Winston Salem, NC – March 22th, 2022 – Nine idea-stage entrepreneurs earned awards during the Center for Creative Economy’s Kinetic Creative Bootcamp’s final presentation.
CCE accepted nine creative teams all from Winston Salem, NC to participate in Kinetic, a 4-week cohort-based program that helps aspiring entrepreneurs workshop their early-stage creative business ideas and explore their customer base. Weekly curriculum (with in-person and remote options) is taught by a team of subject matter experts who mentor and counsel founders. Kinetic graduates have successfully launched their startups, earned spots in business accelerators, and secured grants.
The 4-week boot camp culminated in a final presentation where founders gave a five-minute pitch to CCE’s mentors and special guests. Below are the participating teams and awards received.
The Mom League – is founded by moms, Annie Chambers and Kelly Maxey, with the goal of helping all new moms thrive. They were granted the Kinetic Potential Award of $1,000, from the Center for Creative Economy. Other awards received include the Flywheel Coworking Space Award of 1-month free access to the Flywheel facilities. The Mom League was also recognized for interviewing the most customers which is required in the Kinetic program.
Colllab – founded by Arianna Bohning, is an app that provides a centralized platform for fostering connections between professional collaborative pianists and those in need of their services. Arianna earned the Most Improved Award for her work throughout the four-week Boot Camp.
Spirited – founded by Natalie Scarritt, provides traditional, lecture-driven tours of Winston-Salem that are lively, engaging, educational, and crafted by experts. This team won the Flywheel Coworking Space Award of 1-month free access to Flywheel facilities.
Riot Golf – founded by Kirsten Schambra Stevens, a golf brand designed for women, was granted the Social Media Award consisting of three 45-minute pro-bono marketing consulting sessions with Daryl Shaw of Royalty Marketing. They were also awarded the Flywheel Coworking Space award of 1-month free access to Flywheel facilities.
Anne Marie Designs – founded by Anne Pembaur, provides a private atelier experience for brides, with inclusive sizing, exceptional value, and one-on-one attention from their designer. They were awarded the Kinetic Legal Award consisting of $1,500 of pro bono legal services, from Jeff Wolfe of Schell Bray.
ReadySetGo Media – founded by Seth Wingate, provides “turn-key” marketing campaigns designed specifically for the HVAC industry. This company was awarded the Cohort Choice Award with the prize of a Jenni Earle bandana! ReadySetGo Media also won the Top Website Landing Page Award.
Dash City Gaming & Media – founded by Paul Stevens and Jefferson Nicholson, is a Winston-Salem-based gaming and multimedia production team that strives to create a community of like-minded individuals who know how to work hard and play even harder. Dash City Gaming and Media were awarded the Kinetic Top Financial Forecast Award.
Such-N-Such Media – founded by Timothy Beeman, provides personalized media for business and entertainment needs. Their services include podcast production, podcast consulting, voice-overs, a/v production and editing, social media management, and emcee/event host services.
Blackfish– founded by Mandez Douthit, is a full-service talent management and marketing agency that develops, enhances, and manages brands for organizations and individuals.
Within Kinetic’s performance competition, mentors reviewed each company’s documents including a financial forecast, marketing one-page collateral, and website landing pages. Our mentors provided helpful feedback and comments. A special thanks to Jenni Earle Hopkins, founder of Jennie Earle who delivered an inspirational talk on the final day.
CCE extends a special thanks to our sponsors for the Kinetic 2022 boot camps. These include The Winston Salem Foundation, Truist Foundation, Twin City Development Foundation, and Forsyth County.
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The Center for Creative Economy provides inception-stage business training to help artists and other creatives develop viable businesses. Our customized education and mentorship programs fulfill our mission to launch, grow, and accelerate creative businesses.
A nonprofit organization, CCE strives to strengthen the creative economy and the creative community in Winston-Salem, NC, and beyond. Since 2016 CCE has helped launch 56 creative startups in its accelerator, 67% of which were founded by women and 53% by minorities. Today, 83% of those companies are still thriving, and 167 jobs have been created.
Our cohorts have earned $10 million in revenue and raised $11 million in investment. CCE continues to support founders with mentorship and accountability as their businesses grow.
