On July 23, 2016, at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, NV, the Professional Beauty Association (PBA) and Cosmoprof North America (CPNA) hosted INSPIRE: A Night Celebrating Beauty Entrepreneurs. The evening featured the very popular Beauty Pitch 2016, a one-of-a-kind event that provides entrepreneurs from all sectors of the beauty industry a way to connect with qualified investors and the industry at large. New for 2016, Beauty Pitch featured opportunities for beauty entrepreneurs in two separate categories: startup and established. Three finalist companies from each category pitched their business ideas to celebrity judges, national retailers and consumer editors.

One of the big announcements coming out of the night was that in 2017, PBA and CPNA would return to the more traditional format: holding an evening to celebrate an industry leader and to raise funds for City of Hope, a world-renowned comprehensive cancer treatment and research center.  City of Hope’s National Professional Salon Industry Group will honor Mark Spinks, president of Cosmoprof, Armstrong Mcall, Sally Beauty Holdings, with its 2017 Spirit of Life Award. The Spirit of Life Award is City of Hope’s most prestigious philanthropic honor, presented annually to an industry leader who has demonstrated outstanding business and philanthropic achievement.

INSPIRE was created to bring beauty professionals together to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of the industry. Proceeds from INSPIRE benefit the PBA Foundation, an organization supporting charitable initiatives and the historical preservation of the beauty industry and City of Hope,

See more information on beautypitch.com and the list of winners here.