Carolyn Roz's entrepreneurial passion was sparked during summers she spent with her grandparents in Bolivia. She loved watching cookies roll off the conveyor belts in the sprawling bakery that delivered cookies to stores across the country. After studying finance in college and working as an investment banker after graduating, she risked a stable career to start her own luxury home and stationery company at age 25.
Struggling to grow and with declining cash flow, the company filed for bankruptcy two years later.
Undaunted, Roz hit the ground running again, starting a digital media company to develop marketing analytics. Suddenly, deep-pocketed investors and powerful connections began arriving.
“A world I never knew existed opened up before me,” Roz recalls. “When I started the company, I would have given my right arm to get into these rooms.”
Imagining how other women could benefit from the same access, she started an accelerator program to grow her business, but wanted to find a way to help even more people from diverse backgrounds.
She met Elizabeth Gore, then Dell's entrepreneur in residence, at an invitation-only entrepreneur event in Utah in 2015. The two spent the night brainstorming ways to improve access to capital for a broad range of women and underrepresented business owners who historically struggled to get the capital to start and grow their businesses.
Their vision became reality in 2016 when the two launched Hello Alice, a free platform offering expert advice, fundraising assistance, and peer-to-peer support. Since launch, the company has grown rapidly and now supports 1.5 million US entrepreneurs.
“There's no formula for success, but there is certainly a formula for failure,” said Roz, whose venture is named after Lewis Carroll's “Alice in Wonderland.” “If companies can learn to navigate those obstacles and hurdles as efficiently as possible, they definitely increase their chances of success.”
“There's no formula for success, but there certainly is a formula for failure. If companies start to overcome those obstacles and hurdles as efficiently as possible, they definitely increase their chances of success.”
Carolyn Roth
According to a report by the U.S. Small Business Association, more than 99 percent of all businesses in the United States are small businesses, so ensuring they have equitable access to capital and resources is key to creating jobs, supporting communities, and revitalizing the overall economy.
The U.S. Small Business Association reports that more than 99% of all businesses in the United States are small businesses, so ensuring equitable access to capital and resources is key to creating jobs, supporting communities and revitalizing the overall economy. Mastercard is a longtime partner and investor in Hello Alice, co-developing products such as the Hello Alice Small Business Mastercard and providing access to digital tools, networking opportunities and credit through Mastercard Strive.
“At Hello Alice, we're investing to help small business owners raise capital, build their networks and grow their businesses,” said Ginger Siegel, head of North American small business at Mastercard.
“Together, we are working to solve the significant business challenges they face by providing seamless access to the products, services and financial programs they need to make a meaningful impact on the individuals they run, the customers they serve, and the communities and economies they serve.”
Most Hello Alice owners come from diverse backgrounds and run businesses ranging from hair salons to restaurants to photography studios. What they have in common is a relentless drive to find new customers and acquire the capital they need to innovate and expand.
By mining the vast amount of data shared by entrepreneurs on its platform, Hello Alice aims to help small business owners access grants and loans while they focus on generating vital revenue. For example, the Hello Alice Small Business Mastercard credit card provides a financial lifeline for many owners looking for ways to cover expenses and purchase necessary supplies. For those who don't qualify for traditional credit cards, the card allows them to start building a credit record that can help them apply for bank loans and venture capital investments in the future.
Daniel Quinones, a Miami entrepreneur who launched Frontpage Retail's field marketing business in 2020, said switching his business expenses from a high-interest personal card to the Hello Alice Mastercard was a game changer. Equally important were the card's perks, which allowed him to explore ways to grow his company through virtual sessions with Roz, who does in-store demos and merchandising for emerging natural food brands.
The Puerto Rico-born founder first learned about Hello Alice when he partnered with Miami rapper Pitbull to help Latino businesses during the pandemic, and says his peers' advice on staffing and fundraising has also been invaluable.
“Getting the answers you're looking for based on proven systems and resources that have worked for others is a valuable thing in business,” Quinones says.
Miami-based Daniel Quinones, with help from Hello Alice, has built a business helping up-and-coming natural food companies sell and promote their products through in-store demos and more (above). (Photo courtesy of Front Page Retail)
Now, as he looks to grow new organic brands and markets, he wants to give back and offer his insights to entrepreneurs facing the same growing pains he overcame.
After providing roughly $70 million in funding to entrepreneurs, Roz says the next step for Hello Alice is to back companies tackling the coming artificial intelligence revolution.
“The business environment is changing rapidly right now,” she said, “and we're making sure they're prepared to weather this storm.”
