A local business owner has won a national award for female entrepreneurs.
Britany Powell, owner of Wolfe Co. Apparel and Goods in Huntsville, is one of 10 recipients for Visa’s “She’s Next Grant” out of a pool of 3,500 applicants.
The grant is $10,000 and comes with coaching and mentorship through York University.
“It’s huge for me, for any small business. I think a lot of people assume we’re quite a large corporation, but we’re not,” says Powell. “Every small business has cash flow issues, especially in a seasonal location like Huntsville. $10,000 can go a long way in terms of production, staff, all the basic things you need to keep the doors open every day.”
Powell started the business in 2016 and now sells made-in-Canada goods from her store on Main St. and summer pop-up in Minett.
She says she was blindsided by the news, as Visa had sprung it on the winners during what was meant to be another round of applicant interviews. Powell jokes that she “doesn’t think very highly” of herself, but that attitude might have helped her chances.
“I’m just very up front about the fact that I didn’t go to school for this, I have no formal training, I Google a lot of things, and use YouTube for most of my learning,” says Powell. “So I think the authenticity and transparency with how I conduct myself has made some really good connections, and I think that came through in the application process.”
According to Powell, she’s jumping on the mentorship program as it was one of the main draws to apply when she saw the grant promoted on Instagram, adding she’s currently doing an MBA at night via an online program at Babson College in Boston.
“Winning this award finally showed to me that the effort that I’ve been putting in is being appreciated on a larger scale,” says Powell. “It’s a long haul starting your own business, and trying to keep it going through COVID, and everything like that. So to have this come this summer was exactly what I needed to keep pushing.”
