Filene Research Institute Chief Innovation Officer Denise Gabel is pitching a TV show to Oprah to help out a small business owner.

“It's not about me winning but helping Catherine, the North Carolina small clothing boutique owner who helped our i3 innovation team members test their last Filene project CU Launch,” said Gabel.

Placed in Filene's Innovation Lab for further development, CU Launch taps into the knowledge and expertise of credit union professionals and pairs them with small business owners in need. It is designed to be a transparent layer between small businesses needing specific resource assistance and credit unions.

Encouraged by her husband, sister and boss, Gabel recently submitted her entry for Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star on OWN TV. She said when she stopped by Catherine's store just to say thank you with two of the i3 group CU Launch project members Kelley Parks, owner of credit union branding and marketing firm gira{ph}and Ginger Salt, former Truliant FCU senior vice president of marketing, something clicked. Her show pitch to Oprah would be about helping small business owners.

She billed her show as a “What Not to Wear” makeover for small businesses. Parks filmed the audition video right in Catherine's store as Gabel was providing some tough love.

“When we got there, Catherine shows us around and starts choosing outfits for us, and she's really good at finding something for everyone including the top I'm wearing in the opening scene for the audition video,” said Gabel. “The more I talked with Catherine, the more I realized that she needs a helping hand-not a costly extreme home makeover-just a little good old-fashioned fine tuning.”

As Gabel looked around she advised Catherine to tweak her signage from Women's Fashions to Revamping Women's Fashions. She also suggested sprucing up outside.

“She is trying to make her business model selling clothing when it's not about selling but revamping women,” said Gabel.

Despite its submission six weeks after the competition started, Gabel's audition video garnered 38,428 votes by the July 3 deadline. With other submissions receiving votes in the millions, Gabel said she's not sure if she'll be selected as a finalist, slated to be announced in mid-July.

Whether she is selected or not, Gabel said she was happy to boost conversation around innovation and small business.

“I went into this because I promised to come back and personally help Catherine so why not bring a major network with me?” said Gabel. “Imagine helping small businesses grow and people watching the show and learning together. Imagine these viewers creating a community where they help each other and the role that credit unions can play. Imagine…that's how innovation begins.”

Instant Insights /

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