In Selfmade, Brit + Co’s flagship community and training program for female founders, we make it a point to celebrate our members’ wins on a weekly basis. Launching and running a business can be challenging, so making time for these moments to pause, reflect, and champion the hard work of our members is especially important for us.

That’s why we decided to take this culture of celebration a step further and host our inaugural Selfmade Awards, powered by our founding partner, Office Depot OfficeMax.

The ceremony highlighted outstanding individuals from our community who have used creativity and grit to make their dreams come true. We honored 9 exceptional women across different categories:

Grand Prizes

• Best Launch Award: Awarded to the member who launched their business with technique and charisma! This Selfmade founder pushed the launch scaries aside and strategically planned their launch with great marketing, a solid business plan, market research, and a good design. They carefully crafted their launch approach and saw a great response after!
• Innovation Award: Awarded to the member whose business idea demonstrates creativity, innovation, and a unique approach! This Selfmade founder reached for the most creative approach when determining how to solve the problem, finding solutions in novice and unseen ways. Their business idea is unique and pushes the limit of the mainstream.
• Entrepreneur of the Year Award: Awarded to the member who has gone above and beyond the entrepreneurship call. Social media presence? Check her stories. MVP? Download it now. Business Plan? Solid as a rock. Investors? Take a number. She’s working it and making it look good. She’s not without her struggles, but she understands the power of hard work and putting one foot in front of the other.

Honorable Mentions

• Dream Team Duo: Honoring 2 Selfmaders who worked together to accomplish their goals.
• Everyday Hero: Honoring the member who best helped their peers across the board.
• Fresh Take: Honoring the member whose idea/biz with unique features.
• Notable Newbie: Honoring the member who started with just an idea and ended with a launch.
• Powerful Pivot: Honoring the member with the best attitude despite any setbacks.
• Pioneer: Honoring the member who is breaking ground in a new, unexplored area.

We received hundreds of nominations from women who are truly making a difference in the entrepreneurial landscape. As you can imagine, narrowing down the honorees was an incredibly difficult task.

We were inspired by the stories each woman told. Our winners embody the values and spirit of Selfmade: grit, creativity, and ambition. Many had overcome significant obstacles on their journeys and it was amazing to witness first-hand how these women are not only creating impactful businesses but also inspiring others to do the same.

Meet Our Grand Prize Winners

Best Launch Award

Ronda Brittian, founder of Ronda’s Fine Foods: Ronda’s Fine Foods is a woman, minority, and family-owned business that creates delicious and versatile specialty food products featuring family recipes inspired by flavors of the world.

Innovation Award

Coco Harmon, founder of Endora: Endora is a mobile app that works to harness the power of nostalgic reflection so that users can spend less time on their phones comparing and more time reflecting.

Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Christine Tong, founder of Christine My Linh: Christine creates illustrations and stories to guide creative women away from negative self-talk towards building their self-esteem so that they can share their light with the world.

Meet Our Honorable Mention Winners

• Dream Team Duo: Cynthia Siadat, LCSW and Michelle Mercado, LMFT, co-founders of Ask Your Ates
• Everyday Hero: Caitlin Daniel, founder of The Brave Girl Collective
• Fresh Take: Claudia Ramos, founder of Hola Mijas Bonitas
• Notable Newbie: Keisha Wilson, founder of KW Advanced Consulting
• Powerful Pivot: Ashley Sutton, founder of Hustle & Hope
• Pioneer: Desirée Calixte, founder of Easy Oat Burgers

We’re so excited about this new tradition here at Selfmade and can’t wait for more opportunities to honor the inspiring female founders in our community. Congratulations from the team here at Selfmade and Office Depot OfficeMax to all the winners, and our collective members, for showing us what’s possible when we pursue our passions with fearlessness!

Feeling inspired? Start your free trial of Selfmade to find your calling. Join our growing community of amazing female founders to DIY the business of your dreams!