A Quinte West entrepreneur has won $10,000 through a national pitch program.
Tammy Watson of Canadian Handywoman was one of five winners of Startup Canada’s Equal Slice Pitch Competition held in partnership with Pizza Hut Canada last month.
The competition attracted more than 200 applicants from coast to coast.
Fifty entrepreneurs were selected to participate in the in-person event at the Google office in Toronto.
They received one-on-one mentorship from Google employees and took part in a pitch workshop on-site to help refine their stories and sharpen their delivery.
The top 10 actually pitched their ideas before a team of judges.
Watson’s business is two-fold. She is available for repairs, renovations and more but she also helps women learn how to do many of those things themselves through her Teach & Go services and workshops.
She is a very new resident to Quinte West, having moved there in the spring from North Frontenac where she operated her business for five years and is part of a group that stages a very successful series “DIY Like a Girl.”
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“And the three of us would provide information to women on how to become, you know, their own handywoman basically. An introduction to what tools you may need. Simple tools. How to use those tools. How to buy those tools. Just really really basic information to start building a great foundation.”
Watson’s pitch in the Equal Slice competition focussed on her workshops.
She needs space to hold them in her new Quinte West location and her winnings will help with that.
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“I do have a double car garage that needs renovating to make it the space that I can provide this service to women in this workshop. I estimate the repairs to be around $17,000 to get, you know, the floors and walls and lights and everything. And that’s why I applied, was to get money to rehab my workshop.”
Prior to becoming a handywoman, Watson spent 20 years as a provincial investigator in the GTA.
After leaving her job and moving to her cottage in North Frontenac with her wife, she began tinkering and eventually decided to open her own business.
Being self-taught, she loves being able to share her knowledge with other women.
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“I love working with people. I love helping people. Every job I’ve ever done has been in that guise. And it’s just extremely satisfying to be able to fix someone’s problem.”
She hopes to have her workshop space in Quinte West ready within a few months and looks forward to becoming a part of the community.
Connect with Watson on her website, www.canadianhandywoman.com.
