00:00it's time to invite our finalists back to crown our winner before we do i want to congratulate
00:09every single one of you for your amazing pitches you should be proud of what you presented today
00:15we were all extremely impressed by your ingenuity and commitment to make meaningful solutions a
00:20reality as a reminder our winner will receive a 100 000 grant from Aveeno and mentorship from
00:28industry leaders at Aveeno and Essence as well as be featured in Shock Essence all of our finalists
00:37will also be receiving a mentorship session from Aveeno or Essence to help with your business needs
00:45and now we're proud to announce that the winner
00:52of the Aveeno Skin Health Startup Accelerator is I don't know how to do a drum roll so I'm just
01:04going to do jazz hands
01:05Elodia, Mr. Dr. Fahan Chambers-Harris we are so proud of you and excited for what you represent
01:18and will do with this Accelerator Startup Prize and just curious how you feeling
01:24thank you guys so much this is life-changing for our business I said I wasn't going to cry
01:33but it's like anything so thank you say more about what that means for you this Fahan
01:41just trying to compose myself that's okay just breathe take your time take your time so uh you know
01:48we're 100% self-funded um my family we have put our all into this business our blood sweat tears money
01:57um life savings you know um and revenues from our amazing customer base so just to have this validation
02:06it just means the world to us and I know I can hear my husband screaming downstairs because he has
02:11and my kids too they're in homeschooling so they were just rooting for me and listening to the pitch
02:20and my mom and it's just it's truly a family like you see me but behind me and or I'm standing on their
02:28shoulders is my husband my mom my mom-in-law just my all of my family just um lifting me up and lifting
02:35this business up as well as our customer base I cannot forget about them so um this is just an
02:41amazing opportunity and I'm just so very humbled and grateful for this opportunity you know the
02:48resources it's life-changing for our business um you know I I aspire to have a world uh internationally
02:58known business and um you know this is truly life-changing we'll be able to complete our clinical
03:04study that we're starting with Princeton um we'll be able to file a patent for a lot of the
03:11innovative scout products that we're coming out and we're so very passionate to help our customers
03:16with the wide array of scout problems that they have so now we'll be able to do it I won't have
03:21to stay up late nights thinking about where we're going to get the money from um a large part of our
03:27revenue we just I would say down to the penny I put right back in to make the the business even bigger
03:33and a large part of our money's go towards um just inventory so just to have this cash flow now to do
03:41these things that I've always dreamt of doing it's it's just amazing and I'm truly truly grateful and
03:48then also to have the mentorship opportunity from a a brand such as Aveeno where I've been shopping with
03:55you guys since I was young so um just to be able to glean some knowledge from you and um to get sound
04:02advice I'm a research scientist I'm not an entrepreneur so sometimes I feel like I'm
04:07navigating this entrepreneurship space in the dark um so just to have your guidance it's just
04:15it's instrumental so I can go on and on I hope I'm not rambling if you were you have every right to and
04:22and we're just really proud of you and everything that you have done to get to this point honored
04:28to have you be um our winner as we think about this accelerator I was most excited to hear that
04:36your family was excited yeah because we all know the role that they play in helping us all be
04:41entrepreneurs and so congratulations sis you deserve it if you cry cry you know you you get to celebrate
04:49this and for all the women from all of these businesses that will benefit from feeling like
04:54their skin matters as they were born in and what that will do for what they believe they can do in
04:59the world is what all of you have as a purpose and as a black girl who had to figure out how to live
05:04in the skin that she's in I thank you for creating solutions that continue to help me exist in that
05:11before we close out our partner Aveeno has been really critical to helping this amazing initiative
05:19come to life and Suzanne I just wanted to give you an opportunity to share anything else that you may
05:23want to share as we complete thank you so much Caroline uh first and foremost congratulations
05:30ispahan on on winning the Aveeno skin health startup accelerator we were so impressed with you uh we
05:36loved your story and we're thrilled with the impact that you're going to make on scalp health
05:41uh I did want to add um and to hear your family celebrating with you is is it's it's giving me
05:48chills head to toe so congratulations thank you on being our winner I did want to add um that you know
05:56this was really a a tough um decision all of the pitches were so amazing um you know there there was
06:04another business specifically that that we did see great potential in and we believed that uh this
06:11entrepreneur could benefit from funding and mentorship for her business as well and that
06:18business is Ari Turner and look good live well Ari we were also blown away by you uh and your commitment
06:27to skin health and making a difference we also want to acknowledge you and provide you with a hundred
06:36thousand dollars in funding and mentorship for your business as well so you can make meaningful strides
06:43in realizing your vision for your brand oh this means a lot this means a lot oh my god this means a lot
06:53you said something Caroline that um that really a lot of things that really resonated and I wanted to
07:03create something that would allow women my daughter her friends um women like myself older younger any woman of
07:13color to feel good about what their body does naturally and I think that we are just in a culture where
07:20there are so many um filters and facades and this glass skin perfect skin notion has just been drilled
07:31into the grounds and I think that paying attention and being connected to what our body does naturally
07:36working with it instead of working against it it matters so much and so I can totally relate I
07:44everything is completely bootstrapped just everything I earned just dumping it back into my business I am
07:50the manufacturer my daughter is my employee so she gets it she shares this win just as much as I do
07:57because she puts her all into it as well um and what this can do to help not only just this just smooth
08:05out the day-to-day functions but broadening and deepening and enriching that that community focus
08:13that I have in growing this brand growing the roots I think is what I'm most excited about because
08:18anyone can go viral right like we're in that age anyone can have beautiful packaging and a cute reel on
08:25you know instagram that's catchy and the product can sell out but I want to last I want to last and
08:31so this partnering with with both of you was extremely important because when I think about
08:35essence and what their commitment is to the black women the black community and when I think of a vino
08:40and what that longevity has looked like to be able to be locked in um not just with resources but with
08:47that that that mentorship yeah it's understandable grateful and and know that this group of judges as
08:56Suzanne said um right we really struggled and for Adiola Samuyan and Audra right you heard me talk
09:06about as we got to this place about the ongoing consultation that each of you guys get as finalists
09:12in this startup accelerator and what I can tell you with my full excitement is all five of your
09:18businesses are so necessary in this world and so we look forward to the opportunity we have to connect
09:25right with a Rome and Melanina and Rocky Robinson to also just continue to support what essence and
09:33a vino believe is necessary for us to all feel our skin health so that we can live in our best health
09:42and so all of you have inspired us have told us what it means to really be committed to helping all of us
09:52feel like we are valued and that we matter in the skin that we're in and I couldn't be more excited
09:58for you winning the prize Ari to be able to support you and then for Samoon Adra and Adiola I can't
10:06wait for the one-on-one conversations we'll get to have with you guys about how we can further support
10:10you and this starts to close out our startup accelerator congratulations again judges thank you
10:17thank you thank you thank you uh for the time dedicated to helping to support these businesses Suzanne
10:24and the Aveeno family thank you for your commitment and dedication on what we do and for more on how you
10:33can just continue to get expert advice and business tools for entrepreneurs please visit essence.com
10:39slash Aveeno and we appreciate you spending time with us today
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