Arion Long- On how to Secure Funding for Your Business (Pitch to Win)

Welcome to Episode 46 of Dreams Inspire Reality Podcast!

Arion Long is the Founder and CEO of Femly, a tech-based menstrual hygiene company that aims to provide healthier alternatives to toxic menstrual care products including tampons, panty liners, menstrual pads, and other body care products. Since launching in 2015 with a fabulous subscription service, it expanded to reach thousands of monthly shipments and are in the patent & the development phase of manufacturing proprietary menstrual products that will change and have a great impact on society.

Arion is also a speaker and a coach who has gained thousands in funding and won lots of pitching competitions, including the Grow Your Biz Contest in New York on November 8. The competition awarded her $25,000 and access to individual coaching. Arion now hopes to reach and help more women in need around the world.

Arion speaks on her stillbirth in May 2017 that surprisingly after 15 days, she got out of bed to attend a pitch competition to secure more funding for Femly and won. She talks about her journey in starting Femly and why she started it, how she decided to start pitching, despite being an introvert, to build her brand, how she won her first pitch competition and became addicted to it. She then realized through pitching you will not only gain funding but will also gain awareness, leverage, and network expansion. Be who you are and don’t be afraid to ask for help from someone else.

This inspiring lady gives special importance to investing yourself and joining pitch competitions if you feel the need to because there will be lots of opportunities there. If you don’t want to apply, just being in the room and listening and being there will help you to build your connections that can be used in the future.

Also, Arion shares lots of nuggets about pitch competitions including the pros and cons, things to expect when you go out and pitch, the key to winning, what qualifies as a good pitch, what are the things that need to be included in the pitch and what to look for when you are trying to secure and find events to pitch for. We talk about why some people are more successful in pitching than others, what to look for when answering in a pitch competition, pros and cons of payouts, what to avoid, knowing the right things to do, why she didn’t invite anybody she knows during the competitions, tips on choosing a competition through the expenses and why your story is important in pitch.

Moreover, Arion answers few frequently ask questions like why you need to do lots of travel for contests, how to find a pitch competition, do you apply for the same contest if they come back along and how she handled anxiety when she first started.

 

“Imagine the world where charcoal is up and you never see your self-image.”

Thank you so much for listening.

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