With this year’s Start:ME cohort in full swing, we caught up with FCS President and longtime Start:ME mentor Jim Wehner to hear what’s happening behind the scenes. From big ideas to practical next steps, here’s how he is walking alongside this group of South Atlanta entrepreneurs as they turn their vision into thriving, sustainable businesses.
“Start:ME is one of my favorite programs at FCS,” Jim exclaims. “I find that it is fun participating in it, and effective at the work that it does.” During this four-month business training program, cohort members are matched with a team of three mentors, who each bring unique expertise and skillsets.
“Business ownership is a huge piece of economic mobility.” So Start:ME is right in our missional swing zone as an organization. We’re working with young men and women to build businesses that make them business owners- and at some point employers, and they’re getting training on how to do all of that.”
As a mentor, Jim finds that his strengths lie in financial strategy and business narrative development. “I’m helping to make sure that their financial story matches the narrative for their business.” I also help with writing the narrative, so it’s concise, clear, and really supports who they are as an entrepreneur.”
One of the biggest challenges he finds facing entrepreneurs at the beginning of their journey is transforming their ideas into viable businesses. “The first thing you want to navigate is who the entrepreneur is, what their skillset is, and how they got excited about what they’re trying to create by letting them tell their story. Then there’s the process of clarifying that story.” Through the mentorship process, entrepreneurs refine their vision and determine whether their idea is best suited as a hobby, a small business, or a larger enterprise that employs others.
For Jim, mentorship is about more than developing business strategies—it’s about building trust through honest conversations. “As mentors, we’re building relationships, but we’re also sometimes being a sort of communicator of truth,” he says. He recalls a recent moment when he had to share a hard truth with one Start:ME entrepreneur struggling to balance giving back to her community with running a profitable business. Drawing from his core belief in nonprofit leadership, he told her, “Your idea is really important, and we care about it, but if you are not able to flourish on your own, your ability to help others flourish is going to be limited.”
But the impact of mentorship isn’t one-sided. Jim reflects on how much the entrepreneurs inspire him. “I love being around the folks who have taken the risk of stepping into the program because the program is not easy. All of our entrepreneurs step into Start:ME, and have said, ‘I’m going to take a risk and see if I can do this.”
Since its launch, the southside Start:ME cohort has helped create 77 businesses, employing 123 people and generating over $3 million in annual revenue. To learn more, visit https://www.startmeatl.org.
