LeKeisha is dedicated to helping aspiring and existing small business owners navigate the hurdles of entrepreneurship and business building. As program manager, she gets the opportunity to assist start-ups in moving their technologies forward while appreciating their creativity in innovation. Prior to her current role, she was a small business advisor with the Small Business Development Center at the EC.

As an entrepreneur herself, LeKeisha began her small business journey in 2012 with the founding of Ambition Unlocked, where she has the privilege of sharing stories of new entrepreneurs, shining a light on an often-forgotten segment. She recognizes that starting out is hard and it’s even harder to get someone to talk about you and your venture when you’re new. In 2015 she became co-owner of Transformers Fitness, a concept created out of the love of fitness, healthy living, and the desire to share that information. It fuels transformations of the body as well as the mind.

Emerald is an advisor for the Miami Valley Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at the Entrepreneurs’ Center and is very passionate about helping small business owners generate sustainable profits within their startups. She has worked in financial services for over 10 years and specializes in bookkeeping and taxes for small businesses.

An entrepreneur at heart, she is the CEO of two young companies: Emerald Sparks LTD, a business finance consulting company designed to help business owners understand the story behind their numbers and price for profit, and DopeKeepers Inc., a tax and bookkeeping company specializing in cloud-based bookkeeping, tax planning and compliance with 280E for cannabis-based businesses. She believes a ‘small’ business should not be counted out of resources simply because they do not have the funds that ‘large’ corporations do.

She resides in Middletown, Ohio with her husband, young son, and two fur babies.