Name: Amrita Saigal, Founder and CEO of Kudos

Brand: Kudos

Website link: https://www.mykudos.com/

Best contact email: press@mykudos.com

Why you're a fit:

Did you know that with most disposable diapers, babies spend the first 2.5 years of their life sitting in plastic all day? Not only is plastic bad for the environment but it can contain harmful chemicals that can be absorbed into the skin and disrupt endocrine systems. An MIT-trained engineer and scientist by training, Amrita knew there had to be a better option, and set about creating Kudos: the best disposable diaper for baby's sensitive skin, the planet...and parents' white couch! Kudos was born in 2021 and has rapidly become known as the #1 safest disposable diaper on the market - earning accolades from Motherly, Romper, ScaryMommy, Red Tricycle, Fast Company, The Boston Globe, TechCruch, and more. As the first and only disposable diaper where baby's bum touches 100% soft, hypoallergenic, doctor-recommended cotton all day, Kudos was also the first diaper company to receive the personal hygiene industry's top innovation award.

Kudos is the second company that Amrita has founded. Her first company, Saathi, is now one of India's leading eco-friendly sanitary pad companies making sanitary pads for women and school girls in India out of waste banana leave tree fiber. Amrita has been featured in Fast Company, TechCrunch, the Boston Globe, CNBC, and Wired.

Thank you all for your submissions! Very excited to have submitted you for this opportunity.

You should be hearing directly if there are any next steps to take, and of course we'll be in touch should we receive anything on our end.

If you have any questions from here, please reach out to support@presshook.com and someone from our team will be there to help.

Thank you!

Chelsea

Name: Sara Hauman

Brand/company/product you're associated with: Tiny Fish Co. / Bravo's Top Chef

Website link: https://www.thetinyfishco.com/

Best contact email: chefsara@rebelliouspr.com

Why you're a fit: Chef Sara Hauman, a woman in the restaurant industry and now business owner, wants to share her tips on how others can light up their ideas and turn them into a business! Chef Sara is based in the Pacific Northwest and is reinventing the tinned fish industry through her brand Tiny Fish Co., where she utilizes sustainably sourced, traceable seafood to tell the stories of underutilized fish from water to tin. In a world where there may already be tons of similar ideas, Chef Sara never wanted to reinvent the wheel, instead she realized that to execute her idea all she needed to do was put her creativeness into it which meant actually putting herself into Tiny Fish Co. “Embracing yourself and being confident that you have something to add to the conversation is as powerful as being the first to think or do something.” 

Thank you for submitting!

Name: Miki Reynolds

Brand/company/product you're associated with: GRID110

Website link: https://www.grid110.org/

Best contact email: grid110@rebelliouspr.com

Why you're a fit: Miki Reynolds is CEO & Co-founder of Grid110, an LA-based early stage startup accelerator and community development non-profit. Since 2014, Miki has focused on activating the startup ecosystem in Los Angeles through her work with Grid110, fostering community, and connecting the dots for entrepreneurs through access to mentoring and critical resources.  Prior to co-founding Grid110, Miki launched the  Downtown LA location for tech education company General Assembly. 

Miki has accepted commendations from Mayor Eric Garcetti on behalf of General Assembly and Grid110. She has been recognized by LA Biz Journal as a Woman of Influence, was named to Techweek’s #Techweek100, and sits on advisory councils for two of the Mayor's diversity inclusion initiatives: PledgeLA and WiSTEM LA.

This week, Grid110 announced the 2022 Founders Fund cohort of Los Angeles-based companies. The Founders Fund is a program led by the Annenberg Foundation’s PledgeLA initiative in close partnership with Grid110. The cohort of 15 Black and Latinx-led businesses across Los Angeles County will receive a no-equity $25,000 cash grant, 12 weeks of intensive support from Grid110, and a year of ongoing assistance to help alumni access follow-on capital to sustain their businesses. 

Thank you so much for submitting!

Name: Valentine Thomas, brand partner

Brand/company/product you're associated with: Pescavore

Website link: pescavoreseafood.co, https://valentinethomas.net/

Best contact email: hello@pescavoreseafood.com, valentine@valentinethomas.net 

Why you're a fit: Valentine has appeared on the nation's biggest podcasts including the Joe Rogan show. She helps to educate the American public about simple ways to understand sustainable seafood issues - in accordance with that work, she supports Pescavore on various campaigns including our work to abolish the Pebble Mine that threatens fisheries in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska. Valentine is funny, engaging, and famous, she would be a great addition to your show.

Hello,

Name: Chrissy Cabrera

Brand/company/product you're associated with: Naturally London | Soothing hand care & foot care

Website link: https://naturallylondon.com

Best contact email: chris@naturallylondon.com

Why you're a fit: Naturally London has been featured on GMA, The Today Show, and the View numerous times.

Naturally London is a veteran-owned, black-owned, woman-owned business created from grit and pure bootstrapping. Recently, celebrating our seventh birthday, which statistically is no small feat.

Founder Chrissy Cabrera left her six figure job to bet 100% on herself. This is no joking matter being a mother of two young children. She is a skincare, footcare, nailcare guru being published in Martha Stewart, Brydie, Popsugar, and The Zoe Report. She has tips & tricks in many categories, especially health & wellness and how to create and maintain a successful business.

With gratitude,

Chrissy C.

Name: Julie Billingham

Brand/company/product you're associated with: Deux Mains 

Website link: deuxmains.com

Best contact email: Julie@deuxmains.com

Why you're a fit: I would be so honored to share our story of building the Haitian fashion brand, Deux Mains with you and your audience. I do not have the traditional designer story where I was driven to start a brand due to my love of emerging fashion trends, that came later.  The actual catalyst for the brand came from my passion to change the world, specifically to the impact I believe the fashion industry can have in Haiti.  This has led us to partnerships with Kenneth Cole, Eileen Fisher and the United Nations.

I originally was dispatched to Haiti as a volunteer disaster responder after the horrific earthquake that paralyzed the country on January 12, 2010. I lived in a tent for months working to coordinate logistics for the response efforts. While I was working in camps to distribute water and tarps, women asked me for jobs. They knew the only lasting solution to their plight was going to be a good job, as all buildings, infrastructures and everything in the city were completely flattened and destroyed.

It became so apparent what we needed to do. I knew what a powerful industry fashion is and that fashion affects all lives, no matter what the culture or state of the economy. As I became more enlightened about the history of Haiti and the talent of her artisans, I wanted to be a part of sharing that with the rest of the world, hence Deux Mains was born to share Haiti’s ancestral wisdom and craftsmanship while simultaneously creating great jobs and building back industry. 

It’s been a fascinating 12 years with many ups and many more downs, but we have grown stronger with each and every circumstance, only strengthen the belief of what we can do collectively. Hence our tagline - not a solo pursuit.  

Hi there, Charlotte here from Fraîche on behalf of Tximista Lizarazu:

Name: Tximista Lizarazu, CEO & Co-founder

Brand: Fraîche | NYC's favorite connected-smart fridge

Website link: https://fraiche.io

Best contact email: charlotte@fraiche.io

Why you're a fit:

As more employees are returning to the office (or will be post-summer,) the Fraîche Fridge is a great addition for offices to provide healthy and delicious food, drinks, and snacks for hungry employees. The Fraîche Fridge is stocked with meals every day from NYC's favorite restaurants & brands including Honeybrains, Mille Nonne, Spring Cafe Aspen, Maman, Bondi Sushi, and many more.

Founder Tximista Lizarazu is on a journey, alongside his team, to revolutionize the food game in NYCs offices. Working with similar minded partners and brands, the Fraîche team is proud to be delivering eco-packaged, daily fresh, and most importantly delicious food to companies that are investing in their teams health and happiness. He has great insights on the future of work and the return to the office, which is extremely relevant and beneficial for the day and age we are in today.

All the best,

Charlotte

Name: Braelinn Frank

Brand/company/product you're associated with: Rave Nailz

Website link: https://www.ravenailz.com

Best contact email: braelinn@ravenailz.com

Why you're a fit:

I am a female founder of press on nail brand Rave Nailz, the only nail artist designed press ons available on the market.

When I was a kid, I was SO shy... and it's because I knew I was different. So my way of fitting in was just to be... quiet. Even though my lips were sealed, the other kids could still tell I was, well, weird. By the second grade I realized I did not dress like the other kids. So, I tried to fit in, and it took me up until high school to figure it out, by studying what others wore and learning to dress "normal".

Once I figured out how to seem normal, I finally made some friends! And before long, I felt comfortable, and my weirdness started seeping through the cracks. I discovered EDM and began attending raves (a historically very accepting group of people). I always loved crafting, drawing, and creating on my own, and now I was inspired by nail art. I began painting my nails with intricate designs and wearing them to the raves. When people saw my nails, they flocked to me! They were unusual, but they were an unusual that they LOVED. Suddenly, my whole weird self, not the "normalized" one, had a place in people's hearts.

I began buying blank press on nails in bulk simply because my own ten fingers were not enough for all of my ideas- I needed more canvases! Soon after, I realized I could list these hand painted press ons for sale on the internet. In 2015 I was the first person selling press on nails on Etsy, under the name Rave Nailz. The orders grew and grew, and finally I received a message from one of my favorite brands, Dolls Kill, asking to place a wholesale order. Of course I said yes, and then I spent every available hour of the next three weeks hand painting press ons for their order. Finally around their fourth order, I took all the money I had made and used it to make my first manufactured press on nails.

In my adulthood I was diagnosed with Autism. I was like, ah, everything makes so much more sense now 😂 But at this point, I have already embraced my weird. Now, my superpower just has a name. Rave Nailz is about being the truest version of yourself, expressing yourself fully, and wearing it wear it's seen first- your fingertips!

Anyway, I'd love to be on the show :)

If you would like Press Hook to submit on your behalf, please post below with the following information:

Name: Jennifer Kennedy

Brand/company/product you're associated with: HoneyBug

Website link: www.shophoneybug.com

Best contact email: Jen: jen@shophoneybug.com; fastest contact is Rachel: rachel@shophoneybug.com

Why you're a fit:

I left the corporate world where I was Chief Product & Innovation Officer of a multi-billion-dollar retailer to start HoneyBug. HoneyBug has reinvented how people shop and gift for babies - solving the need for convenience while maintaining thoughtfulness of gifting for busy moms, parents, and gift givers everywhere.

My whole life I was the kid who couldn’t listen but had the ability to create and imagine. After struggling in a traditional school model, my parents (a SWAT officer and librarian) moved me into a Creative & Performing Arts school in 4^th grade which ended up being one of the most pivotal moments in my life.  Even as early as high school I knew that I wanted to do something in business and was drawn to Marketing, but I truly can’t say I gave it much thought other than “it felt right”. 

After graduating from college, I had this notion that “success” looked like working at a big brand that garnered respect from my peers or my community. While I quickly achieved success in my career, becoming the Chief Product & Innovation Officer at a multi-billion-dollar brand before I was 35, I always felt like something was missing. In 2019 after having my two children and working full time, I started building HoneyBug as simply a creative outlet. One year later, HoneyBug started to show some promise, and as many others did during COVID I embraced the Great Resignation making the leap to a full time Founder & CEO – and truly have never looked back. 

Being a Founder is hard, being a female founder and mother is even harder.  I have worked incredibly hard to get HoneyBug to where it is today - and I have learned a lot both about myself, my company, and have become a true CEO in the process. I never expected this level of growth - facing new challenges every day and knowing you can survive them. Women founders often get their ideas treated as a "side hustle" versus a true business venture, and I am proud to say HoneyBug is built to scale far past anyone's hobby.

Name: Abraham (Abe) Kamarck

Brand/company/product you're associated with: True Made Foods

Website link: https://www.truemadefoods.com

Best contact email: Abraham@TrueFoods.me

Why you're a fit: American Basics Made Better

We make delicious no-sugar versions of your favorite condiments (Ketchup, BBQ Sauces, Mustards and Hot Sauces), all 100% naturally sweetened with real, whole foods. Our products are now sold nationwide in Kroger, Walmart, Whole Foods and Sprouts and are served in two Major League Baseball Stadiums (Fenway and Nationals Park).

We are also a veteran-owned and black-owned company.

Very Best

Name: Founder: Brooke Mullen

Brand/company/product you're associated with: Sapahn

Website link: www.sapahn.com

Best contact email: cassie@sapahn.com

Why you're a fit:

A self-taught designer created out of a beautiful journey of discovery, connection, and understanding, founder and designer Brooke Mullen launched Sapahn in 2010 while living in Thailand, traveling to places many don’t gain access to. A fiercely authentic entrepreneur, Brooke is disrupting what today's designers stand for—along with her enduring and conscious designs, Brooke is steadfast in showing the fashion industry that a focus on human rights is the pathway toward alleviating many vulnerabilities of exploitation. Businesses, even fashion brands, can be a force for creating a world where the human rights of ALL are upheld and respected. 

Brooke started designing as a way to mobilize highly skilled female artisans to reach new audiences and opportunities and put her background and Masters Degree in Human Rights to use. Each piece is designed to balance the purity, integrity, skill and artisanship of our female artisans with sophisticated and smart designs. Our handbags are for the confident woman who wants more than her own personal style to shine—she wants a piece that is doing beautiful things for the hands that made it.  

Name: La La Anthony

Brand/company/product you're associated with: INALA

Website link: https://shopinala.com/

Best contact email: kailey@shopinala.com

Why you're a fit: La La Anthony, born “Alani”, is on a new mission to encourage you to own your strand story. Entering beauty through the hair category,

La La has pulled on her personal experience to create thoughtful, efficacious products that work and empower your confidence. With a reputation for being genuine and fiercely loyal, La La values her family, friends and following and the trust they have instilled in her.

"As an actress, I am constantly have my hair tugged, pulled, styled, and manipulated. I began researching home remedies to help strengthen and fill out my hair and that’s how I found rice water. I put together a team of beauty experts to bring the vision to life providing the benefits of rice water without the mess, work and risk of doing it yourself."

With 2 products already on the market rooted in our signature Rice Water blend, and 1 more to hit the market soon... this is a brand to watch.

Names: Sheena Lister and Megan Andrews

Brand Name: Barb

Best Contact Emails: mae.claire.sabin@xrclabs.com and amanda@xrclabs.com 

Website: https://thebarbshop.com/

Company Fit: Barb is a SF- based startup co-founded by Sheena Lister (she/her) and Megan Andrews (they/she) that creates hair styling products for women, non-binary and trans people, or anyone who expresses themselves through short hair (Aka: Barbs). Their products are designed from formulation to application to promote a community rooted in acceptance and living your truth. Barb is the only hair and beauty brand centered around the identity of short hair.

Sheena and Megan have each had short hair for 15+ years. Before Barb, they were faced with an industry where nearly all short hair products were made for and marketed to men. As Sheena says “Hair has no gender, but most haircare products do.” So in 2021, they launched Barb to provide products and community for those who have been under-represented and under-served in the traditional haircare space. 

The queer-owned Barb, which created a pomade specifically for women, transgender, and nonbinary individualuals, recently ran a Pride Month campaign where they donated 20% of the profits from their Pride T-shirts to GLSEN, a national nonprofit working to foster an LGBTQ+-inclusive environment in K - 12 schools. 

Barb's core customers are 25-45, and they recently partnered with Urban Outfitters to sell their product in-stores after seeing a 26% month over month growth rate (see here). They also work with a growing number of wholesale partners in shops and salons across the country - aptly nicknamed “BarbTenders” - to promote visibility in the short-hair sphere. Barb frequently hosts pop-up events where they encourage participants to "#GoBarb," and will sponsor clients getting a transitional haircut.

Barb’s first and signature product is their Soft Clay Pomade. This medium hold, natural finish pomade is soft and creamy on the hands with no stiffness or stickiness. It has a fresh smell, rinses clean with water, and works well on its own or with other products. It’s also cruelty free. Whether you have a bob, shag, wolf cut, crop or pixie, Barb has product and community for you.

Hello!

I think our founder and CEO, Amy Walberg, would be a great feature for this . Info as follows:

Name: Amy Walberg

Brand/company/product you're associated with: PRESS Premium Alcohol Seltzer

Website link: www.enjoypress.com

Best contact email: please reach out to the Brand Manager, Olga : olga@xyzbev.com

Why you're a fit:

About PRESS^® Premium Alcohol Seltzer

PRESS Premium Alcohol Seltzer was founded by Amy Walberg in 2015 from the most powerful inspiration sparked by personal passion—with a little nudge from necessity! As a single professional, Amy, did her share of international travel in search of rich culinary and cultural experiences. Then she became a mom: equally rewarding, but a very different kind of adventure—as every parent knows. Parenthood meant adjusting to a rather dynamic set of responsibilities; you never know when you’ll have to jump from entertaining friends to Mom duty—usually at a moment’s notice. Amy didn’t want to give up her celebratory time with friends—but she was looking for a delicious and responsible alternative to higher ABV cocktails. When she couldn’t find what she wanted, she created it. That was certainly the case with the evolution of PRESS.

Seltzer has always been Amy’s sipper of choice. With sparkle as the base, she started experimenting with global fruit and spice flavor combinations and added just a hint of a kick. Drawing on her advertising background, she designed elegant packaging to elevate the beverage and entertaining experience.

Amy developed and designed the beverage she wanted to drink, from her perspective as a woman in a male-dominated industry that was not particularly responsive to its women customers. Consumers embraced the new sparkling creation and became raving fans. Now, their delight is Amy’s continued inspiration as we press forward with fresh innovation.  Amy enjoys creating exciting new flavors and continues to elevate every PRESS touchpoint, because our priority is to serve our consumer with the premium seltzer experience they deserve.

PRESS was the first brand to offer lower calories and sugar AND fabulous taste built on complex, sophisticated flavor profiles. We use all-natural ingredients so the true essence of the fruits and spices peek through the crisp seltzer bubbles. PRESS was also the first alcohol seltzer offered in a slim, matte can; our packaging felt luxurious and looked stunning. PRESS broke many barriers with this approach, but Amy was on a mission to create a product that would delight with delicious taste and sophisticated sustainable cans that are beautiful to look at, touch, and serve.

Today, PRESS is available in 48 states and a top 10 brand in the hard seltzer category! PRESS can be enjoyed in these eight flavors: Blackberry Hibiscus, Grapefruit Cardamom, Lime Lemongrass, Pomegranate Ginger, Pineapple Basil, Lingonberry Elderflower, Apple Cinnamon, and Pear Chamomile.

More information:

Please visit our website: www.enjoypress.com

Authority Magazine : https://medium.com/authority-magazine/meet-the-disruptors-amy-walberg-of-press-premium-alcohol-seltzer-on-the-three-things-you-need-to-1a13445961

Hard Seltzer News: https://hardseltzernews.com/2021/06/25/press-named-the-1-best-hard-seltzer-at-ten-of-ten-consecutive-seltzerland-events/

Brand Video with founder Amy Walberg: http://www.mediafire.com/file/680rybweb4co5v1/press-founder-full-v2-1080-100sec.mp4.zip/file

Brand Video with founder Amy Walberg: https://youtu.be/0k-kni76UpQ