The Dributts diaper idea began in January of 2013 while on a mission trip to Haiti. The diaper has evolved through the years, but the initial concept and idea has stayed the same. We began making only a few diapers at a time from our home. We knew there was a giant need, so we just started producing them in small batches. Honestly, it was still more of an idea than anything else. That’s when Plywood People came into the picture and helped.
We submitted our idea to a conference called Plywood Presents. Plywood People is an Atlanta based non-profit that is an incubator for social justice start-ups. They hold an annual conference called Plywood Presents. They also produce an ideas contest during their 2 day event. Every year they select 5 contestants who have a great social justice style idea and allow them to pitch it to a panel of judges for the opportunity to win $5000. We were selected to present our idea during the 2014 conference.
We were all so excited to be picked to present our diaper at the conference. However, we had a few challenges right away. We really only had an idea and a diaper. They wanted a company name, logo, website and presentation in one week. We had none of the above. So, we called the company DriButts. The name worked for us because we use Dri-Fit fabrics to cover butts around the world. Seriously, that's how we came up with the name. Then, we contacted some friends to produce a logo, website and presentation ideas. We somehow pulled it all together for the presentation in less than a week.
Our pitch had to be less than 5 min and we presented it in front of about 1000 people. They had the panel of judges right up front and then they asked question to each presenter after the pitch. We presented the idea and actually won the entire contest. Honestly, this was gigantic for our small company. We took the $5000 and invested it into diapers. We covered over 200 Butts with the winnings and fully launched our company. This was the launching pad for Dributts and our mission to change lives.
We are forever grateful for companies like Plywood People. Their contest helped start our non-profit and their encouragement has helped us move forward. As we grow and continue to change lives, we will always remember how we got started and the people that help us get their.
