(gentle ambient music) - [Narrator] Funding for "Working Capital" is provided by the friends of KTWU and GO Topeka.

- Hello there.

We're glad you made it.

Have you ever had a good idea for a business?

Or maybe a new twist or spark for an existing one?

GO Topeka has a place just for that.

We're about to find out how your idea can be heard, and we'll hear one man's "Sun" of a pitch.

It's all about pitching business on "Working Capital."

(inquisitive music) GO Topeka is laser focused on bringing business to and keeping business in Topeka.

By joining with Washburn University's School of Business, the two entities are making strong efforts to keep entrepreneurs right here in the capital city.

From the Washburn Pitch Competition to the latest pitch contest provided by GO Topeka's office of Minority and Women's Business Development, there may be a place for you to make your own pitch.

Joining us today is our friend, Glenda Washington, chief equity and opportunity officer from the Greater Topeka Partnership, and we are so glad to have you here.

- I'm so glad to be back.

- This is awesome, the two entities working together.

Will you explain a little bit more about the history for those who don't know?

- Well, GO Topeka works really close with Washburn on a number of things.

It could be anything from looking at sports facility and how we can use it in our community, or the entrepreneurship component.

You know, looking at how do we make our businesses in this community a lot stronger, and what is the combination, you know?

Learning that combination on getting the business and the university to work together, educating them.

The pitch contests that they do, we collaborate a lot more than people think.

- I think that's exciting.

You just mentioned the sports thing.

We just had this major event here.

Why do you think things like that are so important to the capital city?

- Well, we have to bring people to the community.

We can't always wait for them to come and visit us.

And so that is a way of us embracing our whole state, bringing people to our community, letting them take a look at Topeka.

Topeka is surprising when you look at all the assets that we have in the community, all the tourist opportunity.

- [Betty Lou] Right.

- And then, just look at, you know, the whole landscape of, we have a lot of new ground to break.

So you'll see us do a lot more of that, bringing people to the community, doing pitch contests, looking at how we win in this game of life.

- And not only being the capital city but also Brown versus Board of Education, national attention.

And you know, we have people that are on the campus at Washburn, but other people, you know, that are coming to the city, and maybe they have a great idea that they did it in another state.

And they want to bring that business here.

Do you feel like we're business friendly?

- Oh, yes we are.

I get that all of the time.

People from other communities calling us and asking us, you know, "Can we take advantage of an incentive?"

"Can we take advantage "of one of the programs that you have?"

You cannot.

I mean, you can, but you can't.

This is, we are trying to grow our community, unless they wanna move here.

If they wanna move here and open their business in this community, then that's just fine.

But we're not so keen on training other folks to take business out of our community.

- So we'll get to this pitch competition, but we wanna talk about the brain drain.

Because a lot of the people who are pitching might be students or somebody who is, you know, "I don't have an opportunity here.

"I'm gonna move away."

- We have three pitch contests in this community.

So there would, we know that there will be students who would want to go to other communities.

They're looking at participating in some of the competition, but they may want to relocate.

That's fine because they'll always remember where that idea was born.

And they will always mention that we are a business-friendly community.

So we have three pitch contests.

The first is Washburn Pitch Contest.

We have a pitch contest that GO Topeka contributes to, and they've been doing that for about eight years, eight to nine years.

So we have that one pitch contest.

We have another contest, which is a pitch contest that we will be doing in the next couple of days with Washburn, actually next week.

And it's a social entrepreneurship type of thing.

It's looking at where the gaps are in the community, and how we can fill those gaps with ideas that are community related.

- What do you see some of those gaps as being?

- Oh, you gotta come to - The competition?

Okay.

- the competition.

You gotta come.

So we have that one, and then we have the one that I just started last year, last fall.

The one that where we looked at women and minority only in this one.

And we wanted them to bring some of their ideas to the table, wanted to take a look at how we could grow our entrepreneurs within the community, and how they could create jobs.

'Cause one of the things that we don't think about is them creating jobs.

We generally will see an entrepreneur come through a contest and, you know, not think about, okay, further down the road, he could have hired, you know, eight or 10 people.

And so we got some exciting news for, you know, what we have going on today.

- And their success is ultimately our success for the capital city.

- Yes, most definitely.

Most definitely, you will find them bringing artists, you know, anybody that can support their business.

You'll find them bringing them to the community.

So they might not stay, but they will leave some money in our community.

- What exactly is a pitch?

- A pitch is simply like a verbal, I think, business plan.

What are you, what's your idea?

What are you going to do?

How will it benefit our community?

How will it create jobs?

And what's the end game?

- All right, so hang right there.

It's time for a short break.

But when we return, you'll learn how you can make your own pitch.

Stay there.

(soft ambient music) Thank you for staying with us, and welcome back.

We're visiting with GO Topeka's Glenda Washington about how to pitch your business.

And before we went to the break, we talked about what a pitch is.

Will you recount that for those who might just be joining us?

- It's just a, I think, an oral business plan.

You know, verbally telling people what your business is, what it's about, how it will benefit individuals, how it will create jobs, and what the endgame is.

- Okay, we've heard about the elevator pitch, like somebody, you know, like pitching your business that quick.

But this is much more time allowed?

- Yeah, it's a little bit more time allowed.

It's focused.

You know, we have pitch coaches to help the individual that gets to that level.

- Wow.

- And that person will tell him what to focus on or tell her, you know, how to project or whatever it is that she might need to.

You gotta remember, it's a competition.

And so you gotta compete like you want to win some money.

- Right, and the competition is for money.

Seed money, basically?

- All of the competitions that I mentioned are for seed money.

- [Betty Lou] Okay.

- Our goal is to help that business start, and do what we can to get them to the next level.

Like I said, to hire individuals to be employed by their company.

- Uh-hmm, and attract businesses here and to keep that going.

- Exactly, exactly.

- So working with the students, you know, they might be a little more used to giving a presentation as opposed to somebody who's been out of the workforce for a while.

Is that offer - That is- - for the help still there for that?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- Yeah, so the students actually, when they do their competition, they have coaches as well.

- Okay.

- So we have, that's one of our practices.

- [Betty Lou] Okay.

- We have focused on how do we make them a better presenter, how do we make people see their vision, how do we convince whoever is in the audience that this is one of the best opportunities.

- So how does the actual pitch contest work?

What do they come with?

They're prepared with, you know, telling you about their business, but what do they physically have to have and do?

- They can actually do a number of things.

They can demonstrate their product, display it, dissect it, whatever it is that, you know, make me understand what that project is.

- So is it kind of like "Shark Tank?"

- It is exactly like "Shark Tank."

- Is it?

Okay, okay.

(chuckling) - Yeah, except we don't bid on opportunities.

We just identify the individual- - Right.

- who did the best pitch.

- And who makes up the team of judges?

Or how is it- - So it may vary.

It may be a group of community leaders.

It could be a group of educators or be a combination of all of those.

It could be business owners, it depends.

And so we had business owners and educators in our judging panel.

- I think that's exciting.

Now, in a little bit, we're gonna meet one of those people.

But let's talk about the person who won with wrestling shoes for girls.

- Yeah, so Deb won with wrestling shoes for girls.

And that was an unusual opportunity for us.

We had to look at it differently because wrestling shoes are just usually made for boys.

And so she came up with that concept, and she's been doing a fabulous job.

I just saw that she was in another pitch contest up in Kansas City a couple of weeks ago.

- Oh, so there's pitch contests like- - All around the state.

- Okay.

- All around the state.

- Okay, that's excellent.

Okay, now, we don't wanna tell about who got the second place because we're gonna meet him.

But let's go on with third and fourth.

- Third and fourth was Tonya Fisher, third.

Tonya's product was a comb for dreadlocks.

And so she's come up with a process that she uses, a comb that she created, and it saves time and money, I think.

- Oh, wow.

- And then, Leslie Flueranges.

We all know Leslie Flueranges.

Leslie had an individual that could add on to her facility.

- Existing business, which is TLC for pets.

Yeah, Tender Loving Care.

- Yes.

- Right.

- And so she pitched hers as well.

There were others that pitched, but we found that these four were really exceptional.

But there were, I think we started off with like 25 and worked our way down to the final four.

- Yeah, what's something that, if somebody's considering a pitch, what could make their product stand out?

- So I always like to taste food.

So if you bring me a demonstration, give me a sample.

- Sure, yeah.

- A sample.

Show me.

Show me what it can do.

Show me the before and the after.

Talk about how it impacted our community, those kinds of things.

- Wow, and is it something, are you kind of looking for something that would help make Topeka a more well-rounded city?

- Yeah, that too.

So you could look at it from a number of different aspects.

So a lot of people look at, you know, my vision is for it to impact the world.

How can it impact the world?

How can it impact the state?

How can it impact my community?

So you're looking at how big can this get?

What's the possibilities here?

- Right, and you are putting Topeka on the map personally by winning awards, the Nationwide Awards, which is wonderful.

- Thank you.

- And that helps bring, what are your visions?

Like, I know you've always got something cooking.

What are you thinking?

- You know, I think with the group now, so it's not just me by myself.

So I think with, you know, our Small Business Development Center, I think with our small business department, I think with our innovation department, and so we are looking at how we can collaborate.

A couple of weeks ago, we brought James Reid to the community, and he actually was speaking on social entrepreneurship.

And we are looking at now better impacting our community with the products and services that we offer.

- And we can do it with GO Topeka.

It's time for another short break.

Thank you, Glenda.

- My pleasure.

- You get ready to take flight with Sun-Man.

(soft ambient music) Welcome back to "Working Capital."

Sun-Man flew onto the scene back in 1985, bringing representation to the toy aisle and inspiring young minds on the way.

He ushered in a diverse, new sandbox for children to play in.

Dane Shobe was one of the many kids who finally were able to see the power in themselves.

And now, he's ready to pass that power down through his new "Sun Hero Magazine."

Let's learn how his pitch is becoming a reality.

And we thank you for being here.

This is so exciting.

Okay, now, now, KTWU audiences are gonna know you from "Theater of the Mind" and other people in many productions around 'cause you're an actor.

- I am, indeed.

Yes, I am, yeah.

- Okay, in Topeka Civic Theater, and you're getting ready to reprise your role as the villain.

- Yes, as the villainous Harvey Green of Dale Easton's "The Drunkard."

(both laughing) - And you can do so much.

You charm everybody with your acting abilities and the many different voices that you can make - Oh, man.

- and characters.

- Betty Lou, you better stop.

(both chuckling) - Well, so it's really not a surprise then to see you.

I mean, this is kind of an extension of your love.

- Right, right.

- Will you explain this Sun-Man?

- So this actually began as my pandemic project, you know?

It popped in my mind.

I can't remember at this point how it came to be a magazine, but it basically, I was thinking there needs to be some way for all these Black creators that are out there that I see online, they're creating comic books, they're creating animated series, toys, so on and so forth, and they're all begging to be seen.

But there hasn't really been a way for them to be seen.

And so instead of talking over each other, I thought it'd be nice to have them all collected in one spot.

So this magazine, "Sun Hero Magazine," is going to shine a spotlight on Black creators through all facets of pop culture, you know?

And also throughout, and also highlighting the contributions of Black people throughout these various industries.

Because there's a lot out there, you know, we've been there but people don't seem to know about it.

And I think that everyone should.

- Absolutely.

Okay, so we were speaking with Glenda Washington earlier of GO Topeka, and they're having these pitch contests, and you won second place, which is awesome.

- I won second place.

- You got some money, and you have to have money to start anything.

- Yes, and I would be nowhere without that competition.

I had no, you know, I had no idea.

Like, I just happened to see a friend on Facebook say like, this competition's coming up and if you're a minority, which I happen to be, you know, it's not a trick of the camera.

But he said, if you're a minority or a woman, and you have a business idea in mind, come and compete in this competition for some serious cash prizes.

I didn't even know what the serious cash prizes were.

When I saw serious cash prizes, - Yeah.

- I applied.

And I got there and I found out it was 5,000, 8,000, 10,000, and 15,000.

And I would've been fine with any one of those.

- Sure, sure.

- [Dane] But I was lucky enough to win second place, 10,000 for the seed money for the beginning of this magazine.

- So what was your pitch?

- My pitch was kind of what I just said to you.

Like, there's all these people out there, there's all these Black creatives out there that need to be seen.

You know, we had Black Panther come out, and in 2018 is when that film came out.

Black Panther was created in 1966, and he just now got a movie.

And also, he is the one Black superhero that everyone knows out of how many Black superheroes?

- Sure, sure.

- Like, he's the one everyone knows and, no offense, but he's the one everyone knows but still created by two white men.

So it's time for all these people out there that are shouting like, "See me, see my hero!"

to be seen.

And also it's important, I'm sorry I'm on a tangent now, but it's important, - No, tangent away.

it's important for young Black people like myself, like back when I discovered Sun-Man, to see themselves represented.

Otherwise, they can grow up with inferiority complexes.

Because if all they're seeing is white heroes on the screen and the Black person is only the hero's best friend or the villain, well, that makes them see themselves in that role as less than, you know?

When I was a kid, you know, I was watching these movies and cartoons and, you know, I'm rooting for the white guy over the Black guy.

They're fighting and I'm like, "Man, get him outta here."

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Yeah, so it's important to see... (chuckles) - [Betty Lou] So who gave you Sun-Man?

- My mother did.

- [Betty Lou] Okay.

- My mother found Sun-Man, and she always did her best to try and find, you know, toys and cartoons that had, you know, people of color in the leads.

And come to find out that Sun-Man was created by a Black woman named Yla Eason for that exact same reason.

She had a three-year-old son, and they're out on the beach vacationing.

And her son says, "I wish I could be a superhero, "but I can't 'cause I'm Black."

And this just blew her mind.

- Oh.

Whoa, yeah.

- Blew her mind, yeah.

So she goes out there to the toy house to try and find a Black toy for her son, - [Betty Lou] Nothing.

- nothing.

- Oh, my God.

- So she being a very smart and savvy woman that she was a graduate of Harvard Business, she decides, "Well, heck, I'll just make it myself."

- Yeah.

- And she did.

- Good for her.

- Good for her.

- And so now, that makes me wanna know what her pitch was and how she made it and actually got it into an action figure that your mom could give to you.

- Well, I happen to have an interview with her in the magazine so... (chuckles) - Oh, my goodness.

One more reason for us to find out about that.

So you gotta hang right there because after another short break, we're gonna return to see how the "Sun Hero" will take flight.

We'll be right back.

You're watching "Working Capital."

(gentle curious music) Thank you for staying with us on "Working Capital."

Are you ready to take flight?

We have our Sun-Man here.

Oh, gosh.

Dane Shobe is with us.

You're the winner, the second place winner of a pitch contest.

And that got you into "Sun Magazine" starring da da da... - Sun-Man.

(both laughing) - Okay, now, for those just joining, who is Sun-Man?

- So Sun-Man was a toy created in 1985 by a Black woman, made for her son to represent Black superheroes.

Kind of made in the same style as the He-Man toys, which were really, really popular back in that day.

He pretty much looks just like them.

Very, very masculine but he has that rich chocolate brown skin.

(laughing) - So we're gonna find out if we read "Sun Magazine," which we're gonna learn about, why she chose a Sun-Man with the wings and all that kind of stuff?

- You'll learn why she chose the name Sun-Man.

You'll learn where his powers come from, and you will learn all about how she went from someone that had no experience in the toy industry to starting multiple toy lines.

Like, her journey is really, really impressive and just really inspiring.

The whole magazine's full of really, really inspiring stories like that from Black creators.

I feel like most of them could be a movie.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

- Okay, well, we need to make a run for that then because I think I, you know, there's no reason why not.

Because you know, we just had, you know, new characters it seems like are coming in all the time.

You know, "Black Adam," I mean that just came.

So it's like, what the heck?

Well, that movie just came.

(laughing) - Well, yeah, yeah, yeah.

The movie just came.

But that's what I'm saying.

You know, all this kind of stuff could be made into a movie and why not?

You know?

- Right, yeah.

- And so where are all your contributors and the artists coming from?

Just Kansas or other places?

- No, it's all over the place.

Like, the people that I've got this first issue, they're mostly, they're established, you know?

They're out there.

Not that I'm not Topeka proud 'cause I am very.

Everything I have and can do, and I owe to this town, and I ain't going nowhere.

(laughing) - Good, we don't want the brain drain that we were talking about earlier.

We need this creativity kept here, which is one of the great reasons why when you won in this pitch contest, I mean, that's cool.

People want you here and they want to see what else you can come up with.

- Right, and I'm happy to be here.

But we have people in here, we have a Black toy designer named David Vonner.

We have a comic book creator named David Crownson who created an amazing comic called "Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer."

(both chuckling) And we got a very nice interview with him and some samples of his upcoming works.

Like I said, the interview with Yla, and we have exclusive pinup print from a French Black artist that's worked for Marvel.

So it's established people in here that we're gonna shine a spotlight on.

- Sure, now, how often is this magazine gonna come out?

- We are hoping to have it come out every other month.

- Okay.

- But you know, we're still a small team.

It's me and a designer and some freelancers that are doing everything.

So we're hoping to have it come out every other month.

But sometimes, you know, it might, life might get in the way.

I have a new daughter.

(laughing) - Yes, yes, which also I wanted to bring that up because you want her to be seen as well.

- Exactly.

- So could there be a female superhero in the works?

- Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.

I got plans to interview all kinds of people, including, it's really important for me, for my daughter to have that representation that I lacked.

So that's another reason why I think this magazine is so important.

- It is, and of course, the seed money that you got really helped get you going.

- I wouldn't be anywhere without it.

Anywhere without it.

Nowhere near where I'm at right now.

And we're hoping to launch this month.

- Okay, now, is the format, you know, of course stories, but then I'm thinking lots of pictures and comic kind of thing.

But you yourself are creating and selling your works elsewhere as well.

- Right, right.

I am an artist.

Like I said, we're not sure if- - Yeah, we'll show some of these too, but yeah.

- Here's one of my prints that I sell (chuckles) - Ooh.

- at local comic events.

And hopefully, I'll get out to travel a bit more.

Some of my artwork is featured in the magazine, of course.

I did paint the cover.

And yeah, that's just another one of the things I like to do.

- You know, people don't realize how deep a person is.

I mean, you know, they see you performing and doing all the fun stuff.

But they don't realize what goes on with you to carry all this through.

- Yes, I'm very deep.

- Well, you are.

(both laughing) - Very deep individual.

- You really are.

Because you know, think about how that creativity is springing forth in such vivid colors and very practical ways and fanciful ways as well.

- Right, but again, I'll say again, like I owe it all to Topeka and this town, and all these wonderful people I've met that have allowed me to have such wonderful opportunities, you know?

As you've mentioned, theater's a big part of my life.

Being involved with Topeka Civic Theater, I'm in the Laugh Lines improv troop.

I've been there since 2014.

- Wow.

- Going strong, you know?

- Commitment.

- Well, it's a lot of fun, you know?

And I feel very lucky to be a part of that, you know?

- Yeah, well, I think audiences are lucky to see you perform and hear you perform.

Because it's entertainment, and people I think need that so much, not only on stage, but through your works and everything that you're gonna read.

And just think of the opportunities you're providing for all of these other people.

How have they reacted to being invited to be in this magazine?

- It has been very, very, very positive.

Because much to anyone's surprise, this does not already exist.

You know, like I say, like, you know, there's lots of Black creators out there, but it's almost like they're all shouting over each other.

And there's no just one place where we can just shine a spotlight on all of them and have them all get a taste of that spotlight.

It's one of my favorite things about this is there's no competition, which means it only exists to uplift Black people.

- That's absolute and the place to find it is "Sun Magazine."

That is a wrap for the show.

I'd like to thank Dane Shobe also from "Sun Magazine" along with Glenda Washington from the Greater Topeka Partnership for being with us.

As always, if you know of any interesting businesses or business topics, we'd like to hear from you.

Give us a call, drop us an email, or send a letter and we'll see you next time.

Thank you for watching.

It's all about business, and you've been watching "Working Capital."

(pleasant inquisitive music) - [Narrator] Funding for "Working Capital" is provided by the friends of KTWU and GO Topeka.