Goodwill Hunting
Kelsey and I have long been believers in community. We follow the mentality that you get what you give, and we’re willing to err on the side of giving away too much — (hard earned knowledge, introductions, trade secrets —) in the spirit of it usually coming back to us two-fold. The truth of the matter is we never really cared if it came back to us, even though it usually did. We were anti-gatekeepers. For us, it was always more about helping make life a little easier for folks.
For instance, Kelsey and I used to teach small groups at free events how to build their own ecommerce website. We enjoyed doing it so much that we created a fake online shop called Chapuppo — a place where folks could buy extravagant hats for their dogs. We wrote fake “about us” copy, we found images of dogs in ridiculous hats on Google, we even had a logo. And we would invite people to watch us as we built a web store step by step on Squarespace as we mirrored our computers to a presentation screen. We went so in depth, we had people telling us we were borderline stupid for giving away that much of how the sausage was made.
We always said, “anyone can build a website, it’s just a matter of if you want or have the time to do it.”
We also decided that Chicago was sorely in need of a community cohort, a scheduled get together of creative folks who were typically self-employed and longing to find like-minded individuals. We loved meeting new people and connecting them to opportunities. We did it ALL the time. We still do. It’s at the point that we have woven a very intricate web of connections in the creative community that I feel like my own Kevin Bacon.
This need for connection led us to create Coffee Talks, a weekly afternoon hang out at the Ace Hotel. Each week, we brought in a new guest, someone badass doing something super cool in Chicago. We got a lunch stipend and had the joy of sitting down with each guest before their one-hour roundtable discussion with 15-20 people, most of whom became regulars over a two-ish year run. We got to know so many more folks on a deeper level that we became invested in their businesses and finding them work.
One Coffee Talk regular, Katie Stipanovich, started with us as our first freelance project manager in 2018, eventually becoming our Operations Manager. Another, Alex Lucke, has been designing websites and working with our marketing team since 2020. (She has her own WOTW blog series called Sightings — you should check out.)
Years later, I am now able to appreciate the ripple effect this goodwill has had on our business. And I am not strictly speaking financially. We have carefully and considerably grown over time to work with some of the most talented and wonderful folks who share our enthusiasm for being connectors of people. It makes doing this 10 years later all the more invigorating. We’ve grown up next to these folks, and we’re all making strides together.
What a wonderful thing that is to witness.
The community building just keeps going! Join us as we host a Female Founders Collective's Member Mingle at Chicago Tech Week. July 24, 5:30 p.m. at Industrious (1720 W. Division St.)