Brewing up an Empowered Community with the Business Brew

For the past year, the Business Brew Networking Event has provided a monthly opportunity for entrepreneurs and businesses to connect and support each other through learning and networking. I was inspired to take a different approach with this networking event because I knew there were others like me who needed a little boost when it came to understanding how to improve their business and become empowered to reach higher goals.

When I owned my gourmet dessert catering company, I was new to running my own business. To make things more difficult, I was an extreme introvert and severely lacked social and sales skills. I was half way through my Bachelor’s degree when I started Black Velvet Desserts in Ohio. Although I grew up in an entrepreneur family, I was still naive and a little lost when it came to the intricate operations of actually running an efficient and successful business.

With hardly any connections, friends in the industry, or knowledge of how a catering company was run, I made my own way as a soloist, learning things as I went.

Building and running a business is lonely, intimidating, overwhelming, and exhausting. But for some reason that only true entrepreneurs can relate to, we keep going. Striving to build, improve, and increase. Through my time owning my catering company, I realized that if I wanted to truly grow my business and reach new levels of success, I needed to grow my network, make connections, and build my arsenal of resources. This is a very uncomfortable concept for an introvert.

Nonetheless, I joined a few networking events. I was awkward and shy in the beginning. Of the many handshakes and introductions, the only one I could remember is the awkward handshake where the person’s hand went in between my middle and index finger like a weirdo. Over the years, I’ve learned to accept and embrace my awkwardness. If we ever have the pleasure of meeting, know that it will be pure entertainment and unseemingly memorable.

Fast forward to the present, my family and I moved to Wyoming a few years ago without knowing a single soul. Unable to resist following my passion and taking the bull by the horns, I quit my job that secured our new income in a new state and I started my marketing business – Missy Burns Creative. Again, as a soloist, no connections or resources.

As I met many of the ambitious, passionate, and hardworking business owners out here, I knew I was in my element. But I noticed a significant disconnect among the business community. I also could sense a need for more transparency, education, and encouragement. So, this introvert started her own networking event with the help and support of my dear friend, Janet.

The Business Brew came from the idea of “brewing up” encouragement and connection so as to empower our business community to collaborate more than compete.

I remember a certain networking group I had attended in Ohio where I truly felt connected and empowered. They always had a speaker or some sort of educational element where, as a new business owner trying to figure everything out on my own, I found it extremely valuable. And it helped me strengthen my own business in ways I could not have done on my own. Not only that, but as an introvert it is difficult to initiate conversations out of nothing. These networking events gave me something to relate and connect to others with and pushed me to make friends and build my resources.

This was my inspiration: To build connection, collaboration, and empowerment to the Cody business community through networking and education.

We have hosted the Business brew for 10 months this year! And it humbles me every month to see people come, engage, discuss, and leave empowered. We’ve had great speakers come and volunteer their time and wisdom on topics such as marketing, video creation, goal setting, bridging the generational gap, agricultural sustainability, and more!

As we enter a new year, the Business Brew will continue to be once a month and we will continue to offer even more valuable topics to help strengthen our business community. It is my vision to have businesses collaborate on a level where competition isn’t even on our radar. We have such diverse skills and talent here in Park County, Wyoming. How amazing would it be if we unified as a community, boosting our economy and thriving together?

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