The 2026 Small Biz Challenge

Our three finalists have been chosen! The three small business owners will travel to the live event in Nashville to present in front of a panel of guest judges. A winner will be announced and awarded the ultimate prize plus an editorial feature in an upcoming issue of Inc. magazine. Follow 
The UPS Store Instagram to see competition updates and the winner announcement on April 23^rd! 

Meet the Finalists

Andrew Tyree Clinkscale, Portion, LLC  

The founder of Portion, a platform turning restaurant surplus into revenue, grew up in foster care, food insecure, while restaurants down the street threw away perfectly good meals. That contradiction was impetus behind Portion. Customers who want affordable food are connected with Atlanta restaurant kitchens, who post their surplus, then customers buy it at a discount, and there is no waste. 

Laura Nolen, High Strung Racquets LLC

High Strung Racquets is disrupting the court sports market by merging performance with personal style. The company specializes in premium racquet accessories (overgrips and dampeners) that allow players to extend their style identity to their gear. Twenty years of retail product development and direct partnerships with world-class factories means they can fill a market void by offering custom-logo accessories with low MOQs, rapid speed-to-market, and high-margin opportunities. 

Hyacinth Tucker, Laundry Basket® LLC       

The Laundry Basket® LLC is built on one belief: people deserve their time back. The company has turned an everyday chore into a scalable, tech-enabled service that reduces stress for customers while creating real jobs and pathways to opportunity. TK built the business through resilience, relationships, and relentless problem-solving. The company’s ability to turn overlooked problems into impact-driven solutions that serve both people and profit means they can build systems that make life easier and communities stronger.

Meet the Host

Shannon LaNier

Shannon LaNier is an Emmy award winning nationally syndicated television personality. As the 6th great grandson of President Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, he is also the award-winning co-author of Jefferson’s Children: The Story Of One American Family. You can follow his fatherhood and family influencer journey along with his nearly 1 million social media followers @MrShannonLanier on all platforms, for his silly shenanigans with his wife Chandra & their 3 Little LaNiers. Make sure you go to Amazon Prime Video to watch his newest thriller film, Tyler Perry’s Duplicity, out now. 

Meet the Mentors

Julissa Prado

Julissa Prado is the Founder & CEO of Rizos Curls, a self-funded clean hair care line aimed at embracing and celebrating the beauty of curls, coils, and waves! As a first-generation Mexican-American, Julissa’s community and humble upbringing inspired her entrepreneurial pursuit. After years of making her own curly cocktail and helping her community embrace their curls, Julissa decided to use her life savings to launch her own hair care line Rizos Curls. Today, Rizos Curls is sold at Target, Ulta Beauty and Sally Beauty Mexico. 

Isaac Hetrozni

Isaac Hetzroni is the Founder & CEO of Imprint Genius, an award-winning global product sourcing and merchandising agency helping brands manufacture better products at scale. Known online as @thesourcingguy, Isaac has built a following of over 700,000 by pulling back the curtain on global manufacturing, factory-direct sourcing, and supply chain strategy.

Tori Dunlap

Tori Dunlap has helped over 5 million women build their net-worth and self-worth through her New York Times bestselling book and the world’s biggest financial podcast for women, both called Financial Feminist. After saving $100,000 at age 25, Tori quit her corporate job in marketing and founded Her First $100K to fight financial inequality by giving women actionable resources to better their money.

Phases of the Small Biz Challenge

Phase 1 [Now Closed]: From January 12th through February 22nd, eligible small business owners can enter the 2026 The UPS Store^® Small Biz Challenge by completing a short, online entry form.

Phase 2 [Now Closed]: The UPS Store, Inc., and Inc. Business Media will review all online submissions and select the nine semi-finalists. Each semi-finalist will be partnered with mentors who will help provide motivation and entrepreneurial advice as they compete in the next phase of the Small Biz Challenge. The nine semi-finalists, together with their mentors, will compete in various challenges. These may range from a variety of common skills and know-how needed to run a successful small business, such as marketing, staffing, operations, and company culture.

Voting Phase [Now Closed]: After each challenge, the nine semi-finalists, alongside their entrepreneurial mentors, will share their answers for the public to view and cast votes.

Current Phase
Final Phase: The top three contestants will travel to a live event in Nashville to present in front of a panel of guest judges. A winner will be announced and given the ultimate prize plus an editorial feature in an upcoming issue of Inc. magazine.

The 2025 Small Biz Challenge Winners: 

Sydney Attis and Mikayla Garcia of Just Call Me Shirley

The winner of the 2025 Small Biz Challenge was Sydney Attis and Mikayla Garcia, owners of Just Call Me Shirley! Sydney and Mikayla were awarded the ultimate prize of $25,000 plus an editorial feature in an issue of Inc. magazine. Our finalists, Youngwon Lee and Amanda Wynkoop, each received $5,000.

Watch the 2025 Small Biz Challenge recap below and follow The UPS Store on Instagram to catch highlights and other small business advice and inspiration from the competition.