Success isn’t just about turning a profit for Marilyn Johnson, a founding member at The Post.
That’s why she’s devoted her career not only to managing her successful consultancy, MHJohnson & Associates Inc., but also to leveraging her resources and expertise to support solopreneurs.
Creating a Consultancy That Helps Both Big and Small Businesses
For 19 years, Marilyn has been a supplier development consultant.
What, exactly, is a supplier development consultant? Good question.
Marilyn explains, “I work with corporations and their procurement departments to create programs for suppliers in their supply chain to help them grow their capabilities and relationship with the corporation.”
Offering Value on Both Sides of the Equation
Before she got into her current business, Marilyn spent 25 years in marketing and procurement. It’s through this experience that she noticed significant gaps that corporations had when dealing with smaller businesses.
For context, she explains, “When you’re a multi-billion dollar corporation, the term ‘small’ is all relative and could apply to million-dollar organizations. In my day-to-day operations, I get to work with businesses of all sizes.”
She identified a previously untapped opportunity to provide value on both sides of this equation.
“I began working with large corporations to help them save time and money,” says Marilyn. “I identify opportunities for improvement, and demonstrate how and why it’s more affordable to keep their suppliers and grow them than it was to replace them.”
She then realized she could take her knowledge and understanding of large corporations and retrofit it to benefit smaller businesses too.
“I realized I wanted to find a way to help these small and mid-sized businesses,” Marilyn elaborates. “The ones that truly need education but can’t always afford to pay for it. So, I figured out that I could take the insights and expertise from large corporations and tailor it to also benefit these smaller companies.”
Her multifaceted programs, comprising everything from marketing to tech, leadership skills, and training, allow corporations to save time and money by continuing to work with their current suppliers rather than constantly having to seek out new ones.
And they also help smaller businesses to grow and develop in a way that allows them to maintain long-lasting relationships with their large corporate customers.
Building a Passion Project Focused on Supporting Solopreneurs
Throughout the last 19 years of her career, the crux of everything Marilyn has done has been her desire to help people. She’s also had the chance to partner with solopreneurs — an aspect of her work that’s always been a passion for her.
And that’s what led her to build her passion project, SoloCEO Summit, with her business partner, Terra Winston.
“My partner, Terra, and I understand that the path of entrepreneurship is bumpy and long,” Marilyn shares. “So, the goal for the SoloCEO Summit was to try to help shorten that journey by building a community of professionals like ourselves who could benefit from the shared expertise and experience that we’ve acquired during our careers.”
Today, SoloCEO Summit offers live online talks sharing bite-sized bits of expertise to help support solopreneurs.
Marilyn elaborates, “We offer insights into everything from how solopreneurs can make a living to how they can be competitive, how to market themselves, how to build infrastructure, and beyond.”
Finding a Professional Community at The Post
When her downtown Tucson coworking space closed, it was time for Marilyn to find a new home for MHJohnson & Associates, Inc.
“My primary priority when seeking a new workspace was to find a strong professional community to immerse myself in,” says Marilyn. “I wanted to meet people and collaborate with other entrepreneurs. And that’s what I found at The Post.”
Between the diverse range of solo pros, satellite teams, remote employees, and businesses working at The Post combined with our Member Portal, Marilyn was able to surround herself with the networking she’d been searching for. Many of them have even joined her talks on SoloCEO Summit.
Marilyn has nothing but positive things to say about the space.
“Dan and Chelle are such great people,” Marilyn says. “They’re doing everything possible to keep people together. They’re experienced professionals, they’re good people and they’re always willing to help.”
If you’d like to tune in for an upcoming SoloCEO Summit talk, or view a previous one, click here to view the entire archive.
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