19-year-old senior wins Shark Tank with plan to take her farm to the next level

By Luanne Williams

For the second year in a row, Peachland pork producer Gracie Stinson won the $250 Audience Choice Award at Wingate's Shark Tank competition. This year the senior business-management major also walked away with first-place honors and a check for $2,000.

The business plan Stinson presented to the judges Thursday night - building and operating Mills Bottom Meats, which would be only the third Animal Welfare Approved, non-GMO, all-natural meat-processing plant in North Carolina - is the next step for her already successful Mills Bottom Farms.

"She has obviously done a lot of work with this, and the audience was impressed with her knowledge, the homework she had done on the business plan and her enthusiasm and passion," said Sam Spencer, the Porter B. Byrum School of Business faculty member who has headed up the annual Shark Tank competition for the past three years.

Stinson, a 19-year-old who started the business with the help of her parents at age 10, hopes to open a processing facility in Anson County within the next few years. Already, she has been moving 200 to 300 pounds of pork every weekend, selling it out of a concession trailer she bought and upfitted a few years ago.

"My latest venture is renovating a storefront for my farm as well as furnishing silos that I bought with the Shark Tank prize money from last year," said Stinson, who won second place in 2023. She said this year's judges were very interested in her certifications and financial expectations.

"My processing plant would be set apart from competitors and would reach a return on investment within a few months," Stinson said. "The judges were able to show me that I have a good business plan, but I need to trust that I can do it. I really appreciated their feedback and confidence in me."

Her farm, which she started with a $5,000 youth Farm Service Agency loan, was named Outstanding Agribusiness of the Year by the Anson County Chamber of Commerce last year.

"This business that I pitched is not just an assignment I completed in class," said Stinson, who will move on to pursue an MBA at Wingate after graduating with her bachelor's degree next month. "I will use this plan and the award to start and grow my business. I plan to fulfill the 'Farm to Table' dream I mentioned in the competition, and this is just a stepping stone."

Earning second place and $1,000 in the Shark Tank competition was Dylan White, who shared with the judges his vision for Cardinal Crest Gardens, a wedding venue that he has planned for his family's farm.

White explained his idea to plant fields of various wildflowers to create six different vignettes for outdoor weddings. In response to judges' questions about his planned low rental rates compared to more extravagant venues', he said that he is targeting a broader audience and looking for volume instead of a high profit margin. White's entire family attended the Shark Tank event to cheer him on. They were among some 275 spectators in LaVerne Banquet Hall.

Taking third place was senior Kelsea Munro, whose dream is to open Sophistifurniture in Dubai to furnish high-rise flats and condominiums. She envisions a high-end furniture-design studio that would partner with builders and real estate agents. Munro won $500.

Genavive Vitale won fourth place and $250 with her idea of a pop-up mobile clothing store for ladies called Olive Branch Boutique. Vitale plans to start her business online and then go mobile with a trailer at festivals and events. Her target audience is women from their 20s to middle age, and the advantage she could offer over typical clothing stores would be super-personalized customer service. Vitale's long-term plan includes having a storefront in downtown Monroe.

Campbell Turner won fifth place and $125 with his idea for Panetta Italian Food Truck, a business that would feature family recipes using high-quality food but also offering affordable prices. Turner would like to bring his business to the streets of Waxhaw.

Judges for the Shark Tank event were Rebecca Watson, entrepreneur, public speaker and adjunct professor at Davidson College; Charlie Malouf, CEO of Broad River Retail; and Matt Villmer, an attorney with the law firm Villmer Caudill.

Prizes for the competition were funded by a grant from the John William Pope Foundation. The event also received support from Willmer Caudill law firm.

Competitors were all students in Spencer's Entrepreneurship 410 class. Although only five were chosen to take place in the Shark Tank event, everyone in the class had to write and present a business plan, something that gives them practical knowledge and sets them apart, the adjunct professor said.

"Most people have never done something like this, so I point out to my students that this is a big deal," Spencer said. "The fact that you have written a business plan and are up in front of people presenting it puts you in a small minority of people. During the presentations, they are super-nervous, but after it's over, I think they see the benefits of having done it."

April 24, 2024

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.