Faithful viewers of the popular CBC show “Dragon's Den” will be able to see Sudbury entrepreneur Alicia Woods make her pitch to the dragons on tonight's (Wednesday Oct. 15) season premiere.
Woods is the founder of Covergalls, a local company that makes coveralls tailored specifically for women.
Woods could not give away too many details before the episode aired, but she did say she felt nervous when she made her way to the dragons — Jim Treliving, Arlene Dickinson, David Chilton, Michael Wekerle and Vikram Vij.
“When I got to the top of the stairs that's when my heart started to race and I thought, 'Oh my goodness, what do I do?'” she said.
But the nerves faded away as she made her pitch to the hardened business veterans.
Woods first thought about making coveralls for women about 15 years ago, when she first started going underground as part of her job with a mining supply company.
“When I had to go underground I had to get clothes, and of course there was nothing for women at that time,” she said. “I bought the smallest of everything.”
While the coveralls were not ideal, the idea to make a better version stayed at the back of her mind for many more years.
Then in 2011 she was underground in a potash mine, and due to the heat had a few bottles of water.
Just around the time nature called, Woods thought she was in the clear as she entered the cage to exit the mine.
But it turned out the cage was going down, instead of up.
Woods had to use the nearest portable toilet, while wearing coveralls that were clearly not intended for women.
To do her business, she had to remove the entire coverall inside.
“It was just an awful experience,” she said.
To ensure other women wouldn't have to go through the same experience in the future, Woods finally put her idea for a female friendly coverall to market.
In 2013, she started Covergalls with special female-fitted coveralls that included special “trap doors” for using the washroom.
“You don't have to take the coverall off if you need to use the washroom,” Woods said.
The company is now testing a male coverall, called the Coverguy, and is looking to expand to other industries, such as forestry, farming, and oil and gas.
In November, Covergalls will launch a new working glove in collaboration with the glove manufacturer Mechanix Wear.
While Woods could not say how much funding she wanted from the dragons, or if her pitch was successful, she did say the most important thing from the experience was to build business relationships with the established businesspeople.
“I was really looking for the expertise and the knowledge that the dragons bring.”
Woods appears on Dragon's Den tonight at 8 p.m.
