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00:00Welcome to the Making Moves Now pitch competition brought to you by McDonald's Black
00:10and Positively Golden Movement, an initiative designed to provide opportunities for the next
00:16generation of leaders. So in just a few minutes, you'll hear five phenomenal young women
00:21entrepreneurs tell our judges all about their businesses for the chance to become one of two
00:27winners who will each take home not $1,000, not $5,000, but $10,000 in funding to help them
00:35take things to the next level. Plus, each of today's winners will also receive business
00:41coaching from New Voices Foundation to support them launching or growing their businesses.
00:47As a matter of fact, let's go ahead and meet these amazing entrepreneurs. First up, we have
00:54Maya Kane, co-founder of Myve Fashion. We have Lachey Green, founder of Soulbite. We have
01:01Sashay Robbs, co-founder of Three Athletics. We have Brandi Merriweather, founder of B-Star PR.
01:09And last but not least, we have Janice Newsome, co-founder of Lillian Augusta Hair Company.
01:17All right, let's get into our judges' introductions. The women who are going to have the difficult
01:22task of picking our winners today. First up, we have Mrs. Marissa Fisher, representing the McDonald's
01:28Black and Positively Golden Movement. Marissa is a second-generation owner and operator of four
01:34McDonald's restaurants in Southeast Louisiana and partner of Jamdramar Inc., the managing company
01:40for 30 McDonald's locations in Michigan and Louisiana. Welcome, Marissa.
01:46Thank you for having me.
01:48Our next lovely judge is Ms. Jaysa Miner, representing the New Voices Fund. Jaysa serves
01:56on the investment team for the New Voices Fund, where she helps deploy more than $50 million
02:02to early-stage companies founded by women of color. Welcome, Jaysa.
02:08It's great to be here. Thanks for the intro.
02:12No doubt. And on to this third and final judge, who may look a little familiar to y'all,
02:16because it's me. I am an actress and co-host of the Webby Award-winning podcast Deadass with
02:23Kadina DeVal. I also co-star on our social sitcom on YouTube called The Ellises, and I'm a proud
02:30graduate of Hofstra University. All right, now I am so excited. It is that time, y'all. It is time to
02:37get into these pitches, and kicking things off for us is our first entrepreneur, Maya Kane.
02:43Hi, my name is Maya Kane, and I'm the co-founder of Mive. Ladies, we have all felt the frustration
02:51of buying a clothing item online and it arriving not as expected. The lack of useful product reviews
02:57and site models not reflecting real bodies make it hard for us to make that confident purchase.
03:03This leads to wasted time and money on returns, which this year are at a record high. My twin
03:09sister and I felt these frustrations in college and since dedicated ourselves to craft a solution
03:14that takes the headache out of online shopping. Meet Mive. Mive is an intelligent and inclusive
03:21fashion marketplace that helps women shop best for their bodies online in the absence of a
03:26traditional fitting room. Our app delivers an unbeatable shopping experience by helping you
03:32choose the right size and curate the perfect look. With just two pictures, we use our augmented reality
03:39measuring tape to capture over 100 measurements to gain a full understanding of your unique body.
03:45So when you shop in the Mive marketplace of contemporary brands, all product photos are
03:50pre-populated with photo reviews by women closest to your size and shape, allowing you to easily gauge
03:57fit and quality before you buy. For example, Kadeen, Jaysa, and Marissa, imagine searching for a jumpsuit
04:04and for every product in your search, you see a woman with a similar body profile wearing each item.
04:10When you click into the item, you can see more comprehensive reviews. Mive goes beyond the five-star
04:16rating and prompts all users to leave descriptive and useful reviews better than any fashion retailer.
04:22We also reward shoppers who leave reviews to encourage every woman to do so. In addition to
04:29sizing, Mive allows you to create occasion-specific boards where you can add items and orient the full
04:35outfit with our drag-and-drop outfit canvas. You can create these by yourself or with friends.
04:42Whether it's a new work wardrobe or an upcoming girl's trip, Mive allows you to organize and visualize
04:48your looks, enabling curation and collaboration all in one place. All in all, our user experience
04:55is built around eradicating returns and making online shopping fun and delightful for women.
05:00Unlike other fashion marketplaces, Mive provides community, social shopping, and reviews at scale,
05:07revolutionizing the way women shop online. Mive is able to stay lean and go fast and focus on new
05:13efficiencies without real estate and store labor of our competitors. This allows us to scale quickly
05:19with little overhead costs. We make money from fashion brands by collecting 15% of each item sold
05:24on our platform and offered sponsored promotions and advanced analytics. Winning this competition
05:30would help fund our beta testing program ahead of our launch to the App Store. Thank you for your
05:34consideration and please know that investment in Mive is an investment for a new foundation for fashion
05:40in a post-COVID world. Thank you. Oh my goodness. Listen, Maya, thank you for that. I mean, it was so
05:47well delivered, so well thought out. So I want to bring our judges in to give you some feedback so they
05:54can see if they have any questions or any further insight into Mive. Thank you, Kadeen. I heard you say
05:59you're still in beta testing. What would you then, after coming out of beta testing, how are you going to
06:06market Mive? Yeah, so our go-to-market strategy after our beta testing program is tapping into
06:15like micro-influencers. Also, we're going to have all the brands that are going to be selling on Mive.
06:20We're going to create partner assets. So if BCBG or Aerie are going to be selling on Mive, we have some
06:27joint marketing material that they can push to their user base to encourage them for their users to shop
06:33online. So it's going to be really us doing a lot of grassroots social media influencing, but also
06:39tapping into the larger markets of our brand partners. Thank you so much, Maya, for giving us
06:45a little more insight into your company. So very well thought out. Such a great idea. So thank you for
06:50that. Good luck to you. All right, Lachey of Soul Bites. Tell me a little bit more about Soul Bites,
06:56all right, because it's almost lunch. It's almost dinner time over here. Imagine this. Sweet potato pie
07:01filling, singing of notes of nutmeg and cinnamon, which is then scooped and coated in graham cracker
07:09crumbs, fried to golden perfection, and served with a drizzle of freshly made caramel sauce and whipped
07:17cream. You would be tasting an old favorite a new way in just one bite. And these sweet potato pie,
07:26bites are just one of many menu items changing what we know about soul food. Hi, everyone. My name is
07:33Lachey Bernice-Green, and I am the creator of Soul Bites. Soul Bites is a gourmet food truck concept
07:39that will serve contemporary versions of classic African-American comfort food. With there being an
07:46abundance of Hispanic, Caribbean, and Middle Eastern fare, Soul Bites will serve as a solution
07:52that fulfills the Bronx, New York community's soul food appetite. The mission of Soul Bites is to be
07:58the future of tradition by celebrating the rich heritage of Black culture, creating an experience that honors
08:05Southern cuisine and hospitality, and contributes to the empowerment of the Black community through the
08:11serving of our contemporary soul food. Soul Bites will have a product line that features soul food with a
08:18modern-day twist, which includes a contemporary interpretation of classic African-American
08:23comfort food, as well as versions of soul food dishes for those with dietary restrictions, served in
08:30smaller bite-sized portions. Desserts, non-alcoholic, and alcoholic drinks will also be featured. With food
08:38trucks estimated to have brought in $1 billion in revenue across America, Soul Bites will contribute to this
08:45revenue stream, with financial projections forecasting annual revenue of over $300,000. With low startup
08:53costs, this food truck concept is sure to be a profitable business opportunity. The business model would consist
09:00of community selling, and over time would expand to include collaborations with various outdoor events and
09:08festival vendors in this time of COVID, as well as securing government contracts to cater any of their affairs,
09:14as a New York State-certified minority woman-owned business enterprise. Upon perfecting this business
09:21model, we hope to franchise a Soul Bites brand to include additional food trucks, as well as brick and mortar
09:28locations throughout New York City. It is our hope to earn additional financing through grants, crowdfunding, pitch
09:35competitions such as this, as well as use personal savings to cover the total cost of this venture, so that one day you'll be taking a bite out of all of our
09:43Soul Bites. Thank you.
09:47All right, Lachey, thank you so much for that. Now listen, me being a native New Yorker, I know all about that food truck life.
09:53I mean, you totally have my mouth watering over here. But being that I'm from New York, and I understand the dense population,
10:01and food trucks being a hot commodity out there, what do you think makes your food truck in particular
10:06different and unique from the other brands that are out there?
10:10My plan is to make sure that I'm staying ahead of everyone else, staying innovative, creating new recipes,
10:18having interesting ingredients that are new to soul food, and incorporating into all the older cuisines that we know and love.
10:26I do have a question for Lachey. Um, I, you know, food, it's right up my wheelhouse. Um, you know, I know, really, as an entrepreneur, as a restaurant
10:37owner, how difficult it is for new entrepreneurs to, you know, get their businesses off the ground. So tell me, you know, with Soul Bites, how are you going to, um, drum up a following?
10:52So my number one goal is to first start in my community, um, going out to those different events that we have, um, especially during this time.
11:01There's going to be a lot of outdoor things going on. So participating in those, um, events, also building a following on social media, um, making sure people see all these beautiful pictures of my food, getting them interested and saying, oh, that looks good. I have to go get some.
11:16So that's my goal, to get people to see it. And once they see it and try it, I know I'll have returning customers.
11:22All right, Lachey, thank you so much for giving us insight into Soul Bites, girl. Next time I'm in New York, hopefully you have things up and running by then so I can stop by and take a visit. So thank you, Lachey.
11:33And for our third entrepreneur, we have Ms. Sashay Robbs. We are excited to hear more about Three Athletics. So whenever you're ready, ma'am, take it away.
11:43Yes, I'm excited to tell you. My name is Sashay Robbs from Atlanta, Georgia, owner of Three Athletics. Three Athletics is an elite performance wear line that provides high quality, affordable athletic wear to the everyday active family.
11:56We offer products such as yoga tops, bottoms, compression, maternity, and other workout accessories and apparel.
12:02Three Athletics was also created to bring awareness on the importance of maintaining a healthy, positive lifestyle.
12:08We know that we are in a very critical time and so many families are currently stuck in the home due to the pandemic, which has made a huge challenge for families to get to the gyms or sporting events.
12:18So we've teamed up with vendors like Hello Juicy, an organic fruit and vegetable vendor based out of Atlanta, Georgia.
12:23We also have goals to host our annual 5K run starting summer of 2021 and our annual health fairs in our community.
12:31Winning the pitch competition would give us such a huge platform and give us an opportunity to make the change that we need in our communities.
12:37Move with us as we stand together in the fight to a healthier you.
12:41One of our biggest projects that we are working on right now is Move.
12:44Move is our annual 5K that we'll be hosting starting in summer 2021.
12:48We will use the funds to cover costs such as insurance, court certifications, permits, equipments, tables, tents, shirts, and any other unexpected expenses that will come with such a large event.
13:01We'll also use those funds to hire employees such as product managers, event coordinators, customer service representatives, and accountants.
13:09Winning the pitch competition would also give us an opportunity to donate to charities.
13:14One of our prospective charities is a charity in our community, so we just hope that you guys move with us in the fight to a better life and a healthier lifestyle.
13:23All right, Marissa and Jaysa, do you guys have any questions or feedback for Sashay?
13:28My question is around your manufacturing process.
13:31For your apparel, can you speak to how you're currently doing that and how the money that you receive can potentially help you get there?
13:38Yes, manufacturing-wise right now we have several vendors.
13:41Right now we are actually out of pocket with the funding for the product, but we're making it work.
13:48We're making it stretch.
13:50So that would definitely be, like I said, we need a product manager.
13:53So we need someone and an accountant to be able to help us with, you know, getting the products together and making sure that our accounts are balanced
14:00and making sure that we are not, you know, pulling from areas that we can't afford to pull from and be able to place money where we need to.
14:07Thank you so much for that, Sashay.
14:10Now, listen, I love that you're encompassing the whole family here, so I have to make sure that I have matching outfits for my boys and my husband.
14:17Thank you so much for your pitch.
14:19It was amazing and good luck to you.
14:22All righty.
14:23Up next, let's hear from Ms. Brandy of B-Star PR.
14:27Brandy, thank you for joining us today.
14:29So we want to jump right into this pitch and it's on you whenever you're ready.
14:33Have you ever been told you were too dark, too proper, too loud, too proud, or too young?
14:42Growing up, I've heard all of these things.
14:44As a dark-skinned Black girl, I grew up thinking I was five shades different than I was.
14:49Due to the comments, matching makeup is still difficult to this day because the way I view my skin is not how others do.
14:57This is why I created B-Star PR.
14:58There's a clear problem if we can't look in the mirror and see what is reality.
15:04Reality is Black women are the most unprotected, unappreciated, and over-sexualized human beings, but about 15% of the U.S. population.
15:15That's enough percent to build some of the largest corporations.
15:18We are powerful beyond measure, but why is it that to feel valued in this world, we have to constantly recreate the perception of us?
15:27As a college student, we get more marketed to than supported.
15:32Throughout quarantine, we've seen the viral dances, Savage Challenge, and Renegade.
15:39Many of us know the dances, but don't know, didn't know the Black girl creators.
15:44After months of seeing others booked to perform her dance, Kiara Wilson decided to utilize B-Star PR to help her leverage her brand, voice, and skill.
15:53We created the foundation to aid Kiara in lasting success.
15:58From 10-plus media placements, three brand deals, TV appearances, verification on TikTok, and entry into the creator marketplace, 300K to a million followers, and a packaged EPK,
16:1219-year-old Kiara, 19-year-old Kiara, is now successfully signed to an agency where she will be able to take care of her family for the rest of her life.
16:19This is just one of the many examples of the solutions we provide our clients.
16:24B-Star PR is unique to the public relations and marketing service market because we are young.
16:30We know what we want to see.
16:32Our insight and perspective of the target market, business, and entertainment industry makes us best in class.
16:40It is hard to put a price on impact, but we have formed a pay system allowing our clients to pay monthly retainers based on the deliverable set.
16:51B-Star PR's pathway to increase profitability is to increase our internal resources and team.
16:57We never want to over-promise and under-deliver, so after winning the Making the Moves pitch competition, we would have enough internal resources.
17:08This will aid us in continuing to accomplish many great things, including the ultimate goal of aiding young college students interested in PR transition into PR professionals with paid hands-on experience.
17:20With the recent pandemic, many companies are forced to creatively market to college students.
17:26The B-Star PR is proud to announce that we are currently in works with the Revlon Company on an upcoming TikTok campaign.
17:34They value our insight and have chosen us to help with their sound curation, which is the foundation to a successful TikTok campaign.
17:43Investing in B-Star PR is like investing in a solution to clean a dirty mirror.
17:48We are only aiding in a more clear reflection.
17:51The impact of the world, truly seeing how great we are as young Black people, can really create lots of change.
18:00This will create a system, a generational impact where even our children will be empowered, reassured, and confident.
18:07We have voices, stories, and accomplishments that must be shared.
18:14Brandy, correct me if I'm wrong, because I don't want to be wrong in this, and I don't want to really see you limit yourself, but why only late millennials and Gen Z?
18:28Because we are marketed to the most.
18:30In my opinion, we're on social media the most.
18:32The advertisements are there.
18:35And sometimes we're not in reflection of that.
18:37And that's where I see the main problem at being.
18:41I think once marketed to, you know, older demographic, at that point in life, they've already targeted what companies that they want to consume and utilize.
18:52And I think the Gen Z, late millennial, we spend the most money one.
18:58We're still working on, you know, holding our dollar in and figuring out where we would like to spend it.
19:03But also, we're still being introduced, we still have that, we're still open to being introduced to new brands and figuring out where we want our dollar to be.
19:14Brandy, thank you so much for such a well-thought-out pitch.
19:18We have so much more insight into your company.
19:20And I think this is just going to make our deliberation process for all of these young women that much more difficult.
19:27And closing out today's pitches, we have Ms. Janice Newsome of Lillian Augusta Hair Company.
19:34Go ahead and take it away.
19:36Lillian Augusta, where we are revolutionizing the Black hair care industry by offering hair without harm.
19:43Now, I vividly remember the first time I wore braids because I could feel the problem.
19:49My scalp was itchy, my skin started to break out, and my neck was sore.
19:53I always thought, well, maybe the problem's just me.
19:57But the problem is actually the hair.
20:00Synthetic braiding hair is made from chemical-laden plastics.
20:03It's potentially cancerous material and causes the discomfort that I and many other Black women experience when wearing braids.
20:10To top it all off, this hair is bad for the environment, contributing to the ongoing issue of plastic pollution.
20:16This discomfort and waste should not have to happen, and it won't, thanks to our solution of hair made by Black women and for Black women.
20:26We are changing the braiding hair experience by making hair that is safe for you and the environment.
20:32Our plant-based braiding hair is made with sustainability and your well-being in mind.
20:36Plant-based braiding hair is lightweight, toxin-free, and makes for a much more comfortable experience when wearing braids.
20:44And plus, plant-based braiding hair is environmentally friendly.
20:48We will be selling our plant-based braiding hair direct to consumer via e-commerce, similar to other braiding hair brands,
20:55all while creating a much better experience for Black women wearing braids.
20:58The Black hair care industry is valued at $2.5 billion, and Black women worldwide wear braids.
21:06Now, the competition is doing very little to address the suite of issues that come with braiding hair.
21:11And they simply can't connect to our customers like we can as Black women founders.
21:16We have firsthand experience with the same pain points that our customers experience when wearing braids.
21:23But not only that, we're scientists.
21:25We have backgrounds in biology and ecology, giving us a comprehensive understanding of plant systems and plant characteristics.
21:34To date, we have multiple versions of our plant-based braiding hair, a provisional patent,
21:39and we are in conversations with a number of manufacturers to prepare for our launch.
21:43We've seen some press coverage from Blavity and some other media outlets on our endeavors.
21:48We recently completed the Galvanizer Accelerator out of Stanford University,
21:52and we are currently in the Desai Accelerator out of the University of Michigan.
21:56Our full product launch is scheduled for August of 2021,
22:01with targeting Midwestern cities for our first customers.
22:04And this funding will accelerate our launch and expand our audience.
22:08We know that Black women are going to continue wearing these hairstyles.
22:11We just want to ensure these styles are safe for us and the environment.
22:15First off, fantastic pitch.
22:18I really enjoyed listening to you describe how you've been hands-on in the manufacturing and design process.
22:24Extremely admirable, particularly in a space like this,
22:27where you're putting your own hair to the test and getting this product to the market.
22:32So my question for you is really around retail opportunities.
22:35As you expand, do you see yourself going into retail channels?
22:39And what would that look like for you?
22:41Yes, we would love to expand into beauty supply stores and possibly even beyond that,
22:47making braiding hair more accessible in a number of other places where beauty supply stores may not be abundant,
22:52such as in college towns, it's hard to find a beauty supply store.
22:56So if we can get our hair into other outlets, that would be amazing.
23:00Thank you to you ladies for all of those amazing presentations.
23:04My fellow judges, we really have our work cut out for us today.
23:09I think everyone really just blew us away.
23:11So we're going to have a tough job ahead, but we are definitely down and we are game.
23:17So stick around for our winners.
23:20All right, judges panel.
23:22Are y'all ready just to deliberate?
23:23We've heard all of these wonderful pitches.
23:26I feel like with each one that passed, I was like, oh no, that's the one.
23:30Oh no, that's the one.
23:31So tell me what you're thinking right now.
23:34Do you have any particular favorites?
23:37One thing that I really loved with Lily and Augusta is how they got so hands-on
23:43and involved in the development of their products and really went through an experimentation process
23:48and were able to take that formula that they developed to a manufacturer
23:53and have it be developed from their own experience in their own hands.
23:59So that was something that really stood out to me because that shows a deep level of investment
24:05and time and energy into that process from sourcing to MVP.
24:10So I was really impressed by their work there.
24:15I thought mine was very kind of different and unique as well.
24:18Being an avid online shopper, typically I like to go to reviews regardless of what I'm shopping for.
24:23If it's clothing, if it's a trip, a hotel, I like to rely on the reviews because you want that personal person
24:29to tell you what it was really like and not have to rely on just marketing campaigns
24:33and beautiful pictures and models who have the perfect shape and the perfect figure.
24:38So I feel like they had a really nice idea with having this app where women can really get feedback
24:44from real women about how certain products may fit.
24:47Marissa, how do you feel about Soul Bites, seeing as though food is your industry?
24:51I'm curious to know, after you heard her entire pitch and got to kind of absorb everything,
24:56what do you think about Soul Bites?
24:59I really liked her idea around Soul Bites and bringing a different look to soul food.
25:05My concern, though, was, you know, with the food trucks, how can she be, I don't know, nimble in her thinking?
25:12Because how, I don't know, big events may not, that may be something of the past.
25:19I don't know.
25:20And what does it look like as far as, I mean, I think about McDonald's, we're having to tap into that delivery space.
25:27So what does it really look like, the future for food trucks?
25:31That was the first thing I thought about.
25:33How are you guys feeling about Beast RPR?
25:35I mean, I think she's on the right track.
25:37I love her personality.
25:38I think that she has such big energy and confidence, and the way that she exudes that is so valuable for the space that she's going to be in,
25:45because she's leveraging her youth as her competitive advantage, and I think that that's going to take her really far.
25:51Three athletics, one of her major selling points was not just the apparel side of things,
25:57but also being in the community, putting together 5K runs, raising money, charities, and all that good stuff.
26:02I know she talked a lot about the 5K event, the run, and it sounded like that's what the funds would be utilized for.
26:10It's nice to be on a panel of judges where we seem to pretty much align on.
26:15Right, really seeing eye to eye here.
26:17We have groups in a new year.
26:19Thank you so much, ladies.
26:20It was a pleasure judging with you.
26:25Welcome back, ladies.
26:27Listen, I don't know if y'all are nervous, but I'm over here, like my palms are sweating as if this was like me about to win some sort of competition,
26:34but that just goes to show that it was a very difficult choice for us.
26:38First of all, I want to thank you all for being such innovative, fearless leaders who are continuing to set such amazing examples for all other aspiring businesswomen out there.
26:49So give yourselves a round of applause.
26:51All of you really brought your A-game today, and it made our job as judges very, very difficult.
26:58All right.
26:59But without further ado, I think it's time to jump into it, and let's get to our winners.
27:05The first winner of the evening.
27:08Drum roll over there.
27:11First winner of the evening is Janice Newsome.
27:16Lillian Augusta here, company.
27:19Oh, my God.
27:22Hey, girl.
27:23Hey.
27:24Listen, you just won mad money.
27:28How does it feel to be our first-
27:31Let me catch my breath before I can answer your question.
27:36I think you were an amazing representation of your company.
27:41Your partner should be very proud.
27:43How are you feeling?
27:44What does it feel like to be that much richer for your company?
27:47It's a great feeling, especially knowing, you know, we're really getting ready for our launch next year.
27:53This is going to be very beneficial to get things in place for us.
27:57Thank you so much, and all the best in your future endeavors.
28:00I cannot wait to see Lillian Augusta Hair Company out in beauty supply stores near me.
28:06Our second and final winner for our pitch competition today, Black and Positively Golden.
28:13Y'all holding your breath?
28:15Y'all holding your breath?
28:16Ms. Maya Kane of Maeve Fashion.
28:21Oh, my goodness.
28:23Oh, Maya, you did such an amazing job.
28:27How are you feeling right in this very moment?
28:29I want to call my sister.
28:32I'm so excited.
28:33What are you, assistant, going to do first when it comes to Maeve fashion?
28:37Yeah, so we're going right to the bank.
28:40We're gearing up for a beta test with 2,000 women across the country.
28:45So being able to prep for that, recruit the women, and have them be the first testers of Maeve is so exciting.
28:51And this is going to help us make a seamless process for that before we do our full launch to the App Store next year.
28:58So this is so exciting.
29:00And I just want to thank McDonald's, Essence, New Voices Fund for this opportunity.
29:06You know, Black women tech founders, I feel like it's kind of the wild world west out here to find opportunities like this.
29:12So it's just such a blessing.
29:15And again, I can't thank you all so much.
29:17Cannot wait to see what you ladies do as you flourish and you thrive in your endeavors.
29:23So thank you again.
29:25Thanks, McDonald's.
29:27Congratulations to both of our winners and to all of our finalists who participated today.
29:33Be sure to head over to each of their social media pages and support each of their businesses.
29:38It's so, so, so important that we support each other.
29:41I know I definitely will.
29:42And of course, I have to thank our lovely judges, Marissa and Jaysa.
29:47And a huge, huge thank you to McDonald's Black and Positively Golden Movement for bringing us this exciting moment this evening.
29:56Don't go anywhere.
29:57The Girls United Summit is just getting started.
30:00The Girls United Summit is just getting started.
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