ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY!

In celebration of Women Entrepreneurship Week, we will be having a giveaway over on our @pittbigidea Instagram account featuring a Sundae Party Box ($49 value) from Millie’s Oakland which is a women-owned business run in part by woman entrepreneur and Pitt alum Amanda Sheaffer (CBA ’10)!

Our WEW Giveaway Prize includes:

  • Sundae Party Box ($49 value!)
    • 3 pints of ice cream, 6 fresh homemade waffle cones, and assorted toppings, cups, spoons, and napkins. Feeds 6-9.
    • Certificate is good for ONE FREE Sundae Party Box from Millie’s Oakland, located at 207 Oakland Avenue, PGH PA15206
    • Allergen-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free options are available!

Here’s how to enter:

    1. Follow us @pittbigidea and @milliesoakland on Instagram
    2. Like the giveaway post we’ll have posted on Wednesday, October 18
    3. Tag a friend in the comments (+ receive an EXTRA entry for each additional friend you tag!)

 

The giveaway opens on Wednesday, October 18 and the winner will be chosen on Friday, October 20 (5 p.m. EST). Good luck!

WEW at a Glance: October 16 – 20, 2023

Days, times, and location for Women Entrepreneurship Week (WEW) events are subject to change.

The Big Idea Center will follow the University of Pittsburgh’s COVID-19 requirements and thus reserves the right to make any necessary event changes in order to comply with Pitt’s COVID-19 policies.

Monday, October 16:

  • Isabelle Chickanosky (ENGR PhD ’26)’s @pittbigidea Instagram takeover

Wednesday, October 18:

  • Instagram Giveaway Opens!
  • Big Idea Blog article feat. Natalie McDonald (DSAS ’97)
  • 5:00 – 6:00 P.M. @ Big Idea Center: Psychological & Emotional Safety Training Session presented by Underdog

Thursday, October 19:

  • Sejeal Katiyar (ENGR ’24)’s @pittbigidea Instagram takeover
  • 2:30 – 3:30 PM @ Big Idea Center: Coffee with the Kuzneskis – a casual info session around the Kuzneski Innovation Cup

Friday: October 20:

  • Instagram Giveaway Winner Announced (5 p.m. EST)

 

Meet the Women Entrepreneurs!

Isabelle Chickanosky (ENGR PhD ’26)

Team Member, EndoDX & Graduate Student Research Assistant in Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering

Isabelle is a third-year Ph.D. student in Bioengineering here at the University of Pittsburgh studying endometriosis diagnosis and modeling techniques. While Isabelle is from St. Louis, she fell in love with Pittsburgh as an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon and now loves getting to work within the Pitt and UPMC community to bring her research to life. Part of what brought Isabelle to Pitt for graduate school was her desire to focus on clinical translation to create solutions that could reshape the endometriosis field for both patients and clinicians. Thanks to Pitt opportunities such as the Big Idea Blitz, the Michael G. Well Entrepreneurship Competition, the Center for Medical Innovation, and the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, Isabelle’s team has begun making a noninvasive endometriosis diagnosis tool to help reshape the field of women’s health.

CONNECT WITH ISABELLE ON LINKEDIN

Natalie McDonald (DSAS ’97)

Founder, Create NYC

Natalie McDonald ’97 is the start-up and growth-stage Founder/CEO of Create NYC, a new on-demand global healthcare agency that she conceived to serve the pharmaceutical industry. Natalie built and sold her successful marketing and advertising agency in the heavily regulated industry and led the successful post-acquisition integration into a publicly held $1.3 billion parent company. Prior to Create NYC, Natalie held progressively responsible roles in Advertising, Marketing, and Sales at Saatchi & Saatchi and Pfizer Inc. She received her self-designed undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Business from the University of Pittsburgh, and her M.B.A. from Drexel University.

Connect with Natalie on LinkedIn

 

Kate Gallo (CBA ’25)

CEO & Founder, Underdog

Kate Gallo is the CEO and Founder of Underdog, a women-led student startup providing physical and psychological self-defense for college women+. She began working on Underdog over a year and a half ago and has organized self-defense events with the team, competed in pitch competitions and won upwards of $65,000 in funding, and plans to continue growing Underdog beyond Pittsburgh. Kate is pursuing degrees in data analytics and business information systems and also works as the Platform Manager for 1486 Labs, an entrepreneurship lab developing a data marketplace startup. She is very thankful resources like the Big Idea Center exist at Pitt to take advantage of educational and funding opportunities, and she’s excited for what the next two years of her time at Pitt will bring!

Connect with Kate on LinkedIn

 

Trinity Foster (CBA ’25)

Head of Marketing, Underdog

Trinity Foster serves as Head of Marketing for Underdog, a women-led student startup providing physical and psychological self-defense for college women+. A team member since November 2022, Trinity has competed alongside CEO Kate Gallo in multiple pitch competitions, including the 2023 RFBIC competition where her original marketing video won the $2,000 video round. Pursuing degrees in marketing and psychology, Trinity leads Underdog’s social media marketing, creating educational TikToks that have reached nearly 2 million viewers. She is grateful for the support from the Big Idea Center and Pitt’s community and cannot wait to see what Underdog accomplishes this year!

CONNECT WITH TRINITY ON LINKEDIN

Amanda Sheaffer (CBA ’10)

Co-Owner, Millie’s Oakland & Millie’s Carnegie Mellon University

Amanda received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh in Business Management, and after, she attended UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing to become a Critical Care Nurse, which allowed her to join UPMC Presbyterian Hospital as a member of the Surgical Trauma ICU team for 5 years. Amanda stepped away from bedside nursing in 2021 and entered the Medical Device Sales industry. She currently works full-time for BD as a Clinical Manager and Field Sales Trainer.

Additionally, Amanda came across an incredible opportunity to take over Millie’s Oakland Coffee ‘n’ Creamery in January 2023, beginning he journey as an entrepreneur. Amanda and her business partner were then fortunate enough to have a second business opportunity present itself: a few short months after they opened their first Millie’s Homemade Ice Cream franchise, they were able to assume ownership of the Millie’s Coffee ‘N’ Creamery kiosk at CMU Tepper. Opening her own businesses (two in less than 6 months!) has been the most humbling and challenging – yet rewarding! – experience of Amanda’s life. Amanda always had aspirations to become a small business owner, and to see it unfold and evolve the way it has has been so validating: Amanda is so glad that she leaned into the support offered by Millie’s and allowed her determination to follow her dreams take the lead.

Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn

Sejeal Katiyar (ENGR ’24)

Founder, noVRel

Sejeal is currently a senior at the University of Pittsburgh. Currently, she is majoring in Bioengineering and Computer Science (concentration in Medical Product Entrepreneurship), and a certificate in Innovation, Product Design, and Entrepreneurship. Sejeal is excited to work in industries combining augmented reality and augmented reality to healthcare.

She is the Founder of noVRel, a startup company that is focused on developing solutions in the healthcare space by leveraging augmented reality technology. Currently, the noVRel team is working to develop a neurosurgery-specificedition of the Microsoft HoloLens 2.

CONNECT WITH SEJEAL ON LINKEDIN