Improving Health and Healing the Environment with Pitch For Good: Women Founders Edition

Today, we celebrated Women’s Equality Day with the second annual Pitch for Good: Women Founders Edition, featuring six women founders who are changing the world with innovations around hiring, healthcare and horseshoe crabs.

Rootine founder Rachel Sanders and The Comma Collective founder Miller Morris walked away with the Up and Running and Launch category awards respectively, earning $2,000 in financial grants, while Fluffy Friends founder Allison Campbell was named Crowd Favorite for a scholarship to her choice of EC program.

“Every entrepreneur here is truly solving real problems, and did a great job today. Thank you for all that you do each and every day,” said EC CEO Jane Allen.

Each of the category winners were selected by a panel of expert judges, including special guest Kristin Cavallari, founder and CEO of UnCommon James. Cavallari moved from Chicago to Franklin, where she opened her flagship store in 2018 and has since sold jewelry and skincare solutions for the modern woman.

“Everything is here. It was important to me to put our roots down here. If my kids are here, I’m here – at least for the next 15 years or so,” Cavallari said. 

She was joined on the panel by fellow judges Jamie Troxell, Dell Women’s Entrepreneurship Network Global Marketing, and CPRWrap Founder and CEO Felicia Jackson, who was also the 2020 Pitch for Good: Tennessee Tough Edition Champion.

Among the companies that presented their elevator pitch to an engaged virtual crowd were:

Up and Running Category ($25K + in Revenue)

• Rachel Sanders, founder of Rootine – WINNER
• Lauren O’Meara, founder of DocLauncher 
• Netta Dobbins, founder of Mimconnect 

“A lot of individuals are understanding that prevention is key to health,” said Sanders, when asked about how her customer base responded during the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming more interested in the test-based health solutions available through Rootine.

Launch Category  (Less than $25K in Revenue)

• Miller Morris, founder of The Comma Collective – WINNER
• Allison Campbell, founder of Fluffy Friends – CROWD FAVORITE
• Jennifer Watson, founder of Limuless
  

“I think about us building a technology company, and I see tampons as wearable tech,” said Morris. Her company, The Comma Collective, is creating safe, compostable bioplastic tampon holders that decay in weeks – not centuries.

Thank you to our judges, our dedicated group of volunteers who narrowed the field through our selection committee, and to our sponsors for their ongoing support of our entrepreneurial community: Dell Technologies, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, GPSOURCES and Launch Tennessee.

“I just want to say to all the women who are founders – there’s so many hurdles to get over, so kudos to everybody.” Kristin Ribas, Business Development and Strategic Accounts Manager for GPSOURCES.

Weren’t able to join the event? See the complete video recap here.