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Suzanne Meyer started her business The Welcome Committee after seeing a need for face-to-face welcome visits for newcomers and new home buyers in her area. Here is her story.

Tell us more about your business and when you started it.
I founded The Welcome Committee, Inc. in December 1998 after my former employer, Welcome Wagon International, Inc., abandoned the face-to-face welcome visits for newcomers and new homebuyers. I saw a need for this service in our growing Charlotte community. I now have a staff of 11 and have been growing steadily every year since incorporating.

How do you define Hybrid? 
A woman who is a mother/wife, entrepreneur, community activist.

Tell us how your "What’s Next" moment occurred and what did it mean to you.
We relocated to North Carolina for my husband's job in 1994. I was a stay-at-home mother with two babies at that time, 8 months and 20-months-old. I wanted more than just being at home....I really missed working, yet I didn't want anyone else raising my kids if I were to go back to work.

About a week after moving into our home, the neighborhood Welcome Wagon lady paid me a visit, and it was wonderful. Her visit was so helpful; she got me plugged into play groups, provided maps and helped me select a family doctor. I knew right then that this was a job for me. After she left, I called the Welcome Wagon home office in Connecticut. They put me in touch with the Charlotte supervisor, who interviewed and hired me on the spot. For 3 1/2 years, I found the perfect balance of staying home with my kids during the week, while "welcoming" other newcomers like myself on Saturdays.

My husband was with the kids while I worked, so we never had to put them in daycare. But in December 1998, Welcome Wagon sold their trademarked name and changed their advertising format to a direct mailing....and I was out of a job. However, seeing a tremendous need for this type of newcomer greeting service, I immediately incorporated to retain my former Welcome Wagon sponsors, rewrote contracts, and launched my own Welcome Service Business. I now employ 11 other part-time moms, and our revenues are growing steadily each year. I even wrote a book to help other moms across the country launch a Welcome Service Business similar to The Welcome Committee.

The closest time frame that your 'What’s Next' moment occurred was…
After subsequent children

What are your biggest challenges? 
Trying to balance family commitments with work and volunteer commitments. There are never enough hours in the day.

What are your aspirations? 
To empower women...to let them know that they too can operate a successful home-based business.