Today we’d like to introduce you to Toria & Brigitte.
Hi Toria & Brigitte, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Creative Collective was founded by Brigitte Donovan and Toria Bonanni with a shared belief that the right room can change the trajectory of a founder.
As entrepreneurs themselves, they experienced firsthand how powerful it can be to build alongside ambitious women—to have people to brainstorm with, learn from, collaborate with, celebrate with, and turn to when you’re figuring out what’s next.
They also saw an opportunity in Austin.
Austin is home to an incredible community of entrepreneurs, creatives, and female founders, yet Brigitte and Toria wanted to create something that felt different from a traditional coworking space or networking group. They envisioned a place where women could not only work, but build, grow, and evolve alongside one another.
So they set out to build Austin’s female founder house.
Creative Collective is a founder ecosystem designed to support women throughout the entrepreneurial journey—from launching their first business to growing and scaling established companies, building teams, and eventually exiting. Because while the needs of a founder may change at each stage, the value of having the right people, resources, opportunities, and support around you never does.
At Creative Collective, women at different stages of the journey have the opportunity to learn from those a few steps ahead, share what they’ve learned with those coming behind them, and create meaningful relationships across industries and experience levels.
Through a curated community, coworking, workshops, educational programming, networking, mentorship, and collaborative experiences, Creative Collective is creating more than a place to work. It’s a home base for women building businesses and lives they genuinely care about.
The philosophy behind it is simple: when you put the right women in the right room, something powerful happens.
A conversation can spark an idea.
A meaningful introduction can open a door.
A shared resource can save months of work.
A woman leading/pioneering the way can expand what’s possible for someone else.
That is the kind of ecosystem Brigitte and Toria are intentionally building—one where women can find their people, access the resources and opportunities they need, and continue to find value in the community as their businesses evolve.
What started with two friends building side by side has grown into a bigger vision for Austin’s female founders: a place to connect, collaborate, grow, and build what’s next—together.
Creative Collective is Austin’s female founder house.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a perfectly smooth road. One of our biggest challenges as visionaries is that we have so many ideas and so many things we want to create. We’ve had to learn that growth doesn’t come from doing everything at once — it comes from getting really clear on what matters most, focusing our energy there, and being willing to evolve as we build.
We’ve also had to figure out what our individual strengths are and how to lean into them as partners. We both naturally see possibility and are constantly dreaming up new ideas, which is one of the things that makes us such a great creative partnership — but it can also be a challenge when there are so many directions we could take. Learning how to divide and conquer, trust each other’s expertise, and give each other space to lead has been a huge part of our growth.
And honestly, we’ve learned that building something meaningful requires you to be willing to change the vision as you go. What we started with isn’t exactly what Creative Collective is today, and we think that’s a good thing. We’ve listened to our community, paid attention to what was working, and allowed the business to evolve alongside the women we’re building it for.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Female Founder House | Venue
A home base and community for women building and scaling businesses
What do you like and dislike about the city?
What we love most about Austin is the culture of collaboration. There are so many incredible entrepreneurs, creatives, and people building really meaningful things here, and there’s a genuine spirit of support that you don’t find everywhere.
What’s especially special is that people aren’t necessarily looking at each other as competition. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the same industry — people are constantly looking for ways to collaborate, make introductions, share resources, and help each other grow. There’s a real sense that when one person succeeds, it creates more opportunity for everyone.
That spirit of community and innovation is a huge part of why we felt Austin was the perfect place to build Creative Collective. It’s a city full of people who are willing to open doors for one another, and we wanted to create a space where that culture could exist under one roof — especially for female founders.
As for what we like least about Austin, we honestly have a hard time answering that one! One thing we hear from a lot of Austinites is that there is so much to do in the city, they often feel like they’re missing out! While we realize that an abundance of activities is a great problem for a city to have, we also hope to create a space that is FOMO-free and provides meaningful touchpoints to develop lasting relationships in the community while building businesses and impact. Every city has its challenges, but the entrepreneurial and creative community here is such a special part of what makes Austin so special to us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.creativecollectiveatx.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativecollectiveatx/
