We often hear about bad bosses, but we think it’s important to talk about the good ones because we hope that by giving folks examples of how to be a good boss we can inspire future bosses to be better, to do better for their employees and all stakeholders.

Morgan Monkou

The woman that really helped mold me into the business woman that I am today was the best boss I ever had — Sarah Bombard. I responded to an advertisement on Craigslist looking for makeup artists to join her team. She held an interview at a local Starbucks. I walked up and I was immediately impressed, and a little intimidated. From our email exchanges, I assumed she was older but she was in her twenties, like me, yet so put together. Sarah was beautiful, well spoken, and she clearly knew a thing or two about business. At the time she was really one of the first companies to provide on-site makeup and hair styling for events in the area. Read more>>

Madison Lindsey

After being let go time after time from start-up companies and freelance opportunities, I decided to step away from the broadcast television route and take a step into marketing – which is how I ended up as the Marketing Coordinator for a home inspection company, working in a tiny closet shared with two other employees. My boss, Michael, started his inspection company on his own a few years ago, and was ready growth. Michael gave me the most unique opportunity that no one else starting in their careers were doing – essentially helping grow a company and oversee ALL aspects of the business from the ground floor. Read more>>

Roberto Hannibal

I’ve had the blessing of having many great bosses throughout my career. One of my favorites have to be Carolyn. She was a boss, but also a mentor. Her desk was opposite my cubicle so I could talk to her through my wall. She saw something special in me and guided me to believe in myself. That nurturing was something I did not know I needed. Sometimes you just need a voice to tell you that you are doing well. Read more>>

Veronica Rogers

It’s fairly normal in the start up years of a business for the owner to work another job. That’s exactly how my story was! I opened Black Swan Beauty in October of 2018 and worked another job, for someone else, until July of 2021. In the spring of 2019, I started work at a functional medicine facility owned by a husband and wife team. Up until that point, the majority of my jobs had been in the salon, free lancing, and in retail cosmetics. Starting in the medical field was new — I was a blank slate on how the entire system operated. Read more>>

Tania Kungu

Stacy O’Conner from Spencer’s Gift. I started working for Stacy at the age of 15 at Regency Square Mall when it was popular to be at that mall. This was my first time ever working and she took a chance on me especially taking a risk around the holidays. Believe it or not I was very shy and never talked to people, I always tried to work in the back so I wouldn’t have to speak to anyone but that definitely did not last long. She had to push me a little bit to show my personality and for me to feel comfortable around other people. Read more>>

Lianne Torres

Working for my sister has been a life-changing experience. For all of my 20’s and the early part of my 30’s, I was working in an industry that I hated and had zero passion for. I found myself hopping from one job to another, trying to find my place in the world, but was left feeling unfulfilled and stagnant. After getting fired from my last office job, I knew I didn’t want to go back to the office setting, but I had no idea what I was going to do. Read more>>

Dionne James

The best boss I e er had was Tulani kiinnard. It was first salon I worked in at the tender age of 18 years old. She was very strict and no nonsense type of boss. We had to be trained every Sunday on the braiding skills we were no proficient in yet. You were first a shampoo girl and once you mastered that you could braid down only. A braid assistant. She made sure you mastered one area before you were allowed to go to the more advanced styles. Read more>>

Leah Aripotch.

I’ve been very fortunate to have had many amazing mentors over the years, but my first real boss out of art school, Brian Martin, is very important to me. Brian had a fabrication shop in San Francisco. We were mostly building high-end furniture and architectural pieces. When I graduated from art school, I lost access to a lot of equipment I was using to build my sculptures. But the day I started working for Brian, he gave me a key to his shop and encouraged me to work on my sculptures when I wasn’t working for the business. He has such a unique mind and really is the best fabricator I’ve ever known. He taught me everything he could and made me the fabricator I am today. Read more>>

Steven Doniger

The best boss, mentor I ever had is John Seibert the executive director of parks & recreation in Valparaiso Indiana. As a young professional it was difficult to see the “next step”, or the cause and effect of different decisions and John helped to broaden my perspective to be mindful and to make sure we are always looking for the win/win. Read more>>