Most BYU-Hawaii students know Merrilee Webb as an outstanding choral music teacher, so they might be surprised to learn she's also an entrepreneur who has been running her own successful businesses since the age of 18.
Speaking at the School of Business entrepreneurial lecture series on Oct. 28, Webb told the students she has always been a musician. "I've always loved to practice. That's weird. It's not normal for a child to practice. I loved what it did for me to play the piano," Webb said.
"It would be wonderful in your life if you loved to do something, and nobody made you do it," she said. Webb encouraged the students to "do something that you love, something that lights you up."
Webb said her business career really took off in 1980: Returning home to Fresno, Calif. after her second year at BYU, she failed to get the same summer job she'd had the previous year, helping teach babies how to swim. "I had been trained by an amazing woman. I idolized her, but I saw ways I could do things a little differently, ways that would work for me," she recalled.
Accepting a job for near-minimum wages in the daytime, Webb used the family pool to start her own swimming school in the evenings. "I earned the equivalent of about $14 an hour. I did that for eight years."
After earning her bachelor's in music education from BYU, Webb started a 12-year public school teaching career, "but it never felt like me. I was the kind of person that wanted to do my own thing." Eventually, she said, the principal encouraged her to do "something else."
Before going back to BYU to earn a master's degree, Webb created several songs that at age 22 led to an association with the children's performing group, Sunshine Generation. In 1984 she signed an exclusive contract with the group, and then formed Sunshine Audio, Inc., which she still owns.
Later Webb added directing to her repertoire and became more and more interested in the technical side of recording. She started a studio in her bedroom, but soon thought, "I could build my own studio. I found out everything I could about building my own studio."
Today, Webb says Infinity Business Ventures, the basis for her recording business, is "a beautiful space. I designed it so people would want to come and play with me." She also has a studio in her home in Hauula, while her employees continue to run the business in Utah.
She said the key to making such an operation work is to "surround yourself with people who love to do what they do, and then let them do it."
"My employees are my friends," Webb said. "When your employees are your friends, you'll have an amazing company. I always say, this is Chris, she works with me. When someone works with you, she's beside you."
Webb has several other interesting takes on running her own businesses:
"I have never balanced my checkbook. It's frivolous and I don't care about it," she said, explaining that one of her friend handles all the business aspects of her company. "That's how much I trust her. I completely and totally trust my employees. I am amazed at how many employers don't trust their employees."
"Customers are your life. At Sunshine Audio and Infinity Business Ventures, the customer is always right. Whoever sees the customer should have the power to do what the customer needs," Webb said.
"If money is your bottom line, then the employees and your customers will go away," Webb added. "I have plenty of money for my needs. I put the money back into my company... and my employees. I've had a corporation for 20 years... because money was not my main goal."
"I love to share the wealth," Webb said. "I give great Christmas bonuses, and I expect them to spend it on themselves. Another thing, we have a lot of company parties, and I spend a lot of money on them."
"In business, we get paid last, and often times we get paid the least," Webb said, adding that hard work and long hours typify her schedule. "Because I do what I love, I tell people everything I do in my life, I choose. We live in a society where you can do what you choose. Otherwise, we get to be the customers of people who don't like their jobs."
"There should be no difference between your business life and your church life," she continued. "The Lord will bless you as you maintain your integrity and standards. The Lord is always on my mind in my business."
"All of the people who are successful are the ones who say yes to life," Webb added. "Some of you will never make a lot of money, and that's okay. God is at the center of whatever business you have, and you say yes to life."