It does not provide financial, legal, tax, business, investment, or professional coaching advice, and it should not be relied upon as a substitute for guidance from a qualified professional. Business pricing strategies, negotiation outcomes, revenue growth, market expansion, and client acquisition results can vary based on industry, market conditions, business model, experience, execution, and individual circumstances. No specific business, income, or expansion results are guaranteed. Readers should independently evaluate any business strategy, coaching program, or professional service before making decisions.