Climbing the mountain: Briana Wucinski finds a path for herself, entrepreneurs 13%
By Bob Francis10%
8/2/2026, 3:54:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 20 faulty reasoning types, including Anecdotal, Halo Effect, and False Dilemma, with Hasty Generalization as the most egregious example at 10.1% saturation with 119 hits. Analysis detected 964 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,183 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 24.5% and a BS Rank of 13% (22,554 of 25,794 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 87.40% of the article peer group.
Briana Wucinski, CEO of Soul at SunSev Creative.
(Bob Francis | Fort Worth Report)
Briana Wucinski will climb a mountain for you, both literally and figuratively.
The 34-year-old CEO of Soul at SUNSEV Creative and fractional chief marketing officer at TechFW enjoys overcoming a challenge herself – as she did last year in West Texas climbing Guadalupe Peak – almost as much as helping entrepreneurs and startups do so.
On Aug.
3, Wucinski will be doing that as she helps kick off DFW Startup Week by moderating a panel on video and marketing at SMU’s Cox School of Business , 3150 Binkley Ave., in Dallas.
DFW Startup Week is a five-day event organized by The DEC Network and sponsored by Capital One that brings together North Texas entrepreneurs, investors and innovators.
“I love being at the beginning stages of a company being built,” Wucinski said.
“It’s nerve-racking.
It’s high anxiety.
It’s fast-paced.
But I sometimes think that that’s where the most creativity can be found.”
Wucinski is a featured volunteer in this installment of Fort Worth Report’s “52 Faces of Community,” which honors our neighbors who quietly make our lives better every day.
Flexing creative muscles has been part of Wucinski’s makeup for a long time.
The Plano native came to Fort Worth to attend TCU, where she earned a strategic communications degree in 2013.
Realizing her strengths even then, she had cards printed that on one side read, “I can’t sing.
I can’t dance.
I can’t paint.”
The other side read: “But at least I’m creative.”
“That’s how I view myself still today, all these years later,” she said.
Those creative thoughts aren’t just scattershot, though.
Wucinski layers on a strategic component, something she finds missing among startups.
“Entrepreneurs need somebody who isn’t just going to make them a logo but is also going to think about how this is perceived by their customer, how does this position and differentiate them against the competition,” Wucinski said.
“I love being able to take a step back and help them think about the big picture as well as do the execution.”
That desire to help entrepreneurs has come in particularly handy as she ventured out in 2024 to be an entrepreneur herself.
She previously worked full time as marketing and communications manager for Fort Worth’s nonprofit startup accelerator TechFW, but her current role there doesn’t require the same time commitment.
The change allowed her the independence that comes with entrepreneurship and being able to offer creative ideas that often “get buried under some bureaucratic decision-making.”
“Her brand name, SUNSEV, could not be more perfect.
Briana is truly a ray of sunshine.” — Caitlin McMinn, TechFW
The result was SunSev, a combination of “sunshine” and “seventies” reflecting both her desire to bring soul, strategy and a retro-inspired flair to marketing and her mission of helping small businesses, nonprofits and entrepreneurs.
While hardly a child of the ’70s, Wucinski states on SUNSEV’s website that the warmth, experimentation and self-expression that marked the decade allowed creativity to flourish.
She does recall listening on the car stereo as a child to her father’s playlist of greatest hits of that era.
“I took it all in, even though I was just a kid,” she said.
Her love of music, in fact, nearly drew her to Austin after she graduated from TCU.
“At the time, that’s where the scene was,” she said.
“But I asked myself, ‘Why move from where there are all these cool people as well as cheaper rent?’
I’m glad I didn’t do that now.”
Glad, too, is Caitlin McMinn, who was named executive director at TechFW in Sept.
2025.
“Her brand name, SUNSEV, could not be more perfect,” she said.
“Briana is truly a ray of sunshine.”
Beyond her gregarious personality, Wucinski was key to keeping TechFW on track as McMinn stepped into her new role.
“She was a saving grace when I started in this role,” McMinn said.
“She was the one that had a lot of the historic knowledge of TechFW, of the do’s and don’ts that we’ve tried in the past.
It was key to keeping us on track.”
When McMinn decided to do a brand refresh of the startup accelerator, Wucinski was on board.
“She was all in, ready to go to work,” she said.
“Her attitude is contagious.
That’s one reason entrepreneurs respond to her so well.”
Briana Wucinski at the top of Guadalupe Peak.
(Courtesy | Briana Wucinski)
All that enthusiasm can be wearing, as Wucinski herself admits.
She was about a year into her entrepreneurial journey in 2025 when she decided it was time for a break.
“I had been, as entrepreneurs say, ‘on the grind,’” she said.
She took a week off sans laptop to climb Guadalupe Peak, the highest natural point in the state.
She was equipped, almost “Alone”-style, with only a peanut butter and banana sandwich, sunscreen and “a whole lot of self-doubt and self-determination.”
Wucinski did have one companion: Beyonce’s “Cowboy Carter” album as her soundtrack.
Even with “Texas Hold ‘Em” blasting through her earbuds, she wasn’t far into her trek before she began to question her spur-of-the-moment mountain climbing plans.
“I’m, like, a couple miles in, and it’s really, really steep.
I’m regretting all of my decisions, wondering about my cognitive abilities,” she said.
“I could have just gotten by a pool.
I could have just relaxed.
Why did I choose to do something hard on my time off?
What was the point?”
She pondered this as she stopped to eat her sandwich.
While she refueled, she also took a moment to take in the beauty around her.
What she realized is that choosing to do the hard things is like being an entrepreneur and running your own business.
“It is really hard.
It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you can do that, you can climb this mountain, and there will be other mountains I’ll climb in a long series of mountains,” she said.
That’s a message she brings to the small businesses, entrepreneurs and startups as she works with them to take their projects to the next level.
“If you’re going to continue to climb as an entrepreneur, there will be mountains,” she said.
Wicinski is ready to bring other entrepreneurs along with her on the journey.
“I think founders are oftentimes just so focused on selling, which is of course very important,” she said.
“I think branding is more than that.
It’s really telling your story and trying to connect with your audience on that emotional level.
A lot of my work with entrepreneurs, nonprofits is kind of coaching them through that and helping them really drill down into, who is your audience and why do they care?”
Bob Francis is business editor at the Fort Worth Report. bob.francis@fortworthreport.org .
Disclosure: Briana Wucinski has worked with the Fort Worth Report on marketing.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters.
Read more about our editorial independence policy here .
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