Showcase #11- Hannah Samlall, Co-Founder of Waterloo Street

In this episode of Start Up Showcase, host Colton Hower sits down with Hannah Samlall, co-founder of both Waterloo Street, a branding and web design agency, and The Biz Collective, a community-driven membership supporting women-owned businesses. Together with her sister Rachel, Hannah has built a thriving creative agency while championing small businesses and female founders across Pittsburgh and beyond. Waterloo Street was born out of a complementary partnership—Rachel’s background in PR and digital marketing paired seamlessly with Hannah’s communication studies and creative execution. After a stint in corporate marketing and recruitment in NYC, Hannah left her role and moved back home to Virginia to work on building the business full-time. The sisters bootstrapped their way to early success, starting out with digital marketing services for small businesses. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a rapid pivot when their clients—and their revenue—disappeared overnight. Rather than fold, they adapted. They launched The Biz Collective, a low-cost, high-support directory for local women-owned businesses, and transitioned Waterloo Street into a 100% web design studio, allowing them to focus on project-based work with clearer boundaries and greater creative fulfillment. In 2023, they added branding services to their roster and are now exploring the reintroduction of email marketing, with social media potentially back on the table—if the right person joins the team. Hannah shares how Waterloo Street has evolved from serving startup tech clients to being a go-to creative partner for female founders and wedding industry professionals, driven largely by referrals and community trust. Despite early aspirations of national exposure, Pittsburgh’s tight-knit business scene has been their home base, with growth starting to pick up across cities like NYC, Denver, and Nashville. The team takes a client-first approach, often customizing design styles and workflows based on personality fit, communication preferences, and creative vision. She also reflects on the importance of working with family, citing the ability to communicate honestly and efficiently without the politics of traditional partnerships. Rachel leads sales and client onboarding, while Hannah steers creative execution and strategy, creating a dynamic partnership that’s built on trust and mutual respect. Looking ahead, Hannah envisions Waterloo Street evolving into a full-scale creative agency—reintroducing more services and scaling with a team of contractors and white-label developers to meet demand. For The Biz Collective, her dream is to turn it into a national network with local chapters supporting small, women-owned businesses through events, education, and community. She gives a shoutout to Sydney Conway, founder of Know Your Worth Bookkeeping and co-founder of North Hills Golf Academy, as a future guest recommendation—someone with a strong entrepreneurial spirit who’s dabbled in multiple ventures. Hannah leaves listeners with one simple, powerful piece of advice: “Get really comfortable with rejection. It’s awkward, but it’s not personal. A ‘no’ is just a ‘no.’ Move on.”