Hera Hub DC is excited to share Startup Stories from our members. We periodically interview incredible business women from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Our goal is to share our members’ wonderful stories with the public.
Carrie Kolar, owner of Proof Point Consulting, provides content and marketing services for financial service providers through blogs, articles and website content. She has been a member of Hera Hub DC for almost 2 years, this is her startup story:
What was the inspiration behind your business?
While I was working for a nonprofit called The Global Good Fund, I saw a lot of nonprofit organizations whose materials, websites and online content had a lot of typos. This drove me absolutely nuts because they had such phenomenal ideas that could do so much good, but nobody was going to invest in them and support them if their materials were full of typos. They wouldn’t look legitimate. So I start Proof Point Consulting initially to fix that problem, and over time my focus has evolved into writing and content marketing for financial service providers and small businesses.
Who are your clients and what do you do for them?
My clients are financial service providers – financial advisors, investment advisors – and small businesses. I help them translate what’s in their head into articles and blogs.
What are your business’ values? How do they align with your personal values?
I help my clients prove their expertise and look like leaders in their fields because the materials that I write for them position them as a leader. These are my business’ values. They align with my personal values because I really love helping people and I’m very passionate about people getting their words right. I really love the chance to both help my clients to succeed and make sure that there is good writing in the world.
How/Why did you choose your business name?
At first, I initially thought of using my name, but that would not really say what I did. I wanted something that could incorporate proof reading and writing in the title. One day, I was talking with one of my best friends who was working on a paper for her job. There is a concept called a proof point, which is a point in the paper that proves the whole argument. At that time, she mentioned “so the proof point for this paper is…” and I was like “Hey, can I steal Proof Point for my business?” That is how I came up with the name.
What do you love most about your work?
I love a lot of things about my business. I love the freedom. I love the freedom to set my own hours and to do my own thing and not really answer to anyone. I also really like the work. I like playing with words. I love the chance to meet so many cool people and I really love the networking part of my business. A big part of the marketing that I do is developing one-on-one connections, so I get a chance to connect with so many awesome people.
What is the biggest challenge in running your own business?
Right now it’s about client attraction. I am still working on growing and getting more clients, particularly since I recently focused my niche down to financial services.
What are your/your business’ goals for the future?
By the time I have been in business for five years, I want to have too much work to handle myself. I want to have subcontractors who I send work out to. I also want to be completely self supporting in my business. Apart from that, I would love to be doing more on the content marketing side of things.
What advice would you give to a new entrepreneur?
Go out and talk to people and meet as many people as you can! Network your butt off! The more people you meet the bigger your network of people that you can ask questions or support you. They can become your clients or they can refer clients to you. The more you build your network by going out and building your relationships, the stronger the foundation of your business will be.
Founder Carrie Kolar has the energy of a happy sparkplug and a passion for the written word. Bad writing drives her nuts, and so does missed potential. She works with financial service providers to make sure that no matter where they are in their content journey, they have the tools they need to succeed.