Volunteering in the Name of Equity
Brandi Palecheck invests her spare time ensuring women entrepreneurs succeed
Brandi Palecheck has volunteered for WomenVenture since January 2020. She’s always been a vehement supporter of women in business. From humble beginnings with an eBay store, she’s explored the art of business ownership and is now able to share her knowledge with the world.
“Way back when I was learning so much and making tons of mistakes,” she remembers. “I sat there wishing I had known more about everything it took to run a business – Profitability, viability, and sustainability were just buzz words I used in my business plan. I just didn’t have the right tools to succeed.” She reflects on the difficulty of breaking into her desired audience market and managing the chaotic life of being a business owner. Because of these barriers, and the need for a more stable income, Brandi decided to move away from entrepreneurship.
Soon after, she took a job at a company of marketing consultants. The culture of the organization allowed her to quickly get to know the other experts in her area – experts that also shared her passion for connecting with business owners. Her colleagues shared their experiences volunteering in the community almost weekly! Turns out that their employer, Augurian, heavily encouraged giving back. Because she had connected with WomenVenture early in her own entrepreneurial journey, Brandi knew exactly where she wanted to volunteer.
It was her dream to give business owners the resources and support that she missed out on. As a class trainer, she utilizes her expertise in the field to teach a comprehensive and interactive course designed to teach entrepreneurs the basics of business marketing. Over the years, she’s even given input to the curriculum to ensure our training services are as relevant and up-to-date as possible. Brandi consistently invests in these business owners partially due to her belief that in order to change the face of the business world, we need more women owning them.
“Women must be appointed to more positions of power, like business ownership, to change the opportunity gap for minorities. Seeing the success through WomenVenture is proof that women can run profitable sustainable businesses. Every class I train, I see bright ideas, determination, and resilience. Women are an underrepresented and under-resourced segment of the population – true equity comes when we invest in those underserved.”
