Strengthening Connections - Colibri Collaborative

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Mirella Rangel, Co-Founder of Colibri Collaborative LLC, located in Oakland, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

The Colibri Collaborative is a collective of consultants that support communities, organizations, and businesses to flourish by creating connections and working with those most impacted to design solutions. We support non-profit, government, or business leaders who are facing change or experiencing change to get clear and stay grounded in their shared purpose, create extraordinary partnerships, and develop powerful plans.

Tell us about yourself

A vocation is the overlap of one's talent and values. Years ago, I realized that my vocation was to support leaders with decision-making power to return power to those who are most impacted and for those who are most negatively impacted by our current societal barriers to lead the way. In seeking opportunities to do that, I realized I needed to create the business. My business partner Maddie Orenstein encouraged and inspired me to build out our dream job and the Colibri Collaborative was born. Since then, we have made a commitment to “Notice and Move Power.”

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I have so many accomplishments, mainly due to the power and work of the wider community. It is a win when teams come together to tackle really hard problems. I’ve seen this in working with organizations like T1 International, where our work was featured as the Best Practices for Community-Led Governance to the World Health Organization (WHO), or when I partnered with community leaders to develop community-driven solutions to increasing access to end-of-life planning in the Latinx community of San Francisco. This work was recently published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

I continue to work on finding the right balance between developing and refreshing our approach and content, working directly with clients, developing organizational infrastructure, and reaching out to potential partners in this work.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

I am grateful to the previous consultants who shared their wisdom with me and I will share it here:

1. Be your authentic self: When you show up honestly and vulnerably, you open the door for your clients or partners to do the same.
2. Be clear: Define what you offer and who you work with, and develop communications channels to reach that audience.
3. Be curious and trust the process: We launched Colibri in January 2020 and have been here for this ride. We have flourished regardless of the challenges because we took the time to assess and acknowledge the context, define intended goals and a plan to reach them, and made space to learn, assess, and adjust along the way--it's an ongoing learning journey that humbles me.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.colibricollaborative.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColibriCollaborative
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mirella-rangel-consultant-colibri/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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