Eleven Milwaukee entrepreneurs put everything on the line Wednesday night for a shot at $7,000 and a real platform for their businesses. Urban News Journal was on the ground at Rev-Up MKE, Near West Side Partners’ 9th annual small business pitch competition, held at The Rave/Eagles Club and presented by Town Bank.
The format is simple and public: eleven finalists, each with a booth, pitching everything from arts education to sustainable fashion to wellness services to a live crowd that doubles as the judging panel for the Audience Choice Award. First place walks away with $5,000 and retail space at Concordia 27, complete with coaching and marketing support. Second place takes $1,500. The Audience Choice winner takes $500.
UNJ caught up with two of the finalists live from the floor.
Roberta Steward, Brilliantaires Inc.
Roberta Steward founded Brilliantaires Inc. to train the next generation of certified pharmacy technicians, a career path she says gets overlooked in a city that pushes young people toward nursing or CNA work instead.
“I’ve been a pharmacy tech for about 12 years, and I was just seeing the disconnect from pharmacy in our world,” Steward said. “Typically it’s pushed on being a CNA or being a nurse. So I just thought that I could bring workforce development to pharmacy and make it more noticeable.”
Steward took home the night’s $500 Audience Choice Award.
“This means a lot to me. I can reinvest into my business to help individuals,” she said. “I’m appreciative and I’m very thankful for this.”
Asked about the hardest part of building the business, Steward didn’t point to money or logistics first. “The hardest thing has been support outside of the community,” she said. “That’s been my biggest hurdle so far.”
Contact Brilliantaires Inc.: ceo@brilliantaires.org | 414-317-3014 | brilliantaires.org
Bradley Perich, Art as an Outlet Wisconsin
Bradley Perich runs Art as an Outlet Wisconsin, a photography and media education program. By trade, Perich is a music video director. He said the business grew out of wanting to give back using the skills he already had.
Perich won $1,500 for second place, and he already knows exactly what it buys.
“This is literally three new cameras,” he said. “We can literally double our rosters and double our free photo and video programming to twice as many [kids], just with that.”
Perich is also program director for Notes for Notes, a national nonprofit that runs free youth music studios, including one in Milwaukee. When asked about the hardest part of running his own program, he credited the network around him rather than naming a struggle.
“Really, it’s not any really hard part. Sometimes it’s hard to get funding,” he said. “But other than that, I work with a lot of great kids, I work within a great school, I’m also program director for Notes for Notes. They’re another great organization. So I really get a lot of support from these places. It’s just easy to do.”
Support this work: Follow Notes for Notes Milwaukee on Instagram @notesfornotesmas, the channel Perich pointed viewers to directly.
Eleven Businesses, One City
The other nine finalists competing Wednesday night: Casita Prado, Jivana Wellness, Milwaukee Hip-Hop Museum, Milwaukee Mandalas, Peaceful Dispute Resolution, Senses Yoga School, Stajah Stunna Enterprises, The African In Us Boutique, and The Baker’s Connection.
“Eleven people put everything on the line tonight,” host Marcus Hart said, closing out the segment. “In front of a live crowd, they built something special and bigger in this city. That’s worth showing up for.”
Watch the full field coverage below.
Why This Matters
This is the kind of Milwaukee story that doesn’t get enough coverage: real people building something real, in front of their own neighbors, for their own city. Near West Side Partners has run Rev-Up MKE for nine years running as a direct-investment model for local entrepreneurship, backed by Town Bank as presenting sponsor.
Independent. Objective. Unafraid.
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