SWAIR

Representing SWAIR as finalist at the WBENCPitch 2024 Contest was an unforgettable experience that pushed me out of my comfort zone in the best way possible. Sharing our brand in this format was both exciting and terrifying (!!!), and hearing feedback on how much people love what we’re building at SWAIR reinforced why we do what we do. What truly made the experience special was meeting the other incredible contestants in real life and connecting with so many inspiring members of the WBENC community from across the country. The encouragement and support were palpable, reminding me of the power of this network. I’m incredibly grateful to be part of a community that celebrates and uplifts women entrepreneurs, and I can’t wait to continue building relationships and learning from this amazing group. Thank you, WBENC! #buywomenowned

This week is a total full circle moment for SWAIR. Founders Carrie Sporer and Meredith Krill met while training for the New York Road Runners NYC Marathon back in 2007. This week, from 10/31-11/2, they will have a booth an the NYC Marathon expo at the Javitz center, where all 50,000+ runners from around the world (and their friends and family!) will be coming through. As the story goes... Carrie and Meredith hated that they needed to wash their hair after every sweaty run, and more than a decade later, when there were still no solutions on the market, they started calling labs to bring our dream product to life. As a result, SWAIR's best-selling Showerless Shampoo was born. If you'll be at the expo, please stop by (and share this info with friends). There are giveaways, activations and product for sale. Pics from 2007 and now!

We are so excited to announce that Showerless Shampoo is now "award-winning Showerless Shampoo" with our recent Shelfie Award win in the haircare category. A huge thanks to Startup CPG and Social Nature for this recognition. As you may or may not know, many awards ask the applicants to pay to apply, and despite the possible upside of winning, the entry fees are cost prohibitive for a small brand like SWAIR. We appreciate Startup CPG for their free and easy application process and everything else they do to support independent CPG brands. Their community and resources are an integral part of our journey, and they deserve their own award. cc: Carrie Sporer Meredith Krill

Yesterday, Carrie Sporer had the honor of speaking on the Target x WBENC panel to discuss "How to Gain Brand Traction." This discussion was moderated by Target's own Tahaji Felder and the fellow panelists, Ashley Sutton, Certified W/MBE, Lucia Diaz, and Sonia Sandha, were also alumnae of the Target Forward Founders program. The topics discussed included how to use your WBENC certification to help your brand grow, growing brand recognition on a limited budget, and how to keep you sanity as a small business founder. It has only been a few months since we received our WBENC certification, but we are already seeing so many benefits from retailers, the women-owned community and official programming. If you're at least 50% female founded, we recommend that you apply ASAP!

We want to meet you!

We are thrilled to announce that SWAIR was 2nd runner up at The Workshop at Macy's Vendor Pitch Competition. Over the past month, we have had the privilege to be part of the Macy's Workshop where we got to learn from industry leaders all about retail readiness. We cannot say enough thank you’s to the team at Macy’s who facilitated this program. We leave with an immense amount of knowledge and confidence that there is a need for our brand in the market. We are excited to use all the tools we have learned from the workshop to continue to grow SWAIR. Above all, we are glad to be leaving the program with a whole new founder family. We are inspired by the work our fellow cohort members are doing and are excited to be a small part of their incredible journeys

Today was a founder's ?dream?. SWAIR was featured on The Today Show as part of Small Business Month. We were given the opportunity to do a 30 second pitch to entrepreneurial icon Emma Grede (of SKIMS and GOOD AMERICAN) alongside Hoda and Jenna. The opportunity came together quickly - we had to hustle to get some swag made, reschedule a bunch of meetings, and get a perfect 30 seconds together in less than 24 hours. It was hectic, thrilling, and totally a high. Shoutout to Jamie Banks, founder of Change of Scenery for recommending us. We appreciate you!!! cc: Meredith Krill Carrie Sporer

We are thrilled to announce we were 1 of 25 from 1,300 applicants selected to The Workshop at Macy's - a month long accelerator program. Over the upcoming weeks, we have the incredible opportunity to gain knowledge from industry experts and even have our products sold on Macys.com. We finished our first week of programming and here are a few of the things we learned: 1. As an founder, you need to fire yourself from certain jobs. 2. How to secure press for your brand. 3. Best practices for brand messaging. We are so excited to be a part of this program so we can continue to learn how to scale SWAIR.

We're officially official. While we have always been female owned, we just received our WBENC and WOSB certifications. The certifications provide access to suppliers, retailers, programs and events that are seeking to diversify their networks. We believe in shining a spotlight on female founders and appreciate the recognition that these organizations provide. Special thanks to our TFF cohort (you know who you are!) who held our hand during the extensive application process. Carrie Sporer Meredith Krill