Recently I had asked the Luminary community for letters or emails of support for the expansion of our physical space. I was hopeful that we might receive at least twenty letters but what happened in the next 72 hours astounded me. I received over two hundred supportive letters about the community we’re building each day. Community building is a hot topic in business, but it’s rarely discussed beyond the ‘likes’ and to highlight how to develop and grow mission-driven communities that drive impact.
When you do a search on ‘community building’, you will find dozens of articles on how to build a brand, leverage the community, or create a brand through the power of community. Of course, there are also many how to guides about making a community profitable, getting more customers, and generating more business and brand awareness. According to an article by the Young Entrepreneur Council, there are many tactics for businesses to connect with their communities. One tactic includes partnering with other businesses. “Very often local businesses can strengthen their position and build community by partnering with others. This includes businesses that are complementary to your own and even competitors…when you partner with other business owners, everyone can benefit.” There is no shortage on ways to build a community but making them authentic is a much harder task.
Communities are essential as companies build their brands, especially as they look for more ways to interact with customers. “Every company is its own community. Each one also has a place in the bigger picture. They may support, supplement, build, augment, or maybe just co-exist with others. While a corporate "live and let die" attitude might have been acceptable in earlier eras, today's CEOs choose simple coexistence at their own (and their company's) peril. Fortunately, it is now good business sense to embrace corporate social responsibility and the need to build stronger community,” according to Kevin Daum in an article written for Inc. Magazine.
Building a community should be one of the main goals of every business. If you don’t have someone who trusts you and your brand, you are not going to sell anything. Community builds a true sense of purpose, an alignment in a shared mission, and creates an incredible network of support. There’s something very powerful when you see someone and recognize in them that they are in this together with you.
It’s a long game to build community. It should be organic, not forced and deliver an authentic connection. It cannot be just about the brand or the business it generates. Creating a community takes a significant amount of effort, as the business owner(s), the staff and the members. People want to believe in the community they are a part of. Over the last few years, we are seeing a tremendous amount of growth in the number of communities focused on women, their careers and products built for them and by them. These communities are focused on delivering impact as well as creating an ecosystem of supportive businesses.
While the spirits industry has long been male dominated, woman-founded spirits companies are on the rise. In 2018, a collaboration between leading female spirits producers, came together to elevate and amplify the voices of all women in the alcohol beverage industry through a belief that they are stronger together. Over a dozen founders decided that rather than competing, they could support each other as business owners and their individual brands by coming together and thus the Women’s Cocktail Collective (WCC) was formed. Dr. Nicola Nice, Founding Member of the WCC and Co-Founder and CEO, Pomp & Whimsy Gin says, “This has never been done before. Collectively, we can open doors for all of us. If you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t need conferences, you need opportunities to do more business, and through this collective [community], we can support each other’s endeavors. This is not about people writing checks (for awareness), this is about actual collaboration.”
Another of the Collective members, Le Grand Courtage, founded by Tawnya Falker couldn’t agree more, “Being a part of the Women's Cocktail Collective (WCC) is the proverbial example of a rising tide lifting all boats. The women in the collective give generously, are open about the trials and tribulations, and genuinely want to help the others to level up. By being vulnerable and employing a ‘group think’ mentality, we can hopefully help propel all brands forward faster.” The WCC community focuses on collaboration over competition and demonstrates that together we can amplify the message and bring awareness of more than one brand.
As a female founder, Rebecca Minkoff saw an opportunity in the community of female founders to support one another and put dollars behind female founded brands. Staying close to her customers has always been a priority for Minkoff and investing in community growth has been a critical brand pillar. Instead of waiting for a community to be created, she decided to build one herself. The Female Founder Collective was launched in 2018. According to Minkoff, “Our mission is to enable and empower female owned and led businesses to positively impact our communities, both socially and economically. The community of the collective will enable women to connect with other women in order to give vetted resources around capital, growing their business and operating more efficiently.”
In addition to filling a void, a community needs a clear vision and brand purpose, creating great experiences for its members and the overall brand every day. The Female Founder Collective isn’t about one brand, it is helping to accelerate thousands of female-founded brands around the country and contributing to the success of the overall community it is serving. At the same time, it’s building brand awareness for those brands as well as itself. This extends customer impact and exposure.
Several communities have been founded much like the FFC, with the opportunity to support and advocate for each other’s careers, businesses and ambitions such as The Cru, founded by Tiffany Dufu, Ellevate Network led by Kristy Wallace and Six Degrees Society founded by Emily Merrill. LadyDrinks, a leadership development platform and membership community for executive women, founded by long-time television presenter Joya Dass, began with an intention to support South Asian professional women. According to Dass, “today my work is about empowering others to believe in themselves, or else connecting them with people who believe in them. Ultimately, this is what (LadyDrinks) is about –connection and empowerment.”
The Well, founded by Krystal Scott, created a community for black women creatives, entrepreneurs, and workplace professionals from all industries. As Scott says, “it’s hard to network when you’re “the only one” in the office, in your department, on your team, or in leadership at your organization. And even though more black women are starting businesses than ever before, being an entrepreneur is isolating and overwhelming.”
I was recently asked to take a survey on what community means to me. As I thought about the community that I’m building, and other various communities that I’m a part of, I believe that a community allows you to nurture one other, offer advice, share experiences and grow together. A community counts on its members to help make it better and is important. In the context of a business, it’s not just because of what it can do for the business, but for what it can do for the people who make up the business.
While building a community takes time, gathering feedback to improve and invest in itself, the impact is critical. According to Dr. Nice, “Since we started the Collective [WCC], we have seen an uplift for almost all the companies involved including new sales opportunities, media interest or investment/acquisition. It has provided both a tangible platform and the support network for members to get ahead. To me, that’s what the essence of what collaboration over competition is all about.”
I am inspired by all the incredible women starting communities and brain trusts around shared interests and expertise and I’m always trying to find new ways to collaborate. As we think about community for impact, we must think about our communities as ‘informal economies’ – so often, business leads, referrals, new hires, recommendations, and friendships spark in these networks. There’s real value in the connection and proximity our communities bring and the impact we are delivering. And I have more than 200 letters to remind me.