ESTEVAN — Nicole Kirby’s love of horses and her commitment to making high-end saddles have resulted in a boost for her business.
Kirby, who owns Prestige Leather, was the winner of the Southeast Techhub (SETH) latest pitch competition April 16 at the Southeast College’s Estevan campus. She was one of five budding entrepreneurs vying for a share of $20,000; she took home $10,000.
“It feels like everybody understands where I’m coming from now,” Kirby said in an interview with SaskToday. "This started as a hobby, and together with my husband, we’ve built it into a business.”
Kirby, who hails from the Coronach area, will use the $10,000 to accelerate their production line by purchasing leather, saddle trees and hardware to build their high-end saddles. Twelve will be built and marketed for shows in the summer.
She will be able to make a saddle in three days, and once all 12 are sold, more can be made.
Kirby told the judges and the crowd that she has sold seven saddles in the past. It took a lot longer to make them because she worked in nursing and she didn’t have the equipment. Now she can move faster.
“The products that we’ve been building have been primarily tack and custom awards, western fashions and basically whatever sells," she said.
Five entrepreneurs participated in the pitch competition. They explained their background, business, products and services, and answered questions from the judges: local financial planner Chris Hoffos, Community Futures Sunrise executive director Andria Brady and former Saskatchewan Roughrider Wes Cates.
Two runner-up $5,000 prizes were presented. One was to Jill Ruep, the founder and creator of Ma Fii Lii Rasaad (“My Daughter’s Beads” in Michif), an Indigenous-led beading app and creative business. Ruep won the previous pitch competition in September 2025.
The other went to Morgan Walter, who is the founder and creator of H.E.R. Softball Hub, a training and development platform for the sport. She was unable to attend, so she made her presentation and answered questions virtually the day before.
Other participants were Ian Dunham, owner-operator of a high-end 3D print farm, and Alan Nixon of Revelation Engineering, which has taken a new approach to wind power generation.
The businesses are part of SETH's Rural Innovation Start Up Ecosystem (RISE). Kirby also took a master class and spent about three months in the program. She was able to complete some of the sessions virtually, including a couple when she was in Colorado for an apprenticeship.
“RISE helped me build a business plan. It identified areas that I really needed to work on, and some areas that I’d never really thought of. It encouraged me to do a lot of research to find my ideal customers, and ideas on how best to launch my business, even if I wasn’t successful at achieving a cheque at the end of the day," she said.
Kirby added she was impressed by the strength of the other pitches and was glad to connect with participants throughout the program.
“I learned a lot, and I also feel like now I’ve got some people I’ll do some collaborations with, so it’s exciting to make new contacts and broaden our horizons in the same breath.”
More to come.
