Ms. Vannette Tolbert is a Marketing & Branding Strategist who works with businesses and entrepreneurs to grow their personal and professional brands. She is the founder and CEO of The Aura Agency. After working in the marketing and advertising industries for over a decade, Vannette knows that creating and executing a remarkable brand launch, marketing campaign or experiential event is not following the latest trend or using as many buzzwords as you can in a sentence. It’s about deeply understanding the people behind the brand and connecting with the people that brand wants to reach. We, from Emergi, sat down with her to hear about her successes and challenges. In this interview, Ms. Tolbert discusses her business, what drives her, and her passion for supporting women. These are the highlights of the interview with the brains and force behind The Aura Agency.

Thank you for having time to sit down with us. Can you please introduce yourself to our audience?

Hello, I am Vannette Tolbert. I am Liberian and grew up in the United States. In 2016, I decided to move back. It was the perfect time for me because I didn’t have any major commitments and I knew that at that point in my life, it was the only chance I was going to have to just drop everything, come here and see what I could do. So, I have been living in Liberia for four years now and I am a Marketing and Branding Strategist. I do a lot of creative services: Graphic Designs, Event Planning, and Communications as well. I’ve worked with a lot of entrepreneurs, and a lot of companies and NGOs in Liberia over the years.

‍

What are your goals?

I want to use my skills and talents in the creative arts in Marketing and Branding in order to empower businesses and help the economy here to thrive and take us out of a spirit of always being two steps behind, rather than being ahead.

I really want to see Liberia become a force to be reckoned with and I think it can very well happen. I think there are a lot of brilliant minds here; they just need to connect with each other and work together. I want to make a positive impact through the private sector and empower businesses to grow and empower others. So let’s create some jobs, and let’s have fun doing it!

You’re a strong female entrepreneur. What is your perspective on female entrepreneurship?

Well, as a female entrepreneur, I’ve been influenced by many other female entrepreneurs. I’ve seen so many sides. I’ve seen every different way it could go and I’ve still chosen to be an entrepreneur, so I obviously must love it. I feel strongly about women in entrepreneurship because I believe that women possess a certain characteristic that their male counterparts don’t necessarily possess at the same level, in the same way. Women have a different set of motivations that comes from within. From the beginning of time women have tended to be caretakers. So, women tend to be good at establishing relationships, networking, cultivating those relationships over a long period of time, both in business and outside of business. People would argue that men have access to opportunities that women don’t and that is true, that has been true forever. But there are a lot of rooms that a woman can get into much more easily than a man would, through her ability to connect with people on a more personal level. Women are very influential. When one woman starts a business, she will pull other women up, whether she wants to and does it intentionally, or whether other women see her and think: “Wow! Look what she has done for herself and her family. I want to try it too.”

Entrepreneurship is not easy; you will get knocked down, you will have hard times, you will be all the way up and then lose everything and then you have to start from scratch, but women are strong and resilient because we always had to be; and that tenacity is a quality that is very necessary in this crazy world of entrepreneurship and I think that’s what makes women such a valuable asset.

As a female entrepreneur, do you experience difficulties specific to women?

Yes I do, and it’s not just me being a woman. I think it’s also my age, or the appearance of my age. When I walk into a meeting, or when I walk into a room, there’s this question of “What does this young girl know?” I don’t ever think I’m the smartest person in the room; I think that everybody is smart in their way and we are in the room together, having a meeting because you need something that I know, and I need something that you know. But men… especially older men, tend to think, “What could she possibly know that I don’t?” There’s also the perception in the business world that a woman can’t handle certain jobs, or positions because she has a family; she’s going to take a lot of time off work for her children, or other problems. People tend to assume that it’s easier to just get men for certain roles. That’s one of the things that I’ve noticed as a problem for business women around the world.

‍

Emergi works with female drivers and half the team members are women. What is your view on that?

Well, I think that’s great. I think it’s excellent to provide these types of opportunities for women to empower themselves.

You know, in this country when you help one person you are helping about five people. That will also be great because it will enable women to have cash in their pockets on a daily basis; they won’t have to wait a whole month to maybe get paid. So I think it’s a great opportunity.

We want to install small camera systems in the e-kekehs for safety. Do you think that will have a positive impact on the female drivers?

I think that I personally will feel safer knowing there’s a camera on board. Even the passengers might feel safer if there’s a camera in the kekeh, so I say: “Do it”. Maybe you will have to deal with some privacy issues, so if you have a camera, maybe there has to be a sign that says “Camera on board” or something just to inform your customers. 

‍

Do you see a positive relation between renewable energy and women specifically?

Absolutely, because if I want to start a new business on being a kekeh driver and there’s an opportunity for me to drive a solar powered kekeh versus the kind that runs on fuel, I’m cutting down on my running costs from the beginning, which is the hardest thing when you already don’t have money. Even if it’s five dollars, five dollars is a lot of money to some people. So if you are offering renewable energy solutions, it’s cheaper. It gives more people the opportunity to get in.

Another way is that it creates a healthy environment for all of us to thrive in. Women are the ones who give birth to the children, so we need to be healthy to take care of our families… And if the air quality is better because everyone is using solar energy, that will result in a healthy nation.

The second part of this interview is available here.