By Joel Burstein, CEO, BEAM Collaborative

Corporate America promises stability and advancement, but for many, it delivers exclusion.

Older professionals laid off after decades of service. Veterans navigating the civilian job market. Mothers reentering the workforce after caregiving. Minorities sidelined by bias. Federal workers caught in political churn. Returning citizens seeking a second chance. And those simply unwilling to play the exhausting game of office politics.

These individuals bring talent, experience, and perspective, but too often find the corporate
ladder pulled up behind them. For them, small business ownership isn’t just an alternative—it’s
a powerful, liberating path forward.

At BEAM Collaborative, we don’t see these stories as outliers. We see them as fuel for a new
kind of economy—one rooted in inclusion, ownership, and resilience.

Small business ownership restores agency, builds generational wealth, and empowers sidelined professionals to become local job creators. It replaces gatekeeping with growth and exclusion with empowerment.

We’re here to ensure that transition is not only possible, but successful. From succession
planning to acquisition support, BEAM equips these overlooked leaders with the tools to own,
grow, and sustain their own businesses.

Because when the system shuts people out, entrepreneurship lets them rise—and when they
rise, communities thrive.