Join us May 20th as we celebrate our global Women's Entrepreneurs month. We're featuring entrepreneur Debbie-Bates Schrott, founder and CEO of Bates Creative, a major Maryland based brand experience agency. Bates Creative's team elevates brands by bringing talent to the table that cannot be automated—creativity, imagination, intuition, ethics, and emotional intelligence. We're going to learn about Debbie, her entrepreneurial journey, the challenges she's overcome, and where's she's going personally and professionally. We'll also dig into the issues and problems that women entrepreneurs face daily as they work to start and grow their businesses.

Debbie will be joined by Mark DeVito, president of Bates Creative, who Debbie brought on as her partner after 15 years in business. Debbie will share background into the strategy behind bringing a male partner to join her in business.

We’ll also be featuring a special "Speed Branding" brand hack where three young local startups will speed pitch their company to Debbie and Mark. The duo will then evaluate the start-up’s branding on the fly and come up with new ideas in less than 5 minutes. This is an exclusive opportunity you don't want to miss.

A special bonus of the event features Moorenko’s Ultra-Premium Ice Cream CEO & Founder, Susan Soorenko, to speak to her experience as a female small business owner and will be treating the attendees to a taste!

We're thrilled to have Shelby Blondell, Founder and CEO of Blondell Entertainment LLC and inventor of “THE SHELLER”.  THE SHELLER is a patent-pending, stainless steel seafood multi-tool that includes a mallet, meat picker and bottle opener. It is MADE IN the U.S.A, and has won numerous awards for the concept and product innovation.

The SHELLER is a classic example of an innovator seeing a problem in the market then creating a unique solution. It is for sale by visiting her website and is featured on Amazon, Etsy, and Facebook Shop.

We would greatly appreciate your feedback on the event. Please take a couple of minutes and complete a brief survey. Click here.  Your input is important for us to be able to create the greatest value for the community.