What Masters of the Universe Taught Me About Small Business
- Michael Woodruff
- Jun 11
- 3 min read
When I was a kid, my grandparents bought me a He-Man toy named Man-E-Faces.
I did not know much about him at the time. My mother was a fundamentalist Christian, and anything called Masters of the Universe was not getting through the front door without a theological inspection. In her view, Jesus was the Master of the universe, not He-Man. Skeletor, He-Man’s nemesis, did not help the case.
A cartoon filled with swords, monsters, magic, and a floating little wizard named Orko was not exactly going to earn a spot beside the Sunday school felt board. Looking back, I think Mom may have missed the point. The old He-Man cartoons usually ended with a moral lesson: be honest, help others, do not be selfish, and think before you act. Those lessons were probably closer to Christian values than she realized. But I digress.
Man-E-Faces stuck with me because the character is a strange little plastic reflection of something very real. He had more than one face. In a way, so do we.
That is especially true for small business owners. One minute, you are the friendly neighbor talking to a customer. The next, you are the bookkeeper staring at expenses. Then you become the salesperson, complaint department, creative director, janitor, scheduler, problem-solver, and the person who still has to unlock the door tomorrow morning.
That does not make you fake. Different moments require different parts of you.
The problem begins when an owner gets stuck in the wrong face. The friendly face may avoid hard numbers because it does not want to disappoint anyone. The creative face may chase ideas while ignoring the calendar. The operator may become so focused on tasks that customers start looking like numbers. The exhausted face may answer an email late at night and create a problem that did not need to exist.
Then there is the protector face. Every business owner needs that one too.
It says, “No, that is outside the agreement.” It says, “This price is fair.” It says, “This customer may not be a good fit.” It also says, “I cannot keep giving away work and still run a healthy business.” That face can feel uncomfortable, especially for owners who care about people. But boundaries are not the opposite of service. They help make good service possible.
Man-E-Faces may have been sold as an action figure, but the lesson still works. The goal is not to pretend to be someone else. It is to know which part of yourself needs to show up.
A small business owner does not need one perfect personality. They need awareness. They need to know when to be warm, creative, organized, or firm. They also need to know when to step away before the tired version of themselves starts making decisions. That is leadership.
Sometimes the smartest question an owner can ask is not, “Who am I supposed to be?”
It is, “Which face does this moment need?” That face matters in marketing too.
Your business may need to appear clear, steady, local, trustworthy, helpful, and easy to understand before a customer ever walks through the door. That rarely happens by accident. It takes the right words, visuals, story, and strategy.
Written with AI assistance based on the author’s ideas, experience, and editorial direction.
Note: This article uses Masters of the Universe and Man-E-Faces as a pop-culture reference and business metaphor. Woodruff Media is not affiliated with Mattel, He-Man, or Masters of the Universe.
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