The greater Washington region must better brand itself as a great place to be an entrepreneur, said the CEO of a branding firm.

“I don’t think D.C. does a good job of talking about itself as a hotbed for entrepreneurialism,” said Imani Greene, founder of GreeneGroup.

The brand expert says for startup incubators and network opportunities to grow in the area, the region has to focus on changing its longstanding history of being government-oriented.

“You need individual people… like the the hundreds of thousands of others in the region, that specialize in things that can bring to bear an entrepreneurial mindset,” said Greene.

This entrepreneurial mindset is something that anyone with creativity and drive can have, Greene said, even if they’re working for someone else.

D.C. falls into some of the same struggles as other cities when it comes to minority- or women-owned businesses.

“We do end up having to champion our own intentions more so than someone who doesn’t fit into any of those categories,” Greene told What’s Working in Washington.

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Because of her extreme drive, however, “I, as a black woman, don’t find that it’s limiting to the degree that I can’t move things forward… in my case I find it to be a little beneficial in that it makes me unique, it makes me stand out,” she said. “In that capacity, the opportunity is mine to capture their attention, and to connect with them and their organization.”

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