Carina Glover brings Women Together through Tech and Collaboration
Carina Glover, Founder of HerHeadquarters - Photo: Lasha Goodwin
Carina Glover brings women entrepreneurs together through the app, HerHeadquarters, the latest successful business venture by this Omaha native with multi-media mogul aspirations.
by Leo Adam Biga
Carina Glover of Omaha always saw herself slaying red carpet openings and sealing lucrative business deals. She’s well on her way to realizing the high life as the founder of HerHeadquarters, the first brand partnership platform exclusive to women entrepreneurs within the fashion, beauty, entertainment, events, and PR industries.
The Omaha native leveraged her networking knack, entrepreneurial bent, and industry knowledge to launch HerHeadquarters a year ago. The Omaha Marian graduate says she’s been an “ambitious goal-setter and strategic thinker” since childhood when her dreams of intersecting with celebrities and power-brokers began.
Academic success earned her a full-ride scholarship to the University of Nebraska at Omaha. As a UNO senior she pivoted from the frustration of not being able to land an internship to the elation of starting her own business, Chiffon Events. Taking that precocious leap of faith in herself marked a key moment for Glover. Tired of waiting on others to “validate” her capabilities, she forged her own entrepreneurial path at 23.
Photo: Lasha Goodwin
Though the business got off to a rough start when no one showed at her launch party, she persevered by owning her mistakes and re-strategizing, with help from a business coach. Glover soon made Chiffon a success in the very tastemaker, trendsetter circles she targeted. In a year she went from zero paid bookings to elite clients, including the Grammys in Los Angeles and NFL Honors Awards in San Francisco, in 2016.
The business coach who worked with her is among several women allies Glover’s turned to for help along the way.
Glover reached a crossroads in 2017 when, despite Chiffon thriving, she felt dissatisfied.
“At this point, I’m booking great clients and events on the west coast,” she said, “but I couldn’t wait to get back home. Something shifted and I didn’t enjoy it anymore even though I was good at it. It was just this recurring, deep gut feeling of you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing.”
The disconnect came from a growing sense she was on the outside looking in at a powerful driving force for women entrepreneurs – collaboration.
“When I was traveling I met all these women and it didn’t matter what industry they were in or how many years they’d been in business, I kept hearing ‘create partnerships.’ Everyone was trying to use partnerships to grow their business. It was a new concept to me.”
She also learned that whether women were running startup companies like herself or leading well-established firms, the process of trying to find a good business partnership is a roll of the dice. Despite putting time and energy into pursuing a winning collaboration, it simply may not materialize or it may prove an ill fit.
“I kept hearing this frustration to secure great partnerships and collaborations. I asked why if it was so frustrating they kept coveting these relationships. They said if you partner with the right company in the right collaboration it can boost your brand awareness, increase your customer base and revenue. Brand partnerships are like gold, but you have to find the right people to partner with.”
Feeling ever more unfulfilled with Chiffon, she found inspiration in what women told her they needed. “It always came back to women entrepreneurs. Whenever I talked to them there was this rush of adrenaline and excitement in me.”
Recognizing an opportunity, she set upon the bold new course of HerHeadquarters, whose tagline is: “Having an ally has never been so boss.”
“The idea came to me so clearly. Every good product out there came from someone who realized there was a problem and decided to create the solution. I thought what if I could find a way to make brand partnerships easier, more accessible to women entrepreneurs. Companies like Nike, Visa and American Airlines all use brand partnerships as part of their growth strategy. They are gold, but it’s hard to find gold. When the idea came to me I knew immediately this was what I was supposed to be doing.”
Just as she began cultivating the concept she suffered a setback that might have derailed a less determined soul. But her resilience won the day.
“I was in a head-on car accident a few days before Thanksgiving in 2017.”
“Once you learn how to use defeat, disappointment and misfortune to your advantage, you become very powerful.”
A truck collided with her car – totaling it. She suffered cuts and bruises but was hospitalized two days due to concerns of possible internal bleeding...
“In the hospital, I remember thinking if I die today I will not have left behind anything bigger than me. I hadn’t had the opportunity to fully tap into my potential or to leave the kind of impact I want to leave. If I was dedicated and committed before, that put me into overdrive. I have not stopped working since.”
“Once you learn how to use defeat, disappointment and misfortune to your advantage, you become very powerful.”
Glover acknowledges her enthusiasm sometimes outpaces her preparation.
“I was trying to figure out what the platforms looked like, who I was going to work with. It was just me at the time. I was doing all the right things, but I was doing them out of order, so I wasn’t seeing any progress.”
In 2018 a referral led her to another woman ally, Startup Collaborative co-founder Erica Wassinger at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, who taught her the importance of due diligence.
“Erica and her fellow Startup Collaborative co-founder Nathan Preheim said the only thing worse than a failed product is a company that fails after you’ve invested time and money you cannot get back. They said the first thing I needed to do is validate the need for my product. It’s better to find out now nobody wants it than three years from now. They told me to do the work to understand the needs of my target demographic."
“That’s one of the greatest pieces of advice I’ve ever been given. I spent months doing surveys, interviews and focus groups with women across the country to understand their journey of entrepreneurship and experience with brand partnerships. I asked if I created a platform to make it easier to connect with potential collaborators what it would need to have to be valuable to them,” said Glover.
Her data made the case and informed the design.
“Eighty-five percent of women said they had a hard time securing strategic brand partnerships and desired an easier way to secure them. I was able to get insights I didn’t have before. There are opportunities I have gotten and there are people who have wanted to work with me because they appreciated I took the time to do research.”
Shonna Dorsey, the co-founder of Interface Web School and a business systems consultant at Mutual of Omaha, is another Glover ally.
“When I was going through the process of trying to raise some money Shonna did a couple practice pitch sessions with me, so she’s definitely taken the time to guide me, and that’s something I greatly appreciate,” Glover said.
“I learned over time vulnerability is actually a strength,” Glover said, “but you have to have the discernment to know who you can be vulnerable with, otherwise it becomes a weakness. Once I was able to discern that and give myself permission to be human and say I’m really struggling with this, I need help, that’s when I felt things became easier. That self-disclosure made people reflect and say, I want to help you because I relate to that, I remember I felt that way, too.”
Glover allied herself with other women while creating Chiffon and HerHeadquarters and revealed to her the power of collaboration.
Glover, who doesn’t know coding, searched for a local software developer expert to develop her app. Not surprisingly, she found the right fit in Bianca Zongrone Jefferson who led the design and usability testing team. A development company in Ukraine actually built the app.
The entrepreneur’s passion and grit impressed Jefferson.
“Carina is laser-focused on making her business a success and using her voice and experience to help those around her. I don't know where she gets the energy to work as hard as she does and I have never met anyone with as much drive and vision. I'm grateful I got to work with her,” Jefferson said..
The app allows users to discreetly match preferences and vet histories for finding the right value-add partner for their businesses.
In the first half of 2019, Glover received a $10,000 DoSpace Women Innovators Fellowship for her then in-progress endeavor and HerHeadquarters attracted its first seed money - $50,000 from the nonprofit angel investor program Invest Nebraska and the Startup Collaborative.
So much happened so fast, she said, “I wasn’t fully appreciating or celebrating these milestones on the journey, and I regret that.”
HerHeadquarters officially launched in June 2019 in six cities: Omaha, Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Miami and San Francisco. It’s grown to 425 users across 21 U.S. cities.
Glover’s ability to see business opportunity and execute on it has won her supporters and admirers.
Photo: Lasha Goodwin
“As a founder, Carina is focused, consistent and has great vision,” said Erica Wassinger. “She's what Gallup would consider a top-quartile builder, meaning she's naturally built to be a successful founder. And, that natural ability clearly comes out in her leadership on HerHeadquarters – an exciting business that has doubled in size since the onset of the pandemic in the U.S. It is the capital for really savvy, sophisticated up-and-comers in the fashion, beauty, marketing and events industries. It is also a great place for women to collaborate and build impressive projects and client rosters.
“Easy investment to make in a trendy market and with an incredible founder. I hope this is one of many businesses Carina lets us invest in,” said Wassinger.
HerHeadquarters is actually a subsidiary of a parent company Glover owns, Ace Empire Media, that produces products and experiences for women entrepreneurs. “Ace” is Glover’s pet name for ‘passionate, confident’ women like herself who know what they want and fearlessly go for it. Her 2016 Aces Tour featured select beauty, fashion, entertainment clients.
She originally planned launching a magazine as Ace Empire’s lead line, but the app made more strategic sense. This would-be multi-media mogul still expects to produce streaming shows, series, podcasts and a print-web magazine geared to women entrepreneurs.
“When she was telling me her long-term vision for HerHeadquarters, she mentioned she not only wanted to be successful but to create an empire that made her future grandkids set for life and proud of her,” Jefferson said.
ShantaQuilette Carter, (@shantaquilette) founder of @girlbnatural, the winner of the $750 business grant from HerHeadquarters. Photo: @HerHeadquarters Instagram
Glover’s June 30-July 2, 2020 Power Players Conference via Zoom, marked the one-year anniversary of HerHeadquarters, and featured top female founders and investors from across the nation. A $750 business grant was awarded to a woman entrepreneur.
Glover’s startup success stories with Chiffon and HerHeadquarters have generated coverage from Silicon Prairie News, xoNecole, GirlTalkHQ, EmpireLifeMag.com and Cheddar. Women want to be mentored by her.
The HerHeadquarters team may grow in 2021.
“Right now we’re outsourcing [staff]. Ideally, our next round of seed funding will raise enough money to bring on a couple executive team members and have our own in-house development team.”
Glover doesn’t pretend she has it all figured out. She relies on a strong support system, including faith in a higher power, to get by.
“Some days are frustrating, I don’t know what to do, I’m overwhelmed. But then I go back to the drawing board and recommit myself to making this company successful. I may take a break, but no excuses, get it done.”
Glover feels a bit alone in the tech field.
“I wish the tech industry was more diverse, with not just more women and Black women, but more Hispanic women in tech,” she said. “I wish it was more diverse in general, so that we all have a chance to create products that ultimately impact the world in a positive way.”
“Black entrepreneurs are key to creating products that positively impact the lives of Black people. Until we create the solution everyone will live in the problem. Our experiences, perspectives and culture are unlike those who currently dominate the tech world. They can't develop products that solve problems they've never experienced because they can't relate. Black women in tech are not a luxury, we're a necessity,” said Glover.
“Black women in tech are not a luxury, we’re a necessity.”
Glover also wishes recognition of business success wasn’t race or gender qualified.
“Sometimes 'compliments' from non-people of color can come off as condescending. It’s almost as if they didn't expect to be 'so impressed' by the accomplishments and articulateness of a woman of color. It feels like a back-handed compliment. That leaves feelings of belittlement.
“I’m tired of reading articles about the first Black person to do this or the first Black person to fill this role. It’s 2020, there should be no more firsts.
We’ve been around a long time now. It can be frustrating. I think sometimes we are glamorized not for what we have done and worked hard to create, but more so for, look at this Black girl. I don’t want that to always be my story.”
Glover’s already looking ahead to legacy and one day selling her company “to create generational wealth for those ahead of me.” “It’s something I’m very passionate about,” she said. “Successful tech companies can be very lucrative because there’s the possibility of acquisition, which creates so many more opportunities.”
She’s also mindful of one day giving back.
“Selling my company down the line opens another door that allows me to be of greater influence and to be a greater leader to the people I serve, I want to become an investor in companies owned by minorities. I want to create more new products and experiences that meet a need or fill a gap.”
With maturity, Glover has balanced her priorities.
“For those of us who are so driven and have such high goals it’s important to expand our definition of success. Part of success might be how well my company does. But it’s not the only thing that defines me. I had to realize that, yes, I am the founder of a company, but I’m also a wife, a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a friend. Taking care of myself is also success. Treating others well is success. The things I learn and grow from on the journey is success.”
She advises women looking to activate their own entrepreneurial dreams to “believe in yourself.”
Visit herheadquarters.app and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.