About Madison
Founder of Naturally Contained, a company with a vision for a plastic-free world
Also working full-time as the Head of sales and customer relations for Cinnabar Valley Farms in the US (her family business)
2023 Master of Science in Entrepreneurship graduate from the University of Washington, with a bachelor's in Communication and minors in Business and Anthropology.
Student-Athlete on the Women's Track and Field at University of Washington
Key takeaways that made us go ‘a-ha’
Investing in your education and development as a founder can be a turning point, especially in the early stages
“I have to credit Christy Johnson’s WEL program, and her business plan practicuum provided that strong foundation to put ideas to paper, and really identify who the target customer is…really helped me formalise and solidify the idea”
Nothing replaces going out there and talking to customers across the value chain of the industry you operate in.
“Having a strong purpose and why kept us going…what really helped us is getting up and talking to people. You can do all the research and think you know what the customer wants, but until you don’t talk to them, you won’t know what they want”
“We didn’t just speak to the manager of gardens, but also to garden consumers and soil manufacturers”
Always go back to your mission and initial target customer, when taking key decisions about your business
“When you get a lot of feedback, one of the thing that centered us as a team is going back to our mission and understanding who our initial niche market is. You don’t want to create a product for everyone. Start small, and if you create a really great product for a small group of people, you can expand that further”
Know your priorities - whether your business’s growth driver is mainly volume or quality
“As a hard goods company, if we oversell initially and the product then has issues…it can be really hard to rebuild the relationships. So, it’s really important to make sure that the first few customers are very well taken care of”
Think carefully about funding - depending on your type of business, you can get quite far without VC-type big investments that dilute control
“Our main way is bootstrapping, and getting small ‘angel’ investment from friends and family. This company is possible to set up without the large investment from outside. But we are starting to look more into (equity-free) grants and startup funding competitions.
“Angels are great to have as investors and on the board - having them there as mentors and board members can be so valuable”
Pitching effectively is all about practice, simplicity, and owning your story
“My biggest regret is not pitching sooner…it’s important to be able to see other female founders doing it, and to show people that you can do it no matter your background. It’s okay to not be perfect…and the main thing is that you have an idea that you are really passionate about as you know what you are trying to get across”
“Explain your ideas like you are explaining it to a 5-year old. Address your target customers’ problems, putting them at the front of your pitch”
Madison’s advice to women who want to start businesses on their own terms
“Reach out to as many people / women who have started something whether they are an entrepreneur or intrapreneur. The biggest inspiration for me is to listen to someone else’s story, and see all the different ways of starting something. Just TRY!! Give yourself space and carve out time, to set a target and see what happens. It’s always best to have tried instead of wondering what could have been.
And always put your hand up to pitch your idea. Don’t be afraid of NOs, as you will get a lot more YESs than you think you will.”
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