Introducing Starling Collaborative

How can four women from three businesses in two cities help women-owned businesses launch successfully? By combining their marketing skills to develop a soup-to-nuts approach for launching, or relaunching, women-owned or women-focused brands and businesses.

Aris Taylor and Morgan Hamilton are founders of Cincinnati-based Sally On!, a boutique marketing firm focused on supporting women-focused businesses. They and Lauren Corso, principal in the Over-the-Rhine-based digital and design firm, Edelmade, found themselves collaborating frequently with former Cincinnati marketing agency owner/current Naples, Florida-based marketing consultant, Annie McManis. The four women discovered they not only work well together, but their respective areas of expertise complement one another to provide comprehensive marketing, strategy and design—crucial elements that businesses and brands need to launch into the market. After discussing their passion for supporting women-owned, women-focused and women-empowering brands, the idea for the Starling Collaborative was born.

“As business owners ourselves, we relate on a personal and professional level to other women business owners,” said Corso. “Our years of collaborating on women-owned or women-focused clients, combined with our personal experiences, really allow us to develop effective strategies and designs that will provide a solid marketing foundation for a new brand or business.”

McManis notes that one of the driving forces behind developing Starling Collaborative was seeing businesses launch without a solid marketing foundation, causing expensive marketing issues in the long run. “Many start-ups focus on just getting up and running while conserving dollars in areas they think are not as important. Unfortunately, marketing is sometimes considered as one of those areas, and we often see businesses launch without a well-defined brand or marketing strategy,” she said “Those businesses end up having to fix their marketing mistakes down the road, which takes owners’ focus away from the business, and is time-consuming and costly.”

Starling Collaborative is not an agency, per se, as all four women will continue to operate and serve clients from their own businesses. But Starling Collaborative pulls their expertise and launch approach under one brand, allowing them to offer a specialized, personalized services for women-owned and women-focused brands.

“When we work with a business owner, we become a part of their team—a trusted advisor,” said Taylor. “We want to help women have an impact through their businesses and brands, and this is how we can best support them—by helping them launch with a solid marketing foundation that can carry them forward successfully.”

Learn more at starlingcollaborative.com.