Ignite Portsmouth Alumni: Tina Chabot
Last summer, the Shawnee State University Kricker Innovation Hub hosted its first annual Ignite Portsmouth Entrepreneurial Bootcamp and Pitch Competition. The program helped participants with entrepreneurial support, business plan development, mentor advice, and gave out $8,500 in prize money!
Portsmouth native Tina Chabot was one of the 10 finalists in last year’s Ignite Portsmouth program. Tina is a yoga instructor, massage therapist, and health counselor. Recently, Tina has also been creating unique artisanal tea blends - which are already for sale in several stores in the Southern Ohio area. Going forward, Tina hopes to grow her podcast, ‘Make Life Your Medicine’, and expand into the world of kombucha, too.
“I'm really loving this day and age,” said Tina. “When you’re in business by yourself, sometimes you feel very alone. But this program helped me find an entrepreneurial community. It helped me feel less isolated.”
Aside from being a yoga instructor and small business owner, Tina describes herself as a dreamer. She is constantly busy with new ideas and plans for the future. She says that one of the ways Ignite Portsmouth helped her was by providing instruction on how to focus her efforts on one thing at a time.
“I have so many ideas with my business! So for me, Ignite helped me to carve through them and focus and put in some work in that way.”
Ignite Portsmouth participants are also taught marketing and branding of their ideas. At the culminating pitch competition, participants showcased their ideas by presenting them in front of a panel of seasoned entrepreneurs.
“It’s most certainly helped me on the business side, that was the first PowerPoint that I had ever done. Now, I’m putting PowerPoints together from my health and wellness classes.”
Ignite Portsmouth is a great way for individuals in the community to get connected with like minded entrepreneurs and take their business to the next level.
“Go for it, it’s a wonderful opportunity to grow your business for sure. And it’s a great community of people that you will always have access to.”
