Shawn Brokaw, Local Business Advisor, Thryv
E: [email protected]
P: (920) 470-1044
Chamber Ambassador since 2023
Thryv is a company that is out to help Small Businesses grow and become more efficient in their day to day work environment. The Thryv small business management software is everything you need to run your business in one place. Our platform helps you build your brand, keep organized and get paid faster from anywhere.
My role as a Local Business Advisor is to help small business owners meet and/or exceed their vision for what their business could become when it was 1st started. Any Business Owner/Manager has to be proficient in so many different aspects of their business and most just want to do what they started out doing; from being a plumber, to landscaper, to stylist, to helping the elderly, to bartending, to creating cool objects, to making food, to a veterinarian. Most Business Owners dread the business side of owning a business and that is where I get to step in to help them find ways to minimize the areas that they struggle with and allow them to get back to doing the parts of the jobs they love. I get to help Small Businesses Grow and Thryv.
What do you most enjoy about working in the Fox Cities?
I have grown up in the Fox Cities area (being originally from Chilton) and spent a lot of time watching this area grow. When my wife and I chose to move back to Northeastern Wisconsin we chose the Fox Cities area because there just seems to be something for everyone; from Fox Cities PAC, to the Timberrattlers, to fun bars and restaurants with great food, to great school systems with great education and competitive interests outside of academics. The Fox Cities area just felt like home.
Why did you become a member of the Fox Cities Chamber?
Thryv joined the Fox Cities Chamber because of the size and reach of the Membership. The chamber has a lot of big businesses with names that everybody knows but it has also started the Connect Free Membership which will allow many small businesses/non-profits to network and get to know others in their community that can benefit their business/organization. I never had to do any networking in the past because the company I worked for was the known local business in our industry but I have found that I truly love networking and meeting other people to hear about their business.
Please share your favorite/most impactful moment as a Fox Cities Chamber Ambassador.
I haven’t been an Ambassador for very long but as I stated earlier networking was something new to me. The 1st event that I attend after joining just a few days earlier was an After Hours over Halloween – I knew none of the Chamber Staff, no one who was a Chamber Member and everyone was wearing costumes so I had little to no chance of recognizing anyone. Eric Broten and couple of Chamber Members saw the dazed look on my face and helped make introductions so I wasn’t completely lost. This is why I became an Ambassador and I am using that experience to help new members attending events that are way out of their comfort zone to meet new people and make connections throughout the community.
How do you help make the member experience an impactful experience at the Fox Cities Chamber?
I think I answered this question above but I believe my job at Thryv and this Ambassador role go hand in hand – my goal is to help people with the items that they they may struggle with. This may range from someone doesn’t who spends hours after their work hours doing estimates & invoices or just being introverted but needing the contacts to help grow their business – I think I can help.
Do you have any advice for someone considering joining the Fox Cities Chamber?
Just do it – the saying “It’s not always what you know but who you know” really holds true and you never know where the introduction will come from.
“You Miss 100% of the Shots you don’t take -Wayne Gretzky”
– Michael Scott
