I Said Yes Before I Knew What I Was Getting Into

When I first said yes to applying for The Forum’s pitch program, I had no idea how much it would change me. In this episode, I share what happened behind the scenes of presenting our vision in front of 800+ people who genuinely wanted to see women entrepreneurs succeed. The biggest win wasn’t the outcome, it was the growth that came from putting my business in front of strangers, receiving honest feedback, and learning how to communicate my vision with confidence. 

I also reflect on the power of being fully seen, celebrated, and supported as a female founder. The Forum reminded me that saying yes before you feel ready can open doors you never imagined, and that surrounding yourself with people who believe in your vision is one of the greatest accelerators for growth. I hope this conversation inspires you to push through doubt and step up for your vision. If there's a fellow female founder in your life who needs this reminder, please pass this episode along.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Found Her, the podcast for women who build empires, break barriers, and blaze trails all while fighting themselves. These are bestie level conversations from behind the scenes, the real work, the messy middle, and the wins that last. I'm Kimberly Hebert, founder, franchise builder, wife, mom, and Grammy, and a woman who has done the inner work while building the outer winds. Here we talk business, identity, relationships, and the kind of growth that cracks you open, then puts you back together, stronger, better. This is your space to rise as a founder and as your truest self. Let's dive in. All right, today I'm sharing about the forum and about, although, you know, for those that follow along on my journey, and maybe you're following on Instagram and all the other areas, you already know the outcome of the forum. But that's not what I want to talk about. I don't want to talk about the outcome of the forum, uh, other than to say that yes, I was a finalist, one of three finalists at the forum's pitch program. And this is the the organization is called the forum. And it is an organization that whose mission is to serve and raise the profile and capital and connections and stakeholders of female entrepreneurs, so women entrepreneurs. That's their whole platform is supporting women in business founders in a variety of ways. Capital, especially capital, wisdom, community, activation, all of that kind of stuff. And they have a variety of different programs. And I had not known anything about the forum prior to October of 2025. And so this is what I'm going to talk about. I'm just talking about my takeaways of being involved with such an amazing program. I it was just blown away. So most of you already know the outcome, and that's what I said already, is that I was a finalist in their pitch program, which is one of their many programs that they have. And inside of that, um, they host a gala every year. It has evolved over the 10 years that it has the that the pitch program itself has been going. And um now the gala is about three, the three finalists who get chosen from pitching the pitching circuit before that. And then you get to present your business, pitch your business again in front of 800 plus people. This year there was two Dragon's Den, Dragons, Dragon's Den Dragons, is Dragon's Den members, Michelle Romano and Tara Bosch. Funny enough, Tara Bosch got her start within the forum 10 years ago. She was the first one to pitch in the original pitch program, which was I call, I think called Pitch Pitch for the Purse or something like that. Tara Bosch, in case you don't know, is the founder of Smart Suites, which many, many women love. Well, tons of people do because a $350 million brand or something like that. More than that now, but that was the last date. Anyway, I just share all that to show, to say and to set the scene. And there was at the gala 800 supporters of women in business from, you know, prestigious investment and wealth and family office to business leaders, uh, business owners, um, and then supporters and community activators. And so it's a pretty epic event. And so you all pitch your business, everybody supports you. It's a celebration of all three of us. And then there's an audience vote for an extra $20,000 cash capital. So that was the event. I was not chosen as the audience favorite, but that doesn't mean that's not a it's not a win or a lose. It's just we weren't chosen. But what I want to share about, so that anyway, that's the outcome. That's the the public outcome. Uh, but what I want to share more about is the actual my takeaways in terms of what it did for me in my business, what it has done for um me as a person, like because you know, although we like to think that business is separate from who we are, and our identity is definitely not our business. However, the two are connected. And when I learned about the forum, it was in October, maybe late September, early October. Somebody had said, Hey, here's a link to a pitch competition. Um, you this might be a good fit for you. And so I was like, Okay, never done anything like that, never knew how to do it. I had had on my radar radar at one point that I knew at some point we wanted to bring on an investor because building a franchise brand and the vision that we have for the brand is so big that we will need some some financial and some financial and some strategic advice in the building of it. And so I knew at some point that I wanted to do that. I just didn't know what that looked like, how that looked like I didn't understand the language of investors and pitching and all that kind of stuff. I knew that many, many other founders had pitched decks, but I didn't, I, you know, still I didn't really have a good foundation for that. But I threw my hat in the ring, if you will. And when I was first, so it's like 125 people apply, 10 get selected as semifinalists. And when I first got that call, I was actually on a mastermind call at the time. And when I first got that call, I I literally felt like I was, I was like chosen, like uh special selection, like chosen, like uh had won the lottery or the beauty pageant or whatever it is. You know, when they like say your name, ah, you've been selected. I have, I don't think I've ever really been on the receiving end of something like that. And it was pretty, it was pretty powerful because it was a body of people that I had no connection with that saw something in either me and or our business and the vision. And to have that recognized and reflected back to you in a way that somebody's like, we're choosing you to advance your mission and vision um on this with this in this platform, it felt pretty, it felt pretty epic. I was pretty excited to say the least and grateful. No, not grateful at first, excited and humbled, that would be the word. Grateful, of course, but um the gratitude didn't really come until I experienced what you know, I had no idea what I was about to embark. And so between the months of October and the finale was just in April, there's a whole lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that you're working on, right? You're building a pitch deck, you're trying to articulate your business in a way. So you have a time limit of three minutes, and so you're trying to articulate your business in a way that connects with people, right? So, right from the beginning, like a little bit about who you are, why the concept came to be, what the problem is, the gap, why you are the solution, what is your traction, where are you going? What is the funding for? And there's a bunch of questions you have to answer. And so the and and they hook you up with an with a mentor, and you do, you know, like anybody, a lot of research. But for me in franchising, there are so many different steps because I actually have two different businesses to represent. And um, I have a co-founder as well. It's not just all my vision. And so the practice and the art of being able to deliver my business in all of its vastness within three minutes to make it make sense for a uh a pitch competition, not not entirely uh grilled down for an investor to do due diligence, but enough to show how it came to be, like what the problem was, how it came to be, the gap, why us, and what our traction is and what the market is, the market availability and all that. And so throughout this journey, I was um involved in a few group programs with mentorship, one-on-one mentorship and group member mentorship, which really became an exercise. It was like an academic exercise. And I would tell anybody that's building a business that you need to be able to do this. Give yourself a, you know, you hear a lot in um the solopreneur world, like your elevator pitch, your either 60-second elevator pitch or your third uh 30-second, three-minute elevator pitch if you're looking for funding. I like I really implore you all to do this and do it with have a little slide presentation because connecting your words to a visual is also an act of an academia act. Never mind creating it. So, for us, for me on my part, you know, I have a team to help with that. But what a lot of people don't realize is halfway through the process, or no, three quarters of the way through the process. My key member of my team who helped develop all of those things, she resigned. And that left a hole. It left a hole in a bunch of different ways emotionally, also like skill in the business, um, but have a lot at stake. The show must go on and you must rise. I think that's one of the skills, challenges, and skills as a founder is you need to know enough about everything to be able to rise when you don't have a fully built-out team. And although we thought we did, we didn't. We ended up in a critical time not having that. And so, but that, you know, uh, that was some of the stuff that was going on behind the scenes while I was traveling this road that the forum, this path from the invitation from the forum. And so I just I continue, I continued to go with it and ended at the gala. And the gala, so part of when you get advanced through the pitch finale, through the pitch programs to present at the finale, to be a finalist, you win a very large prize package. And some of its capital and some of its uh or sorry, yeah, some of its um financial capital and some of it is in um, what do they call that? In um uh not community. Um, oh my gosh, why is I'm in a pot doing a podcast and words are escaping me. Social capital, PR capital, uh community connections, activation, all that kind of stuff. And one of the things they did is they did a video series, not a video series, but a video feature on me, on my like snippets of my life, kind of where I came from a little bit, and how how I came to be the CEO and co-founder of a door company, of a franchise door company, no less. Um, because I'm not in the door industry, I'm in the franchise industry. My husband's in the door industry, and together we have co-founded this new model. Yeah, so they created this feature on me, and and it was uh played for the first time at the gala. So the first time I saw it was at the gala. And having yourself again, having the all of that reflected back to me in a way that was like I was like outside of myself watching it because it was on a big screen. There was 800 people, you know, they framed and introduced our business by by showing this uh beautiful feature, very, very well done feature. And then uh, you know, half an hour later, I I was introduced and brought up on stage to pitch the business. And it was it was so phenomenal being received like that. And and somebody asked me like how do you how do you do that? And how do you how do you get up and and pitch your business in a room full of 800 people with like really key, you know, really um uh high, not high net worth individuals, although that's they were there as well. That's not um high business acumen, that's the word I'm looking for. High business acumen individuals. And all I could say was like I kind of detach while I was there, but afterwards when I sit back and watch it like a movie, like I'm watching it, I am absolutely in awe. This so of what it felt like. Sorry, I'm just squirming around in my chair, of what it felt like to receive such celebration in such a public way. I mean, that in itself has filled corners of my soul and corners of my heart and corners of my mind, not my pocketbook, um, with um such richness that I will forever carry that state with me, if that makes sense. I'll forever be able to tap back into those moments of like what that was like and the feeling that came over me. I could I had you have to, for me, I had to kind of like not think of myself in the moment. I couldn't think of myself in the moment, if that makes sense. Because then I'd be like, oh my gosh, what am I doing? Blah, blah, blah, blah, is this right, blah, blah, blah. But just being able to kind of detach a bit from the outcome, I guess, and really just be present for what was happening in the moment changes your state of being. And so now I have this forever experience that I can go back to and just be in the moment of all of that. It's like, it's like being lifted, it's like being on cloud nine. And, you know, did it uh fill my bank accounts? No. But did it fill every other part of what makes me? You betcha it did. I learned, so this is what I mean. So this is my takeaway. I learned from an academic way how to present information in a very clear, concise, powerful way, knowing that words matter. Like when you have a short amount of time, the amount of words and the words that you use are super important. So on which was which would be the complete opposite to this podcast, for instance, because this is just sharing off the cuff. It's not refined. I haven't put it out there into the into the world to get feedback from. But so that process of doing that and the process of sharing that with people that don't know me, that have no frame of reference for me, that was where the growth was. So taking my recorded pitch, and when you record it on like whatever Loom with your pitch deck, it is really hard to have the same energy as when you are like pitching it live. And so remembering that I'm sending, you know, I would send out my recorded uh versions of these uh pitch practices to people that didn't know me, that didn't have any frame of reference for who I was, and to take their feedback in a way that was meant to grow me and to um highlight my blind sight, uh blind points, I mean, blind sides is the word I'm trying to say, was so valuable. This is where I think many business owners, especially I think, uh and I'm gonna I'm gonna ascribe this or yeah, attach this to solopreneurs because we're so we so listen to me, we I'm not a soloprinter, but I act like one. Um because you're so alone with your vision um and your mission, it's yours, it's delivered by you, it's it's um birthed by you, like you have your hands on everything. This can be really hard for you to put it out in the world to people that don't know you and get feedback in a way that is not criticizing, it's not meant to tear you apart, it's really meant to give you some feedback. Now, the difference is if people don't, you're not when I when I put my stuff out there, I don't ask for feedback on my vision. Okay. So I'm not saying to ask and give feedback on your vision because your vision is your vision that was birthed from you, that comes from you, and that is not for me, that is not open for interpretation. It might be open for explanation, like how can I explain this better? But the vision is not up for public debate. What you should put out there for feedback is your business plan. How are you gonna make that vision? How is that gonna come to fruition? That plan needs to be outside of you. And the more you deliver it to people that have no context for you, the sharper and smarter you will become. And your business will actually start to take off because you'll become so confident in your ability to present, your ability to understand data and your ability to execute on your vision. And that's ultimately what the forum has given me that extra oomph to be able to execute where I need to. I can present and speak any, I can, I can take any question now because I the process of going through the forum's program allowed me to put my stuff out there with people that didn't know me and get true feedback that helped me redefine not my vision, because that's ours, not my mission because that's ours. It's how to present the plan in order to execute and make that happen. And that is where the win was, people. Because had I not done that, I would have just continued to be like, oh, yeah, I would like to have an investor one day. Uh, how do I present that information? How do I get, how do I understand the language, cap table, safe investment, uh, conversion, what is equity? Well, I knew what equity was. Um, what is the valuation? What is the moat? Uh, what, you know, all these kinds of things in my business that most people don't put themselves out there to be challenged by. But I'm gonna tell you, when you get challenged by them, you are able then to build your business in ways that protect and grow it. So don't shy away from it. Um, I absolutely loved the experience. I will continue to be involved with the forum. This podcast is not an uh advertisement, but it is an advertisement, if you will, uh, for the forum. If you are a female uh entrepreneur, founder building epic shit, go go on their website and find a program. They they do e-series programs, they do in-person, they do all kinds of community stuff. They are activators, they mean what they say. This is not a network where uh you go to their weekly calls and it's just fluff, fluff, fluff. No, they have a weekly, a weekly community call that's available to everybody. Um, and it's it's moderated. Uh, you do breakout rooms, there's activations in terms of like if you're searching for something, people will try to help you find a connection, whatever it is, information. Um, and I would encourage everybody, hang on. I would encourage everybody who's building a business that's bigger than themselves to get themselves involved in the forum. Uh, but those my takeaways, yeah. Presenting your business to strangers, uh, your business plan to strangers in a very concise way is probably one of the biggest accelerators that you can do for your business. So that so my takeaways so let's sum up my takeaways, shall we? Because I feel like I've been all over the board. My takeaways really are when an opportunity presents itself, always say yes and figure it out later. Say yes and figure out what you have to do later. And that was the case of the forum. And I I as I'm recording this podcast, I'm looking at my wall that has my bulletin board on it, and it says 2026 business bingo card. And on that, so I did that in January. Okay. October was when I found out I made semifinalist. And March was when I would find out that I was the finalist. And in January of 2026, I wrote on my bingo card, finalist of the forum pitch. And on April 24th, that's what I was a finalist on the forum pitch. Check. Um, so say yes and figure it out later. That's basically that's number one my biggest takeaway. My second biggest takeaway is being finding a place where you are 100% seen, where your vision is 100% celebrated, and remember and capture that in a way that you can return to it at the times that you need it. So that's the second takeaway. That's the second takeaway from the forum. And the third takeaway from the forum is really that increase business acumen from being able to from learning how to articulate and present my business plan and how I'm my business vision and how I'm gonna execute my business plan to reach there. That in itself was worth the journey. Well, all of it. There was no there was no sacrifices in this journey. Um, so find yourself a place where you could do that. Get your business plan in front of somebody that doesn't know you. How you're gonna execute that vision. That's what the forum helped me refine that in a way so that brought me a a deeper level of confidence in what I'm doing. So that was one kind of the biggest takeaway. And then the uh the second the second takeaway is to put yourself in a room, really find the people that 100% want you to win. We all run into environments where people don't want us to win. They may say they do, but it doesn't feel like they do. And the night of the gala, and the whole process through with the forum, but the night of the gala, I have locked that in. I have locked that in in terms of the feeling of this is what it feels like when everybody, everybody, all 800 plus people believe in you. Um, and so that's a takeaway for me is that I can now return to that moment when I need that pick me up, if you will. That's to me, that's uh one of the biggest, most invaluable takeaways. Basically, all my takeaways are invaluable because they changed who I am, they change how I show up in my business, and they change how I present my business and myself in my business. So, besties get yourself seen. That's my final thought on the road to the forum. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Found Her podcast. If you've enjoyed it, please, please, please leave me a review, subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes, and more importantly, please share with your business bestie. You can join our newsletter, find me on Instagram, all the places. I would love to hear your feedback and connect with you during your journey of building your legacy.