In Her Words- Melane Mullings
August 29, 2022
Melane Mullings is embodied proof that the road to being a successful entrepreneur is not always linear. Melane started her career as a Registered Nurse (RN) with a very personal goal: to help ensure no one experienced what she had. At 17, she was diagnosed with leukemia, and though the clinical care she received as a patient was great, the emotional care she received was substandard. Thus, her drive as an RN was to offer the best care possible. However, as she quickly learned, the problems in healthcare were not caused by the nurses: they were caused by a system that needed fixing. As she explains: “the quality of care you can provide as an RN when you have four patients is very different than the care you can provide if you have 11 patients.” She realized that there was an urgent need for support in nursing recruitment, so she decided to start a recruitment firm that could address the critical nursing shortage issue from a nurse’s perspective. With zero business experience or knowledge, or as she puts it: “with nothing but my faith and a burning passion to really address this issue,” she built her business from the ground up and turned it into a successful venture.
After operating her business for 13 years, she sold it, took the time to write a #1 best-selling book, ‘Lemonade! Squeeze Your Challenging Life Experiences into a Successful Business’, and then started a business management consulting firm called Aere Management Consulting. “My business, based in Vancouver, specializes in helping social-impact entrepreneurs create and develop sustainably successful businesses. Essentially, I take the nuances of my experience and journey of how I created a successful business and teach my business consulting clients how to do the same.” Her experience as a patient, a nurse, a writer, and a successful business owner makes her perspective a unique one, allowing her to effectively support and inspire other entrepreneurs. “My goal is to encourage and equip them with strategies to succeed. I realized that there were many other non-traditional female entrepreneurs like me with great ideas, who are just falling through the cracks, and so that’s my life’s work now: to really support them.”
As a self-professed “graduate from the school of hard knocks”, Melane attributes much of her own success to her resilience and perseverance. Having taken the ‘lemons’ of her own challenging life experiences and squeezing them into the lemonade of her success, in her book Melane shares 17 actionable strategies others can utilize to do the same. Her book Lemonade! hit #1 in nine different categories only six days after its release, proving how relatable and amazing her story is.
Her road to a successful business was fraught with many challenges however, and some of the most disheartening were the obstacles she faced when trying to access business financing. She explained: “My experience was definitely negative. Prior to starting my business, I was making six figures, from a career as a per diem RN and travel nurse in the U.S. I was financially secure, however, once I came back to Canada to start the business, it took three years before I made my first dollar. The early years of my entrepreneurial journey were very arduous, but because I was driven by my passion, I just kept going and persevering. During those early years I struggled financially and didn’t fit the ideal financial lending criteria. My credit had taken a hit, so I ended up securing support from outside investors.”
But wait, why didn’t she get financial lending? She was denied. “I can’t say for sure that the colour of my skin was a factor, but what I can tell you is that I received incredibly poor customer service in those years. And it wasn’t just once or twice, it was consistent and repetitive.” Her frustration was palpable, for as she says: “had they taken a better look at my finances and my profile, they would have seen that I was previously making six figures, in the past I had great credit and had been a customer since the age of 11 or 12, and that my business was not just purpose-driven, but also it addressed a great need in the market. Even now, I’m looking for a bank as a corporate sponsor for my book tour and business consulting initiative, and I’m having problems. I am a successful entrepreneur and a bestselling author, and I’m still experiencing difficulty securing funding! So, for one, how much more do I need to prove, and two, how many more female entrepreneurs are being overlooked despite having valid profiles?”
She makes a good point: there is still much more that financial institutions can do to help women entrepreneurs. What would she like to say to these institutions? “It’s not rocket science, it’s really quite simple: Take time to consider the individual requesting funding with a comprehensive approach and be willing to listen to the entrepreneur and consider the “why” of their business. Is it a purpose-driven, and/or a social-impact venture? Does it address a real need in society and/or the market?” And finally, Melane suggests banks should endeavour to provide ongoing support to entrepreneurs. For the latter idea, she suggests keeping in touch with entrepreneurs that don’t initially fit the lending profile, and offer them free webinars on business development, access to online business coaching tools, or training support to better help these entrepreneurs to eventually fit the profile and create successful businesses. “The gratitude they will show the bank that invests in them, even if only in the form of ongoing business resources, will help ensure brand loyalty in the future. Undoubtedly, they will become a source of referrals as they spread the word of their positive experience with the bank to other business owners in their network.” Melane encourages banking institutions to become even more inclusive and diverse in their lending profiles, so that entrepreneurs that really do have what it takes to succeed don’t slip through the cracks.
Despite all the challenges, obstacles, and many hard knocks, Melane continues to be optimistic and hopeful, especially when it comes to women entrepreneurs striving and thriving in a post-pandemic future: “I see a greater zest for life now and a greater desire to create more meaning. If you’re going to do something for eight hours a day, it may as well be something you are passionate about! Whatever it is, find something that draws from your own personal passion and purpose. If there’s a market need for it, create a business around it and exercise faith that eventually, the money will come.” She goes more in depth about this when she talks about why she wrote her book Lemonade!: “I really wanted to empower and encourage my readers with a sense of hope that inherent in our greatest challenges lie the seeds that can lead us to a greater understanding of our purpose. My goal is to equip an army of social-impact entrepreneurs with tools and tips to strive and succeed in their ventures.” Her book, as motivating and inspiring as the author herself, will leave you thirsting for a greater purpose in your life. Follow her lead and remind yourself that no road to success is linear or easy, but that every step is worth it!
For more information on Melane and Aere Management Consulting, click here:
After operating her business for 13 years, she sold it, took the time to write a #1 best-selling book, ‘Lemonade! Squeeze Your Challenging Life Experiences into a Successful Business’, and then started a business management consulting firm called Aere Management Consulting. “My business, based in Vancouver, specializes in helping social-impact entrepreneurs create and develop sustainably successful businesses. Essentially, I take the nuances of my experience and journey of how I created a successful business and teach my business consulting clients how to do the same.” Her experience as a patient, a nurse, a writer, and a successful business owner makes her perspective a unique one, allowing her to effectively support and inspire other entrepreneurs. “My goal is to encourage and equip them with strategies to succeed. I realized that there were many other non-traditional female entrepreneurs like me with great ideas, who are just falling through the cracks, and so that’s my life’s work now: to really support them.”
As a self-professed “graduate from the school of hard knocks”, Melane attributes much of her own success to her resilience and perseverance. Having taken the ‘lemons’ of her own challenging life experiences and squeezing them into the lemonade of her success, in her book Melane shares 17 actionable strategies others can utilize to do the same. Her book Lemonade! hit #1 in nine different categories only six days after its release, proving how relatable and amazing her story is.
Her road to a successful business was fraught with many challenges however, and some of the most disheartening were the obstacles she faced when trying to access business financing. She explained: “My experience was definitely negative. Prior to starting my business, I was making six figures, from a career as a per diem RN and travel nurse in the U.S. I was financially secure, however, once I came back to Canada to start the business, it took three years before I made my first dollar. The early years of my entrepreneurial journey were very arduous, but because I was driven by my passion, I just kept going and persevering. During those early years I struggled financially and didn’t fit the ideal financial lending criteria. My credit had taken a hit, so I ended up securing support from outside investors.”
But wait, why didn’t she get financial lending? She was denied. “I can’t say for sure that the colour of my skin was a factor, but what I can tell you is that I received incredibly poor customer service in those years. And it wasn’t just once or twice, it was consistent and repetitive.” Her frustration was palpable, for as she says: “had they taken a better look at my finances and my profile, they would have seen that I was previously making six figures, in the past I had great credit and had been a customer since the age of 11 or 12, and that my business was not just purpose-driven, but also it addressed a great need in the market. Even now, I’m looking for a bank as a corporate sponsor for my book tour and business consulting initiative, and I’m having problems. I am a successful entrepreneur and a bestselling author, and I’m still experiencing difficulty securing funding! So, for one, how much more do I need to prove, and two, how many more female entrepreneurs are being overlooked despite having valid profiles?”
She makes a good point: there is still much more that financial institutions can do to help women entrepreneurs. What would she like to say to these institutions? “It’s not rocket science, it’s really quite simple: Take time to consider the individual requesting funding with a comprehensive approach and be willing to listen to the entrepreneur and consider the “why” of their business. Is it a purpose-driven, and/or a social-impact venture? Does it address a real need in society and/or the market?” And finally, Melane suggests banks should endeavour to provide ongoing support to entrepreneurs. For the latter idea, she suggests keeping in touch with entrepreneurs that don’t initially fit the lending profile, and offer them free webinars on business development, access to online business coaching tools, or training support to better help these entrepreneurs to eventually fit the profile and create successful businesses. “The gratitude they will show the bank that invests in them, even if only in the form of ongoing business resources, will help ensure brand loyalty in the future. Undoubtedly, they will become a source of referrals as they spread the word of their positive experience with the bank to other business owners in their network.” Melane encourages banking institutions to become even more inclusive and diverse in their lending profiles, so that entrepreneurs that really do have what it takes to succeed don’t slip through the cracks.
Despite all the challenges, obstacles, and many hard knocks, Melane continues to be optimistic and hopeful, especially when it comes to women entrepreneurs striving and thriving in a post-pandemic future: “I see a greater zest for life now and a greater desire to create more meaning. If you’re going to do something for eight hours a day, it may as well be something you are passionate about! Whatever it is, find something that draws from your own personal passion and purpose. If there’s a market need for it, create a business around it and exercise faith that eventually, the money will come.” She goes more in depth about this when she talks about why she wrote her book Lemonade!: “I really wanted to empower and encourage my readers with a sense of hope that inherent in our greatest challenges lie the seeds that can lead us to a greater understanding of our purpose. My goal is to equip an army of social-impact entrepreneurs with tools and tips to strive and succeed in their ventures.” Her book, as motivating and inspiring as the author herself, will leave you thirsting for a greater purpose in your life. Follow her lead and remind yourself that no road to success is linear or easy, but that every step is worth it!
For more information on Melane and Aere Management Consulting, click here:
Share:
