FOR THE SECOND YEAR, BOTOX® COSMETIC WILL HELP WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS CLOSE THE CONFIDENCE GAP THROUGH FUNDING, MENTORSHIP, COACHING, AND COMMUNITY
IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie company (NYSE: ABBV), announced that applications are open for the 2024 BOTOX® Cosmetic grant program supporting women entrepreneurs. BOTOX® Cosmetic partnered with IFundWomen to launch the program in 2023, and in the second year, will award a new group of 20 women entrepreneurs each with $25,000 grants to fund and grow their businesses. Additionally, BOTOX® Cosmetic continues to support these businesses through mentorship, coaching, crowdfunding, and community.
The BOTOX® Cosmetic x IFundWomen partnership was born of a desire to extinguish the Confidence Gap, where women feel less self-assured in the workplace and beyond. Women owned businesses represent approximately 40% of all U.S. businesses, employing approximately 12.2 million workers, and generating $2.7 trillion in revenue.1 And yet, there continues to be a funding disparity with less than 3% of venture capital funding going to women-led businesses in 2023 and BIPOC, women-owned businesses continuing to receive less than one percent. 2,3 Additionally, on average, the loan size for women-owned businesses is 50% lower.2 This lack of financial support continues to expand the Confidence Gap instead of close it.
"We are committed to helping close the Confidence Gap through funding, mentorship, and community, and to help women achieve their dreams," said Carrie Strom, President, Global Allergan Aesthetics and Senior Vice President, AbbVie. "It's proven that when women are supported and come together, they can achieve incredible things and overcome the Confidence Gap. We are so proud of last year's recipients and the community they've built. We are grateful to learn from them and thrilled to continue this program into a second year with a new cohort of extraordinary women entrepreneurs."
Beyond funding, the Confidence Gap is compounded as entrepreneurs face an increased risk of burnout. Entrepreneurs tend to be extremely passionate about their work, have limited safety nets, operate in high uncertainty, and may experience greater social isolation.4 This disparity and adversity can weigh down a person's confidence, increasing the chances of burnout and experiencing the Confidence Gap. Additionally, women have reported higher levels of burnout for years, and that has more than doubled since 2019.5 Research has found that women are more likely to head single-parent families and take on unpaid labor—all things that can exacerbate burnout and widen the Confidence Gap.6 This is why the mentorship and community provided through the BOTOX® Cosmetic x IFundWomen grant program are equally as important as the financial support it offers.
"As one of the 20 recipients of last year's inaugural BOTOX® Cosmetic grant program, I can attest to the immense impact it's had not only on my business, but my life, which is why I'm so thrilled for the next group of women who are about to embark on this journey," said Talia Boone, founder, and CEO of Postal Petals®. "Each of the program's offerings helped to open new doors, whether it was the funding that supported our financial growth, the mentorship that further built my confidence as a business owner, or the sense of community that came from my fellow women entrepreneurs. I am forever grateful to this program for connecting me to a group of women entrepreneurs who together are helping to bridge the Confidence Gap. I look forward to getting to know this year's grant recipients and building on BOTOX® Cosmetic's mission to elevate women leaders of tomorrow, today."
Once again, a panel of healthcare provider-entrepreneurs will help to select the final grant recipients. These successful entrepreneurs, which will be announced in the coming weeks, will be able to share valuable knowledge and perspective around starting, growing, and maintaining a small business, making them a valuable resource to our grant recipients, and putting them in a unique position while evaluating applications.
In addition to receiving a $25,000 grant for her business, each entrepreneur will complete an immersive ten-week Crowdfunding Coaching Accelerator program, designed to instill not only education, but a sense of community within the group of women entrepreneurs. This program will provide mentoring from various experts on a range of business-focused topics and coaching to launch their individual crowdfunding campaigns. Recipients will also be provided with access to a range of educational and networking opportunities.
Starting today, women entrepreneurs across the country can apply for the BOTOX® Cosmetic x IFundWomen grant at www.ifundwomen.com/BOTOXCosmetic for the chance to be one of 20 recipients. The deadline to apply is March 19, 2024.
BOTOX® Cosmetic will announce the grant recipients this spring and will be sharing more about the inspiring next class of women throughout the year. Follow along at www.botoxcosmetic.com/realimpact and via the @botoxcosmetic Instagram and YouTube channels to learn more about closing the Confidence Gap for women entrepreneurs.
BOTOX® COSMETIC IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION AND APPROVED USES
Approved Uses
BOTOX® Cosmetic is a prescription medicine that is injected into muscles and used to temporarily improve the look of moderate to severe forehead lines, crow's feet lines, and frown lines between the eyebrows in adults.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
BOTOX® Cosmetic may cause serious side effects that can be life threatening. Get medical help right away if you have any of these problems any time (hours to weeks) after injection of BOTOX® Cosmetic:
- Problems swallowing, speaking, or breathing, due to weakening of associated muscles, can be severe and result in loss of life. You are at the highest risk if these problems are pre-existing before injection. Swallowing problems may last for several months.
- Spread of toxin effects. The effect of botulinum toxin may affect areas away from the injection site and cause serious symptoms including: loss of strength and all-over muscle weakness, double vision, blurred vision and drooping eyelids, hoarseness or change or loss of voice, trouble saying words clearly, loss of bladder control, trouble breathing, and trouble swallowing.
BOTOX® Cosmetic dosing units are not the same as, or comparable to, any other botulinum toxin product.
There has not been a confirmed serious case of spread of toxin effect when BOTOX® Cosmetic has been used at the recommended dose to treat frown lines, crow's feet lines, and/or forehead lines.
BOTOX® Cosmetic may cause loss of strength or general muscle weakness, vision problems, or dizziness within hours to weeks of taking BOTOX® Cosmetic. If this happens, do not drive a car, operate machinery, or do other dangerous activities.
Serious and/or immediate allergic reactions have been reported. They include: itching, rash, red itchy welts, wheezing, asthma symptoms, or dizziness or feeling faint. Get medical help right away if you are wheezing or have asthma symptoms, or if you become dizzy or faint.
Do not receive BOTOX® Cosmetic if you: are allergic to any of the ingredients in BOTOX® Cosmetic (see Medication Guide for ingredients); had an allergic reaction to any other botulinum toxin product such as Myobloc® (rimabotulinumtoxinB), Dysport® (abobotulinumtoxinA), or Xeomin® (incobotulinumtoxinA); have a skin infection at the planned injection site.
Tell your doctor about all your muscle or nerve conditions, such as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis, or Lambert-Eaton syndrome, as you may be at increased risk of serious side effects including difficulty swallowing and difficulty breathing from typical doses of BOTOX® Cosmetic.
Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, including: plans to have surgery; had surgery on your face; have trouble raising your eyebrows; drooping eyelids; any other abnormal facial change; are pregnant or plan to become pregnant (it is not known if BOTOX® Cosmetic can harm your unborn baby); are breast-feeding or plan to (it is not known if BOTOX® Cosmetic passes into breast milk).
Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Using BOTOX® Cosmetic with certain other medicines may cause serious side effects. Do not start any new medicines until you have told your doctor that you have received BOTOX® Cosmetic in the past.
Tell your doctor if you have received any other botulinum toxin product in the last 4 months; have received injections of botulinum toxin such as Myobloc®, Dysport®, or Xeomin® in the past (tell your doctor exactly which product you received); have recently received an antibiotic by injection; take muscle relaxants; take an allergy or cold medicine; take a sleep medicine; take aspirin-like products or blood thinners.
Other side effects of BOTOX® Cosmetic include: dry mouth; discomfort or pain at the injection site; tiredness; headache; neck pain; and eye problems: double vision, blurred vision, decreased eyesight, drooping eyelids and eyebrows, swelling of your eyelids and dry eyes.
For more information refer to the Medication Guide or talk with your doctor.
To report a side effect, please call Allergan at 1-800-678-1605.
Please see BOTOX® Cosmetic full Product Information including Boxed Warning and Medication Guide.
About Allergan Aesthetics
At Allergan Aesthetics, an AbbVie company, we develop, manufacture, and market a portfolio of leading aesthetics brands and products. Our aesthetics portfolio includes facial injectables, body contouring, plastics, skin care, and more. Our goal is to consistently provide our customers with innovation, education, exceptional service, and a commitment to excellence, all with a personal touch. For more information, visit www.allerganaesthetics.com.
About AbbVie
AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas – immunology, oncology, neuroscience, and eye care – and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube.
About IFundWomen
IFundWomen is the go-to funding marketplace for entrepreneurs, with a mission to close the money gap for women-owned businesses through its proprietary mix of capital, coaching, and connections. Since its founding, IFundWomen has empowered its members to raise $278M in early-stage capital and to create 55,000 new jobs, helping fuel the small businesses economy. IFundWomen's marketplace offers its members multiple access points to capital, including crowdfunding, enterprise-brokered grants, collateral-free loans, and the best funding of all – revenue, through its newest product, IFundWomen ServicesX, a marketplace connecting independent business services experts to customers. To learn more about IFundWomen, please visit www.ifundwomen.com. Follow @ifundwomen on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok.
Reference:
- Wells Fargo. The 2024 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses. 2024.
- Noah Brandt. EcommerceTips.org. Women in Business Statistics in 2024 (Latest U.S. Data). 2024. https://ecommercetips.org/women-in-business/
- Gabrielle Fonrouge. CNBC. Venture capital for Black entrepreneurs plummeted 45% in 2022, data shows. 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/02/venture-capital-black-founders-plummeted.html
- Eva de Mol, Jeff Pollack, Violet T. Ho. Harvard Business Review. What Makes Entrepreneurs Burn Out. 2018. https://hbr.org/2018/04/what-makes-entrepreneurs-burn-out
- Lydia Saad, Sangeeta Agrawal, Ben Wigert. Gallup. Gender Gap in Worker Burnout Widened Amid the Pandemic. 2021. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/358349/gender-gap-worker-burnout-widened-amid-pandemic.aspx
- Morgan Smith. CNBC. Burnout is on the rise worldwide—and Gen Z, young millennials and women are the most stressed. 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/14/burnout-is-on-the-rise-gen-z-millennials-and-women-are-the-most-stressed.html
SOURCE AbbVie
Contacts
Contact(s): Investors: Liz Shea, Liz.Shea@AbbVie.com, (847) 935-2211 or Media: Ember Garrett, Ember.Garrett@allergan.com, (714) 246-3525