About Donna Maria
Donna Maria’s mission is to raise up the next generation of American Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs.
She is the industry’s trusted leader, advocate, mentor, and friend.
It all started back in 1995 when Donna Maria learned how to make her own bath and body products. Within a few years, she had quit her job as an attorney in a Fortune 500 company to open the Maria Grace Aromatherapy Shop, where she made and sold her own brand of handmade cosmetics, candles, perfumes, and aromatherapy products, and taught others in her community how to make their own personal care products. She also hosted Donna Maria’s Aromatics Self-Empowerment Workshops to help people embrace self-care practices using essential oils.
As Donna Maria grew her business, she began to receive more and more questions from Makers wanting to learn about the savvy leadership skills and marketing and sales strategies she used to navigate her business. Before long, it was clear that she could make her best contribution to the world, not by making and selling her own products, but by helping others market and sell theirs.
After taking a six-month sabbatical to travel Africa and write her first book, Making Aromatherapy Creams and Lotions, Donna Maria returned home to launch the Indie Business Network, a success path for Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs to go from great idea to successful business.
Each year, Donna Maria helps thousands of people find their niche and establish a profitable and sustainable business. In addition to hosting the Indie Business Podcast, Donna Maria also hosts the Maker Mastermind Retreat in cities nationwide. (She’s coming to Boston and Nashville in 2017!) And if you’re lucky enough to be in Charlotte where she lives, you can join Donna Maria and other local Charlotte Makers at a Maker Meetup hosted monthly at an Indie gathering spot in the greater Charlotte area.
Donna Maria has been called “the doula for small business owners.”
In 2011, Donna Maria was inspired to create Indie Cruise so Makers could escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life and business, and focus on developing themselves personally and professionally, and establishing a plan for the next level of their success. Over the years, the event has become the premier unplugged event for Artisan Entrepreneurs who not only want to develop their businesses, but who also want to develop themselves as the next generation of American entrepreneurial leaders.
Click here to see what others have to say about their Indie Cruise Experience.
Donna Maria is one of the most knowledgeable and experienced strategic entrepreneurial minds in the nation.
Her techniques and strategies have been used by women around the world to create and sustain businesses that generate both income and happiness.
Donna Maria helps thousands of people every day to maximize their potential through small business ownership.
Join her on Indie Cruise, and she will help you too.
You can follow Donna Maria personally at her Facebook profile page and on Twitter and Instagram. She is @donnamariaceo on Snapchat.