Kinect WeROC: Women Founders Showcase Recap

Women Founders Showcase, The Kinect Capital WeROC event last week at the Keller Building at Utah Valley University showcased inspiring stories and innovative startups. Kinect Capital, the host of the showcase is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that connects entrepreneurs to capital and makes them more investable. The Board of Trustees that governs the Kinect volunteers their time to help grow economic prosperity for early stage companies seeking capital. It has just concluded its 8th year with the WeROC conference to support women entrepreneurs. 

The event consisted of speakers who experienced and helped women in entrepreneurship. “WeROC” represents “Women Entrepreneurs Realizing Opportunities for Capital.” 

One of the highlights of the event was a keynote speech by President Astrid Tuminez of UVU. Dr. Tuminez recounted her experience growing up in the Philippines, her education, challenges along the way, and achievements throughout her life. She stated, “I believe that the mindset of entrepreneurship is as important and maybe even more important for academia, because we are working in a heavily disrupted sector, also a highly devoted sector, and so we have to be problem solvers.” 

President Tuminez grew up in Carabao, Philippines. She worked hard, attended BYU, enjoyed outstanding mentorship, leading her to attend MIT and Harvard. She became a Regional Director for Microsoft based in Singapore responsible for corporate external and legal affairs, and overseeing operations for Microsoft in 15 different countries. She returned to the states, continued gaining leadership opportunities which eventually led her to become president of UVU. 

President Tuminez expressed to the attendees what it takes to be a leader. Some of the key principles she highlighted in her keynote include the following:

• Entrepreneurship is difficult
• Be creative
• Learn for keeps
• Have a beginner’s mind
• Learn what you don’t know
• Have a personal board of directors
• Replenish your strength

President Tuminez noted these principles as they applied to her career path and personal growth. She elaborated on her humble beginnings in a modest farming village in a rural area of Philippines, where her family had to adapt to life’s hardships. She describes her mother’s decision to move the family to the city for better educational opportunities. 

Because of her experiences, she advised students to take on challenging jobs and be open to new experiences, sharing her own story of working in Moscow during the final tumultuous years of the Soviet Union. In addition, she emphasizes the importance of learning fast, getting help, and being adaptable in both personal and professional life. 

Dr. Tuminez explains how animals have the ability of being still to help them recover when wounded. She argues that we as humans have a hard time doing that. “We are like human doings, rather than human beings…If you don’t have the skill of replenishing your strength, it’ll be difficult to sustain your performance.” 

During the Q&A of her keynote, she noted how to overcome failure. “Sometimes, I think for entrepreneurs, we’re highly driven where we want to be in control, but we always need to know how to divorce the ego from the results.” She encourages people to humble themselves and distinguish the differences between pride and making mistakes. 

Throughout the conference, notable speakers shared their insights with attendees about leadership and entrepreneurship. They also brought young UVU students that are currently working on their personal businesses. These included startups: Fitted with CEO, Octavia Demaris, and Babadrip with CEO, Sylie Robison. 

Fitted aims to help consumers get the right size of clothing without having to try on in advance. They achieve this endeavor by using smart video technology to provide accurate body measurements. This technology, integrated into retail platforms, helps consumers find their ideal clothing size, reducing fit anxiety and environmental impact. Their approach not only hopes to minimize waste, but also cut down costs. Fitted aims to save $53 billion lost annually in the US due to sizing issues. 

Demaris discussed the process of how to use their product. “We ask you to wear a set of clothes, tie your hair up, position yourself appropriately, and in a matter of seconds, we have pulled your baseline body measurements and told you your ideal clothing size.” She further explained that their platform is free for consumers, but they can do a $5 monthly subscription for the whole family that includes some advanced features. 

With their product, they hope to lower carbon emissions to help the environment, and help online shoppers get the clothing size that best fits them. 

See recent TechBuzz coverage of Fitted, a startup going through UVU's inaugural Sandbox program.

Babadrip, run by 18-year old Sylie Robison, gives owners the opportunity to match with their pets. Robison explains the business as  “a matching human dog clothing company that allows humans and dogs to share their unique style, bonding through a shared cozy type.” Consumers can customize patterns and graphics on clothing to promote connection with their beloved animals. Robison started the business during her senior year of high school and has been working on the business ever since.

The inspiration of her idea came from her personal relationship with her dog. She noticed the “lack of comfortable and cute matching human and dog clothing.” To resolve this problem, she built up her business with the help of her dad, who has experience in E-commerce. Through their partnership, they hope to provide pet lovers a broad selection of styled and comfortable clothing. 

Demaris and Robison’s journey are just two examples of the inspiring stories shared at the Kinect WeROC event.

James Kemp, Executive Director of Kinect Capital, expressed his enthusiasm for the event, stating, “We couldn’t have picked a better host for our annual WeROC event. The relationship between Kinect Capital and UVU is a powerful one, and we are excited to see the incredible impact this event will have on women entrepreneurs.”

Seth Jenson, Director of the Entrepreneurship Institute at UVU, said about UVU' hosting of the event, “We are thrilled to host the WeROC event at UVU. This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the entrepreneurial spirit of our community and support the incredible women leading the way in business.”

UVU’s Entrepreneurship Institute is renowned for producing graduates who open local businesses, stay in Utah, build Utah's tech sector and contribute to Utah's economy. As such it was a fitting venue for this event that highlighted the resilience and innovation coming from women entrepreneurs throughout the state.

Attendees went away with valuable insights and a renewed sense of purpose, highlighting the ongoing importance of support and community in Utah's entrepreneurial landscape.