While the Enterprize Challenge finale was almost a month ago, it took me a while to write this blog because I was fairly disappointed with the results. I didn’t place, and I felt so darn good about my presentation that I was pretty let down. However, things have really picked up for my business ever since the pitch, so I’m ready to fill you all in on the experience.
All of April, I poured my heart into perfecting my pitch. Determined and a bit stubborn, I questioned every little piece of it and kept refining. I was set on entertaining and engaging the audience while delivering a solid pitch. Taking the judges’ feedback from the first round, I incorporated more about my brand work alongside the legacy videos. And did I mention that this pitch had to be completed in 8 minutes, including Q&A time, compared to 15 for the first round? That was a challenge, but I trimmed it down and really liked my pitch. I can probably still recite it now, haha.
Let’s go back to the day of the pitch. We set up booths in the lobby of the Performing Arts Centre. I kept mine fairly simple and classy: a banner, business cards, my computer playing a curated playlist, a QR code poster with my website, my Lumix S5 on the RS3 Gimbal, ballots for a Legacy Video giveaway if you signed up for my newsletter (stay tuned for that), and a bouquet of tulips (one of the Legacy Video package names). Once my booth was ready, it was time for a dress rehearsal.
Guess what? The rehearsal went amazingly. I didn’t stumble once! I was pumped and ready to go. Back out to the lobby to mingle with guests and people coming to watch the event. I had lots of interest in both the brand video side of my business and Legacy Videos. One lady even said I was the reason she came to the event! My blood was pumping in a good way. I had my husband, mom, aunt, and some good friends like Tom and Cora, new neighbors Renata and Donald, and awesome gal pals Angie and Brigitte there to support me. My mentor for the challenge, Keelan from the Downtown Vernon Association, also came by to wish me luck. I was ready.
At 6pm, we were back in the green room with a feast from Kristy from BLVD Coffee and Chef Lauren Vincent. WOW. That food was amazing, no wonder Chef Lauren placed third at the Challenge last year! I wish I could have eaten more, but the nerves were creeping up. I was set to go fifth out of seven, and it honestly seemed to take forever! Finally, it was my turn, and I went out there with confidence. The lights were bright, the judges were close, and the audience looked happy. It was a great scene! I started strong but stumbled on something super simple, completely lost my word, and it took what seemed like 10 seconds for me to get it back (everyone told me it wasn’t that bad though, haha). I laughed it off, kept going, and nailed the rest of the presentation. It was actually pretty fun—maybe I should add public speaking and hosting to my services…
Intermission. What a relief! You all know I love my wine, and that intermission glass was delicious. My support team showered me with hugs and compliments. Complete strangers came up and said great job. It was awesome. AND I could finally eat more of that amazing food. Everyone was in good spirits. We mingled, chatted, and more people entered my giveaway for a free Legacy Video. Fun times all around. And look, it’s Mike from Rhythm Productions covering the event!
Backstage we went, guests to their seats, and it was time to announce the winners…none of which were me, unfortunately. When they announced the winners, I’m not going to lie, I had tears. But big congrats to the winners: Baking Time took 3rd, Errands & Beyond took 2nd, and the big winner was Sage Dental, who also won People’s Choice. It was a strong group, and the rest of the businesses deserve a shout-out too, as it really was anyone’s competition to win: Alex & Ria Creative Studio, Free Child Farm, and Farmhouse Music. I highly suggest you follow all of these entrepreneurs(click their names to check them out) as they are going to do great things in the future! Cheers to all these businesses, and thank you to Community Futures for putting on a fabulous event.
And as for my future…I quit. Just joking. It was a great experience, a ton of exposure, and I loved all the contacts I made that night. I have more and more gigs rolling in, and even though I really could have used the seed capital and all the advertising and other prizes, I’ll be just fine…maybe the judges knew that and that’s why I didn’t win? I’m just going to go with that!
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