Liberty University · School of BusinessSince 2019, what has work actually been like for you?
If you've worked at a small business anytime since 2019, your experience can help leaders understand what keeps people engaged — and what quietly wears them down. Share it in one confidential interview.
This is your chance to have your voice heard in your workplace — without saying a word to your boss.
Doctoral Candidate, School of Business
Small businesses run on the people inside them.
The American Dream is still alive — and for millions of people, it lives on a small business's payroll. Every storefront, workshop, and two-person startup is someone's bet that effort still adds up to something. But that dream doesn't run on ambition alone; it runs on whether the people inside feel valued enough to give their best. When they quietly check out, the dream stalls — which is exactly why this study listens to them.
Taking part won't change your paycheck — but it puts your experience into research that helps small-business leaders build better places to work. The kind of change that's hard to ask for directly.
Your voice, on the record — and kept confidential.
Small businesses changed a great deal after 2019, and the people who lived through those changes rarely get asked about them directly. This study listens. Through confidential interviews, it looks at three things:
- RQ1What makes people feel engaged — or checked out — at work.
- RQ2How leadership shapes whether people feel supported day to day.
- RQ3Which everyday practices help, or get in the way of, doing good work.
See if this is you
You may be eligible to take part if:
- ✓You're 18 or older.
- ✓You are, or have been, an employee of a U.S.-based small business with fewer than 500 employees that has operated continuously since 2016.
- ✓You worked as an employee at that business at some point between 2016 and 2018.
- ✓You're not related to anyone in a leadership role at that business.
One honest conversation
You'll answer real questions about your own experience. A few examples:
- How would you describe your engagement at work since 2019?
- Can you describe a leadership behavior that affected your engagement?
- What practices helped — or made it harder — to stay productive?
Topics we explore
What you share is protected at every step.
This is research — not a performance review. Nothing you share is reported back to your employer.
Next steps
Review the study documents below, then book your interview when you're ready. Taking part is always voluntary.
Shena Dixon Mason
Doctoral researcher · Adjunct professor of interpersonal communication · Former prosecutor & Chief Magistrate
For nearly three decades, Shena's work has come down to one thing: listening to people when it matters most. As a former Senior Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, she sat with people through some of the hardest conversations of their lives and learned to hold what they shared with real care. As Chief Magistrate for a Virginia judicial district, she oversaw judicial officers across nine jurisdictions. Today she teaches interpersonal communication at Temple University and is finishing her doctorate in Organization & Management: Leadership at Liberty University. She is easy to talk to and genuinely curious about your story — and this study is personal to her: she keeps meeting the same question in every room she has worked in, which is what makes people feel valued at work, and what quietly pushes them away. A conversation with Shena is not a test or a sales pitch. It is a conversation with someone who will actually listen, keep what you say confidential, and treat your experience like it matters — because to this research, it does.
People will tell you the truth about their work — when someone makes it safe to.
Why it's worth your time — if you're an employee
- ◆Be heard, in confidence.A rare space to say what work is really like — with nothing traced back to you.
- ◆Help change things.Your experience becomes evidence leaders can actually act on.
- ◆See what it leads to.You can ask for a plain-language summary of what the study finds.
Why it's worth your time — if you're a business owner
- ◆Independent insight.Understand what drives engagement and productivity in small teams — from credible research, not opinion.
- ◆Put small business on the map.Most workplace research overlooks companies your size. This one doesn't.
- ◆A summary of the findings.Receive the study's aggregate insights when they're ready.
One honest conversation. A real chance to be heard.
Take part →Ready to share your experience?
Pick a time that works for you. Your interview is one video conversation, about 30–60 minutes — and your responses are coded to keep you anonymous.
Your booking details go only to the researcher, and are used only to arrange your interview.
Have a question now, or later on? You're welcome to reach Shena directly — and to request a plain-language summary of what the study finds once it's complete.
Prefer to reach out directly? Email [email protected]
Text (804) 986-0653 · (510) 591-0963
WhatsApp (804) 986-0653