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Biz Buzz: Henrico entrepreneur selected for a year-long Tory Burch Foundation fellowship

Richmond.com
Biz Buzz: Henrico entrepreneur selected for a year-long Tory Burch Foundation fellowship
By Tammie Smith

Photo of Lauren Sweeney, CEO of Dotted Line — Lauren Sweeney

Lauren Sweeney, owner of Henrico County-based Dotted Line Collaborations marketing firm, is one of 10 women entrepreneurs from across the country selected for a yearlong Tory Burch Foundation fellowship.

The 10 winners will each receive a $10,000 education grant, three days of workshops at the headquarters of lifestyle brand Tory Burch in New York City, plus yearlong support and the chance to compete for a $100,000 investment grant.

The Tory Burch Foundation was created in 2009 by designer and businesswoman Tory Burch whose company Tory Burch LLC sells clothing, shoes, handbags, accessories and more.

Sweeney, 29, started Dotted Line Collaborations in 2013. She is a former employee of Capital One, where she worked on internal communications campaigns.

“I started Dotted Line because I saw that the advertising industry was changing. … Our business model is unique to the advertising industry, which is one of the reasons why I think we were selected,” Sweeney said.

“We have a staff of multidisciplinary marketing and advertising experts, and then we have a wide network of top agency talent across the U.S. that we tap into,” she said.

Sweeney travels to New York City this week for the first series of fellowship workshops.

Continue to Richmond.com.

From Entrepreneur to Enterprise

Tory Burch Fellows Presentation Collage

The Challenge

Dotted Line Collaborations spends every waking hour helping clients achieve their business goals through creative marketing. But when we made the finals of the esteemed Tory Burch Foundation Fellowship, we had to practice what we preach. With only 24 days to gather more votes than the other finalists, our Dotted Line team needed its own campaign to raise awareness about the Fellowship and encourage as many friends, fans, and strangers alike to vote. And do it in a way that would make the Tory Burch Foundation take note of our nimble and creative team.

The Solution

The solution started with our core strength: collaboration. We knew that we needed to leverage the support of all our connections. With an overarching campaign idea of supporting women in business, we came up with easy and engaging ways to remind people to vote for us while raising awareness around female entrepreneurship. The campaign didn’t focus solely on DLC — we highlighted inspiring female leaders from the Richmond region to create mutually beneficial buzz around the Fellowship and its mission of empowering female business owners.

By the end of the three weeks, we had done an astounding amount of marketing, including 2 local press features, an event with over 80 attendees at Quirk Hotel, a shout out from the nationally recognized 3% Conference, and over 185 shares on Facebook. Our message reached over 5,000 people, drove 1,400 new visitors to our website, and led to over 3,000 votes in the competition.

Best of all, we won! As a Tory Burch Fellow, our CEO, Lauren Sweeney, won a year-long fellowship full of resources and education, a $10,000 grant, and a chance to pitch for $100,000 investment from the Foundation. All proof that creativity and collaboration can pay off in remarkable ways.

Walking the line to success

Randolph-Macon College
Connecting the Dots: Lauren Cox Sweeney ’10

Solving branding challenges is the name of the game for Dotted Line Collaborations, a Richmond-based boutique marketing firm run by Randolph-Macon College alum Lauren Sweeney. The 2010 graduate is one of 30 finalists for the Tory Burch Foundation Fellows program, which gives female business owners guidance and skills for further success.

Since founding Dotted Line Collaborations in 2013, Sweeney and her mostly female staff have “focused on changing the world of advertising.” Dotted Line Collaborations offers project-based marketing solutions that include branding, advertising, public relations and social media, Sweeney said.

The business and economics major also minored in studio art and art history, which she incorporated into Dotted Line Collaborations. Sweeney said her time at R-MC helped her become the successful business owner she is today.

“[Attending R-MC] allows you to try a lot of different things and have exposure to different things,” Sweeney said. “That mixed with the tight alumni group really set me up for success.”

Tory Burch, whose fashion empire has landed her on the Forbes list of the World’s 100 Most Influential Women several times, created her foundation in 2009 to support women entrepreneurs.

“It’s awesome that [Burch] feels so passionate about helping fellow women entrepreneurs,” Sweeney said. “A lot of things the foundation talks about we feel is very important.”

Voting for the top 10 finalists is open online until April 14. These 10 women will be part of a yearlong fellowship and have access to mentorship from C-Suite female executives, and spend time under Tory Burch’s guidance in New York.

The top 10 finalists will also receive a $10,000 education grant to further their business, and have the opportunity to pitch their business before Burch and a panel for a $100,000 grant investment.

“We’re very excited about this because we feel like Tory Burch would not just be investing in me and our company, but also in the Richmond community and the businesses we work with,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney said she believes one reason she and Dotted Line Collaborations were selected is because they help other businesses in the community.

“We work hard to build our clients’ businesses and brands to make an impact in our community,” she continued.

Other finalists include business owners who also help their communities, whether by working with farmers to import saffron, or building a surveyor-engineer firm.

“They’re all doing really cool, impactful things so just to be considered among one of those women is amazing,” Sweeney said.