Local gifts for a global gathering: How DMV founders made the NATO Summit pop

As European and North American heads of state descended on the nation’s capital to solidify their longstanding military alliance, several regional entrepreneurs made their own history by putting their goods in distinguished visitors’ hands. 

Nicole Jones of Sterling-based Pop’s Praiseworthy Popcorn, was one of these founders to leave a local mark on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit. Her popcorn was one of the featured items in gift bags handed out to those attending the multinational meetup between July 9 and 11.  

“This has been, truly, an honor to get exposure for the business, but also just to have something positive and happy out there,” Jones told Technical.ly. 

Mackenzie Loy, the founder of the online marketplace Homemade in DC, was a key force behind the bag handout. The 2024 RealLIST Startups honorable mention offers corporate catering and custom gifting that prioritizes women- and minority-owned businesses. Loy worked with the State Department, as well as the district-promoting tourism nonprofit Destination DC, to put the bags together for the NATO Summit. 

Destination DC reached out to Loy back in February to see if she would be interested in getting involved with the summit. Loy didn’t receive many details, but when she heard “NATO,” she immediately put together a proposal, she said. 

Curating the baskets involved a lot of back and forth with the State Department to figure out where materials were sourced and get specific stories about the entrepreneurs, Loy said. 

But she didn’t mind. 

“DC is its own unique, thriving, amazing cultural center,” Loy said. “So the fact that they were so intentional about celebrating the businesses and the entrepreneurs that are in the DC area is so cool.”

Loy couldn’t get into specifics about how many bags were made, but put the number in the 2,000s range. It was the largest order Jones and Loy had each ever fulfilled. 

Suann Song, the founder of the DC stationary company Appointed and another of Loy’s contacts though Homemade in DC, also created notebooks with a custom logo for the NATO Summit welcome bags. 

Loy hopes to do business at this scale more often in the future, she said, and to expand the Homemade model to other cities in the US. 

The day that Jones and Loy dropped off the popcorn at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Mt. Vernon Square marked one year since Jones expanded into a larger facility in Sterling. Before that, she was working out of a trailer for about six years. 

Loy and Jones filled a UHaul truck with boxes upon boxes of popcorn before driving to the venue. Filling the vehicle took a lot less time than expected because the team developed an assembly-line strategy. 

“Thank God — popcorn, once it’s popped, it can be a large volume, but it’s quite light, actually,” Loy said, laughing. 

Jones worked with Loy in the past on gifting contracts, and Pop’s Praiseworthy Popcorn can be found in different boutique and co-op stores in DC, Maryland and Virgina. She also does “pop live” events where she brings her 200-pound kettle to street fairs and festivals throughout the region 

While Jones was in touch with national distributors before the NATO Summit, completing this order gave her the confidence and proof that these types of large-scale orders are possible

“When people think about starting a business, a lot of people think about tech or think about something really important,” she said. “But, I happen to think it’s important to be able to stop and enjoy the moment and enjoy where you are, and what you’re doing and what you’re eating. My hope, at least, is that my popcorn allows you to do that.”