how i did it
Creating Connections
Spokane-based entrepreneur builds a space to “ connect your business to your tribe .”
Brian Mittge
Rena McGill relocated to Spokane from the Seattle grind a decade ago . Now she and her son are creating a way for small businesses and groups to easily create relationships with customers , without depending on the variabilities of the big social media sites .
Background
name :
Rena McGill
originally from :
Spokane
education :
Washington State University and Arizona State University
next step :
After putting herself through college and working in telecom in Phoenix , she moved to Seattle and took a job with Duracell , where she met her nowhusband of 37 years .
Rena McGill and her son , Taylor , lead Corlinc .
Rena McGill ’ s great inspiration came in a Zumba class .
“ You never know when your lightbulb moment is going to come from ,” McGill said . “ The reality is every great business starts with a great passion of someone facing a problem .”
Her beloved Zumba instructor had successfully expanded his clientele to 125 enthusiasts , but he was having trouble finding a way to foster relationships with them and monetize those relationships for other programs he was involved with in the community .
McGill confidently told him there had to be software that could help . She looked and found that not only was there no digital solution yet available , but this was a problem that went beyond the fitness industry to hit independent entrepreneurs everywhere .
Seeing a problem and an opportunity , she decided to create a solution to help “ connect businesses with their tribes .”
She calls it Corlinc — a community-building tool that includes social networking , e-commerce , scheduling , message boards , and more tools to help businesses create deep connections with supporters and customers . the big move :
Ten years ago , unhappy with the impacts of Seattle ’ s growth and traffic , they moved back to her hometown of Spokane , the vanguard of a cross-state exodus that has grown significantly , especially since the pandemic began .
hobbies :
Cooking and traveling
family :
Husband Ken and son Taylor
Corlinc : www . corlinc . com
Corlinc on Facebook : www . facebook . com / MyCorlinc
Corlinc University : www . facebook . com / groups / CorlincUMasterUChallenge
fall / winter 2020 39