Terri Brax
“I was able to come into the tech community that was happening in Chicago at that time, and things were just kind of lifting off the ground. There was so much work to do on so many different levels.
But there was also this community of people there that I found, that I had never been exposed to before, that felt like, let's go change the world. As difficult as it was being a woman of color coming into that, there was also a very special camaraderie and we have your back at the same time. At that point, less than 3% of all startups were led by women.”
—Terri Brax
Terri Brax (@terribrax) is an entrepreneur, connector and community builder. She is the founder and CEO of Women Tech Founders (@womentechfounders), a leading voice for the tech startup ecosystem around female entrepreneurs, and the founder of TeacherCare (@teachercare), a nationwide agency for private teachers.
Through Women Tech Founders, Terri builds opportunities that advance innovation and leadership in underrepresented communities. In this role, she's helped thousands of female founders across the nation and beyond. Her community-building work has been honored by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and former Mayor Rahm Emanual. And she's interviewed trailblazers like Senator Tammy Duckworth, State Representative Susana Mendoza and cofounder Angie Hicks of Angie's List. Terri has been recognized as a Forbes Woman, WGN's MVP, the Tribune's Most Remarkable Woman, the Herald's Influential Woman in Business, 50 on Fire's Civic Leader, and featured in Crain’s, The New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Forbes, among others.
Terri also organizes events for foster and at-risk families and participates in boards and activities that drive progressive communities forward. She is a speaker and leads panels on diversity, innovation, and community-building, and is a founding member of the Women’s Entrepreneurial Institute.
Terri connects people, organizations, and ideas to equalize power and unleash potential.
Happy listening!
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You can find the transcript for Episode #002 here. Transcripts for all episodes can be found here.
Show Notes
Terri’s first role model— her warrior mom: a concentration camp survivor and badass woman [2:26]
How Terri’s upbringing prepared her for the rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship, part 1 [3:34]
Founding TeacherCare: the origin story and being your own customer [6:08]
Founding Women Tech Founders: the origin story and what it was like to be a woman of color, trying to fundraise in the Midwest— WTF! [17:33]
The opportunities, growth, camaraderie, support and power that results when women come together [20:18]
Sharing the stage and shining a spotlight on fellow female founders [23:38]
Women Tech Founder Awards [26:45]
How Terri’s upbringing prepared her for the rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship, part 2 [30:20]
Building a community driven, grassroots organization [37:46]
The journey of being a parent while founding two companies [43:19]
Entrepreneurship: lessons learned [46:05]
Rapid Fire Questions [49:15]
Parting Thoughts and Encouraging Words [50:58]
What was your favorite takeaway or quote from this episode? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!
Selected Links from the Episode
Connect with Terri Brax:
Women Tech Founders:
TeacherCare:
Brenna Berman | City Tech Collaborative
Jill Salzman | The Founding Moms
Dorri C. McWhorter | YWCA Metropolitan Chicago
Miloney Thakrar | Mind the Gender Gap
Scandal | Hulu
Subscribe to the show & listen to Episode #002 on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Notable Quotes— with Terri Brax
“I’ve never thought at that moment that I was ready, but I’ve never thought that I couldn’t do it either.”
“There was a huge trust factor that happened with all these women. We each came together with some real stories of struggle, the good, the bad, and we believed in each other; we believed in what the other person was doing. And we wanted to help them to do that. And we saw all these other women that had so much potential and we knew it was the right thing to do. It’s kind of like your calling that you need to dial that change up.”
“You know, as far as parental benefits go, there is no reason I believe why it’s so difficult right now for parents. There should be universal care. It just doesn’t make sense that the burden is so heavily on women and so heavily on certain women in particular. It needs to be a right, not a privilege.”
“It’s been really gratifying to see all these women who before, didn’t have a spotlight, have their rightful spotlight and have other women see the work that they’re doing and go into fields because they see this is possible.”
“Entrepreneurship allows you to become more fully who you are all the time. And TeacherCare gave me a lot of knowledge and confidence in different ways than Women Tech Founders does. And it has helped me to, I think, evolve into a person who has another sense of perspective on how they can move the needle forward.”
“Every time I have an opportunity to get to know somebody, it’s making me a better person, it’s moving me forward.”