2012 KEYNOTES

Melinda F. Emerson
SmallBizLady

Melinda F. Emerson, SmallBizLady, is America's #1 small business expert. She is an author, speaker and small business coach whose areas of expertise include small business start-up, business development and social media marketing.

As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia Melinda develops audio, video and written content to help her Fortune 500 clients engage small business customers.

Susan Solovic
Award Winning Entrepreneur, New York Times Best Selling Author

A woman of many talents, Susan Wilson Solovic is an award-winning entrepreneur, a journalist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Amazon.com and USA Today bestselling author, multi-media personality, and attorney. But behind every achievement, Solovic embodies ideas that make her universally-and intimately-relatable to all entrepreneurs: hard work, fortitude, and persistence. In a world of quick and questionable viral fame, Solovic is a rare commodity: she is what she preaches.

Raised in rural Missouri by entrepreneurial parents, Solovic learned early the meaning and value of becoming one's own boss. At the age of 15, when most adolescents are preoccupied with growing up, Solovic had already started her own business giving baton-twirling lessons. She would go on to be the first in her family to graduate from law school-made possible by working full time. But later on, feeling that law was not her ultimate calling, Solovic tapped into her entrepreneurial spirit by building a company from the ground up. As CEO and co-founder of ItsYourBiz.com (formerly SBTV.com), Solovic led the company from a concept to a multi-million dollar, award-winning enterprise. In 2006, Solovic accepted the Stevie Award on behalf of ItsYourBiz.com for the Most Innovative Company under 100 employees; that same year, ItsYourBiz.com was voted the Best Investment Opportunity presenting to a Venture Forum event in the Silicon Valley.

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