Inspired to Buy Young

Guest Post by Melissa Gonzalez, CEO & Founder of Lion'esque Media

On Wednesday, we had the honor of participating in what proved to be an inspiring initiative by the team at Our Time in conjunction with trail blazing CEO's and Congress. The day encompassed so much energy that I never even had a moment to sit for my scheduled on-camera interview with Startup America.

My company was given birth on the notion that emerging brands (other entrepreneurs) needed a platform from which they could have their creative voices heard and known. On July 13th, the entrepreneurial theme echoed throughout the day with congressional leaders and White House staff that understand the importance of the rebound of small businesses.

In tough times past, it was the growth of small companies that led the country out of recessions and it is critical now more than ever they stand behind us to address the challenges we face so that we thrive and succeed beyond our ideas. Startups and small businesses are the driving force towards innovation and it went noticed by well established business leaders looking to learn how they could help us as well: Ed Rensi, Barry Diller, Shari Redstone, Elan Blutinger and others.

In fact, our visit on Capitol Hill ran over because Senators from all over the country were trying to squeeze in 5 minutes to speak with us. As a New Yorker I was particularly moved by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, she is a true powerhouse! The day ended at the White House, where we sat in breakout sessions with Marie Johns of SBA, Ari Matusiak of the White House Business Council, Ronnie Chatterji of the Council of Economic Advisers, Deputy Director Greg Nelson and Kalpen Modi who is truly a liaison to Young Americans. They sincerely listened to our thoughts and ideas, took notes, gave us their emails and one or two even supplied their phone numbers. 


I often add posts on my Facebook Wall that friends and followers like and comment on, but my post about this event triggered a re-sharing ripple effect with entrepreneurs from all over.  As a result, thousands watched on ustream and continued to share and re-tweet. The entire day illustrates that not only do have the tools at our finger tips to communicate, but we can use our voices to stand up and make a change. I am proud to be part of this movement.

Me with Kalpen Modi and Matthew Segal

Follow on Melissa on Twitter at: @lionesquestyle