Story by Ammie Bryant, Photos provided by Angelyn Myers

This past September, local entrepreneur Angelyn Myers accepted one of three $15,000 grand prizes. Her business My “Buddy” Towel was named a 2018 Grand Champion of The American Small Business Championship (ASBC) by SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors. The award was the culmination of a months-long selection process that began early this year.

The competition began for Myers when she submitted an application describing what makes her business, My “Buddy” Towel, one of the best small businesses in her community and how she plans to use the prizes to grow her business.  

“I am a mom of six, and one day I had enough of the towel laundry. I created a full body towel that’s also a onesie! Just slip on, zip up, and go! My product puts the fun back into bath time,” said Myers. “My family would like to say Thank you to our wonderful community, both locally and online, for supporting us and helping us succeed. This would not have been possible without you.”

In March, nominations that garnered at least 100 votes were presented to a judging panel of small business experts that determined 102 Small Business Champion winners, including My “Buddy” Towel.  As one of the winners of this phase of the competition, Myers received an all-expense-paid trip to a training and networking event, SCORE mentoring and publicity throughout the year, and a chance to win one of three $15,000 grand prizes, made possible with the support of Sam’s Club.  

My “Buddy” Towel was awarded the grand prize based on how effectively Myers utilized the initial prizes to grow business revenue and operations as well as how effectively she promoted the Championship in the media and through social media. My “Buddy” Towel was featured in various print and web publications at the local, regional, and national level. Additionally, My “Buddy” Towel was featured on the My Cool Inventions web series and inventory has been increased along with new designs.

My ”Buddy” Towel is for sale online at Mybuddytowel.com and in Stillwater at Butter Bean. You can follow My ”Buddy” Towel on social media via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

About SCORE

Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 11 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE’s 10,000 volunteer business experts provide 750,000+ free small business mentoring sessions, workshops and educational services to clients in 300 chapters nationwide. In 2017, SCORE volunteers helped to create 54,506 small businesses and 61,534 non-owner jobs.

For more information about starting or operating a small business, visit SCORE at www.score.org. Follow @SCOREMentors on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for the latest small business news and updates.