 I spent months earning my Women Business Enterprise (WBE) certification. The application was anything but simple. I submitted financial records, ownership documents, tax returns, bank information, and more to prove one thing: Mother of Pearls Public Relations is owned, controlled, and operated by me – a woman.
I was proud to have received that certification. Not because I expected government contracts to start rolling in. They didn't. In fact, my company has never been awarded a government contract because of my WBE certification. That's why Governor Mike Braun's recent decision to eliminate race- and gender-based preferences in state contracting gave me pause. My concern isn't about losing business. It's about losing recognition for something I worked hard to earn. Some critics view WBE certification as a shortcut or a special advantage. That wasn't my experience. The certification didn't replace qualifications, experience, or reputation. It simply verified that my business met the standards established for a woman-owned enterprise. Every client I've earned since then has hired Mother of Pearls because of our work, not because of a designation on a certificate. Still, that designation mattered. As business owners, we pursue credentials all the time. I earned my Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) because I believed independent verification of my professional knowledge mattered. Those credentials don’t guarantee success, but they tell prospective clients that someone else has independently verified your qualifications. My WBE certification served a similar purpose. It recognized years of work spent building a business from scratch. I believe businesses should compete on the quality of their work. Mother of Pearls has built its reputation one client at a time, and that's exactly how it should be. What disappoints me is the implication that this certification no longer has value. Will this policy change affect my business tomorrow? Probably not. Will Mother of Pearls continue serving clients with the same commitment and professionalism? Absolutely. But I'll always be proud of earning my Women Business Enterprise certification. It represented hard work, perseverance, and a business I built from the ground up. That's something worth recognizing, regardless of where you stand on this policy. Some accomplishments aren't valuable because of what they get you. They're valuable because of what they represent
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