I used to pray for confidence, but now I pray for courage.

When you’re a heart-centered entrepreneur, what you do matters to you. It’s personal. You care about others. You care about your calling. You care about how you’re showing up in the world. You care about doing your best and making a lasting positive impact in the lives of those you come into contact with.

And that’s hard work. It’s scary. It’s taking a valuable piece of your heart and putting it out for the world to see.

It takes courage to do that. To come back, day in and day out, and take the action to build your business. It takes courage to share your voice – which is so needed right here and right now in this world – and do it when you know there will be haters. But there will also be lovers. And make no mistake, there will be lives transformed because you have the courage to show up and do your work.

Confidence comes from experience. Experience comes from action. Action...

I was 18 years old and a freshman in college the first time I realized that there really were people in our modern world that thought people had a different value based on their skin color. I was at an orientation meeting for an organization that I wanted to volunteer with, and the leaders of the organization talked about racism and then went on to tell me that because I was from the South and because I was going to a private college, I must be racist (those were, although pared down, their literal words). They assumed I was wealthy (I was not – I was fully funded through grants and scholarships that I had worked my tail off to earn). They assumed I had family system in place that got me into college (I did not – I was the first person in my family to go to college). And, they assumed my life experience lined up with the narrative they were sharing (it did not). I remember thinking, “You’re telling me I’m racist? Look at yourselves. You’re saying...

It’s been a ride lately.

I don’t like to complain about things because I KNOW that I am blessed beyond measure. But the last five years have been personally Intense. And there are a lot of BIG things going on in our world today that are also intense. And my greatest desire in life is to show up well to the things that I’ve been called to and do something that makes the world a better place for everyone.

Lately, God has been putting some new dreams in my heart. And on top of everything else in life, they feel huge, and big, and overwhelming.

*This post by Melanie Ethridge originally appeared here on her company GrowthAdvance's website. 

“But I don’t like green beans” my three year-old recently complained to me as he eyed the healthy pile of the vegetable on his plate. “I can’t eat all those. That’s a lot,” he said.

After stifling down the nearly automatic responses rising up in me including, “but there are starving children in Africa!” and “You will clean your plate! [said in my best drill sergeant voice],” I thought to myself, “Yeah kid. I get it.” I mean we’d all rather have crackers, or, you know, Krispy Kreme, but in this household, we are going for those 9+ servings of fruits and vegetables each day and in order for the little fellow to hit the target, he was going to have to eat some green beans. Trying to pull up a little empathy from the three-year old me who had to eat all sorts of foods I didn’t love, I took a...

I learned recently that the woman who was responsible for rescuing Gideon died. This woman was responsible for the rescue and rehoming of hundreds of endangered horses and she fought for them right up until she lost her life to the complications of an aggressive form of breast cancer. I didn’t learn of her passing until a few weeks afterwards, but I hope that in her transition to the afterlife that she was able to get a look at all of the horses she saved. And I hope she found joy in Gideon’s life.

When Gideon arrived here, it wasn’t my intention to keep him. I simply planned to pick him up for her, evaluate him, and help him find a safe and loving home to move him to. Lo and behold, that home was to be with us.

I’ll never forget the terrified, stressed animal I saw when I first laid eyes on him. He was suffering multiple injuries (superficial injuries, thankfully) with evidence of many past injuries that were more severe.

Once home and in his new stall, I...

When I launched my first business back toward the end of 2004, the world was a surprisingly different place. It’s amazing how quickly things have changed in the last decade. Back then, Facebook was in its infancy—not even outside of specific colleges and universities yet. Contacts still existed in desktop rolodexes or if you were particularly technologically advanced, in the brand new, hand-held Palm Pilot type devices. Receiving an email was still exciting. Cell phones still flipped and were, by no means, smart. Although Internet Marketing had been around since the early to mid 90’s and we had moved beyond the dotcom bust, this space was still dominated by major corporations with big budgets. Google AdWords was in its infancy and Facebook ads wouldn’t even come around for four more years. Things that are normal conversation for entrepreneurs today were barely in existence then.

I love how many of the changes we have experienced over the last decade have...

I can’t say as to whether I was born with a driven, type-A personality, but there’s no doubt I developed one over the years. Driven, results-oriented, and passionate, I barreled my way through my high-school years and on into college. Sports, clubs, organizations, name one and I was probably an active member (or leader) in it. I participated in things that mattered to me and strove to do as much as I could and make a positive impact in the little world around me. And the truth is, through those years, I did accomplish a lot of really great things.

But during those years, one of the things that stands out most to me is a road trip. Between my freshman and sophomore years of college, a friend and I loaded up my ’92 Oldsmobile (appropriately named Granny) and headed west from the hills of Tennessee where I’d grown up. Six weeks, 18 states, and thousands of miles later, I moved into my new apartment in Phoenix, Arizona. Today, when I close my eyes and think of...