Last month, Prosper Portland hosted the first session of the JUMPSTART small business development workshop. Co-presented by Portland A&O and Small Bizzo, JUMPSTART seeks to help business owners and entrepreneurs with storytelling strategies and brand development.
A class of 10 businesses participated in the inaugural workshop. Angela Medlin, Small Bizzo founder and newly appointed Apparel Design Director at Hoka, led attendees through a series of exercises geared towards developing their unique brand voice and story.
Rachelle Jacob-Wendler of Soul Space Incense reflected, “Session 1 provided me with valuable tools to dive deeper into my brand story and highlighted the impact of storytelling in connecting my audience. Angela’s passion for brand storytelling is contagious, and hearing other entrepreneurs’ journeys was incredibly inspiring. I’m excited for the remaining sessions!”
“It was really refreshing hearing feedback from other passionate individuals that care deeply about what they stand for,” remarked Andrew Yamada of After95 Creative.
Future sessions of the 4-part program will help participants envision their own entrepreneurial roadmaps and ideate strategies for building a thriving consumer products ecosystem.
Interested in applying for next year’s workshop? Be sure to subscribe to the Portland A&O newsletter (signup link at bottom of page), where future opportunities will be announced.
The 2024 JUMPSTART Participants are:
