As owner of Wicked Healthy Vending, let me say how appreciative and honored I am to have received the Center for Women and Enterprise’s (“CWE”) Rising Star Award Eastern MA, and how grateful I am for CWE’s support and guidance over the past 6 years.

The pandemic has put stressors on our lives and businesses and the healthy vending business has not escaped its wrath.   As a vending business, we rely on other businesses to thrive as they are our customers.  Servicing our locations brings me great pleasure and I am confident that we will all get through the other side of this, stronger.

In the mean time what has kept me going as a business owner has been the support received from others and the support I have been able to give to others.   I’m not just talking about financial support, such as the PPP monies or community grants, I am talking about service, guidance, and coming together to help each other.

CWE has been a constant source of support to Wicked Healthy Vending since 2014.  From the beginning CWE has provided support by way of educational seminars and panels, matchmaking to corporations, mentorships with corporations to recent reach outs and support from their Covid Business Recovery project manager.  Additionally, as a result of CWE’s introducing Wicked Healthy Vending to other woman business owners who have food products, Wicked Healthy Vending has been able to include these food products in their vending machines.

Wicked Healthy Vending’s mission is two-fold: healthy vending options and service to Massachusetts community.  As this year passes, I realize how important the community part is.  It has been our pleasure to donate our product to food pantries, pass out meals to our local community, gift snack packs to essential workers and to support women businesses.

Let’s continue to emotionally, financially and spiritually support one another where and when we can.

Thank you for your support and your business.

Tina Paine

A glass award trophy