By Audrey Bailey
One of Carmel’s very own women entrepreneurs will be participating in the annual Dolphin Tank event in downtown Indianapolis on Nov. 12.
Simply Saidah’s, a natural skin care line created by Carmel resident, Saidah Pearsall, is one of six different start-up companies invited to take part in the Dolphin Tank, an event hosted by the Indiana Conference for Women.
Here, female entrepreneurs in Indiana have the opportunity to pitch their company models to an experienced panel of judges, reach out to possible investors, and receive feedback on where to take their services in the future.
“It’s a way to celebrate the woman and showcase how great women are in business, and all the wonderful things they are doing,” Pearsall said.
Pearsall has been making headway with her own, online start-up since June of 2014, when vision for happy and healthy skin found its origins in the need of a close and dear family member, struggling with dry skin.
“I started a natural skin care line for my daughter. She was having chronic skin issues with dry skin and we could never find a product that would work on her skin,” Pearsall said.
Once Pearsall and her daughter, Lisa, began using their natural plant-based lotions, they found that the results were both fast and effective.
“My daughter had tried out the product I had made for her, and she was just in awe for what the product did for her skin,” Pearsall said.
Now, the next step for Pearsall, is to present her business model at this year’s Dolphin Tank event. There, she will be able to pitch her ideas to a panel of experienced and business leaders, and receive feedback regarding her product.
Kristen Cooper, VP of Ops and Corporate Development at Sticksnleaves, and founder of The Launch Ladies and Startup Study Hall, had the responsibility of helping pick the six startups that would be participating in Dolphin Tank this year.
“Saidah qualified, she met the criteria, and we had seen her make progress through Launch Ladies,” Cooper said. “And, this (the Dolphin Tank) was again another platform that could elevate her, that could call attention to her and the product and her story, hopefully to grow sales and to increase the investment in her company.”
For the near future, Pearsall hopes to take what she learns from this event to grow her company further, and make her products available in a variety of stores for anyone also suffering from dry skin.
“I would love to see our products on the shelves of Whole Foods, Earth Fare, Fresh Thyme and Market District,” Pearsall said. “I would love to see our product being sold in those stores.”
For more, visit simplysaidahs.com.
