"Every entrepreneur has an inspiration they draw on to make a business journey -- whether that journey is geographical, psychological, or both.

Jonathan Wilber is the CEO of Master Key Consulting and his journey brought him from the Menominee Indian Reservation in northeastern Wisconsin to the suburbs of the nation's capital.

Wilber says he's always been an entrepreneur at heart. One of his biggest influences was his mother, a school teacher who instilled in her 10 children the importance of education, inspiration and encouragement. He also looked to his father, who ran his own logging company.

"I saw my dad work hard -- always -- and when he died at age 58 in 1993 I wrestled with whether that's what I wanted," said Wilber. "But I soon realized that he loved what he did and so it became an easy choice," to start a business."

Get the Story:
Small Business: Menominee Indian Finds Key to Success in Contracting (The Washington Post 10/28)
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