By: Kate Young
The seventh annual Lion’s Den event was hosted Oct. 21-23 at Christ Fellowship Church. Due to the pandemic, many attendees logged on virtually to watch as three companies presented their business plans to a panel of judges.
“The Shark Tank-style event will feature three Business-as-Mission companies presenting their business plans to a live audience and a judging panel of ‘lions.’ The companies, Steeped Coffee Inc., Winsome Truth Inc. and SaladBox, will be evaluated by the lions on their ability to produce financial, social, conservation and spiritual results, known as the quadruple bottom-line,” according to a Brock School of Business press release.
Samford business school professor and Vice President for Marketing and Communication Betsy Bugg Holloway, who also serves as an event panelist, discussed how the Lion’s Den was created as part of the business school’s academic program in social entrepreneurship and nonprofit management.
“In that program, we study organizations and companies that have what I would call a social mission. That means they exist not to make money necessarily or not solely just to make money; they exist for other reasons that might make this world a better place,” Holloway said. “It might be for environmental impact, it might be for social impact, it might be for Kingdom impact with a Christian mission at the heart of a business or nonprofit.”
The three companies that took part are business-as-mission companies.
“It’s a global movement and it’s this idea that business can be a very effective vehicle for advancing the Kingdom of God here on Earth, and there’s all kinds of ways that businesses can strive to integrate faith into the workplaces,” Holloway said.
Since its inception, Lion’s Den has gained attention internationally. On the Lion’s Den website, last year’s demographics demonstrate its reach. “Close to 700 came to The Lion’s Den Main Event with 201 Professional Summit Attendees from 11 countries, 76 cities, and 26 states,” according to the website.
This event paved the way to many opportunities for Samford business students.
“I’ve got two former students that are a married couple in Atlanta, and their business’s mission competed in Lion’s Den two years ago, and won,” Holloway said.
There is also a student internship for the organization, Cedarworks Inc, that organizes Lion’s Den.
