Building an Unstoppable Startup Community

early on I was really hesitant about doing what I was doing because I was like, gosh, I'm not a startup founder. I'm older. You know, I had all these excuses and someone said to me, stop. Just stop leaning into that. Lean into what you enjoy doing. started using it afterwards, but if you were to get or be asked to give yourself a call sign, something, a nickname of sorts, right? In the military, at least in the aviation community, like Maverick, everybody knows Maverick and Top Gun or Goose and Top Gun. And so I think it was after we met with you, I asked everybody and it was really kind of very unique. So this is a good reason for you to come back because if you had to give yourself a call sign what would it be okay two pop in my mind okay and I'll explain both of them and normally you don't get to choose right in the military community we choose for you right you can choose I'll give you the team you can tell me how about that so um I was asked what I should be for the the grand dogs and and if I grandkids later, I said, fun master. And it's because I can be fun. But I also am very regimented. And I think there's a time for both. In the startup ecosystem, I've been called startup mama. Yeah. And I like that from the perspective of I cheer loudly, I serve, I love those that I serve. and I also am very much about being that fierce protector of the startup founders. Like I want you to be seen, celebrated, and cheered on. You are. I think that's, that's the one I was hoping you would naturally tell everybody because you are, you are the startup mama and it's proven out. I think it's proven out for, you know, whether it be on social media, just the people that you connect in, the authenticity of that, you nailed it. I think that's what you're known for, which which is perfect because you didn't pick it. They picked it for you. It was picked for me. Now, the reason I was hesitant about that was because I was having a conversation this week with somebody and they're like, I don't like it when you lead with that. And I'm like, why? And I and she had a great point because sometimes when you think of moms is super sacrificial. And I it I have been sacrificial. But I think that there's a balance with that sacrificial giving. Like, and and and so I I was like, huh, okay, let me think about that from that perspective. Because you want to be sacrificial. I'm more of a servant leader. 100%. Yeah. And that I want to be known for. But being sacrificial at the cost of my own well-being, I don't want to do that. So I think that that was the balance that she was trying to make. That's true, right? At what level of sacrifice do you make? I think you have struck a great balance. seeing you, you are genuine in that. If there's any stress level, it's, it's, but it's an optimal stress level that says, Hey, I want to be able to provide. And I've even known you where you said to me, I think I need a little bit of a break, right? You know, thyself to say in order to be able to give to others, I need to take care of myself in that way. And so you, you do know your own self to balance that out. Yeah. So for the audience, tell us about yourself. Okay. Well, my name is Sheree Warner and I am, let's see about myself. Okay. It's like, do I lead with what I do or do anything, right? That's why I asked that. It's so open-ended. It's just like, you could take it anywhere. Yeah, really hard. But I would say in who I am, I mean, I, I actually chose what I'm doing. And I mean, we're in the month of November, so much gratitude for what I get to do. I mean, because I get to I mean, and it's it's being a servant leader to the startup founders in the Austin ecosystem. I think at the core, you know, so often you lead with something that you maybe didn't have yourself growing up. And so belonging has always been like a real core value for me. I sought those places of belonging early in life. And maybe when you don't have it, you create that for others. And I think that that's part of why I really want people to know they are seen when they come into a Fiesta event and they belong. And because, you know, being a human and a startup founder, it can be lonely. And I would hate to not see somebody and see that loneliness in them and be the person to offer encouragement and or, hey, I see you. What's going on. Yeah, it's lonely. Tell us about where you're from. Did you grow up in Texas originally? I mean, you're here now. Let's go back a little bit. Okay. There's a lot to go back. No, no, there's not. No, there's not. One or two years. I don't act like it. I actually was born in Amarillo, Texas. My dad was military. And I think Texas has always been near and dear to my heart. I just remember thinking I'm gonna always I'm gonna live in Texas. But I grew up in Louisiana, we kind of moved all over early on because dad military, you know how that goes. So Germany, and then grew up in Opelousas, Louisiana. So I'm a Cajun. And I love Cajun food. And john and I met in college in Louisiana. And kind of fell in love, you didn't have to go through all the swiping and stuff like that. Yeah, that's right. It's a different world for us. Actually, my version of swiping would be looking at the fraternity portrait and him saying, so who are you interested in? I came to him like, swipe right. Oh, that's cool. He's like, really? I'm like, yeah. And we've been married 40 years now. And I just made him. That's a podcast in itself. Congratulations. Thank you. He's my best friend. He is. You're not just saying that. I have seen that. Yes. But I just made him promise me that if we got married, we'd move out of Louisiana. And so we lived in Virginia for seven years. And that's where our two first daughters were born. And then 10 years later, we had our third daughter, who was born here in Austin. So I have a Texan and I made it back to Texas and have been here now almost 35 years. So I mean, we've seen Austin change a lot. Oh my gosh, so much changes. I mean, 183 used to be a country road going out. You're seeing a lot of memes of where they show the original picture and then where Austin looks like now. It's so crazy. Yeah, it's amazing. But I love that you have, you know, one of the things being from a military family myself, and then actually me jumping into that profession, is you gave him perspective of other states cultures and subcultures and that you've been in Germany so now international what have you seen that makes Texas very unique or even Austin unique yeah with that perspective you know I well I remember leaving Louisiana and and John and I moved to Virginia right out of college. And one of the things that I didn't realize, like talking about perspective, was I was brought up in the South, and I didn't realize how prejudiced I was until I got up more towards the north. And, and I mean, like, it opened my eyes to like looking at humans, just as being humans, not based off of color or background and things like that. So I'm so grateful for that experience. And then I think when we came back to Texas, the one thing I would say about the South is, I mean, there's a thing called Southern hospitality. And I think Austin is so unique in, when I ask people at Fiesta who is making Austin home, And, you know, those that have been here for one year or less, I'm like, you're going to love it here. I mean, you really do. I mean, Austin is just such a friendly, giving, open-hearted ecosystem. And you're not going to find that in many places. I mean, I've known people who have moved here simply because they experienced that, you know, at an event or something of that sort. Yeah, I think that's, if there's one thing we, you know, should hold on to, it's that here in the Austin ecosystem. Everybody, you know, Texas has its own qualities and depend upon what city you're going to. But I think that that's really, really unique to Austin is that almost true Southern hospitality. I've lived in Charleston, which is known for that Southern hospitality. And that's why I, yeah, I love Austin. And that was really the warmth of the reception. And I came here during COVID, but my folks have been here. And so I was always here during that time. And so I know that warmth to be here when it's activated, right? Yeah. Post-Post. And it's very much followed through once we came out of COVID. Exactly. So, look, you're the startup mama, but it's also because of the platform that you have created. And that is super unique. You have grown a platform that has drawn international intrigue in that way. Tell everybody what that platform is. Yeah. So, I mean, after COVID, well, actually during COVID, I kept meeting so many people that were moving to Austin. And as soon as, I mean, we would invite people into our home. So, like, I lead with hospitality. I love entertaining in my home. But it's not practical when you're getting over 12, 14 folks. And so it turns into a different party, right? Exactly. And it was really cute last night. Someone said, Oh, yeah, I met you at your home when you did an event there. And there's like over 40 women. And that was for the women's event. But the thing that I love doing is bringing people together and in seeing the magic that happens when they meet each other, and they're able to help each other and you get to be part of it because you can make the connections. But the organization is called Fiesta and we started in July of 2021 as a way to give back and it stands for founders, investors, entrepreneurs, startups, techies, and Austin newcomers slash adventurers because we do want to go global because of the internationals coming through for them to have something that we can maybe offer that's just like long term but each year that we've done Fiesta I was like okay what can we add this year and so I think we've added the found hers which we meet on the first Tuesday of the month and that's our women's group and we're typically drawing about 50 to 75 women for that. And then we've started the Found Hers newsletter called the Found Her Herald. That goes out on the Friday after we meet. And what's unique about that newsletter and why we started it was because in our founders groups, we break into small groups of seven or less so that the women can kind of get to know one another. And they're all asked three questions, but the last question is always what's your greatest need and how can we help right and that's what we share in the newsletter those ask and and people read it i mean that newsletter has a 74 open rate with like a 12 click rate on on the ask people looking and seeing that and i had one of my favorite stories is one of the founders she's like hey i'm a new founder and i would love for someone to look over my pitch deck and one of the women founders over at Silverton Addie read it and reached out to her had coffee and said hey I really like what you're working on I think you should apply to this accelerator up in New York the gal did got Ian was there for six months completed the program and then raised 1.5 million I love that yeah so I mean great story then the Fiesta we have a newsletter for that and it's called the Fiesta Focus and that goes out on the Tuesday before a Fiesta event and the Tuesday after and then our special edition we just started this year is the Founders Friday so founders come to Fiesta and we give them an opportunity to pitch every six months it's a one-minute pitch it's timed it's very organized and they do their pitch that's just the beginning on Friday we share their founder stories in the newsletter founder Friday and to me what I'm doing is I'm helping founders to be seen in in the ecosystem that newsletter we have about a 45 to 50 percent open rate and you know founders have told me that people have reached out on LinkedIn we make it easy you know I get just click their name so yeah that's kind of what where we've been up to. And you're a founder in itself, so you can empathize, I think, right? This forum, since you started in 2021, so it's relatively new. From my perspective, it is the most consistent meetup in Austin, period. I've seen maximum participation in there. You're right. It's open to almost anybody, no matter what it is. Adventures. I love that last part, because you're on an adventure, you're exploring it, whether you just are here to meet folks in Austin, it's a great meetup. You've even had people there with suitcases that have just come in, you know, just landed from the airplane and they knew to make that kind of event. So I want everybody to really know that, that it is the most consistent event that is here, but you've taken it even bigger, right? So can you tell us how that evolved, where you were approached and said, hey, can we take this model elsewhere? Number one, I love that you were receptive to that. At first, I'm like, yeah, right. Yeah, right. Are you serious? But how did that all come about? Well, I mean, very much, again, like we were talking at the beginning, I mean, we're a very friendly city and ecosystem, and Fiesta definitely carries that DNA. And Taha is his name. He came to fiesta event i want to say like in october two years ago maybe three um and he fell in love with austin he ended up buying a house here he in and and he would come back um and he's actually from pakistan he has a home in maryland and um so anyway when he was here in austin i mean we we would meet and talk and he's like I want to bring this back to Pakistan and I'm like yeah yeah yeah you know right okay and so um things people say right they're not here well it was really funny because he was he was like he was like come come come with me to Pakistan this you know like it was like in three months and I'm like I don't move that fast I move fast but not that fast and um so So it took about another year and a half, and he offered us this opportunity to go on a, it was like an educational delegation. Yeah, a trade mission of sorts. Exactly. Right. And so we said yes, and we were going with other people from Austin, so it felt comfortable. Right, right. Right. You weren't on your own with this guy you just met two months ago. Exactly. Right. But we went, and he actually organized the whole event in Karachi. Karachi. And I think we ended up having, I want to say 15 founders that ended up pitching. And I mean, but we upgraded from pizza to like this huge sushi table. Wait, you did a fiesta there? In Pakistan. Oh my gosh, that's awesome. Yeah, it was amazing. So you deployed this system and oh, that's amazing. Exactly. And he did our, I mean, like everything that we typically did at a fiesta, he did there and um but i realized that founders are founders no matter where they are i mean they're innovative i mean the things that they were trying to solve and and and do in pakistan were amazing um just like what founders are doing here we all have our own problems and issues that we're trying to solve and and it's just fun to see the creativity that people have what have you seen as far as patterns right you you've been at this intersection of one you're in one of the hottest cities in in the world right now and if people don't know they quickly are going to find that out or there's this level of intrigue of what's going on there i mean we've hosted germans that prototypically think that like mark right that's all i think about and where's your horse mark you know what i mean and what do you mean you're in this business so i meet their their perception right out of the gate but but you see these these folks coming in what are they looking for in texas that makes it intriguing or what are the industries that you're seeing like patterns what patterns are you picking up on because you are at the forefront to be able to analyze that well i think when we first started bitcoin everything was bitcoin for the longest and and now everything is ai i mean everybody has some sort of ai type of company right and um which I mean it's made me like take an interest in saying okay how is AI going to impact what I'm doing and how much do I need to understand to stay relevant? And I mean those are the two biggest trends that I have seen. We actually had Fiesta last night and we had 240 folks show up and I was looking at the you know, AI was the largest percentage. FinTech is still really a big sector that we represent. That's the other thing about what we're doing is that we encourage all sectors to participate. You know, it's not, we're not just focused on one industry. We want all the industries. And then if you end up at a Fiesta, we're encouraging folks to go to the various what I call spokes. So like you would be a spoke for internationals. And if there was a company who is AI focused, we would encourage them to go to the various AI events happening and meet the AI folks that I have. The community. Exactly, exactly. Because those are going to be their tribes that are going to help them thrive. And it's not about Fiesta, it's about your journey and you finding what you need it's a welcome reception and to really make sure that the warmth of texas followed through it yeah so so i mean like because we're so agnostic in what we do um we just see kind of like a hodgepodge of everything um but ai is the most popular right now obviously are you seeing uh like just the demographics itself like is there one country that you're seeing consistently are there is there an age or is there um female like it's just what's the sample size you know the i collect so much data so i do have all this data i could go back and actually i'm just like it's what pops off in your head it's not working but what i love about what we do is that it there's so many women that show up a lot of networking events it's so male dominated which is why we began the founders group but the fiesta itself i would say is 40 60 which is pretty great for a tech networking event. The other thing is, is country-wise, we always ask, you know, who's visiting? And I think we had probably, I want to say seven different countries represented last night. So probably 16 people from different countries. There's Germany, you know, Poland, you know, there are several Asian countries there. It's always, I mean, every month we have internationals that are coming through, which is why I also use the adventures is because you have people floating through the ecosystem because Austin has been kind of dubbed the Silicon Valley of the South. And, you know, so people are always curious. I often find out people are coming to the US and they're checking out San Francisco and Austin, And sometimes Chicago or New York are the other two places. And I always say, you'll be back. And nine times out of 10, I'm right, they're back. Now the funding's not here. I mean, like it should be. I say, I can't disagree with that statement, right? I will tell you that the data shows and supports, but what I will tell folks is that, you know, you can go elsewhere to find capital, right? And you should. And they are. And if you want smart money, and you get somebody in Texas to write you a check, wow. Yeah, yeah. Like that's a big win in itself, because it's, and not that it's not smart, but I think, you know, the industry here in Texas, we've seen the highs and the lows, right? Yeah. And so we're gonna ask a little bit more defined questions. Not that we aren't risk takers, but we're probably calculated, more calculated of the risk. It probably has to do with the oil industry, right? There's highs and lows to that. I haven't figured that out myself. I just know for a lot of the founders that are doing well that have pitched at Fiesta, funding has come outside of Texas, which is fine. I mean, they've built their company here. They started it here. That's what we, right? So I tell everybody the same thing. I said, you landing in here in Texas, there's gonna be one part of you to stay here in Texas. Usually that is the company headquarters or the predominance of that. How can you replicate this? Like, are you looking to scale this? I mean, you've taken it internationally, but I'm sure you've gotten demand to say, hey, bring this to Dallas, bring this to Houston. We have. I'm so relational and heart-driven. It's gonna take the right person coming on that would be more of the CEO, you know, to drive it out of Austin. I mean, we have been asked for Dallas. And I mean, we're looking in that direction. So if the right scenario comes across our path, I mean, we would definitely take it. um right now my my main goal is to bring on a volunteer leadership team we haven't figured out quite how to monetize what we're doing the women's events we do charge for because we're in a location that i'm able to with our big events i'm not able to charge because they give us a venue for free so as a catch-22 venues here in austin are i mean they're expensive i mean five seven hundred an hour yeah and um you know we provide pizza and drinks and stuff like that hospitality you gotta feed them i don't know if you have to but it is nice um it's the warmth of coming into my house right to your point right exactly you want that we go above and beyond exactly so so anyway um but yeah no i i i i would like by next year to have one location outside of Austin that is being run by somebody else. You know, like maybe like a licensing model. We have all the SOPs and things in place to make it easy, but I think what's going to differentiate us is the event magic that we use, which is a check-in system that at the event allows you to network but yet connect with people by scanning the QR code on the name tag. And why I say I think think that is going to differentiate and make it more valuable is that when you as a host, you can ask questions that you are looking to understand about your demographic of the people that you're serving. So and then as a sponsor, the sponsors are able to see who actually shows up at an event. Um, now you've captured that data. You think you have like even a proprietary way at which you guys do that, which is very unique. Um, who, who shows up typically at Fiesta? Is it just entrepreneurs or just, it really, it's that checkmark of all of those people that make up the acronym. Right. Right. I mean, we had, um, like, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm, I just did the, um, the, the breakdown of the data this morning. So I think there's 136 founders that showed up. And then you we had like 20 investors or funders, people looking for a job, we have folks that are just kind of floating through the ecosystem. But I mean, it's the majority is founders. So close to fit more than 50%. Then you obviously have service providers that are there. And the service providers are very selective of how they do that, right? I don't know if you want to talk about the format. I think you have a very unique format to kind of make sure that the quality of the conversation is there. It's not really predatory in that manner. When that number starts going up, we start reevaluating because we definitely want to be founder focused on everything that we do because it's about the founder. But I I think because our events, 530 to 830, from 530 to 635 is networking. People come in. They're getting pizza. They're talking. And then after that, about 640, I go on. I welcome people, kind of do my little spiel. Going to mama mode? Yeah, yeah. John and I do it together now. So we kind of banter with one another, which has been a lot of fun. And then after that, we are bringing on, well, so I've started bringing on folks who have had, you know, when you network, there's opportunities that happen with connection, but you have to follow through. So like I had a gal who pitched last month. She's like, I did such a horrible job. I'm like, no, you did a great job. You did exactly what you're supposed to do. But then she told me that she ended up getting her marketing person. So we came up to her and said, I like what you're working on. You know, I do marketing. Can I can we work together? And she hired him. And then three months before that, she met somebody who was visiting from Africa. And she has a financial game and he was doing something with financial stuff there. and they have collaborated and she's done they're putting together like a non-profit in africa together as a result of meeting at fiesta so i'm trying to tell more of those impact stories because i hear about them you know as i'm out talking to somebody i'm like can i share that um because it's it's amazing i mean like i get to be part of these little magical moments oh it totally feels like that that's what gets me going it's just just the impact itself i could live on that all day long for a month no exactly and and then the other guy that shared yesterday he um was looking for an intern and john turned around and said well you need to be this guy and and and he's been his intern now for six months and he has him on his um uh investment deck that he's sending out as part of his team i mean but it's free work and he's like he's better than somebody that i would pay for which is amazing so i'm trying to tell more of those stories at fiesta then we bring on funders so i had three funders yesterday who shared about their fund and what they're working on um i think main cell um i don't know if you know trey eckhart and safe water um so anyway i mean there's a lot of different i mean and i say funders in particular because it can be vcs it They can be anybody. Just a broader community. Right, right, right. Because I want founders to understand there's so many different ways to bringing in money for their startup. It's not just, you know, don't just go looking for the VC money. Why downtown Austin? Like why, you know, one of the things that, not that I hear it a lot, but it's, I don't really want to come downtown. And so what makes this place magical in that, obviously, ease of access. It's easy to get to. And you have definitely not had an issue with that. I mean, 200 is kind of that consistency. Yeah. What makes it easy? Like, you know, when people start thinking, oh, it's downtown, I'm really trying to tell them, no, it's not an issue. Yeah. You know, honestly, I've been thinking about that myself recently. But I think that there's this founders tend to be downtown, number one. And then I think for Fiesta in particular, because people know that founders are going to be there, if you're a service provider, it's really one of the best events to go to. I mean, you don't know who you're going to meet. And, you know, I have founders that are just getting started, and I've had founders that have over 100 in ARR. So, I mean, you know, I don't know who's going to pitch any month. I mean, every six months. And then what's really been interesting is the last three months, we have been oversubscribed, meaning we have more than 12 people signing up. I think in October, we had 23 sign up. So we had to push a lot of them to November. So November was full, and we're already full in January. So now we're telling founders, if you want to pitch, you need to sign up early to pick your two months, every six months. And I think we're going to start changing the format some. We might start charging a nominal fee only because we've had some founders that day of, they back out. And that is not fair for those that we've had to say no to. So, I mean, unfortunately, bad characters make you reevaluate how you do things. And it's like, okay, well, if you're going to back out, I'm going to bring in $40 at least that can, you know, maybe whatever. But it's funny you mentioned that. I remember that one story in the same ecosystem that you're having that where they had the same issue and they used to do these bus trips around Texas. And what they would do is they would charge people. Maybe this is a good takeaway. They would charge them. And then when the people showed up on the bus, they would return that money. Oh, yeah, yeah. And so it was not like a penalty of sorts, but you made it. You followed through. So here we're going to help you or give back a percentage of that. Say, hey, thank you. We're not here to monetize just that function. But, hey, this is a risk in itself. Yeah. Well, and as a pitch presenter at Fiesta, not only do you get to get on stage in front of over 200 people, and it's very consistent for everybody. So nobody is outshining anybody. then we have your video from the event because I pay a photographer and a videographer and you have photos from the pitch event so you can use those on your socials and before you pitch we the the week before I had Darren and Jess step up and say hey we would like to equip the pitch presenters we'll do a like a workshop with them and so they meet with the pitch presenters for an hour and a half before they ever get on stage so they're getting pitch coaching for free and i think we'd like to add a little bit more you know like at some point if we could bring in maybe ecosystem builders that could give feedback on on the pitches or something down the road but for now i mean it's a lot of value i think oh it's hard to without data right i mean i just tell everybody if you haven't been to fiesta yeah if you haven't met you or your teammate you have to do it if you're here in austin it's a missed opportunity a significant miss yeah and just for the serendipitous things that you don't know in meeting you and coming to that event that may happen and that's part of the magic right um yeah we had two gals that um it was really cute i i I have those people who are my hugest advocates. And she had a call with a gal who was coming in for the A&M game that was last week. And she was leaving on Sunday and Melissa said, oh no, you guys have got to save for Fiesta. And so the two sisters came into Austin on Monday and they kind of explored because they're looking to move here to Austin. And they came to Fiesta last night and they were like, it was amazing. We get it. It was it was worth it was worth staying the extra night and being able to explore Austin and kind of find out what's going on in the ecosystem. Sure. See it activated in a meaningful and authentic way. Exactly. Exactly. How can. You know, people are going to hear this podcast, hopefully. How can they help you? You know, it's that's that's I think that's the magical question of what makes us a great community is. People will ask that and generally want to help out. How can people help you? Well, so as you know, our events are free, and I would love to keep them free, so that requires sponsorships. I think being a sponsor is a great ROI. I mean, like, I really work hand-in-hand with our sponsors in finding out what their greatest need is and how we can provide that. The other thing is, every year at the end of the year, we do a holiday party, and we do charge for that. So I encourage people, us on December 16th, we have this incredible venue that they reached out to us. It's a new co-working social club here in Austin over by ACC Highland called Jevity. and we're gonna they've given us a space for free and they said please charge I mean it'll be a win win but it it's the perfect place I mean like if I was to dream of a place that I would want to do a fiesta uh-oh change of location maybe spoiler alert they don't have a stage look at your smile and your grin like you're like that's the spot it would be except they have their members that will be there so like i think it would be really hard to to you know like 5 30 to 8 30 prime time for members to go work out and stuff but for a holiday party is it's absolutely perfect so i invite y'all q branch to come i'm going to send out an email to all of the community leaders and just invite them and the founders um but you know also i i would say and it's not just fiesta just in general if you're part of a community consider giving back going and asking how can i help what can i do to offload because you know just like founders are lonely and over worked i mean i think community builders so i have a real heart for the the folks that are are doing these events and and serving others. You know, I think last night was one of those evenings where we only had a handful of volunteers show up. And so someone came up to me because I'm in the kitchen washing dishes, and I should be out, you know, mingling with people and talking to people. But you do what you got to do to keep the program going and stuff like that. Very entrepreneurial. It is. You are the CEO, the head janitor, the reception desk greeter. I know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah, and I tell that. But that you care. You can tell that authenticity is there. And so I get it when, you know, so to charge also has always been a really hard thing for me because I know, you know, how hard founders are grinding and working and trying to make ends meet. But on the other hand, I think that if you have benefited because of a connection made and or someone that you met serendipitously at our event, a friendship that was made. I have so many people say, I met my best friend over at a fiesta. Wow. Numerous times. I can't even tell you. I've lost count. That would be a KPI. I could see that on your website. Best friend. Ding, ding, ding. I wish I could figure out how to capture all that. I can see the stepbrothers. Did we just become best friends and then bing? That's a ticker. So here's what I can't think of many community leaders who can say they had an engagement proposal done at their event. So, yes, that happened in April, I think. Nice. That's a high-five moment. So I had a couple that met there two years earlier. and he came to me and he had signed up to pitch and he's like can I like after I pitch proposed to my girlfriend we met here at Fiesta oh my gosh and I'm like yes 100% I mean you know and so he was the last one to pitch and after he did his pitch and she was like so not even you know prepared thankfully she said yes yes that's right that's the gamble right there right Exactly, exactly. Anyway, they're really cute, so I see them every so often. But, yeah. So I've had so many really cool things happen, you know. But how can people help? I would just say just give back. If you have benefited from something, give back. I mean, have that mentality. Also, RSVP for events. You know, don't just show up. I have 60-something percent that show up every month that don't RSVP. That's a good thing. I mean, that's not a bad thing. No, I know. I'm not saying it's bad. But it does help it does especially for a free event to know how much pizza to order or what things like that Just in general and and I think that that's just you know common courtesy. I think some of the common courtesy things The younger generation they need to be reminded like hey, I Agree, but the drop-ins are I think that's what makes it also special. That's what I loved about when you guys are growing It's hey, what are you doing tonight? You should come with me to a fee Oh, yeah. Things like that. Yeah, that's I think that's something that's very unique to you guys is that. Yeah. Hey, you just landed. It's you need to go straight there right now. In fact, I had an entrepreneur from Singapore stay an extra day because of how much we told them that he would gain from your event. Did you meet the guys who were doing the drones to get rid of the beetle infestation? Anyway, they were coming to the U.S. and they actually came to Austin to go to a fiesta because they had heard about fiesta before going to Colorado where they were going to be part of this big conference. Oh, very cool. Yeah. I'm like, that is so cool. So that they planned it. Yeah, they planned their trip to the U.S. and fiesta was part of it. That's so amazing. Just the entrepreneurial journey that you've been on, what you're doing for others. I'm taken back that you're here in this podcast, right? Because when I first met you, you were doing this activation. And now I get to kind of message what you've done for everybody else to the degree we can, whether it's just small community and growing community. It's a proud moment for me to kind of have that. and a platform to be able to sell everybody the magic that you've created and that I've seen and been demonstrated and that you will continue to do that. And so this is my call to everybody that's listening. Get behind what you're doing because it's part of the magic of Austin and those folks coming in here. Well, thanks. And I appreciate you because I you know, when I was first starting it, you know, people say, how did you get started? is like you have to be consistent, number one, and you have to be doing it for the right reasons. And you were such an encourager. I still remember some of our early conversations, and I was inspired by you. Oh, thank you. And now look at what you're doing. So, I mean, you've moved on, and now you're helping entrepreneurs. And we get to collaborate. That's the magic, too. It's like the power of two combined, giving back. Yeah. People say who they ask who your competition is. I'm like, I don't have any competition because, you know, it's about everybody's journey and them finding what they need. And if I can help them find what they're looking for, that's the ultimate goal. So. um it's the quality too i think of of the culture that you continually and you're the keeper of that culture right i think that's why you're doing the dishes and you're doing this and you don't want it to scale because sometimes you lose that yeah it's it's hard it's hard when you when you have other people come in and and they have their own opinion about what you should be doing it's like wait there's a reason i don't do that you know so it's it's kind of like a give and take i think a good movie that it just depicts that as like the ray kroc movie i forget the name of it uh the mcdonald's movie the founder the founder itself right where he was franchising this and the people that he was selling the franchise to were just businessmen and they just changed the menu and they really didn't care about the brand itself and so he really said maybe i'm selling it to the wrong folks and he started to engage more of families right a husband and a wife that cared and would really lean into it as something that they could take care of and grow and foster so that's something that i found in that movie that was like wow not just the business model but who's going to care for that business model i love i love that you say that because the the folks over at jeopardy they're a young couple they've been married a year and it was because they had traveled around and they realize like there's everything is so segmented why can't we put everything in one place because a lot of times after you exercise i wouldn't know because i don't exercise i saw their podcast or something they opened the door it was like hi i'm this person and there's a why i didn't know that they were married but yeah yeah i'm sorry i didn't mean to cut you off but now i know where you're going that's super cool right right and and i think for for john and i because we're married and we're all about you know creating a community and seeing people so i think when you find people like that, you know, that are doing something similar, it's like, that's so exciting. So, so that's what I need to be looking for probably. I think so. We'll watch the movie, right? I am a hundred percent, a hundred percent. Just to kind of look at that. So is there anything in this podcast that you want to convey or communicate to others to help reinforce the magic that you're creating? Yeah, I think we all have that in us. So, I mean, you know, if, if If you're called to give back, go ahead. Don't let your age, don't let your gender and things like that stop you. I mean, I think I know early on I was really hesitant about doing what I was doing because I was like, gosh, I'm not a startup founder. I'm older. You know, I had all these excuses. And someone said to me, stop. Just stop leaning into that. Lean into what you enjoy doing. And the fact that I love what I do makes it easy to get up in the morning and do the rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, and be consistent and can think outside the box of what's next. So find what you're passionate about. And, you know, ask for help if you need help. So that would be the other thing. And having a good sidekick, right? I love that you and your husband are doing this and then that your daughters, I think, originally were supporting you in that way. No, like unlike me, like my brother helped me establish this. My chief of staff is Dr. Cervantes, my mom, right? It's just that the ecosystem of trusted partners that help you grow. And so I think that find your find your your cheerleaders. I mean, like I say, I'm a cheerleader for founders, but I have found my cheerleaders. That's right within the ecosystem. So it's people who have benefited and they see the value because they've experienced it. And they definitely, as their company is taking off, they're going to give back. And I think a full circle moment, I've had two full circle moments. One was a startup founder two years ago pitched at Fiesta and sold her company. And then last year was one of our largest sponsors last year. Oh, wow. Yeah. And then E. Cook Joy, they pitched at Fiesta two years ago. And as she was getting off the stage, she had somebody come up to her and say, I want to use your services. And that validated what she was working on. And now she's one of the companies that's at 100 ARR. And so she was over visiting with me. And she was like, you're making these vegetable trays? Why don't you let us do it? And I'm like, yes and please. And so for the past two fiestas, I have not gone out to Costco in Sam's to buy all the vegetables and the fruit and stuff and made the trays. It's being done for me. And that's the giving back, right? I think that it's only a compounding effect because of what you've done. I love that. That's kind of the biggest takeaway from this is that you do have an opportunity to give back. And you should because you'll find it'll fill your cup in some way. What's your greatest need right now? Mine? Yeah, for Q Branch. You're not supposed to ask me that hard question. I ask everybody because that's the only way I can make my magic happen is doing. My my need is I kind of evaluate what are the needs of those that I serve. Right. It's it's that's where I would lean into it. One, you've done a phenomenal job at being consistent in that way. And that's I'm actually trying to look at you as a model of how can I be consistent? How can we continue to be an ecosystem that serves a specific need, right? We're dual use. It's not just the commercial sector, but there's also this government opportunity for those folks. So I just love what you're doing already. There's not a big need for me. I think one is we can collaborate together. Let's just keep the communication going and what each other are working on. Be good partners in that way. I think we're doing it already. My biggest ask is just to be my partner in this journey. Oh, 100%. That's it. And y'all are going to have co-working spaces here pretty soon. Y'all are opening up in February. That's exactly right. Have seats to fill. Yes, we do. And that's the part that, you know, having seen co-working environments, I think that now people want more than just a seat. They want to be a part of a community. Yeah. So there's four fundamentals of patterns that I've seen, right? One, everybody needs a customer because it's business, right? Everybody needs to be able to show value and provide value. The other is they probably need some capital to get started or, you know, to source in a way. They need company support, whether it be lawyers or just cheerleaders in that way. And then the biggest thing that I learned, I used to just stop there. But now being in this business for, you know, two years, they need a community. You need to be around like folks, right, to whether they share experiences to not repeat for others or new models to say, oh, I didn't think about that. I'm going to apply that to what we're doing. Yeah. But those are the four verticals I think that everybody is exploring. And communities, the one thing, AI is not going to be able to replace. No. So, yeah. No, it's still very much. going to even be a greater need you know as ai becomes more used um people being in first yeah so the authenticity is going to be there it's still very much i used to say this when i was in the military doing weapon system development i said this still a human business exactly nothing is going to change that and and the methodologies that uh core values is that the operator is the the most important person no matter what you're doing. I know there's a terminology, but that's the fundamentals that they teach. And that's still very prevalent today. Humans are the most important factor in anything that you do. I agree, yeah. Thank you so much.

In this episode of the Texas Embassy Podcast, Q-Branch CEO Marc Cervantes interviews Cherie Werner, Founder of FIESTA (Founders, Investors, Entrepreneurs, Startups, Techies, and Austin Newcomers), on startup community building, founder networks, and the Austin tech ecosystem.

Known as Austin’s “Startup Mama,” Cherie shares how she built one of the city’s most consistent, founder-first communities by combining servant leadership, authentic connection, and real business outcomes. The conversation explores what it takes to create meaningful startup events, how to foster belonging at scale, and why strong local ecosystems drive innovation and growth.

They also discuss networking strategies for founders, building relationships with investors, and how Austin continues to emerge as a leading hub for startups, entrepreneurship, and technology.

Topics include:
• Startup community building and founder networks
• Austin startup ecosystem and tech scene
• Networking strategies for entrepreneurs and investors
• Event-driven growth and community-led platforms
• Servant leadership and building at scale