The Perfect Pitch: An interview with Mikea Hugley
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Show Description:
Learning how to pitch your ideas to the right people is one of the most critical and most stringent steps you can take for securing funding for your business.
That’s why we are sitting down with our very own Mikea Hugley, who was one of the winners in the MICA’s Up/Start Pitch Competition for her new shoe company “Makers for Humankind.”
We discuss how she came up with the idea for her company, the steps she took to win the competition, and what we can expect in the future.
About GFGF:
The Get Found Get Funded podcast
About Mikea Hugley:
- Founder of Makers for Humankind
- One of eight winners of the Up/Start Venture Competition.
- Teacher at Baltimore County public schools.
- Graphic Designer for Get Found, Get Funded. [need her own company here]
Key Quotes from Mikea Hugley:
- I heard from a pastor one day he said, “your talent is what you’re paid for, but your gift is what you’re made for”. So, I thought about that and I said, you know, how am I using my talent and also my gifts to either benefit me financially or to benefit my vision.
- I’m trying to create a product where people….they’re not limited by the sneaker itself, like they can change it up, however they may need to use it at the time.
- Having a mentor is probably one of the number one resources that was provided by MICA.
- I know if I can be successful in my own city that I could go to different cities and do the same thing.
- I believe that everyone in some way, they’re creative and… I’m encouraging people to create products for humanity, create products that are gonna change… humanity in some way.
Key Timestamps:
- 01:02 Introduction
- 02:36 Mikea’s start in design
- 05:02 Coming up with the idea for footwear
- 10:14 The pitch competition
- 23:30 Business goals
- 31:42 Other projects Mikea worked on.
- 34:18 Outro
Key Takeaways:
- Mikea created Makers for Humankind based on the need of the homeless population. She adapted the design to also serve the medical community.
- MCIA pivoted their pitch competition to a virtual event because of Covid-19.
- Mikea was one of eight winners in the competition.
Items Mentioned in the Show:
