As I prepare to turn the page from 2025 to 2026, I am both reflective and intentional. There will be much to do and share in the New Year, but before we get there. I am pausing for a moment to review, assess, and celebrate the past 365 days. What you see here is an overview of how IBN served our members in 2025.
As always, our priority is engaging with and serving IBN members. We do that in several ways. Here are a few 2025 highlights.
The Community Economy™
Our members make and sell small-batch products, so they get to focus on a niche audience that believes in their brand, passion and purpose. Our Community Economy training helped members learn how to replace relying on social media algorithms with strategic community building designed to produce more sales opportunities by focusing on the few instead of the masses. The training helped members:
• Define a theme, idea, or cause that complements their unique brand and attracts their unique target audience;
• Lay the groundwork for a thriving community that appeals to your target audience, so they join, engage, and tell their friends;
• Position the brand owner as an expert and leader of their unique brand community so they can enjoy endless organic sales opportunities without needing social media or any other rented land to secure the growth of their business
It was powerful, and for those who implement it — transformative! Here are some of the live training participants. We also offered it virtually!
The Community Economy training is currently available exclusively to IBN members.
Featured Members
We are so proud of the way this blog and our social media feeds showcase the creative products our members offer.
This year, the Indie Business Network Blog showcased our members, along with links to purchase their amazing products and services.
Here are a few of the most popular articles:
- Introducing Vivian Jamison and Shannon Kindred, some of our Robin's Roses Entrepreneur Scholarship recipients
- Beach Ready Beauty: a curated collection of IBN member products to help you elevate your summertime self care ritual
- Features on live and virtual classes and workshops hosted by our members
- Holiday Gift Guides for things like home fragrance, men's products, and color cosmetics
Binge all of our Featured Member blog posts here. Go shopping while you're at at — I guarantee it won't take long to find that perfect gift for yourself or a loved one.
Indie Business Network Robin's Roses Entrepreneurial Scholarship Program
IBN's Robin's Roses Entrepreneurial Scholarship Program is named in honor of my dearest friend who is the main inspiration for the launch of the Indie Business Network. You can read some of the story here.
Robin's Roses awards quarterly scholarships to American Maker Entrepreneurs who might not otherwise be in a position to take advantage of the valuable and transformative experience IBN offers. The scholarship includes a year of membership and mentorship, along with private group coaching and one-on-one email coaching with our founder, Donna Maria. The graphic below showcases our 2025 scholarship recipients. Meet them and learn more about their businesses at these links:
Meet Pearl Harris of Beach Body Butter
Meet Vivian Jamison of Xpressive Mocha and Shanon Kindred of Toushea Skincare
If you or someone you know is interested in exploring scholarship opportunities, click here to learn more about how to apply for our quarterly scholarship opportunity.
Member Training (42 episodes)
We continue to provide our members with live weekly coaching, with curated experts to help our members be successful in their personal and professional lives. During these live-streamed virtual events, which are available for replay 24/7, members get real-time answers to the toughest issues faced in business right now.
Among other amazing people, our guests this year included life coaches, marketing specialists, Shopify experts and so much more. We have so much in store for 2026 including some in-person events and podcast surprises!!
Indie Business Book Club
One thing I know for sure is that nothing keeps the entrepreneurial mind in the success zone like books on business and personal development. This year, we read 12 of them. Topics of discussion and learning ranged from embracing doing hard things, creating a membership business model, annual goal planning, crafting an irresistible brand story, living and working with AI, creating a thriving aromatherapy business, avoiding the “stupid tax,” in business and more. Here are the books we read, with links to more detailed information:
Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals
Show Your Work: Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
Superfans: The Easy Way to Stand Out, Grow Your Tribe, and Build a Successful Business
Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI
The Art, Science and Business of Aromatherapy: Your Essential Oil & Entrepreneurship Guide
Teaching Creative Workshops In Person and Online
Buy these and other Indie Business Book Club picks at IBN's Amazon shop.
Indie Business Network 2025 Holiday Gift Guide
Our 2025 Holiday Gift Guide featured member products and editorial content to uplift, inform and inspire you.
For each product, you'll find a lovely picture of the featured product, with a direct link to where you can easily and quickly drop it into your shopping basket.
Check out the 2025 Indie Business Network Holiday Gift Guide categories: our Skin + Hair Care, Color Cosmetics, Fragrance, Men's Gifts, Home Fragrance, Bath + Body, Home, and Classes + Workshops.
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In Closing …
“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much …” – Helen Keller
This simple truth captures the essence of what we experienced throughout 2025. Entrepreneurship can feel isolating at times, especially when challenges arise and progress feels incremental. But when we come together in community, our individual efforts compound into something powerful.
The Indie Business Network exists to make that collective strength possible. By connecting entrepreneurs across the country, we’ve created space to think more clearly, solve problems more effectively, and celebrate progress that might otherwise go unnoticed. Together, we’ve shared knowledge, supported one another through uncertainty, and built momentum that no one could have created alone.
As we step into a new year, we do so knowing that our greatest advantage isn’t scale or speed. It’s connection.
As we continue to move forward together, there’s no limit to what we can build.
Happy New Year!
This year has been fantastic, but some things still remain undone. it is my personal commitment and intention to give focus to those things so IBN can serve our members even better in 2026 and beyond.
Thank you IBN members for the honor and privilege of serving you, and for sharing your experiences with your friends and community members and talking IBN up within your various spheres of influence.
As great as this year has been, the next one will be even better, and we can't wait to share with you all of the exciting new things to come in 2026.
Indie Business Network members, I love you, and I love serving you!
Here's to a great new year and the achievement of all of your wildest entrepreneurial dreams and goals. I am so proud of every one of you!
By the way, if you are not a member, you are denying yourself lots of entrepreneurial goodness! But it's not too late. You can click here to learn about our member benefits, and join today at this link so you don't miss out on anything else!!
Bring on 2026! We are so ready over here at the Indie Business Network!
