In 2017, Mike Smith would come home from his day job as a licensed family counselor and, after his wife and newborn were asleep, stay up most of the night cooking up hair styling products in his Bellevue kitchen. Since then, Smith has launched his own line of products, Dauntless Modern Grooming, and expanded his business into Europe.
He wouldn’t be where he is today, Smith said, without the Tom and Annie Pratt Entrepreneurial Award Program. Thanks to the award, nearly 50 Bellevue University students and alumni like Smith have received funding and mentorship to turn their business dreams into a reality.
Smith is the only two-time winner of the award. He used the first $5,000 award in 2017 to launch his company. He was like an “Olympic athlete in penny pinching,” he said, stretching those funds to cover the cost of packaging, labels, a website and photography. In 2019, he used funding from the award to expand his presence in America and make the push into Europe.
“I’ve always been extremely grateful for them for taking a chance on me,” Smith said. “It was essential that their funds came in when they did. Timing is essential.
If I hadn’t launched when I did, the next domino wouldn’t have fallen.”
Smith earned his Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Science from Bellevue University, as well as his Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
“I remember writing in the box on the first award application, ‘Even if you don’t choose us, you got a kick out of a counseling student who makes hair products in their kitchen,’” Smith recalls.
Another Pratt winner, Andrea Grangruth, also launched her business in a kitchen – but in a more conventional way. Grangruth started Momma Drea’s Sugar Cookies in her Dallas-area home in 2018. Winning the Pratt Award in 2021 allowed her to buy a larger oven and update her logo and packaging. Nowadays, she produces her delicious, meticulously decorated cookies for everything from baby showers and birthdays to large-scale corporate events.
“When I won, I was super excited,” said Grangruth, who earned her Master of Science in Management in 2020. “It gave me the motivation to take it to the next level.”
For Graeme Eaglesham, winning the Pratt Award in 2018 helped him turn his modest after-school soccer program into Nebraska’s largest after-school soccer program that serves about 1,000 underserved kids in 70 schools across the state. His Omaha-based non-profit organization, Future Kids, now has seven full-time employees and 25 part-time soccer coaches.
The Pratt Award paid for additional equipment and supplies, but Eaglesham said the greatest benefit has been the mentorship he’s received. Thanks to the award, he’s been able to work with John Levy, president of the William and Ruth Scott Family Foundation, to learn the ins and outs of running a non-profit.
“Before John, I knew nothing about non-profits,” said Eaglesham, who played and coached soccer at Bellevue University and in 2019 earned bachelor degrees in sports management and health and human performance. “He gave me a lot of guidance. He provided networking opportunities and kind of the stamp of approval in the non-profit world. I still meet with him regularly.”
Learn more about the Pratt Awards and watch videos of previous winners, including Mike Smith.