Indigenous entrepreneur from North Dakota wins $1,000 and advances to the Pow Wow Pitch Finals
On April 29th, Pow Wow Pitch, North America’s premier business pitch competition for Indigenous entrepreneurs, presented in partnership with RBC, Shopify, and Mastercard, announced Angie Gillette, Owner and Founder of White Corn Wear from the Great MHA Nation of North Dakota, as the 2023 Pow Wow Pitch Gathering of Nations Winner. Angie has won $1,000 and is advancing to the Turtle Island Pow Wow Pitch Finals for a chance to win $25,000 to grow her business.
More than 20 Indigenous entrepreneurs from across North America pitched their businesses live at the Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on April 29th for their chance to win cash prizes and advance to the Pow Wow Pitch Finals.
“I started White Corn Wear because I wanted my kids to have more of me,” said Angie Gillette, Founder of White Corn Wear. “My designs originated from pictures of my kids, my daughter, and anything else that inspires me.”
Angie’s business, White Corn Wear, is a new Native American and female-owned apparel and accessories brand making a name for itself for their stunning, satin skirts. Angie started with printing her designs and has now evolved to custom design skirts, bags, curtains, and blankets. White Corn Wear’s success was experienced live this weekend when Angie’s booth was completely sold out and her iconic designs could be seen everywhere at the powwow.
Angie has goals to use her 1st prize winnings to develop her website and brand further and to purchase materials for her upcoming restock. She is excited for her journey with Pow Wow Pitch and to experience the path it takes her on through the Finals.
Angie offered valuable advice for up and coming Indigenous entrepreneurs, “Someone’s success does not take away from your own.”
Winning the second-place $750 prize was Chad Yellowjohn, Founder and Artist of Lil Coyote Art, and the third-place $500 winner went to Enoch Endwarrior, Founder of Reclaim Designz. Chad, Enoch and all those who pitched in Albuquerque are still in the running for the 2022 Pow Wow Pitch and will find out in July if they will advance to the semi-finals.
“Congratulations to Angie on her Gold Ticket win to advance to the 2023 Pow Wow Pitch Finals,” said Sunshine Tenasco, Founder of Pow Wow Pitch. “White Corn Wear is a brand new business, but even from this weekend, we saw that Angie is at the start of an already incredibly successful business, and we can’t wait to see where she goes from here.”
Indigenous entrepreneurs from across Canada and the United States are invited to submit their 1-minute pitch to qualify for Pow Wow Pitch before June 21, 2022, at powwowpitch.org/pitch to win $200,000 in prizes from $500 to $25,000.