Thank you to panelists Meredith Messenger, Founder and CEO of InsureGood and Annisa Teich, Founder and Principal of The Small Business Collective and Managing Director of West Hartford Coworking for sharing your experiences and insights.
Andréa Hawkins, CEO and Founding Partner of Leading Culture Solutions and Co-Owner of Berkins Blend Café, Berkins on Oak, and Berkins on Main did a fantastic job moderating.
The IDH event Shining Brighter: Innovating, Expanding, Growing is now available for viewing.
Lightbulb Moments
Our entrepreneurs talked candidly about what propelled them to launch their businesses, building a team, how to learn to let go and outsource, and what’s next on the horizon.
On innovating – why they do what they do
“There has to be a better way –I wanted to be that for small businesses,” emphasized Annisa.
“Over the years, all the different experiences I had in my career really started to crystallize the mission of the company that we decided to found, which was providing women with opportunities to enter the financial services sector with support,” explained Meredith.
On expanding – hiring and outsourcing
“With what we do with small businesses in general, there’s no separating the personal from the professional,” said Annisa, who also noted, “you hire for the skills you don’t have.”
“My mission is so big and so impactful, how silly of me to think I’m the only one who can be involved in this. If I’m not willing to let that go, I’m potentially robbing potential from the business and potentially the impact we can make in the community,” said Meredith.
“If I had a choice, I would hire people who are aligned with the mission before anything else. Because we can teach people things but we can’t change their hearts,” she added.
On growing – what’s next
“I do like keeping some things up my sleeve,” admitted Annisa. “In general, we’re looking at furthering our mission to get the capabilities of our team spread more.”
“Exploring the Greater Hartford area and all the potential that exists—this is an amazing place to do business. How do we connect the dots between people and organizations to continue to grow that momentum?” questioned Meredith.
Coming Up Next…
We’re hard at work planning for 2022. Stay tuned for news about upcoming events and webinars.