What a fur-tastic whirlwind of an adventure The American Small Business Championship has been for us! After getting the news about winning in February, it was only a matter of weeks until Niki, co-owner of Hawai`i Doggie Bakery hopped on a plane to Phoenix to represent as one of two winners from Hawaii.
Hawaii’s American Small Business Championship Winners, Niki (Hawai`i Doggie Bakery)
and Patrice (Art of Aloha) on the plane from Hawaii to Phoenix!
Thanks to the SCORE Foundation and a grant from Sam’s Club, Niki was treated to an all-expenses paid trip to join the other winners from the Western Region of the US in networking, training and to receive in-person one of the prizes – a $1,000 gift card from Sam’s Club!
Niki was so excited to arrive and check into her suite at the Hilton Phoenix Suites!
The welcome basket from SCORE was greatly appreciated too!
Bird’s Eye view of the Hilton Phoenix Suites from Niki’s suite on the 8th floor
The first day in Phoenix started off with a delicious breakfast provided by the Hilton Suites Phoenix Great American Grill, meeting the fantastic team from SCORE and networking with the other winners who were flown in from all over the Western United States.
There’s always time for a selfie with fellow American Small Business Champions
like Silvia and Sonia from Restore.tv in Utah and Naina from SCORE!
Danette from Heritage Scones in Idaho was a big winner with the
Champions once they tasted her DELICIOUS blueberry scones!
Niki and Patrice from Art of Aloha are ready to learn how to grow their businesses!
Niki and her packet of educational materials, excited to learn from SCORE!
But it wasn’t all selfies and scones, the Western Champions were all eager to learn! SCORE Foundation had flown in the best of the best – speakers who were there to share what they knew and to motive everyone to better their businesses!
David Bobbit, President of SCORE Foundation welcomes and energizes all the winners!
Just a few of the featured speakers from SCORE – Giselle Chapman (top right),
John Pietro (bottom left), Tom Patty (bottom right)
David Bobbitt, President of The SCORE Foundation congratulated all of us on our accomplishments and welcomed all the winners and featured speakers to share a little bit about their business plus their first jobs. It was a fun activity that got everyone laughing about the crazy jobs we’ve all had on our way to our current businesses!
After the introduction, SCORE Volunteers Tom Patty and John Pietro gave us Marketing secrets and showed us how to stay on message and increase our sales. These two amazing men were behind the marketing campaigns of Apple, Disney, Nike and Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef” to name a few! We were also treated to a copy of Mr. Patty’s book Marketing Without Money courtesy of Sam’s Club. Can’t wait to dig into it!
Next up was SCORE Volunteer Paul J. Beckert who taught us the ins and outs of Small Business Finance. We learned that there are a lot of resources out there for Small Businesses, and people who want to help! But you have to have all your “ducks in a row” and have to make sure you have a solid plan to show your investors. Niki definitely took a lot of notes during this presentation!
During lunch, it was Niki’s privilege to sit next to David (President of The Score Foundation) and get to know him a little. David is such a kind, inspiring person and we can see why SCORE is able to help so many people. People always say that “it starts from the top down” and with David at the top, SCORE can’t lose! It was also a pleasant surprise to receive a compliment from David in particular about our entertaining video submission!
After lunch, the inevitable knack attack was chased away by the super energetic and inspiring Giselle Chapman!! Giselle got us all up on our feet and engaged in what she had to teach us. Her insights about human behavior and top performers really made everyone think and get excited about how to improve our own lives!
And with that energetic conclusion, it was time for all of the Champions to be presented with our $1,000 Sam’s Club gift cards.
Niki receives her $1,000 Sam’s Club Gift Card from David Bobbit,
President of The SCORE Foundation!
Niki with Carrie and Kristie from Phoenix Sam’s Club
The entire group of Western Region winners!
photo courtesy of SCORE
Sailing on the high of our awards, we all hopped on a bus for a short City Tour of the beautiful downtown Phoenix on the way to our Champions Dinner at Canyon Cafe.
Phoenix City Tour!
Delicious dinner at Canyon Cafe!
The next day started bright and early, all of us Champions hopped on the bus to 2015 Phoenix Small Business Symposium at the Gran Canyon University Arena for another day of learning and networking!
Niki in the Exhibitors area at the 2015 Phoenix Small Business Symposium!
The temperature said 97 degrees, but these two silly Hawaii girls
couldn’t resist eating lunch outside in the sunshine!
It was a day packed full of engaging and interesting speakers who helped us Champions and other Phoenix Small Business owners who were interested in learning. Niki enjoyed the round table discussions on customer engagement and of course the delicious lunch provided by Sam’s Club!
After that, it was time to say goodbye to all of our new friends and fellow American Small Business Champions, as the short trip had come to an end.
The American Small Business Champions from the Western Region are all packed up,
but not ready to say goodbye!
It was fast and furious, but an amazing trip. Many mahalos to the SCORE Foundation and Sam’s Club for this amazing opportunity!! We are so appreciative of everything that everyone did to make this trip unforgettable and arm us with the knowledge we need to improve Hawai`i Doggie Bakery!
…But wait! The trip was not over! With only a couple of hours to spare Niki decided…a trip to Trader Joe’s (every Hawaii resident’s favorite mainland stop)? Or VISIT WITH SOME DOGS?! The answer was obvious: visit with Shibas!!
Shibas Taro, Kiyomi, and Rinji and their paw-rents Tracy, Sam and Kyle
enjoyed some dinner with Niki at Angels Trumpet Ale House.
And with that NOW the trip could come to a wonderful close. Thank you thank you again to everyone who made this happen for us, and of course a special thanks to Jimmie Busch from SCORE Hawaii who encouraged us to enter.
Here’s to being American Small Business Champions!!!