Female Founders: Melissa Joy Parcels of Jeremiah Fire Ministries On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Have a good spouse or support person — you will not be drawing a large income at first and you need to have your finances covered. Make sure you do not need to get a new car or move, buy a home as you will need two years of good company financials. Timing is everything.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Melissa Joy Parcels.
Melissa Joy Parcels is the founder of Jeremiah Fire Ministries and has written several books and Bible curriculums teaching believers the foundational truths of God’s word. Parcels trains and equips believers throughout the world and has a heart to see people live out their God-given destinies. She lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with her husband, Ryan, and young son. To learn more, please visit MelissaJoyParcels.com.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I am a dental hygienist and educator by trade. In my career, I fell into the role of writing and creating technical policies, manuals and later, school curriculums. Since childhood, I have written short stories, poems, plays, et cetera, so it came naturally to write. Over a span of the last few years, I felt led by God to start preparing the Bible studies, books and stories I had written to be published. The door was opened in 2021 to launch my new company, Jeremiah Fire Ministries.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
I have been an entrepreneur for over 10 years starting with owning my own dental hygiene clinic and founding a dental vocational college in Calgary, Alberta, and now a new teaching ministry through Jeremiah Fire Ministries. There have been a lot of interesting things that have happened along the way of business ownership. At times, leading a company can be difficult because not everything is in our control or on our timing. The most interesting thing so far is how many connections have been made and new future alliances of businesses and people that will be forged through a single step in obedience in 2021.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
With respect to Jeremiah Fire, I am fortunate to not have a funny mistake story as of yet. I have learned a lot through my journey with other adventures (clinic and school) that has helped me side-step any potential “whoops” moments! I am a natural optimist and hopeful person by nature so when I do make mistakes it is easy for me to apologize, learn from it and move forward.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There are many, however my husband, Ryan, has been my soundboard for every idea and business goal I have. We recently decided to sell one business and he was supportive in hearing my exit strategy, getting a timeline organized and coaching me through all the details and legal aspects. When milestone decisions need to be made, it is important to have someone who knows your strengths and weaknesses, and is able to help you navigate new waters with your best interest in mind. You will always need a #1 fan in your corner.
I also have a small, trusted inner circle of mentors from whom I can seek advice and get honest answers, including David, Ashely and Chantelle. Last year, I decided to go through a name change and rebranding of the school; risky, but necessary for growth and where I want to take the school. They helped me launch the campaign and run ideas like a new logo, new website — everything down to the colors. It was refreshing to have a team to get feedback from and not have to singlehandedly choose. Every founder needs trusted advisors to help especially in transition times and big growth moves.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
In my opinion, many women have great ideas, loads of talent, multi-task well and would make great bosses and leaders. They fail to step out into business I believe because of risk. There are companies and banks that offer great funding, but there is still opportunity for growth in these areas where they can still offer more programs and equal funding options. A lot of talented women have creative business ideas that would be successful, but they cannot access initial funding.
There are a few setbacks like gender equality and peer support, but a major roadblock for women is they simply cannot risk the jump into business ownership without a safety net because of childcare, benefits or maternity leave. During the years when women decide to start a family, it would be necessary to have those securities in place, if there are not in place, they will not take the risk. It can be very expensive to pay out-of-pocket for childcare and the time, money and energy that is involved in raising a family. I believe this is the biggest barrier.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
Individuals — we can help young female entrepreneurs by connecting them to mentors and financial advisors that can help them set up these contingencies for their families. We can offer peer groups that support and engage other female founders.
Society — support more local, small business enterprises instead of big-box stores. We can also take a stand against unequal pay and gender bias toward women founders. Male counterparts will make more money, have more funding options and be more supported than women making it more challenging to succeed.
Government — create programs that help the entrepreneur save for things like benefits and maternity leave. Have better childcare initiatives and programs removing financial pressure from women founders. Create a resource for investment dollars for the female founders.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Women have gifts, talents and abilities that are different than men and will help create diversity in the business world. Female founders are also more likely to support other female founders generating a boost in the local economy as well as joining and supporting other peers.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
The biggest myth is that you cannot have a family and business. Work-life balance is something every adult has to manage; being a founder is no different, except you are responsible for a longer to-do list. It is possible if you build a great team at work that you can train and delegate to. Leaders raise other leaders. Female founders must make sure they have clear boundaries and schedules, and resolve the fact that not all things can be accomplished in one day. Scheduling down-time or time away from the office regularly will allow more peace and joy into your work week.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
The simple answer is no, not everyone is created to be a founder or wants to be one. It takes a specific personality and drives to achieve the founder mentality. Vision, drive, passion and execution are essential and without all the ingredients any person might fail, and many have. Successful founders should have a clear vision of what they want to create, a drive to get there, and a will to forge a way if necessary. They must have passion and love their business and the people they lead. Lastly, you must be a planner who can execute your vision successfully. This can be achieved through your personality, connections, mindset, and experience. You can better achieve your planning skills by utilizing your past experience. You can want or be passionate about something but if you cannot put action to your vision it will not move forward. You must be a doer — that is the most important trait!
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Have a good spouse or support person — you will not be drawing a large income at first and you need to have your finances covered. Make sure you do not need to get a new car or move, buy a home as you will need two years of good company financials. Timing is everything.
- Have cash capital or access to cash — apply for programs and funding to have some set-aside but borrow as little as possible.
- Create the right team — having qualified staff that you can raise up and it will include some mentors (including a “NO” mentor) that can help assist you in making your early business moves and meeting your business goals as you grow.
- Be seen — making sure you are seen whether that is physically by the location that is generating new revenues, clients or online through social media. Put yourself out there.
- Read — learn about your weakest area. For example, if marketing is a weak point, take classes or follow marketing people on Instagram to learn how to grow in this area. Read books on managing a business, cash flow, time management and more. A leader is a reader.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I spend a lot of time invested in others. I work with Futurpreneur ™ mentoring young local entrepreneurs and I spend time on boards as an advisor. I mentor female founders that I personally know or meet through business connections. I help other dental professionals with their early start-up questions. On a weekly basis, I spend time helping others grow, sharing my own personal experience, mistakes, learned lessons, and wisdom in a meeting or over a cup of coffee. I am an open book.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Simply one word: love. You need to love what you do and love the people you lead and serve. Being a leader isn’t about being right, perfect or fair; it’s about serving others’ needs before your own. It is the opposite of what is the social norm, but it has been my secret weapon that is catching on like a wildfire. People will take notice about how you act over what you say, and your character matters. If we support and take care of one another without our own agendas and alternative motives it could lead to an amazing community that supports each other, but the language must start with love.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I admire the ambition and passion of Reese Witherspoon. She branched off from acting into producing and directing, expanding her skillset as well as founding a production company, Hello Sunshine, in 2016 after leading roles for women were declining in Hollywood. She decided to create her own company instead of relying on the men of Hollywood (the decision makers) to open more female roles that provide a challenge to the performer. She took the initiative to create a company where women actors and writers can be showcased for their work. Bravo.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Melissa Joy Parcels of Jeremiah Fire Ministries On The Five Things You Need To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.