To date, nine entrepreneurs have garnered a winning spot in a Berkshire Starts Pitch Competition. One of them was Claire Richards, who had an existing business called Jameela Imports. Claire started her business in 2014 after sampling a variety of delicious, fresh-pressed olive oils on a series of trips to Jordan. She then decided to bring this delicacy back to the States with her.
She named the business Jameela, meaning beautiful in Arabic, because she wanted to share the beauty of Jordan and its people with The Berkshires. Claire dove headfirst into the business, keeping busy, learning more about her products to grow her business. She has been attending lectures and entrepreneurial meetings ever since. When she heard about 1Berkshire’s food-focused Pitch Competition she saw this as an opportunity to take her business to the next level.
In May, Claire spoke about her business to a panel of judges and pitched them on awarding her the prize money to help fund the company’s expanding importation and marketing projects. The judges that evaluated and scored her pitch were Jeremy Stanton of The Meat Market, Lisa Newmann of Cookiehead Cookies, Tom Whalen a professor at MCLA, and Matt Masiero of Guido’s Fresh Market Place. The opportunity to be seen and heard by these esteemed judges was a perfect networking opportunity.
Pitching to accomplished business leaders from the food industry was surely no easy feat, and yet Claire walked away with second place. This brought with it a cash reward of $300, a lot of great advice on how to grow her business, and access to a network of mentors and advisors.
“The Pitch Competition allowed me to connect more with people, talk to them, and get a mentor. It made me much more aware of 1Berkshire and all the assistance they offer to entrepreneurs in this area,” Claire said. “With their assistance, I am taking a much more strategic approach to how I grow my business and I now know that I have a network of individuals who are available to assist me.”
We are delighted to report that through the connections she made at the Pitch Competition Claire has now landed a deal with Guido’s. You can now find Jameela Imports olive oils on their shelves in both Pittsfield and Great Barrington stores. She says that this was a direct result of her pitch at the competition and is a great boost to her business.
Claire sees as the most valuable takeaway from this experience as the advice she received from other entrepreneurs and local business owners. She stated, “any Berkshire entrepreneur would do well to not only participate in the competitions but to attend them and learn from the participants and judges alike. Also be sure to use 1Berkshire, they are an asset to anyone looking to start or grow a business.”
Claire is just one of the many hardworking and dedicated entrepreneurs in the area and we would like to congratulate her on her continued success and thank her for being a part of the Berkshire Starts program.