![\"Bobcat](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2017\/04\/rabideau-170401_Bobcat_Ventures_1146.jpg\")
<\/a>Bobcat Ventures judge Chris Barbin ’93 presents first-place winner Ali Rabideau ’17 with a check for $9,000 to support Herban Works. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cThe women can tell you first hand the power of the plants and the products we have to heal the body and spirit,\u201d Rabideau told the judges during her pitch. \u201cLast summer, we sold $350 of our first three products\u201d \u2014 calendula salve, calendula tea, and salted herbs. \u201cWe only had to stop because we ran out of plants.\u201d<\/p>\n
The business is called Herban Works, and \u201cwe have outgrown the garage, so to speak,\u201d said Rabideau, a women and gender studies major from Natick, Mass., as she pitched the business.<\/p>\n
She ended her presentation with a personal touch, handing the judges a sample of the salve. \u201cOpen it and smell it. It\u2019s really nice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
<\/a>President Clayton Spencer leads a pre-event discussion with the judges. From left, Ben Schippers ’04, Chris Barbin \u201993, Tasnia Huque \u201912, and Reid Christian \u201912. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
Now in its third year, the $15,000 Bobcat Ventures pitch competition is student-run and alumni-judged, with prizes funded by Bates alumni and parents. Held on April 1, the day-long event began with President Clayton Spencer hosting a panel discussion with alumni judges, each of whom is in business: Chris Barbin \u201993, Ben Schippers \u201904, Tasnia Huque \u201912, and Reid Christian \u201912.<\/p>\n
From there, a dozen students made presentations in areas like real estate, music recording, hair care, ride sharing, community-based NGOs, and fine art sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat job,\u201d said judge Chris Barbin \u201993 after Rabideau\u2019s winning pitch. \u201cI love the idea that you\u2019re already to market on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barbin asked Rabideau, whose work at the CWW was funded by the college\u2019s Harward Summer Civic Fellowship program, about the market penetration she hoped to achieve.\u00a0 \u201cWe hope statewide and nationwide,\u201d she answered, pointing to a similar but national operation, Thistle Farms in Nashville, Tenn., that has \u201cbeen advising and supporting us.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>Phathutshedzo Rambau \u201917 of Morebeng, South Africa, serves as MC for the Bobcat Ventures competition. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
Fellow judge Ben Schippers \u201904 praised Rabideau for how she \u201ccarried the brand\u201d of the CWW throughout her presentation. \u201cThat goes a long way,\u201d he said, noting that \u201cthe branded product is very strong, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Love the mission,\u201d said judge Tasnia Huque \u201912, adding that Rabideau social-enterprise angle “is kind of buzzy right now, but it’s on trend, especially the focus on the wellness-in-women space.”<\/p>\n
After Rabideau was equivocal when asked, by Schippers, if she would stay in Lewiston after graduation to grow the business, Huque advised her to be more certain when pitching. \u201cJust say, \u2018Yes.\u2019 You want to project that this is your passion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides the thrill of seeing that big check come her way during the awards presentation, Rabideau is surprised to see herself in a new way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never envisioned myself as an entrepreneur,\u201d she said, thanking the college and the Bobcat Ventures team for helping to express a broad definition of entrepreneurship. \u201cThey actually came to me and said, \u2018This is a social enterprise. This could work. Why don\u2019t you apply?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabideau said that the knitting together of two strong strands of the Bates experience \u2014 entrepreneurism and social awareness \u2014 \u201cwas my favorite part of the experience: Having the kind of work you value brought to life by an entrepreneurship competition.\u201d<\/p>\n