Cindy Wilkosz - Woo Worx Marketing
Meeting Cindy Wilkosz makes you believe that the next generation of woman entrepreneurs will continue building on the legacy of hard-won successes women business owners have achieved, and will accomplish even more. Cindy, a NAWBO Greater Philadelphia member for two years, has a real appreciation for the opportunities afforded her by virtue of her membership.
“I originally came across NAWBO New Jersey chapter,” she said recently. “I saw a group on LinkedIn and went on to check it out. At the time, I worked at an insurance company in recruiting and marketing.” It was in this position that she began to see and understand the power of the internet in business, and worked to learn how it could be harnessed. As she grew in her corporate position, she gained the confidence to believe she could help clients better if she was out on her own. “Meeting women entrepreneurs and getting to know them gave me an opportunity to see my career from a different perspective, she said, and that perspective gave her the impetus to open Woo Worx Marketing in the late summer of 2016.
Asked about the name of her firm, she laughs and calls it a “silly story” that started with a college nickname. Somewhere along the line, friends began to call her Cindy Woo, and it stuck. She wrote new business names “on a napkin while out with my boyfriend. And Woo Worx Marketing was born.”
Woo Worx Marketing specializes in building brand awareness for client firms in multiple ways, but the use of internet marketing is the heart of the business. Building effective websites, creating and managing social media accounts, content marketing on blogs and websites, email marketing and building SEO for clients are some of her firm’s services. “I was a millennial in a male-dominated industry, and NAWBO women were, and continue to be, instrumental in helping me see a different way of doing things.
“It’s great meeting new people, having the opportunity to build lasting relationships both personal and professional and to see how other women build their networks and businesses is marvelous,” she said. “In my business, you spend a lot of time on the internet and with your nose to the grindstone. NAWBO has been a terrific support group for me.”
Cindy urges younger women, even if they don’t yet own their own companies, to join NAWBO while they gain corporate experience. “It’s important, before entrepreneurship, to get some real-life experience, she said. “If you haven’t saved money, if you haven’t experienced pain points, if you don’t see the opportunities and also the pitfalls, it will be hard for you to relate to the people you want to serve. It’s really big to get that experience – otherwise, you don’t know how things are done and it can really stress you out.”
She said she has noticed that women in her age bracket often attend one or two Power Friday group meetings or an event, and then don’t return. To her, they are missing a terrific opportunity to develop long-term relationships of the kind that every successful business owner needs. NAWBO members provide valuable counsel and feedback. “I love collaboration and strategic alliances; the organization is full of potential alliances for business and for personal growth. Everyone I meet at NAWBO is a potential alliance for business.
“If you own a business, you need to go out, meet people, build relationships and build trust – these are keys to business growth, she adds. “I enjoy working with people I know and trust, and my business grows horizontally. I have met some wonderful people in NAWBO group meetings and working on the Marketing Committee, a natural niche for her talents and an opportunity to build strategic alliances.
“Everybody has their business issues and problems,” Cindy said. “At NAWBO you’ll get a different kind of feedback – feedback from others who really want to help you succeed.”