Donna Maria Coles Johnson

Welcome to the Indie Business Blog, where we help you enjoy your life, build your business and have your way.

I'm Donna Maria Coles Johnson, a wife, mother, entrepreneur, talk show host and author, and president of Indie Business Media, LLC, a multimedia production company that helps families create businesses so they can enjoy the benefits of entrepreneurship, service, independence, flexibility and fun.

I understand firsthand the challenges of running a business and managing a home. While I am an entrepreneur and a business woman, my heart is in my home first. I run Indie Business Media with my husband, and we partner together to raise our young children and train them to one day own businesses of their own. My background as a college journalism major and attorney, coupled with my experiences as a family woman and entrepreneur, have have uniquely equipped me to inspire and encourage women from all walks of life to keep the home fires burning as they also contribute to the family's financial bottom line.

You'll find that this site features a lot of links and stories about people in the Indie Beauty Business. That's because DIY cosmetics launched my business. Shortly after I learned how to make my own cosmetics back in 1993, I left a well paying job in a Fortune 500 company to open Maria Grace Bath & Aromatherapy Shop in my hometown. Since then, I have authored a few books, been featured in lots of magazines, television and radio shows and earned the US Small Business Administration's "Home-Based Business Advocate of the Year" award. In 2000, after leaving my last traditional job, I launched the Indie Beauty Network, a trade organization representing independent business owners in the cosmetics, health, beauty and lifestyle industries.

I publish the Indie Business Magazine, host the weekly Indie Business Radio Show on Global Talk Radio.com and host the Indie Business Conference. One of my favorite things to do is share my Indie Business message at women's conferences, luncheons and other events. I enjoy teaching other families what I have learned so they too can enjoy life and business on terms that work for them.

I live in North Carolina with my husband (and high school sweetheart) Darryl and our two children, Brooks (3) and Vanessa (5). When I am not finger painting, inventing new ways to cook chicken, scrapbooking or doing something Indie, I can be found enjoying downtime at a local spa or making merry with my best girlfriends.

Many people encourage me to continue my work. God, my husband and my children are my biggest motivators. My dearest friend, the late Robin Maryl Greene Peel Turner, is a huge part of my inspiration. Many other Indie business owners provide financial sponsorship and support, particularly those who are members of the Indie Beauty Network, and I link to their sites and blogs from the left side of this blog.

Some of the companies listed on the left side of my blog sponsor some of my other websites or my weekly newsletter. However, I am not paid for my blog entries and I accept no compensation in exchange for reviewing any product, book or service in my blog.

I blog from my heart.

I do not reciprocate blog links just for the sake of reciprocating blog links. I even link to some blogs that do not link back to my blog, and that's OK with me. I will consider linking from the left side of my blog to your blog if your blog contains content of interest to my readers, and is attractive, well written and updated regularly.

Enough about me -- I'd like to meet you. Please se the email link above to introduce yourself!