I was really excited this morning. Overnight, I received an email from the Small Business Administration announcing a free, virtual conference to celebrate National Small Business Week. I couldn’t wait to register and start planning which learning sessions I didn’t want to miss.

I come from a culture that values professional learning. It’s something I’ve carried with me into my entrepreneurial journey. To me, growth is part of the game — and lifelong learning is real. It matters.

Since stepping into this bold new world of entrepreneurism, I’ve learned that “free” usually isn’t free. Most learning events I’ve encountered are thinly disguised sales pitches or part of a longer drip campaign designed by clever marketers. And hey — no judgment. Just let me know upfront what I’m committing my time to.

Transitioning from employee to entrepreneur comes with a steep learning curve. Naturally, I turned to available resources, including the SBA, to help me navigate it.

So when the SBA’s summit landed in my inbox, it felt like the right fit. A way to learn what I didn’t know I needed to know.

But as I reviewed the agenda, my excitement faded.

While it promotes “educational” sessions, most are hosted by mega-corporations — Visa, T-Mobile, Google, U.S. Bank. And it made me wonder are these truly learning sessions from their training and development teams, or are we just getting business development in disguise? “Money Matters: Mastering Payment Methods for Small Business Success” from Visa. “Make AI Work for You” from Google. And Amazon’s “Expanding Your Business Through E-Commerce.”

I suspect this is not a learning event but rather a marketing event. And that makes me sad. Because entrepreneurs are expected to know everything, juggle all the things without dropping them, and still deliver their magic. And yes we choose this path, but it doesn’t mean we are any less deserving of real support.

Back to the SBA. It would be helpful to rethink what “small business” even means. Because right now, the resources designed to support small businesses are going to companies that don’t exactly fit the spirit of the term. Wouldn’t it be something if these mega companies developed a professional conscience and chose to reinvest — really reinvest — in the ecosystem that helped them grow?

Because we are dreaming here, how about it if policymakers took a fresh look at how “small business” is defined? Sure, that might push some players out of contract opportunities, but maybe they were never the intended recipients anyway. Amazon? You’ve got a flywheel empires envy. Google? Your AI is eating your own ad model — trust me, we see it. Visa? Payment methods? We know how to run transactions. Or we wouldn’t be in business.

Now, if you’re thinking I’ve got an issue with big businesses — I don’t. I spent years admiring their moxie. Their origins made me believe big dreams were possible. I supported their growth — like we all did.

But when growth comes at the cost of values — when systems prioritize profit over people — choosing silence feels like agreement. And I won’t be quiet. Especially when I see a widening gap in access to meaningful, relevant learning for small business owners. That gap is real.

Thankfully, I’m beginning to see some service-oriented content creators putting out learning without a sales hook in an effort to give back to their communities that support them. It’s a good start. But we need more.

So here’s my invitation. Let’s build a better learning culture ourselves.

If you’re a true small business owner — one of the many of us with 10 or fewer employees — let’s create the kind of learning community we wish we had when we began. If you have a resource that’s worked for you, please share. Post it in a blog, a video, a comment thread — whatever feels natural. And if someone in your network is just getting started? Offer them a bit of your time, informally mentoring them. A quick check-in. A word of encouragement. That kind of support can go a long way. Wouldn’t it have meant something to you?

This whole “competition” thing? That’s old programming. It’s time we let it go. There’s space for all of us. Your success won’t shrink mine — and mine won’t diminish yours. In fact, I believe the more we lift others, the more we rise ourselves. Generosity circles back like a boomerang.

Learning is personal to me. Equal access to knowledge and insight is essential to our collective success. Let’s be each other’s success stewards. Let’s build our own table and rise together while doing so.

I’m here for that. I’m here to build it with you. And in the meantime, I’ll be working on a few things to share.

#SoarAboveAchieveBeyond