CLEVELAND, Ohio — March is Women's History Month, which is dedicated to celebrating women for their vital role in American history.
In Cleveland, a female entrepreneur is helping to share future business leaders, one woman at a time.
- She serves more than 100 clients with their design needs
- She has published more than 120 magazines over the years, catering to female entrepreneurs
- She holds a Female Entrepreneur Summit every year
Renee Deluca Dolan is a trailblazer when it comes to marketing and visual branding. She started her company, Contempo in 1996. Today, she serves more than a hundred clients with their design needs.
"You know, I take a lot of pride in supporting other people's livelihoods and being able to share my experiences and skills as a creative person, as a mentor. I think that's the beauty of what I do and that's what really drives me everyday, that's what I'm passionate about, helping other people," said Deluca Dolan.
Dolan started doing video graphics and design consulting for various companies before opening her own. She has published more than 120 magazines over the years, catering to female entrepreneurs.
"We found a void on the business-to-business magazine side for magazines catering to women in business, they were all catering to men about 50-plus."
Now, instead of publishing, Dolan has shifted her focus to networking events. She holds a Female Entrepreneur Summit every year to motivate and inspire future women leaders in business.
"There's a lot of women's events, women in business, women rising on the corporate ladder, women of note, those types of things, but there was nothing focused that I could find for female entrepreneurs and that's why I am and I wanted to support other women," said Dolan.
Dolan's life's work is all about helping women, and even men, trying to make it on their own.
"I think when you're starting out as a woman or a man in business it's hard because it's just you, so you have to rely on other people, you have to rely on professionals and I feel like I've been through that already and if I can give back and help with the advice that I got or talk about the successes I've had, the failures I've had, I'm happy to give back and help," Dolan said.
Dolan says she's seen more women in non-traditional entrepreneur spaces than ever before — areas such as manufacturing and tech.
While Dolan has made a name for herself in Cleveland, she says she still has a lot to accomplish, even after 20 years in business.
"I've been in business over 20 years and everyday I'm trying to figure out how to progress, how to continue to grow my business," said Dolan. "Surround yourself by people that are good at what they do because you can't be good at everything, find the right resources, hire people that are smarter and more talented than you are. If you're not constantly reinventing yourself and keeping up with the times, you're not going to be around."