Inside Dorothy Fulop’s Dual Path as Founder and Brand Strategist

Editorial
17 hours ago
2 min read

When Dorothy Fulop launched GameWiz with her husband in 2019, she treated it as a real-time experiment—a chance to apply everything she’d learned as a brand strategist. Seven years later, that experiment has become an award-winning online board game store and a continuous source of insight.

Still, Dorothy isn’t one to focus on just one venture. Alongside growing GameWiz, she partners with founders as a brand strategist and leadership advisor, helping them build businesses that resonate.

Read on to learn more about Dorothy’s work, which is today informed by the ongoing synergy of both companies.

In what ways has your upbringing or past experiences contributed to how you operate as a leader?

I grew up in Eastern Europe, but a big part of my family lived in the U.S., so I experienced two very different ways of living, thinking, and operating businesses: post-communist Europe and sunny, opportunistic California. I don’t think there’s a bigger contrast. In both of these worlds, I always felt different. As a kid, I even felt too different. I struggled with that for a long time until I realized that thinking differently could be my superpower when building brands and businesses. What once felt like a huge disadvantage—having unconventional ideas and a beautifully weird perspective—is now exactly what we used to build our company and what my clients come to me for.

What’s the biggest misconception others have around entrepreneurship?

That you do it to be your own boss because you hate having one. In reality, it’s much harder to be your own boss. All too often, you’re crueler to yourself than any HR department would allow.

My biggest misconception was thinking that my business and I are separate. I’m still surprised by how intertwined we are with the businesses we build, and how working on one can improve the other. I’ve also learned that the best entrepreneurs are not the ones who simply want to build something, but the ones who can’t stand not to.

We dare you to brag: What achievements are you most proud of?

I’m the proud co-founder of an online store that was voted the customer favorite and the best online store in my country, but what I’m even more proud of didn’t come with an award. By any metric, we’re a world-class team, but what matters more is how much time we choose to spend together even when we don’t have to. It’s common for us to stay after work and play games. We built a place where people feel like they belong. I never expected how much people outside the company would gather around us. These relationships go far beyond what you’d expect from an online store with faceless transactions. Our community is the reason the company exists. Every time we thought about shutting down, they kept us going. When competitors showed up with better prices or bigger budgets, people stayed loyal. That loyalty—how it spread and became something bigger than us—is what I’m most proud of.