In 2004 Knight Foundation helped form the Fund for Our Economic Future, a collaborative to turn around the hard-hit economy of northeast Ohio. Knight and the Fund recently released a report detailing lessons from the Fund’s first seven years, “Catalyzing Regional Economic Transformation.” As part of its work, the Fund has invested in JumpStart, a nonprofit entrepreneurial accelerator. Below, Laura Bennett, CEO and co-founder of Embrace Pet Insurance, writes about the essential support her company has received from JumpStart. Photo credit: JumpStart.

Embrace Pet Insurance sells and supports pet health insurance products for cats and dogs across the United States. Currently, less than 1 percent of all cats and dogs in the United States are insured. In the United Kingdom where I grew up, more than 25 percent of cats and dogs are insured. There’s a huge difference, but people here are still very attached to their pets.

So, seeing an opportunity, my business partner, Alex Krooglik, and I started the company 10 years ago. Back then, there wasn’t a real entrepreneurial community in northeast Ohio. There weren’t many places to turn for assistance or early-stage capital. From seed stage funds to community support groups, there are so many more resources today than when we started.

Without JumpStart, Embrace would not exist. They not only helped us with money, but they helped us get a key partnership with Lloyd’s of London and helped us hire the right people. After that, they even helped us raise venture capital funding. 

Related Links 

“Catalyzing Regional Economic Transformation: Lessons From Funder Collaboration in Northeast Ohio“

“Lessons in collaboration reach beyond the boundaries of NE Ohio ” on Knight Blog by Carol Coletta and Jon Sotsky

“Business mentors guide growing startup” by Shawn Mastrian on KnightBlog

“Collaborative values persistence in revitalizing regional economies” by Brad Whitehead on KnightBlog

“Business, philanthropy unite around common economic goals in NE Ohio” by Daniel E. Klimas on KnightBlog

“NE Ohio fosters environment for entrepreneurship” by Tony Giordano on KnightBlog

“The power of convening and coordinating” by Wayne Watkins on KnightBlog

“Relationships enable NE Ohio startup to scale its business” by Jay Schabel on KnightBlog

Earlier this year, an investor bought a controlling interest in our company. Now we’re in a growth phase, rolling out new lines and approaching the 50-employee mark.

I think northeast Ohio is a great place to start—and to grow—a business. We have access to the best minds here. There are so many educated people who are hungry for something exciting to do and who will take a risk on a smaller company because of the environment. Not only is it an airline hub, it’s not too expensive, and we have great people here who are all looking for something interesting and exciting to do.

It’s really important for us to find the right people to work at Embrace. We call our employees “Embracers.” They really have to embody our core values, because they’re talking to pet parents all the time about this emotional bond they have with their pets, and they can’t fake it. They have to be true and sincere. Everything we do within the company all leads toward that experience that our pet parents have.

We hire smart people, curious people, positive people, and we train them on the rest. You have to “drink the Kool-Aid” here at Embrace, because we all work together so tightly. We want people who believe in what we’re doing, who care about the relationship between pets and people, and who can work as a team to make our mission happen.

I think the biggest challenge as an entrepreneur are the ups and downs, and the downs and the downs, and then maybe an up every now and then. That’s the hardest part of being an entrepreneur, to keep yourself going. JumpStart’s work has helped changed the dynamic for us. There’s a buzz, and a vibe, that encourages entrepreneurship and that helps sustain us when it gets difficult. I’ve even started the Burning River Coffee Club, a peer mentoring group for women entrepreneurs.

Much of the time you hear, “No. You can’t do that. Go away. That’s a bad idea,” and things keep happening that don’t work the way you had hoped. So you have to be encouraged by the smallest things and just keep going. This entrepreneurial climate helps. Just shrug it all off. Just never stop. Never.