Igniting Passion & Grounding in Values On Friday, the first BizBrew launched with a gathering at City of Mud, which is a small art gallery on Hickox Street across from the Tune Up Café, where Proprietor Nancy Nichols provided the perfect space for really connecting. Creative, intimate, and comfortable, the gallery was abuzz Friday morning with inspiring and informative dialogue and community engagement that lingered into the morning, as attendees stayed to chat and share.
We were honored to have Merridith Ingram as our kick-off speaker. A mother of three, as well as a master communicator and communications strategist who has Fortune 500 companies as clients, Merridith shared some of her story of making a quality-of-life decision to leave New York City and move to Santa Fe just over a year ago. The change of lifestyle and change of pace also proved an opportunity to re-invent her company, 66&Co, and revive her work with a sense of values and passion that she been longing for. By aligning with her deepest held values and taking a stand for them, Merridith shared that she will now turn down clients who's projects do not align with these values. Interestingly, she also discovered in the process that committing to values-based business moves us towards something much bigger than ourselves and much better than just focusing on the next sale. Merridith found that once she and her partners rooted the company in a foundation of clear and committed values, it was much easier to connect with community members and potential clients and moved the conversation beyond just selling products or services. Now, she is happy and surprised to find herself in the midst of the vibrant innovation ecosystem that is Santa Fe and is providing her PR and communications expertise not only to large multi-national corporations but also to small start-up companies and not-for-profit organizations. She and her husband also launched Silicon 66, a local resource to highlight important tech business events and to showcase innovative businesses and business leaders along Route 66. Merridith advises that the best way to begin to realign your work to your values is to ask the following questions: · What change do we want to make in the world? · What do we deeply value? · Who do we want to serve? · Who are we? Who do we want to be? What is our promise? Merridith also differentiated between brand identity and brand promise. The brand promise is the company’s bigger value proposition, and it is important. As Merridith put it, ‘It is not just what’s in it for me but also what’s in it for my community.” As she noted, “I now focus on what I am giving rather than what I am selling and the messaging becomes much easier. I am looking at where we are all going together with a longer view and this has a positive ripple effect on my business and the business of my clients.’
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Merridith Ingram, co-founder of 66 + Co, will be the speaker for our June launch of BizBrew, a Friday-morning coffee series dedicated to tech, women and values-rooted entrepreneurship. As a consummate storyteller and strategist, Merridith has built several successful companies and a career that has ranged from Dow Jones journalist to creator of major communications campaigns for Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, Intuit and Philips. But her magic touch is not limited to large corporations and she has a special place in her heart and business helping startup companies and providing pro bono services to some of the most influential technology organizations in the world, including the Internet Society and the Internet Engineering Task Force giving her insight into what makes technology tick and the newest ideas about how to better the world through technology. After moving to Santa Fe from New York City in 2015, Merridith founded the website, Silicon66, and restructured and re-branded her integrated communications and marketing agency. The new company, 66 + Co, is based on globally-conscious values and she was amazed at how deeply the new messages resonated with her audience. In this re-branding, she and her business partners were able to grow their business exponentially in spite of relocating to a smaller market. Merridith says that her per-eminent communications objective is, "Action with purpose," and that two essential keys to reaching your target audience is to know, "Who you are trying to reach and what change your are trying to effect." At 66 + Co she helps clients connect with audiences through providing engaging content, developing inspiring narratives, strategizing the navigation and leverage through the digital environment, using creativity to effect change and intelligently planning blueprints for success that combine hard data with tactical ingenuity -- all things we would be wise to include in our own business planning. At BizBrew, Merridith will be speaking on how Values-based entrepreneurship gives your brand identity a deeper and more resonant brand promise/vision. When this vision aligns with that of your target audiences, this can fuel your business' visibility, viability and growth. Whether you want to grow an existing business or you are starting a new business -- join us and learn more about how to create a brand that truly reflects the essential aspects of your business and how this will help create an environment of success. This promises to be both and engaging and informative discussion -- so please join TechBivvy for BizBrew on June 16, 2017 from 8:30 - 10:00 AM for Merridith's presentation, coffee and networking. The location is City of Mud gallery at 1114-A Hickox in Santa Fe. Event is FREE and open to the public. Please RSVP at [email protected] to help us with logistical planning. BizBrew is sponsored by: City of Mud, the City of Santa Fe Economic Development Department, New Mexico TechWorks and TechBivvy. Thank you Sponsors for underwriting this event! |
AuthorTechBivvy is a business basecamp especially-made for female entrepreneurs and women interested in tech. Archives
November 2017
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