According to Laura Jorgensen and Courtney Lowe, co-owners of The RunnerBox and The RiderBox, the Asheville area really ‘walks the walk’ of an inclusive, collaborative spirit for women in business.

As subscription boxes became increasingly popular, Jorgensen’s friend came up with the idea to market boxes for runners and bike riders participating in races and started making them as her hobby. As the demand increased and putting them together became more of a job than a hobby, Jorgensen was approached to take over the business.

The timing was right for Jorgensen, and she was able to take a break from her corporate career to take advantage of more opportunities to continue racing professionally while playing with the idea of working on RunnerBox as a successful side hustle. Lowe joined in, and the two started RiderBox together, becoming equity partners in the company. 

RunnerBox and RiderBox are bi-monthly subscription boxes for athletes that include a variety of products for endurance like high-caloric nutrition bars and chews that provide long-lasting energy, as well as specific accessories like anti-chafe balm and chain grease.

Racing took the two of them on the road often, and just as they decided to sponsor their own team and got everything ready for a big race, it was all called off due to the start of the pandemic in 2020.

“It was actually a blessing in disguise,” Jorgensen said. “Because we weren’t traveling, we went all in on our business. With so many people turning to running and cycling during that time, our business doubled that year.”

“We’d been part of Venture Asheville since 2016 but became fully committed in 2020,” Lowe said. “We began meeting other startups and helping each other. It’s a very collaborative town, and we were accepted with open arms.”

Being women-owned affects how their business is run, according to Jorgensen. It’s very much more collaborative, especially in Asheville. “Women entrepreneurs are typically more open minded in receiving help and hearing the ideas of others. I really believe that if a woman here has a seat at the table, she will grab your hand and pull you up to the table,” she said.

“We have featured two different energy bars produced by other female racers that we used to work with,” Lowe said. “There’s been some marketing around that, and it’s really cool to be able to do business with other female professional athletes.”

When UNCA reached out regarding an opportunity to partner with a class, Jorgensen said she and Lowe felt this was an exciting opportunity to further dive into the community. Associate Professor of Business Susan Clark designed a course for students to work with a rapidly-scaling business, and Clark said RunnerBox and RiderBox was just the right fit. She said this class is a wraparound immersive experience, acting as an onramp for students to move right into the ecosystem.

“The chosen business must be in the right stage for this program,” Clark said. “Students need to be able to work on tangible deliverables, which gives them opportunities to work on actual sales channels. They learn how to perform a lot of skills, and this also helped Laura and Courtney to the next level.”

“This was a very cool opportunity for us to work on our soft skills,” Jorgensen said. “We were able to practice management, onboarding, motivation, and leadership skills to help the next generation of business.

Fully committed to participation in this program, they immediately saw how beneficial the opportunity was for their business. “It really opened our eyes and kicked us into gear because of the partnerships with the students,” Lowe said. “We’d love to bring a couple of these students into our staff in the future.”

Laura Jorgensen and Courtney Lowe are co-owners of The RunnerBox and TheRiderBox, based in Asheville. Learn more at TheRunnerBox.com.