Dr. Kristine Pasco wins ElevateHER’s top Guam pitch prize

By Olivia Hart

KUAM reported that ElevateHER awarded Dr. Kristine Pasco $5,000 in seed funding from Bank of Guam and Visa, $5,000 in advertising and support from KUAM Communications and a one-year Guam Women’s Chamber of Commerce membership. The win capped a Fan’nachu Famala’oan event at the Dusit Thani Guam Resort, which KUAM described as a celebration of women, entrepreneurship and empowerment.

KUAM described Fan’nachu Famala’oan as occurring “yesterday,” but gave no calendar date, attendance count or dollar value for the chamber membership. ElevateHER, one of the event’s highlights, is a pitch program designed to support and elevate women entrepreneurs on Guam.

Three women pitched to a panel of judges: Marney Schaumann of Pop! See Play, Dr. Kristine Mae Pasco of MK Lotus Aesthetics, and Lourdes Mafnas of 2DayMedia. They sought mentoring and support to grow their ventures, but KUAM did not summarize Schaumann’s or Mafnas’s proposals or identify the judges, scoring criteria or selection process.

What did ElevateHER’s grand prize include?

KUAM listed three components in Pasco’s grand prize. The package combined seed funding, KUAM advertising support and a chamber membership.

• $5,000 in seed funding from Bank of Guam and Visa.
• $5,000 in advertising and support from KUAM Communications.
• A one-year Guam Women’s Chamber of Commerce membership.

KUAM said the People’s Choice winner received $2,500 in seed funding from Bank of Guam and Visa. It did not name that winner or say whether the People’s Choice award and grand prize could be combined. The report also did not price the chamber membership or explain how the KUAM advertising-and-support package would be delivered.

Pasco and her family discussed what the grand prize meant for MK Lotus Aesthetics. She thanked those who trusted her, her family, sister, patients whose identities she could not disclose, friends, mentor Pika, “leon” and Bank of Guam staff. She said: “I’m so grateful, thank you to Pika such a wonderful mentor, leon thank you so much.”

She described herself as “the most introverted person that you will ever meet” before adding: “but guess what Im here, so yeah we made it!” KUAM did not identify “leon” or explain that person’s role.

How did Pasco expect the prize to change her clinic?

Pasco called the award a relief after substantial preparation: “There’s a huge relief that’s for sure because there has been a lot of effort that has been put through this pitch”. She said the support would let her expand MK Lotus Aesthetics, focus on the job and provide “a healthier community here in Guam.”

She also said she could now hire her first patient coordinator and obtain exposure through KUAM. The report gave no hiring date, salary, expansion budget or metric for that exposure.

Pasco traced the idea to her work at GRMC. She said she saw patients with “a lot of cold conditions,” while some had to “fly off island for specialty care” or could not obtain appointments with their primary clinic.

That experience prompted her to think about how to “bridge that gap,” although KUAM did not define the conditions or explain the service model planned for MK Lotus Aesthetics. The report did not quantify local demand for the clinic or identify any clinical partners.

What did KUAM actually document?

The account covered established business owners and women who were just starting, with attendees celebrating ideas and building connections. The report’s narrator said the event offered “my very first emcee experience for ElevateHER.”

That account came from a participant in the program, but KUAM did not disclose the narrator’s name or formal role. KUAM characterized Fan’nachu Famala’oan as a success for women entrepreneurs and argued that collective support gives women room to grow.

The report supplied no broader performance measures, including company revenue, customer or patient counts, jobs created, or outcomes for Schaumann and Mafnas after the event. Pasco’s win provides one concrete selection result, not evidence that the wider program has changed business outcomes across Guam.

The next test is practical rather than celebratory. A useful follow-up would show whether Pasco hires the coordinator, whether the expanded clinic serves more patients locally and whether the two other entrepreneurs report measurable progress. Without those disclosures, the report documents announced prizes rather than delivered business or clinical outcomes.