Entrepreneurship is booming among women in the South. The Southern Coterie, which runs a membership community and holds annual events targeting women business owners, has been on the front lines, with success stories like Morgan Hutchinson, co-founder of BURU, a clothing brand that had grown to about $10 million in annual revenue when I covered it last year, and Savannah, Ga.-based fashion and lifestyle designer Emily McCarthy, founder of The Shoppe, a 14,000-square-foot destination.
Cheri Leavy and Whitney Long, both publishing industry veterans, came together in 2011 to start The Southern C, as it’s known, to bring women entrepreneurs in the South together. Reflecting the regional uptick in business ownership, has already sold out its annual three-day retreat, to be held in Palm Beach, Fla., on October 21-24, and has started a waitlist. The community, built around the concepts of Connect, Collaborate, and Create, currently has about 300 members, many of whom have been part of the group for years, according to its founders. “We like to roll up our sleeves and help them find business solutions and partners,” says Leavy. “It feels really good.”
With demand percolating, the founders plan to begin a pre-sale of tickets for the annual Southern C Summit on Sea Island, Georgia, scheduled for January 27-29, 2026, in early September. Past event speakers included McCarthy; Laura Cox Kaplan, who founded the popular She Said/She Said Podcast and previously held senior roles at the SEC and Department of the Treasury in Washington, D.C.; Karla Gallardo, co-founder and CEO of the fashion brand Cuyano; Sandra Campos, CEO of the publicly-traded company PetMeds; well-known auctioneer Lydia Fennet and Darcy Miller, founding editor at Martha Stewart Weddings. Singer-songwriter Holly Williams, granddaughter of Hank Williams, Sr., will perform. Although the event started out as a regional one, the founders say that both presenters and speakers now come from all over the country.
Entrepreneurship percolates among women in the South
The Southern C’s growth reflects a significant trend in entrepreneurship: Women-owned businesses are taking off at a clip in the South. The region is home to the states and cities with the most women-owned businesses in the U.S., and those with the lowest gap between women and men in business ownership, according to data updated in August by LegalZoom.
Florida tops the country in women-owned businesses per capita, with 8.77 women-owned businesses per 100 residents, and Georgia, number two on the LegalZoom list, with 5.22. The report attributes the high count of women-owned businesses to the states’ business-friendly climates and growing populations.
Georgia also has the smallest gender gap in the country in small business ownership, with women owning small businesses at a .86 ratio of female business owners for every male owner. Louisiana, in fifth place on this count, also has a small gender gap, with a ratio of 0.80.
Miami is the city with the highest number of women-owned small businesses in the U.S., with 8.85 women-owned businesses per 100 residents. Atlanta, number two, has 6.26, followed by Orlando, in third place, with 5.84, and Memphis, in fourth place, with 5.48. The report attributes Miami’s strength in entrepreneurship to its support for women’s entrepreneurship.
Among cities, Memphis, TN, is the only one where female business owners outnumber males, with a ratio of 1.01 to 1. Virginia Beach, Va., with the second-smallest gender gap, has a ratio of 0.91 to 1; Atlanta, number three, has a ratio of 0.89 to 1; and Palm Bay, Fla., has a ratio of 0.87 to 1. The report attributes the high ratios to factors such as strong local programs to support entrepreneurship among women and diverse business owners.
Women entrepreneurs pursue business on their own terms.
When Leavy and Long came together, they set out to create a community that could help them tackle the challenges they experienced in their own businesses. Leavy, based in Athens, Ga., had run a print publisher, Bulldawg Illustrated, and Guide2Athens. At the same time, Long, based in St. Simons Island, off the Georgia Coast, had been a stylist and contributing editor at publications such as Coastal Living, Southern Accents, Southern Living and Better Homes & Gardens. “We built what we needed as female entrepreneurs,” says Long.
Since they founded Southern C, the organizers have observed a couple of significant trends emerging. One is a greater attention to operations and financials among the attendees. “They are much more focused on the business side of the business,” says Leavy.
As many Americans reconsider what they want from their careers, Leavy and Long say their members include those who are placing less weight on traditional definitions of success. These entrepreneurs are setting goals that reflect a desire for a balanced lifestyle and are utilizing digital and other technologies that allow them to run a business from anywhere.
“They are setting their own standards for what is fulfilling in owning a business,” says Long. “It might not be about scaling. It might be about going deeper.”
They see this as a sign of another trend: the greater confidence some of their members now have from running a business for years. “It can serve you versus you serving it,” says Leavy. “People are building a business that fits their lifestyle, too.”
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