If there's one thing I've learned from entrepreneurship, it's this: the right relationships can change the trajectory of a company.
Because before I started Bedrock, I was an entrepreneur myself.
Over the past decade plus, I've built multiple businesses—including a successful home staging company and one of the most beloved education and community platforms in the home staging industry.
Along the way, I discovered something that would ultimately shape my career: entrepreneurs grow faster when they have trusted peers they can learn from.
I watched business owners openly share pricing strategies, hiring challenges, marketing ideas, operational wins, and hard-earned lessons—not because they were competitors, but because they had built enough trust to be honest with one another.
Time and again, I saw those relationships change the trajectory of people's businesses.
Later, I created Clevelandish, a media company and community dedicated to helping people discover the very best of Northeast Ohio, that now reaches tens of thousands of people all over NEO each week.
Through my work, I've had the privilege of meeting hundreds of founders, operators, and business leaders across nearly every industry imaginable.
One thing became impossible to ignore.
Northeast Ohio is filled with brilliant entrepreneurs, but too many of them are building in isolation.
That's why I founded The Bedrock Club.
I didn't create Bedrock to be another networking group or another organization built around collecting business cards.
I created it to be the kind of community I know changes businesses—and lives.
A place where founders can speak candidly, ask difficult questions, make meaningful connections, and surround themselves with people who genuinely want to see them succeed.
My role isn't to be the expert with all the answers.
My role is to create the room where the right conversations happen.
As founder and community builder, I spend my time bringing together thoughtful people, curating experiences that foster real relationships, and connecting members who can help one another solve problems, seize opportunities, and grow as leaders.
If you attend a Bedrock event, you'll probably find me introducing people, asking what you're building, and making sure everyone feels like they belong. That's my favorite part of this work.
I believe Northeast Ohio has everything it needs to become one of the best places in America to build a business. Sometimes all that's missing is the right table—and the right people around it.
I hope we'll have the chance to meet soon.
— Amy Vartenuk
Founder & Community Builder, Bedrock
P.S. Find me on LinkedIn, I’d love to connect!
