How many times were you told to play it safe and stay at your 9-to-5 job instead of launching your business?
How many times have you felt imposter syndrome since pursuing your passion?
How many times have you thought about giving up?
Every aspiring entrepreneur has or will be in your shoes at some point, but what separates you from the rest is that you’re still here. You didn’t let go. You stood your ground and said, “This is what I’m meant to do.”
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been an entrepreneur. You now belong to a community of doers who have shared your burdens, your enthusiasm, and your will to succeed.
That community constantly supports its members and shows them that entrepreneurship is not as lonely of a journey as one might think. That’s why, once a year, hundreds of subscription professionals gather to recognize and celebrate the unique journeys of their peers at the most prestigious awards ceremony in the subscription space: The SUBTA Cube Awards.
The Subscription Industry’s Very Own Awards Ceremony
From ‘Best Marketing Campaign’ to ‘Best Kids Subscription,’ every subscriptionpreneur can become a Cube Awards winner, which makes this awards ceremony that much more special.
“There is nothing like this in the industry,” says Paul Chambers, Co-Founder of the world’s largest DTC subscription conference, SubSummit. “This ceremony is here to show everyone in the space that they belong here. They should be proud of what they’ve created.”
While past winners include industry titans like Netflix (Best Streaming Subscription), MasterClass (Best Digital Subscription), or BoxyCharm (Best Subscription Box), the Cube Awards judges select each year’s winners based on merit and quality, not name recognition.
That’s how Jill Lodato, who launched her subscription in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, was able to step onto the SubSummit stage in 2021 to receive her ‘Best Kids Subscription’ award. That night, Lodato brought the subscription community to a standing ovation as she highlighted the human aspect of being a business owner.
“I wasn’t going to go to SubSummit because I wanted to be by my dad’s side as he made his journey to heaven,” she explains. “He told me I had to go. He died the Thursday before I left for Dallas.”
Lodato shared her pain with the crowd that night. But she also shared the joy she felt for making her father proud, which brought some to tears, including SubSummit Emcee Chris Chambers.
“The crowd really rose to meet her and congratulate her. It made it clear that it’s not just businesses, it’s people’s lives and their families’ lives that are impacted by what we’re doing,” he says.
An Awards Ceremony that Celebrates Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Ryan Hogan was the first one to step on SubSummit 2021’s stage last year to accept Hunt A Killer’s ‘Best Customer Experience’ award.
His first words?
“Building a business is really f**** hard.”
If the CEO of the sixth fastest growing business on Inc. 5000 (2020) is willing to admit this, so can you. And the hardship that Hogan refers to is something that only you, him, and other subscription entrepreneurs can truly understand. It’s also something you and your peers can reflect on while waiting for this year’s ceremony to begin.
The Cube Awards extends beyond giving out trophies. The entire evening is dedicated to honoring those who push the subscription space forward.
“From the moment people gather during the cocktail hour to walking down the red carpet and ending the evening with an after party, everything about the ceremony is designed to make all our attendees feel special for what they bring to the subscription industry,” Paul Chambers says.
The Impact of the SUBTA Cube Awards
Owning an award-winning business can open a lot of doors. Past Cube Awards winners can attest, including a few from SubSummit 2021.
Kids Baking Club — Best Kids Subscription
“The impact has been mostly in retention. We celebrated with our members with emails and videos. Since then our churn rate has been very low. I think it gave our business street-cred which has been great.”
BattlBox — Best Marketing Campaign
“As we prepared for a potential acquisition, these types of awards were further social proof to a suitor that we were doing a lot of the right things they were looking for.”
Little Global Citizens — Best Craft/Artisan Subscription
“It’s such an honor to be recognized in this fashion and being able to showcase that our box is esteemed within the industry has helped us grow confidently over the all important Q4 period. It was perfect timing!”
The New York Times — Best Media Subscription
“Winning this award helped us connect our teams’ day-to-day product and engineering work with the continued industry excellence we steward continuously. The motivation that this award provided is incalculable to our ongoing success and momentum as we take bigger and bolder steps to build out our portfolio of paid subscription products that help people understand the world, seek the truth, and fund journalism that is worth paying for.”
The 2022 SUBTA Cube Awards
This year’s awards ceremony will be the biggest one yet, according to Chris Chambers.
Subscriptionpreneurs can nominate their brands in up to three out of 15 categories, including:
Best Craft/Artisan Subscription
Best Customer Experience
Best Digital Subscription
Best Food Subscription
Best Kids Subscription
Best Marketing Campaign
Best Media & Publication Subscription
Best Membership Subscription
Best New Subscription
Best Pet Subscription
Best Streaming Subscription
Best Subscribe and Save
Best Subscription Box
Social Good Award
Community Choice Award
SUBTA is introducing two new categories this year, including ‘Best New Subscription’ and the ‘Community Choice’ Award.
The ‘Best New Subscription’ award is designed to honor and celebrate an up-and-coming subscription business that has made tremendous progress in a very short period of time.
The ‘Community Choice’ award seeks to acknowledge the subscription brand that strives to foster an inclusive, loyal community. “I think this might become our biggest award,” says Chris Chambers. “Building a community is what subscriptions are all about.”
Remember, regardless of your sales or your number of subscribers, you belong in the subscription community for what you are trying to achieve. As long as you dedicate yourself to making consumers’ lives easier while having some fun along the way, you’ll always be welcomed here with open arms by people who are striving to do the same.