As of 2021, a little over 40% of small businesses in Rhode Island were owned by women. As the managing director of RIHub, Annette Tonti interacts with many of the state’s entrepreneurs and said the network in Rhode Island is strong.
"One of the high points of our high growth startup community in Rhode Island is a truly compelling group of female founders we have here,” she said. “They are highly networked and active in our New England Female Founders group. They come together to support each other's growth and make connections that matter."
This year, RI Inno is highlighting five women who are forging a path forward for their business and innovating in their industries. From helping recent grads train and search for new jobs, to providing care for special needs children, these five Ocean State-based entrepreneurs are RI Inno’s five females to watch.
Lindsay Kuhn, Wingspans
Lindsay Kuhn has had a big year. Her company Wingspans, an immersive platform that helps students and adult learners find a pathway that leads to a good job, has grown fivefold. Kuhn was recently selected by the U.S. Department of Education’s Future Finder Challenge, a $1 million challenge to reimagine career navigation for adult learners. Wingspans is one of five finalists that will receive $50,000 to support the development of their prototype and will participate in a virtual accelerator.
Kuhn said she moved to Rhode Island for a Ph.D. in engineering and ended up staying because of the resources and community. After starting in 2014, some of Wingspans’ first customers were institutions like The Met School, Charette HS and the University of Rhode Island.
“As a woman, I think it can be challenging to get people to take you seriously, but respect comes over time and through perseverance. I'm still here and I think it surprises some people, “ Kuhn said. “My advice is to seek out support from your networks and communities. I've been grateful to have the support of The Capital Network, an organization that supports female founders, and RIHub. RIHub not only provides mentorship but also provides a community of other inspiring entrepreneurs and office space, which cannot be underestimated.”
Kristen Carbone, Brilliantly
Last year, Brilliantly Warm, a heated bra insert designed for women who have had breast implant reconstruction, made waves as the product was featured in Jill Kargman’s 5 Favorite Things on Goop. Now, Kristen Carbone and her company Brilliantly have launched the second version of the flagship product and are starting research and development on a new use for the technology: easing menstrual pains.
After years of talking with women in the breast cancer community and working with a team of engineers, Carbone founded Brilliantly in 2021. In addition to product development, Carbone said she’s excited to be working on closing a seed round and hiring a team.
“I’ve tried to use my voice and my platform in every way possible to help others, especially women. Brilliantly is a social impact initiative and every time I hear from a woman who loves our product or was moved by content we’ve shared, I know that I’m on the right path,” she said.
That path hasn’t been easy, she said. Carbone said she was simply unprepared for the gender bias she experienced in the startup world, especially around fundraising.
“From being told I was only selected to participate in a local pitch event because I was ‘someone with boobs’ to the ridiculous questions I get asked about if my children or my business are more important to me, it’s been both frustrating and shocking,” she said. “This experience has fortified my commitment to helping flip the power structure. It took a long time to raise capital this way, but I am proud to report that I have female investors from their late 20s to their late 90s on my cap table."
Overcoming the challenge of founding Brilliantly, Carbone said, also gave her proof that she could move through her own pain to create something meaningful. As for advice to other women looking to start a business, Carbone said that building a supportive team is critical.
"Having the right team to support each part of the business is essential. Form an advisory group. Make an honest and unapologetic list of the areas where you lack expertise and find people who are experts at those things. Ask for strategic support, ask for emotional help, and get advice that allows you to circumvent the common pitfalls and mitigate risks,” she said.
Tiesha Sinouthasy, Peace of Mind Nannies
Tiesha Sinouthasy spent years babysitting after graduating from Salve Regina with a degree in social work, working as a nanny throughout various agencies in Rhode Island. After hearing some of the frustrations of parents of children with disabilities would frequently share about the difficulty in finding quality childcare, Sinouthasy looked into the problem, conducted research, and finally discovered a significant gap in services.
Sinouthasy started Peace of Mind Nannies, a babysitting and nanny placement agency that specializes in the care of children and young adults with disabilities in Rhode Island, in 2020 after she attended a workshop at the Center for Women and Enterprise. Just a few years in, Sinouthasy is planning on expanding her services to Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard and adding 10-20 more staff to her team of 25.
Sinouthasy is the first care agency owner of color in Rhode Island. Peace of Mind Nannies is also the only agency specializing in care of those with disabilities in Rhode Island, and will be in Massachusetts as well once they are licensed. As a woman of color, Sinouthasy said finances remain a challenge. In addition to initially using her own money, in January of 2020, she secured a $5,000 loan from the bank to support start-up costs for the agency, signed on more than 10 nannies and babysitters ready to work. Then Covid-19 hit. It’s taken more than a year to build back, but she said Peace of Mind Nannies served 40% more families last year than in 2021 and increased its revenue by 55%.
“My advice would be to learn from every misstep. I don't like to use the word 'mistake' because every single moment is a learning opportunity. I don't have a business degree, and didn't have any previous entrepreneurial experience, so those opportunities have certainly been plentiful,” she said. “Over the last three years I have learned so much which has, at times, led to frustration and tears but has always impacted my business for the better. I have made so many improvements to business processes which makes me so appreciative of my own growth, and how far Peace of Mind Nannies has come.”
Charlotte von Meister & Danielle Sturm, The Nest
When The Nest opened in 2021, owners Charlotte von Meister and Danielle Sturm said they did a little bit of everything. They resold furniture, home goods, fashion, and tried to collaborate with any small business or sustainable creator that wanted to partner with them. With practice and a help from the SEG Accelerator Program, they were able to refine their business model and focus on the sustainable fashion space. Now, in addition to offering sustainable fashion, the pair have added workshops and events centered around growing the local market, including a decluttering service, a closet therapy service, in-store tailoring service, and events like clothing swap, Stitch & Bitch Knitting Club, and the 2023 additions of Sewing 101, and Repair & Rewear: DIY Mending Accountability Club.
Sturm and von Meister met for the first time in 2021 through a mutual friend and immediately bonded over a love for secondhand shopping. A few months later, The Nest was built on the pillars of “accessible sustainable fashion resources, a punk anti-capitalist view, inclusion, community, and a do-it-yourself attitude.”
After more than 10 years working in the fashion industry, von Meister left to become a certified professional organizer, while Sturm leveraged her prior experience working for for-profits, nonprofits, and investment funds to establish a new kind of business for their community.
“Early on we heard from our community that The Nest was a place to meet creative people. And we honed in on that to offer more events and services that connect our community over our slow fashion mission. Now, people see us as a resource,” von Mesiter said. “Much of what we do and the services and resources we put out is a direct reaction to messages and conversations we get directly from our community.”
More than just a startup, Sturm said The Nest has become a community centered around circular and sustainable fashion. In addition to a small team of helpers, The Nest also utilizes workshop leaders, tailors and even a spiritualist, who Sturm said, are an integral part of the collective.
"I am most proud of the space we have created for others to come to, connect in, innovate within, and make friends within,” she said. “I’m most looking forward to the impact and inevitable change we will facilitate with our community on our environment through helping people change their consumption habits in fashion."
Abigail Kohler, ResusciTech
In just a few short years, former Brown University student Abigail Kohler has taken ResusiTech (and their app) from the classroom — graduating from the university’s B-Lab in 2019 and taking home 3rd place at the 2020 Brown Venture Prize — to pitching big names like Tim Cook and the American Heart Association. ResusciTech‘s app, SMART Certification, offers smartphone-based CPR training, including compression practice with real-time feedback.
In addition to support from the Brown entrepreneurial ecosystem, Kohler said she also tapped local organizations like the New England Medical Innovation Center (NEMIC). Kohler also received American Heart Association's top grant in the EmPowered to Serve Program, which she leveraged into growing ResusciTech.
“The largest challenge I've faced has been trying to be taken seriously and, consequently, needing to provide more proof of my own credibility to get opportunities,” Kohler said. “Not being taken seriously has many small consequences, like being talked over in meetings, and large consequences, like self-doubt after being passed over for many opportunities that I was qualified for. This has made me very grateful for the supporters and mentors who do take me seriously and who listen to my point of view.”
Personally averse to “being aggressive”, Kohler recommends women be a little “pushy.”
“It goes against my nature, but I've learned that there are situations where it is important to be assertive, loud, and take up space,” she said. “Learning to be pushy has made me a more self-assured and confident person.”
