Nominate yourself or another small business to be an Ambassador and join the tour
Nominate your own business or a business who embodies the American Dream, to be one of 100 awardees invited to join a Main Street Rising Tour stop near you! We will visit Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, New York, and Washington D.C.. Beyond the event, this national tour offers so much more.
Ambassadors receive:
- Exclusive invitation to an interactive Main Street Rising tour stop in a city near you
- Considered for the Top 10 SMBs in your state - to be announced during the event with media
- Top 10 small businesses will be invited to pitch live and potentially win thousands of dollars
- A digital badge signifying you are a Hello Alice Ambassador for your website
- Live coaching from AI and small business experts from Google, PayPal, Progressive, and more
- Professional headshot and our exclusive gifting suite (you can market your goods too!)
- Personalized AI advisory tools built for your business
- 6-Week AI-Powered Virtual Accelerator
- Exclusive peer networking in your city
- Attendees will be considered for the "National Main Street Rise Awards" - the Top Small Businesses in America chosen by Google, Hello Alice, and PayPal to be named at the end of the year.
This is not theory. This is the upgrade that moves your business forward now.
*Must be present at event for all of the above
**LA nominations close on February 6, 2026
Nominate yourself or a small business you love to join the Los Angeles cohort. Applications close in:
5 Cities: One Goal
Main Street is rising, and you could be leading it.
Small business has always been the heart of America, but the tools that drive modern growth haven’t always been built for Main Street.
The Main Street Rising Tour changes that.
We’re bringing the next generation of AI-enabled business tools, insider tips, and insights to the people who actually build the economy: founders, owners, doers, grinders, and dreamers like you.
Because when Main Street rises, we all rise.
Los Angeles • Houston • Miami • New York • Washington, DC
Los Angeles
FEBRUARY 2026
LA is where creativity collides with hustle. Founders don’t just build companies here, they build movements. From Hollywood storytellers to next-gen tech innovators, the city thrives on reinvention and rewards anyone bold enough to think bigger than the 405. Join our ecosystem partners which include NAACP and others.
Houston
APRIL 2026
Houston is the city of moonshots: scrappy, resilient, wildly diverse, and obsessed with solving real problems. It’s a city where founders bootstrap, experiment, and scale without the ego, backed by one of the strongest small-business ecosystems in the country.
Miami
JUNE 2026
Miami is a heat-seeking missile for innovation. It's fast, global, and unapologetically ambitious. With its Latin heartbeat and fintech-meets-culture vibe, it’s become a launchpad where entrepreneurs grow quickly and go international even faster.
New York City
OCTOBER 2026
New York runs on founder energy, and the city rewards grit, speed, and ideas that dare to take up space. Every block is its own ecosystem, and entrepreneurs here shape culture as much as they shape companies.
Washington, DC
NOVEMBER 2026
DC is where mission-driven founders thrive—policy, innovation, and community converge in a way no other city can match. Entrepreneurs here build with purpose, tapping into a civic-minded ecosystem that turns ideas into impact.
Nominate Now and Join the Tour
Each tour stop lays the foundation for how grow your business faster utilizing AI, from improving cash flow to acquiring customers faster.
Learn how to:
- Use AI prompts to simplify daily decisions
- Create marketing that actually converts
- Make smarter financial moves with confidence
- Automate time-wasting tasks, so you can grow
- Build systems that scale your business (not your stress)
No tech jargon.
No overwhelm.
Just tools that work.
MODERN TOOLS FOR MAIN STREET
PayPal Pay Later
In support of Main Street modernization, PayPal is offering small businesses with revenue-boosting tools like PayPal Pay Later. Help boost sales and average order values when you offer the flexibility of PayPal Pay Later installment payments everywhere shoppers browse, shop, and check out.
What Businesses Qualify?
The Main Street Rising Tour is for the builders. Nominate a business if it is:
- Based in the United States
- For profit business with $250K+ in revenue
- Fully operational with 2+ employees
- Positioned for scalable growth by being tech enabled
Meet the Leaders
"When you put AI in the hands of Main Street, you don’t just level the playing field; you hand every entrepreneur the megaphone they’ve deserved all along."
Carolyn Rodz: CEO, Hello Alice
“AI on Main Street gives every small business a team of advocates, advisors and barrier-breakers in their back pocket.”
Elizabeth Gore: President, Hello Alice
“For decades, Main Street had the ideas but not the tools. Now the tools are here. The small businesses who know their customers best are about to build things we've never seen.”
Kelsey Ruger: Chief Product and Technology Officer, Hello Alice
Join the Movement
AI isn’t here to replace the heart of Main Street. It’s here to protect it. To give owners back their time, grow their margins, protect their peace of mind, and turn uncertainty into clarity.
This is the beginning of a new era of Main Street.
One where small does not mean limited.
One where local does not mean left behind.
One where the everyday entrepreneur finally has the tools of the giant.
And if you’re on this journey, part of this community, then you aren’t just preparing for the future.
You’re building it.
Main Street is rising.
And we rise together.
©2025 Circular Board, Inc., dba Hello Alice. All rights reserved.