By: Whitney Tatum
Founder – MOXIE Entrepreneurial Support Services
No one tells you that being in business for yourself is so hard. And lonely.
I’d been the co-owner of not one, but two, small businesses before I moved to Kitsap in 2022. When I made my new home here, I knew I wanted to go into business for myself again.
Having been there before, I also knew how hard it is to be a small business owner—even with a partner—so I created MOXIE Entrepreneurial Support Services to support small businesses. Why? Because we shouldn’t have to do it alone.
Though there are tons of small business owners and business support services in Kitsap, what I found while exploring our local entrepreneurial landscape is that there still seems to be a disconnect between everyone.
After my first year in business, I joined the “Kitsap Entrepreneurship + Innovation Group” founded by the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance, not only to connect with other entrepreneurs, but to learn what the future holds for Kitsap. After a year of participating in the E+I Group discussions, I was itching for tangible action items to improve Kitsap’s entrepreneurial support and offerings.
Why?
- Because I was tired of feeling alone in my business.
- Because I was tired of constantly reinventing the wheel.
- Because I wanted to know what other entrepreneurs were doing and what they learned in their journeys.
- Because I also wanted to know what sort of business support services entrepreneurs like me actually needed and wanted vs. what was already being offered.
Being that entrepreneurial support is my passion and organization is my superpower, I teamed up with the founder of Vibe Coworks and Matchstick Lab, Alanna Imbach, to make the Firebrand Unconference a reality.
What I love about the idea of an Unconference, is that it isn’t your traditional “conference” where the program is dictated by the event planners.
An Unconference flips traditional conference formats on their head, instead, providing a dynamic environment where WE shape the content and direction in real-time. This is a first-of-its-kind opportunity to directly cultivate connectivity between entrepreneurs, amplifying our voices, and inform targeted programs for and by small business leaders across Kitsap.
As Kitsap’s leading entrepreneurs and innovators, we know what keeps us up at night.
The Firebrand Unconference is our chance to come together and compare notes with people who can actually relate—all while discovering smart solutions, fresh inspiration, and useful new connections, too.
It will also allow us to strengthen our sense of community, provide a platform for voicing and addressing our support needs, and enhance collaboration and coordination between entrepreneurs, the private sector, government, technical service providers, academia, funders, support services, and more!
I have also been feeling stagnation within the business community’s networking mixers. More often than not, it feels it too overwhelming or too loud to truly talk business, due to the large number of people and wide range of businesses.
That’s one of the reasons why we created the Firebrand After Party mixer. It’s the cherry-on-top to the day-long Unconference, offering the chance for all of us to mix and mingle with some of our brightest fellow founders, entrepreneurs, business owners, advisors, and investors in Kitsap.
This is not your standard business happy hour or mixer event—the After Party is located in a secret and private location, giving us a chance to have meaningful conversations with people who understand and are looking to support entrepreneurs and small businesses around Kitsap.
I’m ready for something different. And I bet you are, too.
Join me and other entrepreneurs at Kitsap’s 1st Annual Forum for and by Entrepreneurs—the Firebrand Unconference!
MOXIE Entrepreneurial Support Services is a proud Founder’s Circle Sponsor and co-organizer of the 2024 Firebrand Unconference + After Party. Thank you!
