IAM025- Serial Entrepreneur Leads a Nonprofit That Empowers Women Entrepreneurs

Heather Wentler 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place, Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:28

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. Heather Wentler of the doyen group. Heather, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Heather Wentler 0:37

Thanks so much for having me today.

Gresham Harkless 0:39

No problem. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit about all the awesome things that Heather's doing so you can get an idea of like her background and everything she has been able to accomplish. And Heather Wentler is the executive director and a co founder of the Doyenne Group, a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower women entrepreneurs, a serial entrepreneur, Heather is also the founder of fractal and Madison soup and a member of the organizing committee for medicines for festival. Heather, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Heather Wentler 1:10

Of course.

Gresham Harkless 1:11

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, I wanted to do was give you the mic so to speak, just if you could tell us a little bit more about your CEO story. And what led you to start your business?

Heather Wentler 1:19

Yeah, so I actually went to college to be a teacher and taught professionally in Madison for about six years. And the inside joke was, I was either going to pick up my liver, or I had to figure out something else to do with my life, I was very frustrated in the traditional teacher role of being told what I could and how I could and couldn't teach my students. And just feeling like there was such a disconnect between the experiences my students are having in their everyday life, and how we present information in the classroom. And, you know, research shows if you can make those connections that learners will retain, and understand the knowledge better, and the concepts better. And so that was when in 2011, I pivoted into entrepreneurship and started fractal and really had no idea what I was doing. I've never taken a formal business class. And so I relied a lot on my community, and other organizations in town to try and help me learn how to get this business off the ground, how to move it forward. And Madison has a great entrepreneurial community with tons of resources. And so when we co founded Boyan, in 2012, my business partner, and I really said, you know, how can we address what's going on here in town and make it better and more equitable for everybody. And so that's really what Doyenne does is how do we work within and within an ecosystem to say, here's what's happening, here's where we're finding gaps. And here's how we can work with you to support that, as well as providing opportunities for, you know, CEO development for the entrepreneurs who are part of the organization and giving visibility to their companies, and then funding their ventures as well through our evergreen fund.

Gresham Harkless 3:00

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Yeah. I myself flirted with the idea of being a teacher after I graduated. And I was very afraid and decided not to largely for the same reason and same frustration that you had. So I definitely, think the world is obviously a better place and that you decided not to do it teaching anymore, you are empowering these entrepreneurs and business owners. So I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper to kind of hear a little bit more about what exactly is the doing group doing to empower these female entrepreneurs.

Heather Wentler 3:29

So Doyenne really focuses on four main areas or our strategies for how to support entrepreneurs, our first one is develop so we believe that entrepreneurship happens within a lifetime, not the other way around. It's not a singular event that happens in isolation from everything else that happens within your life, and how do you grow and expand your skills and knowledge to be able to be the best leader that you can so we provide programming like our two and a half day strategic retreat, strategic planning retreats, and we do a year long cohort where you get coaching, and also workshops to think about how do you create a strategy move forward with it through our founder series? And then we do a lot of like empowerment workshops of like, you're not going to come to join for how do I use QuickBooks? Or how do I set up my finances for my business, but it's more like how does making the right financial model work best for your business? How do you negotiate contracts or negotiate what you're worth as an entrepreneur to be able to move your business forward. And so that's what that first pillar is really all about in that program. The second one is increasing the visibility. So we do public events where we highlight our female entrepreneurs and get let them stand up on stage and talk about and promote their businesses. We also do a featured member every month and then we have a monthly social event. We call our connects events where that featured member gets to come and tell their unvarnished or I talk about it like it's the VH one show behind them MUSIC Well, it's like behind the business. So tell us what it's really like, don't give us your pitch, don't tell us what you want us to hear, tell us the real story, because it becomes much more relatable. And then it also creates an opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs to be like, Oh my gosh, I'm not the only one who feels like this, or even I've been running my company for five years. And it's so good to know that I'm not the only one that still wakes up every single day that is like, What in the world am I doing? And so that's, you know, our increased visibility area is really how do we highlight and, and grow the grow the community. Our third strategy is funding the venture. So like I mentioned, our evergreen fund, where we provide grants, loans and equity investments for women led companies based here in Wisconsin, to get the funding that they need, it's super early stage funding, the whole point of it is to help you test out an idea or, you know, get some traction so that if you need to get another loan or line of credit, or or you're starting to seek investors, how do you position your company to be ready to move on to that next stage of financing? And then our fourth strategy is collaboration. So we have over 20 partner organizations that we work with in the Madison community that are all focused on entrepreneurship, and how do we build that network so that people are getting the support and the coaching that they need as they move down their journey.

Gresham Harkless 6:19

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, you seem like you guys are doing and making a huge impact. And I'm sure you're definitely seeing the benefit of all these kind of pillars of your organization that you guys have in place. So I guess I wanted to kind of get an idea of what do you feel does make your organization kind of unique from another organization that might try to do the same thing?

Heather Wentler 6:36

Yeah, I think that you know, we get that question a lot of like, who are your quote, unquote, competitors? Or what is your secret sauce. And I think the big one is, is that bringing those four strategies together, when we look at a national lens, what we saw a lot of like, just funding agencies, or just networking agencies, or you know, the workshops that were offered were much more at that high level, everybody can benefit from this, but didn't really give you an explanation of how it works within your business. And so by bringing those all together, that's where we really feel like entrepreneurs are able to benefit from, you know, any, any stage, any background, we really focus on that early stage, from idea to launch to like, first three years of working with your company. And so that's how we differentiate and then and then it does go back to like those collaborations because we already know that we don't want to step on toes or replicate what's already happening within communities. So how do we make sure that people know what else is available? And how each of us each of the organizations can better support them as they move forward? Because you're right, at the end of the day, we want to see these ventures be successful? And it's how do you get them in front of the right people, and Doyenne might not always be that person or that group? So how do we work with in the community to make sure that they're able to get what they need? That makes perfect sense.

Gresham Harkless 7:59

And kind of like playing that, you know, obviously, you have programmed yourself but also playing that facilitator role or that connector role, so to speak, where you know, other organizations as well, and you have relationships with them, so that at the end of the day, the person gets what they need to be successful?

Heather Wentler 8:13

Yeah, exactly.

Gresham Harkless 8:15

Awesome awesome, awesome. Well, I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be like a resource, or book or an app or something that you feel like you use on a regular everyday basis that makes you more efficient and effective as a as a CEO.

Heather Wentler 8:29

So I am a total type A personality. So I love lists. My co founder is not and so it's sometimes drives her crazy with all my posts and notes that I have everywhere with my running lists. But a tool that I have come to love is Asana for exactly that purpose. And I love that not only because I can put my tests in there, but I can put all of our team members tasks in there and be able to go and comment and change things as things get updated throughout the day without being like, Oh crap, I need to send off another email or I have to remember to text or call this person so that they don't send out that newsletter without updating the information. And so I'm a huge fan of accountability, as well. And so that is one of the main main reasons why I love Asana. Other things, you know, I'm reading a book right now. And the title is going to come back to me in a second, give me a second, but it's all about how do we make sure that we're not focusing on just one type of company or one story to make sure that we're all succeeding, whether it's finding funding, or also just building your business. But it's been I literally just started over the weekend. And I'm so glad that I'm reading it because it's really helping me put in more into the lens of how do we tap into underrepresented entrepreneurs, but then also how do we find ways to change ourselves so they feel more included and like we can better serve.

Gresham Harkless 10:00

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And like you were mentioning as well, too earlier, when you said, you know, when you started your organization is having like a new perspective as well, for how you can kind of look at things. And sometimes when you're not like entrenched in like an industry, or you're looking at it from an underserved community, a lot of times that gives you a new perspective, and it helps out the business and the organization and overall culture.

Heather Wentler 10:23

Right, exactly. And I, you know, we talked about unconscious biases all the time. And I think that's a lot of it is once we start I was reading a book a couple of months ago called the bad feminist. And, you know, one of the message that I really took away from there is how do you use in your privilege and power to raise someone else up? And that's been something that I've been trying to bring more and more into my everyday life of like, because I'm a white, middle class woman, who has, you know, this type of background and comes from this type of family? How do I make sure that I'm doing everything that I can to use the benefits that have been laid out in front of me to support other people who might not have those opportunities?

Gresham Harkless 11:03

Exactly, yeah. And a lot of that has to do with, you know, being conscious and being aware of who you are, what advantages you may have, or may not even have, but being able to realize that there are other people and kind of pay it forward, so to speak.

Heather Wentler 11:16

Exactly.

Gresham Harkless 11:17

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, I wanted to ask you next for a CEO nugget, which is basically like a word of wisdom or piece of advice that you might have for other entrepreneurs and business owners.

Heather Wentler 11:25

Entrepreneurs, I mean, so when I think about entrepreneurship, it's something that it's not for everybody. And that's okay. And I think that the media does a great job of making it look sexy, or like, it's what everybody should want to do. But I think being honest with yourself, and knowing your limitations, but also setting your limitations. So I was talking to one of our entrepreneurs last week was like, I just need more help with time management, and I looked at it and I'm gonna be completely honest with you, until you set up your limits and your boundaries, you're not going to have time management, because at the end of the day, people are going to keep asking and asking and taking and taking, and it's up to you to set those limits and boundaries. And that's a really hard lesson to learn, especially as an entrepreneur, because you feel like oh, my gosh, I'm letting people down or, you know, this opportunity is going to pass and I'm not going to be able to take advantage of it if I don't answer it right now. But taking time to take care of yourself, making sure that your business isn't the only thing you identify as in your life is really, I believe what's going to help set you up for more success and future success.

Gresham Harkless 12:34

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I always tell myself, you know, just like when you get on an airplane, make sure you put your oxygen mask on first. And also make sure your cup is filled. So that that's an awesome CEO, nugget. And one of the things I wanted to ask, we have different types of quote, unquote, CEOs on the podcast, and I'm sure, of course, you come across a lot of different CEOs as well, you know, through the doing group. So I wanted to ask for your definition of what it means to be a CEO.

Heather Wentler 12:59

Being a CEO is really setting the tone for your company, you are the one who is setting the leadership, creating the culture and setting the standards for what you believe is right within your company. So it's not just checking boxes, hitting sales goals, bringing in new clients. It's also that community aspect of it of with, you know, even if you're working, even if you're a CEO of just your solopreneur CEO, you create the dynamic within your company. And so if you don't lead by example, how is your team? How are your clients that you work with going to be able to follow that and also know that this is the expectation. And so taking ownership of your behaviors, your attitudes, also admitting when you were wrong? I think that's a huge one. It's all part of the bigger picture of what it means of being a CEO more than just overseeing and day to day operations.

Gresham Harkless 13:57

Yeah, I mean, I think that's a huge thing. Anybody who's a CEO is obviously going to be a leader. So Heather, I truly appreciate you taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was give you the mic, so to speak, one more time to see if there was anything additional, you want to tell us about the doing group, or about any advice or entrepreneurship in general. And then I want to also ask you, if people were listening how best they can get a hold of you.

Heather Wentler 14:20

Yeah, so I mean, the exciting thing that we have coming down the pike within Diane is we are expanding our programming outside of Madison, and then we're creating a model or we're gonna be piloted in it and Milwaukee and Green Bay the next within the next 12 months of how do we create a model where any city would be able to call us and say, Hey, we really need going on in our community. Can we launch a Doyenne organization here and so definitely watch our website which is doyennegroup.org. On the website, you can find out more about membership. I know more about our programmings our evergreen fund, and also sign up to be a part of our newsletter so you stay up to date with what's going on within the organization? and then best way to contact me is to send me an email. So my email is heather@thedoyennegroup.com and I'm way better at I'm a total millennial and way better at answering my email then calling you back, even texting sometimes I'm like, well, too much communication going on. So email is my preferred mode of communication. But definitely reach out, let me know if you have questions or I'm always open to feedback. I think that's the only way that the organization will grow, evolve and become better for everybody is taking people's feedback and comments and trying to figure out how we can implement those things.

Gresham Harkless 15:39

Awesome. That makes perfect sense. Well, we'll definitely have your contact information in the show notes just in case anybody wants to follow up. But Heather, thank you so much for taking some time out and for all the awesome things you're doing, and I appreciate you and hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Heather Wentler 15:53

Thank you so much. Thanks for doing this and I hope to talk to you guys soon.

Intro 15:58

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I am CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless Thank you for listening

Transcribed by https://otter.ai