By Brook Sutton
Huge congratulations to Durango-based founder and CEO, Julia Taylor, of GeekPack! Taylor has been named a 2024 fellow with the Cartier Women’s Initiative.
Yep, that Cartier: as in fine jewelry and watches. You may wonder how a tech startup founder in Rural Colorado connects with a French legacy brand known for opulence?
It’s about kindred spirits. While it’s recognized for luxury, Cartier was founded to celebrate audacity and creative energy. Its spirit, says the brand, is “…synonymous with open-mindedness and curiosity…freedom, sharing and excellence.” One expression of these values is the Cartier Women’s Initiative, whose mission is to provide women impact entrepreneurs with financial, social and human capital support to grow their businesses.
Enter Julia Taylor.
Taylor is the definition of an impact entrepreneur working for a better future for women. Through GeekPack, she and her team are on a mission to profoundly improve career opportunities for women by improving accessibility to tech and digital marketing training.
“This is a huge honor,” said Taylor. “This fellowship is an external validation for what I’ve built with my team. It’s a recognition that we’re doing things well, and that we’ve made good enough decisions along the way to have other people take notice. It’s also a confidence boost that I’m going in the right direction.”
Did you know?
Julia Taylor is a Founder Coopetition alumni, and was one of three top finishers in our September cohort. You can hear more about her story on the Startup Colorado Podcast.
A Community of Exceptional Entrepreneurs and World-Class Mentorship
The Cartier Women’s Initiative Fellowship is an honor and an opportunity.
As a 2024 fellow, Taylor will join a global community of impact-oriented women leaders with big missions. Together, they have access to a renowned network of mentors–leaders, experts, and investors–via monthly training calls and one-on–one strategic coaching. In May, they will all travel together to China for an intensive week-long training session.
Taylor is also in the running for a cash award up to $100,000. A first, second, and third-place winner is selected among fellows from each global region. They are chosen by the Fellowship jury members, who also serve as mentors. These awards will be announced in late May.
The Rural Colorado Startup Ecosystem Connected to Global Opportunity
This story is a perfect example of how the Colorado startup ecosystem can be a powerful network for entrepreneurs. After all, the reason Startup Colorado exists is to promote and share access to opportunities for rural entrepreneurs.
Before a founder can apply for an opportunity, they need to know what opportunities exist. When time is always at a premium, few founders can prioritize searching for undiscovered funding sources, grants, and fellowships.
Taylor credits the Southwest Colorado Accelerator Program for Entrepreneurs (SCAPE), also based in Durango, with a personal call informing her about the Cartier Fellowship opportunity. She only had a few weeks to complete and submit her application. In a brilliant nod to efficiency, she was able to repurpose some successful grant writing material in her application.
What sealed her success, however, was her approach to doing business.
The Cartier jury members were forthcoming about the two primary reasons Taylor was selected: the overall potential impact of the GeekPack mission, and her proven organic growth strategy.
For other women entrepreneurs interested in applying, Taylor has helpful advice. “Have a mission or an impact that’s bigger than you. They’re looking for female impact entrepreneurs that are genuinely striving to make the world a better place. It’s cliché, but it’s true. And if you’re going to truly make an impact, you need to show a successful business track record, with an ability to scale and to continue growing in a sustainable way.”
Taylor was especially lauded for two types of growth. First, she has grown GeekPack with fiscal discipline and very limited outside investment. Second, she and her team have fostered an active and committed online community.
The Importance of Community and Paying it Forward
Many Cartier Women’s Initiative Fellows choose to return to the organization as mentors after completing their fellowship. While Taylor is just beginning the process and not considering that option yet, she is an outspoken champion for this type of community building. In fact, it was a primary motivation for starting GeekPack.
“When I started to learn tech skills, I was made fun of for asking questions. It was so discouraging that I didn’t want to continue, but I did,” she explained. “What was missing for me was support, encouragement, and somewhere where I could ask those questions without risking embarrassment. GeekPack exists because I didn’t want other people to feel that way. I wanted women to have a community where they could ask questions and where there are no mean people allowed.”
As she’s managing all the pressures of growing her business, Taylor is already considering different ways to pay her good fortune forward. Whether that’s by volunteering with a national organization, like The National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) or continuing to mentor fellow military spouses via the ACP Mentoring Program, Taylor will continue to create space for all women and under-represented individuals to thrive.
Growing Business by Expanding Community
In working with the Cartier mentors, Taylor is especially focused on scalable and sustainable growth that’s resilient through economic turns. After all, when your mission is to empower women with marketable tech skills, the demand exists in bull and bear markets.
“Our vision is to reach one million women between now and 2030, so we’re looking at opportunities where we can do that at scale,” said Taylor. “We’re partnering with nonprofits, economic development organizations, workforce development organizations, and for-profit businesses that share similar missions of female empowerment and DEI initiatives. We will be the training partner that provides employees with the critical tech skills to become more productive and more valued.”
Congratulations, Julia and the entire GeekPack team. This honor is a testament to your vision and hard work. We have no doubt you and your community will continue to thrive.
