Baltimore Small Business Owner Meets With President Trump

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Baltimore small business owner says she felt overjoyed as she left the White House after attending a roundtable discussion with President Donald Trump.

Lisa Phillips got the opportunity of a lifetime for a small business owner, as she was invited to attend a meeting with the President of the United States.

Phillips was the only business owner in Maryland who was invited to Monday's roundtable, which was held to promote economic empowerment for female business owners.

Straight from the White House, Phillips was already back at work Monday, setting up for her next event.

She's the owner of event planning company Celeebrate Us, and was invited to a roundtable discussion at the White House with President Trump and his daughter, Ivanka.

"You keep pinching yourself, because you don't think it's true, you don't think it's real," said Phillips. "I'm really at the White House. Wow, I'm going to get to talk about my business, get to meet some other amazing business owners from around there country. If this is dream, don't wake me up."

The roundtable is part of the president's campaign promise to reach out to locally owned businesses.

Monday's event was promoting economic empowerment for women business owners.

"They're bring us in because they want to hear directly from us," Phillips said. "What are you challenges? What are you successes? What is it the administration can do to help grow your business."

During Monday's visit, Phillips says she was also able to talk about how her business has been able to succeed with the partnership of Eastpoint Mall.

"People come in, they enjoy their event and then they go shop in the mall. It's a win-win for the mall as well as my company."

It's an opportunity she says she never would have imagined for herself. A small business owner invited to share her business experiences with the President of the United States.

"He listened intently and he asked us a lot of questions. It was really heartfelt," Phillips said.

According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, there are currently 9.4 million businesses in the United States owned by women. Nearly 3 million of those are headed by women of color.

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