10 Questions With: Brienne Maner

10 Questions With is a new series featuring people of interest in the 605. Have someone you’d like to see featured? Email [email protected]. 

Brienne Maner is getting ready for another big year. The executive director of Startup Sioux Falls has a new location to look forward to, plenty of family plans and some great insight for entrepreneurs.

Most memorable moment of 2021?

Personally: We welcomed my beautiful niece, Daisy, who was born on the Fourth of July.

Professionally: The day we found out Startup Sioux Falls was one of only 51 organizations across the country out of over 700 applications to receive up to $1 million in grant funding through the SBA Community Navigators Program.

You just – I mean like yesterday – learned Startup Sioux Falls will officially be moving downtown. What happens next? 

First, we scream with excitement and do a little happy dance. Next, we continue moving forward with our relocation plans. Operating under assumptions definitely adds an additional layer of complexity to project management, but our board and staff have been able to make some headway in the past few months, which hopefully will bode well for the timeline as it’s our goal to be up and running in the downtown space by the end of Q4 2022 or early Q1 2023. Watch for exciting announcements regarding building design, naming, membership and donor opportunities as well as a grand-opening celebration throughout the year!

Startup Sioux Falls is in the thick of a huge boom in people considering business ownership. What should they know about Startup Sioux Falls? 

We support high-growth startup and small-business founders by providing resources to network, launch and grow their ventures through the following key areas of support: business accelerator programming, community – digital and in person, educational resources and networking, our mentorship network, resource wayfinding and triage services, and flexible co-working and meeting space. There are many different points to entry when starting a business, and our organization is an aggregator of resources within the ecosystem, hence the reason why we encourage people to start with Startup Sioux Falls. 

Best advice for anyone thinking about becoming a new business owner? 

Don’t let fear or feeling ill-equipped or unprepared hold you back; nearly every single person we serve has a similar level of uncertainty. That being said, business ownership and entrepreneurship are not for everyone, and it’s our responsibility to be honest with you. Empowering yourself with education and surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals is the quickest, most efficient way to determine whether or not entrepreneurship is in the cards for you. All that being said, entrepreneurship is not easy, and you will make mistakes along the way; it’s important to inhabit an entrepreneurial mindset. An entrepreneurial mindset can be developed and enhanced through entrepreneurial experiences. And to cultivate the entrepreneurial mindset, we must create entrepreneurial learning experiences within our classrooms, organizations and communities.

You run Startup Sioux Falls, but would you ever start a business yourself?

I don’t know that I’d ever start a business myself, but I love collaborating with entrepreneurs, creatives and socially minded individuals. My husband and I produced a feature documentary together, my friends and I founded a feminine hygiene product drive called The Pad Party, and I absolutely love consulting with small-business owners to ideate and punch up ideas. 

Your new office will be at the gateway of Falls Park. But other than Falls Park, what’s your favorite Sioux Falls park?

I have many favorites, but my current favorite is Morningside because it’s where I spend the most time with my daughter, and it’s adjacent to my elementary school, which makes me feel a certain type of way. 

How about when you’re not working? Where other than home do you spend the most time?

Grandma and Grandpa’s place at Lake Madison and Nana and Baca’s place here in town; time with family is so precious and fleeting, which is amplified once you bring a mini-you into the world.

Anyone who knows you well probably knows your daughter’s name is Pearl. Which we love. How did you come up with that?

My husband and I were on a flight to the West Coast a few years back, and I had recently declared that I was interested in starting a family with him after having attended a dance recital for one of my friend’s kids. There was a family of three sitting in front of us on the flight, and a sweet little girl kept popping her head up over the seats and smiling at us. Her parents kept telling her, “PJ, please sit down, honey!” My husband and I knowingly looked at each other thinking the same thought: “Let’s have a PJ.” Wordplay is one of our favorite activities, so we spent a majority of the trip scrolling through names that start with P because the J was already covered – my mom’s name is Jane. We landed on Pearl, as it’s one you don’t often hear, and I also love the mantra “The world is your oyster.” We welcomed our PJ into the world in 2017, and the name suits her perfectly.

 Key question: Does she own any pearls yet?

Oh, absolutely she does. I was wearing a single pearl around my neck for the bulk of my pregnancy, which was a fun little secret as we didn’t reveal her name until she was born. The jewelry possibilities are now endless for Grandma as she now has a Pearl and a Daisy; I bought her a really cute necklace for her birthday.

OK, last question. You get a shameless plug for anything you’d like to get the word out about in town. What is it?

No. 71 at Pho Quynh.