Each day, Melony Armstrong demonstrates the power of one entrepreneur.

A petite, 40-year-old African-American mother of four who owns Naturally Speaking, a hairbraiding salon in Tupelo, Miss., Melony has grown into an inspiring economic force bringing needed hope and opportunity to her community and her state.

Before renovating her hairbraiding salon–which now employs four full-time stylists skilled in the art of braiding and weaving African-American hair–Melony first had to renovate archaic and restrictive government regulations, as well as her community’s mindset about natural hair styles. She accomplished all this through persistence, hard work, a lawsuit and lobbying, and by mentoring a cadre of young, black women who saw her as a role model and guide to a better life…