We were lucky to catch up with Robyn Cohen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Robyn, thanks for joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

For the past 15 years and all the work I’ve done in the women’s advocacy space, it has always included men. For decades now, a lot of the work around women’s empowerment has created a space, for the most part, that only includes women. I’ve never understood why we thought creating an exclusive environment or space for women ONLY was the way to creating a more inclusive and equitable world.

I have always said that, men are not the problem. Are there men that really don’t want to live in a more inclusive and equitable, yes. But guess what, there are women that feel that way as well. We live in a society that was created to better support men than women. So by including men and educating them and making them more aware about the issues that face women, we can engage and include them in the world we want to create that will benefit all.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Robyn is an accomplished professional at the crossroads of operations, business development, and event production. With her rich, diverse 15-year experience, she’s been a driving force in the venture capital and entrepreneurial space. Known for championing women and DE&I, she’s helped shape the startup ecosystems globally.

Currently, she’s the Managing Director at the W Collective, an events, community, and content company focused on elevating women in entrepreneurship & venture capital. She’s also the Co-founder of Utah’s 40 Women Over 40.

Robyn has also been intimately involved in the entrepreneurship and DE&I space for over a decade, primarily focused on elevating women. In 2008, she was the first Executive Director for Girls in Tech and helped launch their first 12 chapters nationally. She also founded their Los Angeles chapter in December 2008.

In 2010 while living in Brazil, she launched a women-focused platform and events company, the first of its kind, that highlighted key female executives and entrepreneurs in Sao Paulo’s growing startup community.

Upon moving to Salt Lake City in 2014, Robyn was one of the first executive committee members for Womenpreneurs and produced Women’s Week in 2017 and 2018 at the Impact Hub Salt Lake, while in the role of Managing Director, featuring prominent women across the Salt Lake Valley in the areas of business, tech, politics and entrepreneurship.

All of this led her to starting W Collective, because with the predominance of men in the entrepreneurship space, she wanted to create an initiative that highlighted, elevated, and supported women in entrepreneurship and venture capital.

Originally from Toronto, Robyn has lived in two continents, three countries, and eight cities over the course of 25 years, bringing a unique and dynamic perspective to managing and growing businesses.

In her spare time, you can find her in the gym, in her Airstream traveling the country, and spending time with her furry children Asia and Kai, and her husband Todd.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Supporting my community. Through the events I do, I’m able to highlight a lot of great leaders, so that’s one way to support my community. The other is by attending and promoting events. I think in every city I’ve ever lived in, knowing about which events are happening and the ones that will help increase your social capital, or lead you to a job, etc, is hard. So by promoting them and attending the most important ones, my community and networks of contacts sees me as an ally and supporter.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have pivoted so many times in my life that I’m exhausted even thinking about it. Where do I begin? I’ll share a couple of stories.

One is when we were moving to Brazil. I wasn’t able to continue working with Girls in Tech. So not only did I start a whole new career teaching English in Sao Paulo, Brazil, I also started my own initiative called Girls On It. No one else, at the time, had a platform focused on elevating women executives or entrepreneurs in Brazil, so this really provided a great platform and community within the startup and business worlds.

The other is when I took the role of Managing Director at the Impact Hub Salt Lake. I have never worked in the co-working space before and the business was failing. In a matter of a few months, I was able to:
*Increase revenue by 60%
• Restructure several business aspects, including membership agreements, accounting, host volunteer program, and financial reporting
• Negotiate an exclusive sponsorship with Slack for Q4 of 2017
• Assist in the relocation and growth of the Carta team from the Bay Area
• Maintain 95-100% occupancy
• Create and produce the Women’s Week event series, which elevated the Impact Hub brand in the SLC market
• Won “Best Office Workspace” in City Weekly’s Best of Utah 2018

So being open to pivoting is so important. You never know what lies ahead.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wcollectiveco.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewcollectiveco/, https://www.instagram.com/msrobyncohen/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robyncohen/

Image Credits
The W Collective Startup Lounge photo – Laura Kinser, Kinser Studios The head shot – Laura Kinser, Kinser Studios