OUR STORY
Hi! We’re Stephanie & Haley.
We have been friends for over 25 years (may as well be a lifetime at this point) and walked very different paths prior to getting to where we are today. What a wild ride it has been. Childhood, college, marriage, motherhood - we've truly shared ALL OF THE THINGS.
After college, we both walked the path that we felt was intended for us - to step into our cookie cutter corporate jobs and lead within organizations run by someone else. Sure, we did it. We did it for YEARS. And to be honest, we did it DAMN WELL. But life had other plans for us.
Through a crazy turn of events (that's a coffee chat for another day) we both found ourselves in the land of entrepreneurship running our own businesses a few years ago. We were unsure what we were actually doing. Scared is even a fair statement. We went from knowing everything to thinking - what on EARTH are we doing? Is this actually going to work? Is this what we are meant to be doing?
So there we were, standing alongside each other in life (per usual) trying something new on our own. Owning our own businesses, learning all the things, making all the mistakes, celebrating each other's wins and looking for ways to grow both personally and professionally.
One day over coffee, we were chatting about the entrepreneurial networking community. We had been to all the groups. And don't get us wrong - some had great things to offer. But it got our wheels turning.
WHAT IF we could take ALL OF THE GREAT THINGS that we loved from each of them, and combine them into something even better?
WHAT IF we could create this dream community in our LITERAL backyard in North Peoria?
WHAT IF other people desired that too and just needed someone else to take the leap?
WHAT IF?!
Casual chats took place over the course of nearly a year, yet we hadn't turned our what if into a reality. And then, one day, it just clicked. THIS was the time. It needed to happen NOW. We can't describe why. But we both felt it. And we just knew. It was time to LEAP.
After lots of late nights, long weekends and vision casting sessions, Collab Culture was launched less than 2 months later. We were confident that it would eventually gain traction and grow but we had NO IDEA what was about to happen.
This community. It EXPLODED. Right before our eyes. We couldn't believe the outpouring of love and excitement from so many people within our community and how many women were so eager to join us on this journey. These women. This community. It's DIFFERENT. It's SPECIAL. The future is SO BRIGHT for these ladies and for Collab. We want to share it with YOU.
Don’t believe us? You don’t have to take our word for it. Hear it from our members: