Stoke Team
2024 - A Year in Review
2024 - A Year in Review

women founders

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AccelerateHER: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs for Five Years

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AccelerateHER: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs for Five Years

According to Tracy Kitts, former COO of the National Business Incubation Association - After five years, businesses that were nurtured in a business incubator have a survival rate of 87%. Over the past five years, we have supported 28 local women-owned businesses along their entrepreneurial journey and we’re looking forward to adding more women founders to our growing list of AccelerateHER alumni. As we prepare for the next cohort, here are some reasons you should consider applying if you’re a woman entrepreneur. 

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A Women's History of Stoke

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A Women's History of Stoke

In the heart of Denton, Texas, Stoke stands not only as a coworking space but as a beacon of empowerment and support for entrepreneurs. As a woman-owned and operated business, uplifting women entrepreneurs has been particularly important to our mission. Let’s take a look at the history of Denton’s favorite coworking space with one key theme: women supporting women.

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AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Taushey Sias, Taushey's Vocal Lab

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AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Taushey Sias, Taushey's Vocal Lab

Taushey Sias is the CEO and Founder of Taushey’s Vocal Lab, a premier vocal coaching resource offering lessons to both aspiring and seasoned singers across diverse musical genres. Taushey brings a wealth of expertise to her one-on-one sessions, where she collaboratively explores each student's strengths and growth areas. Taushey's approach fosters an open and healing platform for students to express themselves confidently. Her mission is to instill self-belief, guiding individuals to trust their innate talents and hard work on the path to personal success. Keep reading to learn more about Taushey and her business in her cohort story.

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AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Katherine Waddell, Faul Magic

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AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Katherine Waddell, Faul Magic

Katherine Waddell is the owner of and creative force behind Faul Magic. Faul Magic is a Denton-based brand that got its start crafting inclusive art with a cheerful aesthetic, but recently Katherine has pivoted their business to include Digital Marketing and Accessibility Consulting. A graduate of Dallas College, Kat launched Faul Magic in June 2022 to reshape narratives around invisible disabilities and neurodivergence. Originally envisioning a nerdy business wear line, the brand evolved to express Kat's experiences as a nerdy, queer, and neurodivergent individual through captivating art. Faul Magic challenges societal notions of laziness, embracing authenticity and creativity.

AccelerateHER Through The Years

AccelerateHER Through The Years

Stoke works to support and empower entrepreneurs, and one of the ways we are able to accomplish that goal is partnering with the Center for Women Entrepreneurs (CWE) at Texas Woman’s University. We offer the AccelerateHER incubator program in partnership with CWE. Administrators Heather Gregory, executive director of Stoke, and Tracy Irby, director of the Center for Women Entrepreneurs, selects a cohort of women business owners through an application and interview process and then equips them with education, tools, and resources to grow their businesses.

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AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Cindy Thurk, CM Promotions

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AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Cindy Thurk, CM Promotions

Cindy Thurk is the founder and CEO of CM Promotions. She is a vibrant and supportive member of the third AccelerateHER incubator program, offered in partnership between Stoke and the Center for Women Entrepreneurs at Texas Woman’s University. The energy and expertise that she brings to the table is unmatched. Cindy spent some time answering questions about her work, process, and inspiration for our AccelerateHER Cohort Stories series. Read on!

AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Radha Patel

AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Radha Patel

Radha Patel is based out of Dallas, TX and has been married for 12 years with 2 kids and a dog. She founded a personalized matchmaking company for South Asian singles in the US solely on the idea that she wanted to keep parents out of the process but quickly realized they are often the driving force behind timing & choice.

AccelerateHER 2021 Cohort Stories: Carmen Menza

AccelerateHER 2021 Cohort Stories: Carmen Menza

Carmen Menza is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice spans video, light based work, music and immersive public art installations. She is especially interested in works that create a visual and musical dialogue to encourage artistic collaboration between herself and the community.

AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Lillia Whittington

AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Lillia Whittington

Lillia Whittington is the owner and head content creator of The D. Diaries, a fashion and lifestyle blog that highlights what makes Denton unique! Motivated to give Denton a voice and put it on the map for North Texas and beyond, Lillia’s written about and promoted local events, lifestyle activities and shops plus compiled useful tools like the Denton Guide and holiday shopping tips for locals and visitors alike. Coming from someone who grew up in Denton and knows the town like the back of her hand, The D. Diaries is filled with love for her hometown; anything born from the heart has to be good, and what Lillia creates is indeed delightful.

AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Michelle Schodowski

AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Michelle Schodowski

Like many entrepreneurs, Michelle Schodowski sought to solve a problem with her business, one that was near to her passion and profession: connecting emerging professional musicians with high level teachers, no matter their location. The idea for Radda came from her experience studying to become a professional pianist while in the rural Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee but still being able to learn from experts in New York online.

Read on to learn more about her story.

AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Juli James

AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Juli James

When Juli James discusses design, content, and tools for online learning, you know that she knows exactly what she’s talking about. There’s confidence in and expertise behind every tip and tool that she recommends.

Combining her passion and self-proclaimed, proud geek side, Juli tackles everything she does sincerely and brilliantly. After a conversation with her, whether it’s about education or balancing life/work/self/sanity, you walk away a better person. Read on for her interview with Stoke as an AccelerateHER Fall 2020 participant!

Stoke Member Spotlight: Randi Skinner

Stoke Member Spotlight: Randi Skinner

Randi Skinner has 15+ years of experience as a marketing and business development professional and works to help small businesses (who might have limited marketing budgets) with their marketing goals! Randi has mentored during Stoke’s Coffee + Convo sessions and has a way of making you think differently about any projects or problems you might have. Her positive energy is contagious, and we’re so thankful to know her!

AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Leslie Brenner

AccelerateHER Cohort Stories: Leslie Brenner

Leslie Brenner founded Cooks Without Borders, a cooking website featuring spectacular recipes steeped in culture. For each recipe and story, Leslie seasons her writing and content with care and delight in sharing recipe knowledge and background to accompany them, not to mention the incredible photographs that tell the visual side of the story.

Her path into writing about food and wine began with a restaurant review for New York magazine, and it was a winding road into what she does today for Leslie Brenner Concepts and Cooks Without Borders. Read on to learn about what it’s like to walk (and run) in Leslie’s shoes.

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