Two Alberta women have made the Top 5 in Total Mom Pitch, a national competition that helps support moms launching their own business.
The opportunity has opened the door to a whole community of women that offer support — not only in business — but also at home.
On March 15, the candidates will pitch their business to a panel of judges, who then decide on a winner.
Jenelle Peterson and Janna Hattingh both launched their businesses just as the world was sliding into a pandemic.
Both women faced a number of challenges while trying to balance being a boss and taking care of their young kids.
Wild | Life Adventures LTD.
Peterson, who started up Wild | Life Adventures LTD., said making the Top 5 and joining a community of businesswomen and moms has already made a big difference for her.
“It was huge for me because I was feeling really alone and really lonely,” Peterson said.
“I have always worked in big corporate settings so venturing out into an entrepreneurial endeavor, being on my own, was very different for me.”
Peterson launched Wild | Life Outdoor Adventures to help parents inspire their kids to get outside to learn, explore and have some fun.
While she had her own support group before the Total Mom Pitch, Peterson said she has found a group of women who have the same challenges and understand her hardships.
“I find that I had my mom friends and then I had my career friends and there was nobody in between that understood both of those worlds and the balance that you need to have every single day,” Peterson said.
Business is booming and Peterson said demand is there for the subscription boxes. However, what her company needs right now is mentorship, support and resources, and winning the Total Mom Pitch will fill those gaps.
“The whole prize pack would really allow us to kind of accelerate our growth, capitalize on economies of scale, lower our costs and ultimately, reach more Canadians,” Peterson added.
Booby Food
Booby Food was started up by Hattingh to help moms who are breastfeeding, by taking their frozen breast milk and turning it into freeze-dried, shelf-stable powder.
While Hattingh was trying to get her company up and running, she found funding to be one of her biggest barriers.
“I have applied for so many grants and so many different financial opportunities and I was turned down from every single one of them,” Hattingh said.
“Total moms was the only one that actually believed in me.
“They gave me a chance and said, ‘We love what you’re doing and we’re gonna support you.'”
If Hattingh wins, she said she’ll be able to expand accessibility — a challenge her business is currently facing.
“We really want to send operations into other cities and to be able to have that accessibility for other moms to be able to have the service done so that they never have to waste a drop of their breastmilk,” Hattingh said.
Total Mom Show
Petterson and Hattingh will do their live pitch during the Total Mom Show digital conference on March 15.
The women, along with three others, are competing for $10,000 cash and $20,000 for their business.
Both mammas are hoping for the prize money, but are more than grateful for the connections they’ve already made being part of the competition.
The competition aims to bring together women from across Canada to network with other mom entrepreneurs, offering them expert feedback and mentorship.
Anna Sinclair, who started the competition last year, knows all too well the many obstacles that can come with juggling being a boss and a mom.
“Moms are struggling with time, they’re struggling with money, they’re struggling with resources, and on top of that, let’s just stack up childcare, they’re struggling with childcare and they’re struggling to find a time and space to work on their business,” Sinclair said.
She believes this is a critical factor why moms across the country are finding it increasingly difficult to work, let alone branching off and starting their own company.
Sinclair said she’s amazed by her partners and the experts that have decided to join forces during this competition, giving support and advice to the “mompreneurs” who are just starting out.
“This can change their family’s future, this can change their kid’s lives.
“This is an opportunity for them to potentially change the whole future of their small business (and) take it to a national level,” Sinclair said.
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