The Hello Alice cofounders have embarked on a national “listening tour,” during which they’ll meet with small business owners and attend events such as the South By Southwest conference in Austin and award $200,000 in grants to small business owners.
Both women have worked with the Obama and Trump administrations on entrepreneurship initiatives, and have testified extensively before Congress regarding the challenges faced by small business owners. “I had worked in investment banking but I had no clue about small business,” she says. “I tried to fund it myself. I was always tight on cash to inject money into marketing and all the things it took as a company to grow. I wasn’t paying myself and eventually I had to close up shop.”
Gore and Rodz first met at a bachelorette party 11 years ago and began running into each other at the same business conferences and summits. At a summit in Utah, they had a philosophical conversation about the limited business opportunities given to women and people of color.