AdNet/AccountNet, Baltimore, MD
Betsy Cerulo is many things: successful business owner, pillar of the community and real-life superhero. She has made it her life’s work to promote equity and justice for all, as evident in both the workplace and her community work.
She has skillfully grown her management consulting firm, AdNet/AccountNet, from a one-woman show working out of her basement to now employ 70 operating from an office suite in downtown Baltimore with a satellite office in Massachusetts. Expanded services now include professional staffing, executive search and strategic coaching. She sets high standards for herself and her employees ensuring customers get exactly what they’re looking for. Her team digs deep to thoroughly evaluate job candidates for the best possible placement in the workforce.
Betsy credits her success to surrounding herself with an excellent team, who play a vital role in the company receiving high marks within their industry. Her team knows how to get the real story from applicants, all while adhering to their driving principle as “Advocates for Workplace Excellence and Equality.”
The road to success wasn’t exactly a straight line, but more of a winding path. Betsy navigated her way through research, by making sound management decisions and by taking advantage of SBA resources to help sustain and grow the business. Initially, she worked with a SCORE mentor to craft her business plan and later obtained an SBA loan guarantee and government certifications to assist with government contracting. Becoming SBA 8a certified is a move she notes made it possible to keep the doors open during the recession a decade ago.
Her success has afforded her the opportunity to give back to her community through volunteer work and guest speaker invitations to share her expertise. Betsy is co-founder of the Maryland LGBT Chamber of Commerce and the Maryland LGBT Foundation. A published author of books on business leadership and achieving success and has even written a children’s book, weaving a tale of how even the quietest child can light up a room when we simply engage and include them.