“Never in a million years did I think I’d run my own business.”

You might already know Roxanne Molnar from her LinkedIn presence. The vivacious and charismatic business development specialist can be seen celebrating her professional wins, attending events, volunteering at conferences and biking for charity.  Making valuable connections to help companies grow and scale is her specialty.

Building and nurturing relationships are skills she honed through her sales journey in the sustainability industry.

With a genuine chat while networking with our very own Margo Purcell, they started talking about Roxanne’s Journey.  When Margo shared that InceptionU was launching a Growth Marketing program, Roxanne jumped in with both feet.  She was looking to deepen her knowledge of marketing and the customer journey, so she enrolled in the course which is offered through InceptionU’s Tech Adjacent Program. 

She was ecstatic to start learning alongside veteran marketers Chantel Elliott and Vicki Laszlo.

She came to love the “nitty gritty” details of marketing - things like ideal customer profiles, buyer's journey, segmentation and creating email campaigns. 

She used these new skills to create her own business development company called Growth Venture. As part of her InceptionU journey, she worked on her company website and is proud of what she accomplished. 

“I worked alongside Julie Weir from New Idea Machine (NIM) on my website who is also a graduate from InceptionU. I would not have been able to do this without her and have not had a stronger working relationship with someone than Inhabe with Julie.”

“Never in a million years did I think I’d be running my own business!”

She considers herself an unlikely entrepreneur, but she kept getting requests for help which gave her the confidence to start her own fractional BD consulting service.

One of the unique services she provides is Executive Ambassador Support, which involves representing a company’s brand if the founders are too busy or don’t thrive in that environment.

“A lot of startups have limited resources, either in terms of money or capacity. So, I can be a gap filler for the organization while keeping business development top of mind in everything I do for them,” says Molnar. 

She’s worked with local companies, conferences and has extensive history working with C-suite clients in an executive and management capacity throughout her corporate days.  Roxanne believes there are more companies out there that have gaps that could benefit from the support of her services.

“InceptionU helped me slow down, go back and look at marketing through a different lens. I was able to dive deep into the processes involved in growth marketing and develop a good recipe for success. I say I’m a baker, and I like to follow a recipe, but I also like to add my own sprinkles!”

Becoming an entrepreneur hasn’t been easy and it still scares her, but Molnar says her LinkedIn community, friends and supporters have been extremely supportive and encouraging. 

“I take things day by day. I have a large network and sometimes I think they have more faith in me than I do in myself.”

Her business launched in April and she loves having the freedom to hand-pick the clients and projects that align with her values and goals. She has a particular interest in working with tech companies and sustainability.

Her advice to future learners on networking:

• “Rip the band-aid off, get out there and get networking. Starting is the hardest part, but people will come to you, so be receptive and be a sponge.  

• Listen for ways you can help or refer opportunities to others, don’t always look for what’s in it for you.  The power of referral can be your biggest tool.

• Don’t wear yourself out - don’t feel you have to attend every event in Calgary. Pick the ones that will be most beneficial for you.

• If you can’t afford a conference - volunteer! It’s a great way to learn and meet new people.”