She coaches fellow women entrepreneurs to 'Realize the Greatness'
In Other News #25 // Celebrating the stories of everyday heroes among us.
Ronalda Sedeno launched her coaching business, Realize the Greatness, in October of 2020.
“I had the opportunity — like many of us, during COVID — to reevaluate my life,” said Sedeno, of York, Pa.
With 15 years of corporate administrative experience under her belt—within law, real estate and financial sectors, plus as a virtual assistant serving professional women—she heard a higher calling in 2020.
“I became a certified Christian life coach to support women going through transition in their lives,” Sedeno said. “My focus is entirely on women as clients, and it’s all faith-based as well.”
Her business has evolved into three areas of expertise: business coaching, author coaching and what Sedeno calls “transformational coaching” through life’s challenges or conflicts.
Her clients hail from York County, Pa., and beyond, via virtual coaching sessions. Many are “solopreneurs,” she said, like herself, “with a big dream and big vision.”
Women entrepreneurs, including those who identify as BIPOC (Black, indigenous and people of color), often “struggle against imposter syndrome,” Sedeno said.
Her coaching often imparts the message that “you are good enough – you can do this,” Sedeno said. “We spend a great deal of time working through those barriers, while also breaking down external barriers” such as access to resources.
The faith-based component of her business helps her guide clients through the decision-making process, which Sedeno said can be “paralyzing” for many women.
“When you have faith as the anchor and you’re at an impasse, that anchor tips you one way or the other,” Sedeno said. “Which decision lines up with the word of God?”
Ready to Bloom
Sedeno represents one of York’s smallest segments of small business owners — BIPOC and women-owned. According to the York County Economic Alliance (YCEA), both BIPOC and women-owned businesses are underrepresented throughout the city and county, but seeing an uptick over the past several years.
Sedeno’s own business decisions were aided by YCEA’s BLOOM Business Empowerment Center and Grant Program, created in 2018 to support York County’s entrepreneurs and small businesses—especially women, veteran and BIPOC-owned.
In 2022, Sedeno began enrolling in BLOOM’s empowerment classes — no-cost sessions that teach best practices to small business owners. By the end of 2023, Sedeno applied for a BLOOM grant and was awarded $1,500 – a decision she called “empowering and affirming.” She’s using the funding to increase Realize the Greatness’ visibility via marketing, including website improvements.
“Increasing the number of BIPOC-owned and women-owned businesses is a signature goal of our 10-year economic development plan,” said Silas Chamberlin, YCEA’s chief strategy officer. “During the development of the plan in 2020, we shared data showing that York County lags the rest of the nation in overall business creation — our business ‘birth rate’ — and has fewer minority-owned businesses than counties of similar size and demographics.”
YCEA's WBCO Pitch Competition - Ronalda Sedeno on left - Photo Credit YCEA
According to the most current data, York County has 8,622 small businesses, accounting for 99.9% of York County’s businesses. Small businesses are defined as employing fewer than 500 full time employees. Of those 8,622 small businesses, 4% (375) are minority-owned and 13% (1,104) are women-owned. Those figures represent 2017 and 2021 data.
Recognizing this lag led to the launch of YCEA’s BLOOM Business Empowerment, Chamberlin said, “to serve as a one-stop-shop for entrepreneurial resources, including the launch of a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to make low-interest, low-collateral loans to individuals that may have faced barriers to accessing capital in the past.”
It’s difficult to assess the pulse or progress of York County’s Black business community, as the specific number of Black-owned businesses isn’t tracked by Census data. Yet, “the major caveat on minority-owned businesses in the Census data is that it is clearly an undercount,” Chamberlin said.
He knows this because YCEA provided 1,744 grants to small businesses during the pandemic, and 592 – or 34% – identified as minority-owned.
“We definitely didn’t reach every BIPOC-owned business in the county,” Chamberlin said. “That means the Census count for minority business could be off by a factor of three or four times.”
Since its launch, YCEA has raised nearly $7 million for BLOOM, awarded more than $480,000 in micro-grants such as Sedeno’s, financed more than $600,000 in start-up and growth capital costs, and taught best business practices to more than 750 York County entrepreneurs such as Sedeno.
Chamberlin said 49% of BLOOM’s grants and loans were awarded to BIPOC-owned businesses, funneling $486,000 to 235 businesses. Of those receiving funds, 169 were women-owned and 115 were minority-owned businesses. The numbers total more than 100% since some businesses were both women- and BIPOC-owned.
Ultimately, Chamberlin said he’s encouraged that York County is starting to close the gaps in small business ownership.
“In terms of overall progress in correcting our lag, it’s tough to know since we don’t have great public data,” Chamberlin said. But, “if we do judge by the Census data count of BIPOC businesses, since 2020 we will need to have created and retained 188 BIPOC-owned businesses to get to a level of parity with the national average. So with hundreds of grants and class participants and now adding loans, we are definitely operating on the scale we need to do close that gap.”
Bloom Graduation - Credit YCEA
Creating a Network, Supporting Dreams
One of the tools that’s helping Sedeno continue to grow her business is YCEA’s Women’s Business Center Organization (WBCO) and the networking its membership provides. More than 100 professional women are members, with access to luncheons and workshops featuring speakers.
“My experience is that York is rich with women entrepreneurs using each other collectively and collaboratively,” said Sedeno. “My passion and mission and core values are to help as many women as I can.”
Her focus, now that she’s fully-launched as a business coach, aided by YCEA’s programs, is to empower other professional women, in turn, growing the women-owned small business sector.
Like a snowball gaining momentum, Chamberlin sees the rise in women-owned and BIPOC-owned businesses creating a healthier York County economy that benefits all.
“There’s no path towards a vibrant and resilient economy for York County that doesn’t include empowering entrepreneurs of all backgrounds to pursue their dreams, launch and grow their businesses, and create wealth through business ownership,” Chamberlin said.
“There are countless reasons why expanding access to capital and entrepreneurship is the right thing to do, but through York County’s Economic Action Plan and the work of BLOOM, we’ve tried to frame the issue as an economic one – everyone who cares about the economic health of York County should care deeply about ensuring equitable access to business opportunity.”
Nature Nugget
A quick travel tip and photo, sharing incredible views, trails, or parks
Cherry tree blossoms simply don’t last long enough for me…
The celebration of these gorgeous blossoms is a time-honored tradition.
Japanese cherry trees are called the Sakura. And in Japan, celebrations timed with the blooming of cherry trees began more than 1,000 years ago—in the 700s.
Luna Lens
Sharing a photo of my fluffy floofy dog Luna… because there’s plenty of fluff to go around.
What a dramatic scene! We did some hiking with Luna leading the way last weekend. This is a trail at Codorus State Park, York County, Pa., that traverses the woods, climbs a hill, and then suddenly shifts landscapes. Seeing this open, rolling hillside—turning spring green—against the gray storm clouds on the horizon, took my breath away (and maybe Luna’s too)!
Comfort Corner
A great recipe, or a Spotify song. Comfort food or chill tunes. Maybe both.
Do you have a song(s) that… when you hear it… you simply can’t be down?
For me, one of those songs is Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You.” Enjoy this classic!
Be well—have a wonderful week ahead,
Karen