Neha Gajwani wins the Global Business category.
Indian American Neha Gajwani won eBay’s inaugural SHINE Awards for Small Business among six others. The winners were honored at eBay’s inaugural seller celebration event, eBay OPEN, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“We were thrilled to read the stories of the more than 1,300 eBay businesses that were considered for the SHINE Awards this year. Our winners represent the best of what eBay stands for: innovative, fast-growing, global, diverse small businesses that are grounded in their families and communities and work hard every day,” Senior vice president and head of eBay North American Hal Lawton said in a statement.
The award program highlights the efforts and success of entrepreneurs across the country and celebrates the contributions of small businesses on eBay to the US economy, eBay said.
Other winners were: Tanya Crew, Spencer Apland, Lauralee Lindholm and William Wolstenholme, who won the woman-owned business, growing business, charitable business and family business categories, respectively. The grand prize and eBay’s 2016 Small Business of the Year awards were won by Laurie Wong.
The winners were chosen from more than 1,300 submissions throughout the US, ranging from new businesses to multi-million dollar global enterprises, indiawest reported. Nearly 18,000 voters within the eBay community voted roughly 40,000 times to select the winners of each category.
The grand prize was selected by a panel of expert judges.
“eBay made it simple for me to list a product, understand how to market that product, and understand what their role and my role would be in the process. It took something as complex as online selling and made it plausible for a beginner like myself,” Neha Gajwani said in her SHINE Awards bio page.
A graduate from the Washington University in St. Louis, Gajwani, is based out of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area. The Indian American sources electronic accessories overseas and sells them through her eBay account with user name Smack-Tom as well as through her own website, www.SmackTom.com.
Gajwani has also opened offices in US, India and China.
“I look at what we’ve done in just a few short years – how many orders we’ve fulfilled, the number of places we sell in, being able to expand offices to India and China, and the incredible team we’ve built – and I do feel proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish as a global business,” said Gajwani.
Winners of each category were awarded a $5,000 cash prize, as well as a package of marketing tools and services to help grow their eBay businesses.