Conversations with the Inspiring Lola Woloch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lola Woloch.

Lola serves as the President & CEO for the Southern Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce. She leads the Chamber’s mission in Empowering our members through education, advocacy and collaborative partnerships, focusing on economic vitality. Through her efforts with Board Members and many dedicated volunteers, SCWCC has been transformed and now provides its members with resources, quality programming, knowledge and the networks to build and operate successful businesses. Since taking on the role in 2015, here are just a few of stats; 68% increase in membership revenue, 131% increase in programs revenue, 92% increase in gross profit, 281% increase in net income, and 56% increase in attendance.

In her accomplished career, Lola Woloch has held leadership positions and has expertise in strategic planning, business development, and marketing and sales. She is also an experienced organizational and process change agent. Her talent comes from years of starting up businesses and being a successful entrepreneur. She held several leadership positions in the corporate sectors of the telecommunication industry and higher education. Her success is driven by her entrepreneurial thought process and approach to drive results. Lola has a proven track record and numerous accolades to her credit of achieving national and regional business development goals and turning around sales channels and corporate divisions to be profitable.

During her tenure with SCWCC, Lola has created strategic partnerships and affinity programs that offer SCWCC members with benefits and value at exclusive rates. SCWCC currently has the most exclusive member discount programs in Southern Colorado. This includes large group health plans for small businesses with up to 25% savings on the cost of health insurance, discounted primary healthcare services for businesses owners and their employees, discounted dental plans, exclusive multi-media discounts for SCWCC members, various advertising discounts with top publishers as well as savings on workers compensation insurance programs and many other attractive member benefits offered by SCWCC.

Lola has championed the Chamber’s commitment to serving the best interests of SCWCC members and the community, to lead by example, embracing inclusiveness in our community, and advocating for our members.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Sometimes being a leader requires one to make decisions that are not always popular but are the right decisions for the greater good of the people we serve and the business community.

Some of my critics would say I sometimes ruffled feathers. I have challenged the status quo where needed in order to improve the quality and services of SCWCC. As you know, some people don’t like change or have difficulty adjusting to changes. Some might not even be in favor of a confident women leading – let alone a women organization taking the lead.

Some individuals did not believe that we could accomplish the vision and achieve the lofty goals we put in place. My response was simply if you don’t believe then you will never achieve. Also failure is not an option. As an organization, we always need to be focused on the mission and how to accomplish it.

One key to our success is that we are true advocates for business and pride ourselves on constantly making connections and building business relationships that benefit everyone involved. I believe the most powerful connections happen when our members are ready to take a leap to better themselves. They are facing that jumping-off point when deciding to start a business, grow to the next level, advance their career or make a bold change. These are the pivot points in our human and organizational experience that build our courage and confidence. I believe that if we connect the right people and leaders together, the business community can collaborate and thrive, which leads to greater economic impact and a higher quality of life.

I encourage women and particularly young women to believe in the possibilities and focus on opportunities. Also surround yourself with good mentors and positive, like-minded professionals.

What should we know about Southern Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My expertise has been taking divisions of corporations and getting them to increase revenue and be profitable. The work I do as the President and CEO of SCWCC is creating strategic partnership and business development for our members and organization that have positive impact on economic development.

I am extremely proud of the SCWCC brand with its effective culture. We are professional business members and we are true advocates for business. We pride ourselves to making those connections for members and creating an atmosphere with opportunities for building business relationships that benefits everyone involved.

We have created an inclusive environment for business success and have set a high standard of how a Chamber of Commerce should engage with their members and the community.

Two years ago, we created an annual SCWCC Business Magazine. It now has a distribution of 10,000. It features economic development in Southern Colorado, trends on women and wage gap, and stories of businesswomen leading in various industry sectors.

SCWCC hosts the annual Accolades Awards Luncheon which is the largest event recognizing and honoring women leaders in business in Southern Colorado.

SCWCC provides numerous business-relevant programs and educational workshops as well as regular business networking events.

We foster inclusiveness in the business community and in our organization. We have men that serve on our Board of Directors and are members of SCWCC. We also have collaborative relationships with other minority chambers and other area chambers to help the business community thrive. I strongly believe a rising tide raises all boats.

Lastly, it’s important to serve the business community and give back. We are non-profit SCWCC Foundation that gives back to the community. Last year, it tripled the number of college scholarships it gives to women.

What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
I prefer to view these as challenges not barriers to female leadership because challenges can be overcome.

During my journey with SCWCC, I have noticed confidence may be a major challenge for some women regardless of where they are in their career. They cope with it in different ways and not always constructive ways.

I believe solutions to such challenges include taking charge, asking for what you are worth, speaking up and owning your success, just to name a few.

Another very big challenge to female leadership is not receiving support from other successful women. It is quite amazing that when some women leaders hit a high level of success, they do not pay it forward. Women should support and empower each other being humble and respectful while holding the door open for other females as they make their way to the top. My suggestion to successful women in leadership is be that role model and mentor other women.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2424 Garden of the Gods Road, Building C, Suite 250
  Colorado Springs, CO 80919
• Website: www.scwcc.com
• Phone: 7194422007
• Email: info@scwcc.com
• Instagram: @socowomenschamber
• Facebook: Facebook.com/scwcc
• Twitter: @scwcc
• Other: LinkedIn: Southern Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce

Image Credit:
CB – Casa Bay Photographer

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