A business built around helping women grow together

Hello Walnut Creek!

This week’s Thursday Small Business Highlight introduces us to Herrolo, a Bay Area community platform built to bring more visibility, connection, and opportunity to women entrepreneurs. What started from one woman’s search for deeper community after motherhood and launching her own business has grown into a thriving network supporting hundreds of women through markets, workshops, networking events, mentorship, and genuine relationship-building.

Rooted right here in the East Bay, Herrolo is creating the kind of spaces where ambitious women can collaborate, support one another, and feel less alone while building something meaningful. In a world that can often feel competitive or transactional, Herrolo is focused on creating something different: real connection, real support, and a true sense of community.

Herrolo (a combination of “Her” + “Rolodex”) is a virtual and in-person community platform dedicated to bringing more visibility, resources, opportunity, and connection to our fellow women entrepreneurs. Through this platform, we’ve supported hundreds of women through vendor markets, speaking engagement placements, media features, weekly mastermind calls, virtual workshops, and various in-person networking events. We currently have 130+ incredible Members across the U.S., primarily here in the Bay Area where we got started.

The platform grew out of a deeply personal need and realization. I had spent years dabbling in the entrepreneurial world and was lucky enough to be supported by a large connected community of other women doing incredible work. Fast forward to 2018, I found myself a first-time mom and started the search I know my fellow mothers know all too well of regaining my own sense of purpose and community outside of motherhood. In 2021, I launched my product line, BOOKofBIJOUX, and immediately craved that sense of community once more. So shortly after, in May of 2022, I hosted my first market featuring 20 woman-owned businesses and a few women speakers. I brought my daughters along with me as well which was truly the cherry on top. Not only did I get to witness the exposure they received of women pursuing their dreams and doing life maybe a little less traditionally, I also realized that I had not been the only one craving community. From that moment, EM/POWEREDbyWMN — the parent company behind Herrolo — was off and running.

The Bay Area has always been home, and the East Bay in particular has a tight-knit, community-forward energy that aligns with everything Herrolo is about. Walnut Creek sits at this sweet spot and continues to be a hub of endless opportunity that we can’t help but come back to. It's vibrant, it's growing, and it's full of women-owned businesses that deserve more visibility, resources, and rooms that cultivate genuine connection among them. We wanted to be where our people are, and many of our people are here.

I never started this with the intention of it becoming a business. I had a personal need. After having just launched my product line, BOOKofBIJOUX, I was immediately craving community, deeper connection, and a space where women in business could actually show up for each other — and not in the “we’re just here to sell nonstop” kind of way. I wanted to build real relationships with other women that shared my sense of ambition, creativity, and leadership. I wanted to be surrounded by women I could bounce ideas off of, have the real conversations about the ebbs and flows of business, and also champion each other in both the big and small moments.

And after our very first event in 2022, it was crystal clear that same need was felt in the women around me. So, with the input, support, and excitement of those very women, I built the thing we were all quietly looking for. The fact that it grew into what Herrolo is today was never the original plan. It was just a real problem that deserved a real solution.

One of our biggest values within this Community is maintaining financial accessibility without compromising value. We genuinely believe that the right community shouldn't be out of reach because of price. Everyone in every stage of business deserves to have a circle of genuine cheerleaders, collaborators, and mentors, as well as access to the opportunities they’re truly hoping for. The challenge comes in holding that line of accessibility. Because that’s a commitment we plan to continue honoring, we have to get really creative when it comes to how revenue comes in. It's a big part of why we lean so heavily into partnerships and strategic collaborations. Those relationships aren't just nice to have — they're how we keep the doors open for women at every stage of business.

Hearing from members who say they've finally found their people. We get messages from women who joined feeling alone in their entrepreneurial journey and, within months — sometimes days — have collaborators, cheerleaders, and genuine friendships they didn't have before. We’ve had women share that they’ve been once jaded from other women’s spaces or have simply struggled to create real relationships with other women in the past because there was always a layer of competition or judgement that clouded the energy and any progress towards real connection and support. None of us were ever meant to do it alone. It’s a common phrase in motherhood that “it takes a village”. We feel the same way about business. And when women step in and immediately feel like they belong — like this is exactly the room they’ve been waiting for — that's the whole point.

We have our annual Summit coming up — "A Woman's World 2026" — on September 12th in Berkeley at a beautiful WOC-owned venue called CIEL Creative Space. This Summit is a full-day experience highly curated for the biggest impact on the women that walk through our doors and the businesses they’re actively building. Our theme for the year is “level up” — your leadership, your personal brand, your marketing and sales. We’ll have an incredible lineup of industry expert speakers, workshops, activations, and even additional experiences the day before and after Summit because we know the magic isn’t just in the knowledge you consume but also the relationships you’re able to build with the other attendees. Tickets are live now, and members get up to 40% off. If you’ve been craving more spaces designed with the ambitious, bold, relationship- and impact-driven women in mind, this is the room you need to be in. You can learn more about Summit here and get started as a Member here.

Jump into one of our in-person events — that's where the magic really happens and the connections form fast. Whether it's a networking night, a hands-on workshop, or the Summit, the energy in the room is unlike anything you can get scrolling online. And if you're a woman-owned business, get listed on the Rolodex. It's exposure, it's community, and it puts your brand in front of people who are actively looking to support businesses like yours. Come as you are and be ready to feel truly supported. We're the girls who'll say your name in a room full of opportunity and we can’t wait to build with you.

Follow them on IG: @joinherrolo

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