Pam Cooper is the founder of Boosterville, an Indianapolis company with an online platform that helps businesses make donations to causes and build community. She told us in her 1,000+ Stories profile that she started the firm in 2013 after becoming convinced, after two decades spent raising money for education initiatives, that there had to be “a way to apply technology to school fundraising.” This isn’t her first problem-solving business; she ran a carpet-cleaning company called FIBERxperts from 1990 to 2012.

Running a tech company was certainly a change of pace for Cooper, so to climb the learning curve and secure startup capital, she participated in several accelerators. And to spur growth, she raised a seed round of funding in the first quarter of 2017 that yielded $830,000. With the knowledge and money she has accumulated, Cooper is now focused on developing new products for Boosterville, though she declined to disclose details because patents are pending.

Cooper says Boosterville has grown to the point where she can now spare time for speaking engagements, where she shares what she has learned about entrepreneurship with other female founders, and serving as a mentor. And more personally, she has been able to be more active in her kids’ lives. “I have the flexibility to volunteer with my kids at school, on field trips or at special events,” she says.