Clean Cover
Duke Global Technology Entrepreneur Program
This past summer, I was fortunate enough to be accepted into a Duke Summer Academy. The program was centered around the idea of learning the basics of entrepreneurship and building companies. The program was a month-long class, in which we were challenged to use the lessons that we were taught in the first week, to create a business in the remaining time. We then pitched the new company to a board of mock investors to see if they would invest in our company. After bringing together a group of brilliant and creative classmates, we got to work. The idea that we came up with was a company called Clean Cover. Our product was an eco-friendly, disposable placemat geared toward the travel industry. I designed Clean Cover to be taped down to the average airplane tray table before a person began to work or eat on the surface. The Clean Cover would be a protective, sanitary barrier between the dirty tray table, and the customer's food, computer, or anything that was resting on the tray table. Clean Cover was also designed to be cinched with a unique drawstring design so that when flight attendants came around to collect passengers trash, all they had to do was cinch the Clean Cover with all the trash inside, and place it into the garbage bag. The selling point of our project was that it would protect a customer from the scientifically proven unsanitary tray table. It would also speed up plane cleanup for the flight attendants. After two weeks of contacting airlines such as American Airlines and Lufthansa for feedback on our product, and to see if they were interested in potentially purchasing Clean Cover, we pitched our company to the board of investors. Clean Cover ended up placing second in the competition, with a final score of sixty-eight out of seventy available points. The Global Technology Entrepreneur Program not only taught me a lot about entrepreneurship and business, but also gave me the opportunity to experience a college level class, and possibly even create another business in the future.
Blue View Photography
In mid-2017, I tried to start a business. During the year preceding that, I had been extremely intrigued by the technology of drones and wanted to start my own aerial photography company. To start off, I began doing research and making sure that there were no other companies with the name Blue View Photography, which I had come up with, and also began to look into what kind of insurance and licensing one would need to start this type of business. After considering all of the insurance options, I purchased what was needed, so that I could begin scheduling photo shoots. While still in the early phases of building the company, I was able to complete two photo shoots. The first photo shoot was for a local plant nursery named Gosset Brothers Nursery. I went to the nursery in early December, and shot a small commercial for their social media, advertising their Christmas tree selection along with their holiday decorations. The second aerial shoot that I did was for a company called Gartner in Stamford Connecticut. The photography and videos that I captured on Gartner's campus were used in a presentation geared toward showcasing all of the amazing things that employees could do near their offices. Unfortunately though, after trying to balance school and creating a new company for half a year, I realized that I did not have the time to build this business while simultaneously maintaining the grades I wanted in school. Even though Blue View Photography may not have been as successful as I hoped, I still found it to be a valuable learning experience. The fact that that I was able to come up with an idea for a business, and conduct successful shoots for customers, was very inspiring. I am happy to have gained the experience that I did and will build a better, more successful business in the future.
Survival Stand
At the age of ten, I started my first business. My business was called Survival Stand, and we sold a special type of handmade paracord bracelets. This idea came from an art class, where during class my teacher taught me how to make a special crochet knot in twine. I immediately fell in love with the design, and also loved to weave it. That night when I got home, I found a length of thicker, more durable rope and made myself a bracelet. After making many bracelets with that rope, I eventually ran out. So I went to the hardware store and bought what is commonly known as para-cord. This special type of rope was originally made for the military to use in their parachutes. As a result, this rope is extremely strong, one strand of grade three paracord can hold up to five hundred and fifty pounds of weight. Using the basic crochet knot and paracord, I created a business around the fact that each of these bracelets could be used as a life-saving tool. This is such a great tool because each bracelet, based on wrist size, was made out of about ten feet of this high strength rope, and in an emergency could be unwound and used as an emergency rope. After selling these handmade bracelets on beaches all around the North East and donating over fifteen hundred dollars to animal shelters from the companies profits, I was able to get a trademark on the Survival Stand name. For the past few years, I have continued to sell the bracelets along with custom-made wire wrapped sea glass necklaces and earrings that I made, on countless beaches and sidewalks across the area.
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