University of St. Thomas - Schulze School of Entrepreneurship

Our annual Fowler Business Concept Challenge was a smash success yet again, with brilliant ideas and powerful presentation from our students, formative insights from our distinguished judges, and continued stellar leadership from Ron Fowler, Danielle C. Ailts Campeau, D.B.A., and our entire University of St. Thomas - Schulze School of Entrepreneurship team.

This past Friday, I had the privilege of competing in the Fowler Business Concept Challenge as a semi-finalist alongside my partner, Nathaniel Charles. While we didn’t make it to the finals, we were proud to place second in our room, a testament to how far we’ve come. Reconnect began as a simple idea during our sophomore year at St. Thomas, and since then, it’s evolved into something truly meaningful. Since then we’ve competed in three business competitions, developed our MVP, and hosted a focus group with children of divorce and mental health professionals to refine our concept. This journey has been invaluable, providing us with insightful feedback and countless lessons. I’m incredibly grateful to Jessica Cooley and the University of St. Thomas - Schulze School of Entrepreneurship for creating opportunities like these that help bring ideas to life. We’re excited to take everything we’ve learned and continue driving Reconnect forward. The journey is just beginning!?

I am delighted, humbled, and honored to announce that my co-founder, Alex Morgan, and I took home the first place trophy in the Social Track at the Fowler Business Concept Challenge at the University of St. Thomas! In addition to this, we also received an award for the "Best Use of Technology." To say that I'm grateful is a massive understatement. It's impossible for me to express the extent of my gratitude, because this whole day has been a dream come true. Alex and I set out to solve a heartbreaking issue in the United States: school shootings. We came to the conclusion that the issue is the bullet, and how it has no right to enter school property. After countless hours of research, studying, and brainstorming, we created Centra: an exterior gunpowder detection system that prevents bullets from entering the school. It is a two-fold solution, consisting of hardware and software. On the hardware side, we utilize groundbreaking base molecular resonance technology, which has been co-founded by the one and only Bo Short. The software aspect is our novel internal lockdown procedure, which works in conjunction with existing school safety resources. I want to highlight our phenomenal mentors and advisors, who have poured their hearts into Centra. First and foremost, Dr. Bo Short. We had the privilege of meeting with Dr. Short to discuss his incredible technology and our application of it with Centra. His kindness and willingness to help Alex & I did not go unnoticed. We are extremely grateful for all of his guidance! Second: Officer Nathan Hook from White Bear Lake High School! Alex & I had an emotional conversation with him about existing safety protocols for school shootings, and how they aren't enough to prevent loss of life. Third: every single professor and mentor at St. Thomas who took time out of their schedule to practice our pitch with us! Jay Ebben, Tyler Schipper, Laura Dunham, Billy Mzenga, MA, and Alec Johnson. I am indebted to all of you for your endless contributions and advice! And a special shoutout to Dr. Alec Johnson, because he stayed after class with us until 10 pm to make sure we felt comfortable with our pitch and potential questions. We truly have the best faculty at St. Thomas. Thank you to Ron Fowler and the other generous sponsors for this competition! And finally, to everyone else in the community that provided a helping hand to Centra: Asher Wu Anderson, Bret Busse (he/him), Kelsey Joson, Datta Varadaraja, and Jonathan. I really appreciate the support you offered us as we continued to refine our idea. As I reflect on my experience, I feel nothing but gratitude and happiness. Not only did I work on a project that I am extremely passionate about, but I got to do it with one of my best friends. Alex Morgan - you are the best business partner. You're brilliant. And you're an even better friend. #Tommiepreneur

I am so honored to be a runner up in the social challenge for the Fowler Business Competition! I proudly represented Vigilance Safety in this competition, and I am eager to take what I learned from today and apply it to the future of Vigilance. Thank you to the University of St. Thomas - Schulze School of Entrepreneurship for hosting this event and allowing us students to participate in it!

Creating a business concept AND presenting it, was something I did not see myself ever doing. Yesterday, Jeffrey Stocker and I had the privilege of presenting a business concept in the Fowler Business Concept Challenge University of St. Thomas - Schulze School of Entrepreneurship with 31 other innovative ideas. It was a fantastic experience pitching our idea of warm, colorfully unique, ambidextrous children's mittens (regardless of which one is lost, only one is needed to be replaced). Over the past three months, I’ve been reflecting on what innovation leadership truly means. We often think of innovation as something grand, but every big idea starts small. The most impactful lesson I’ve learned this semester’s Innovation course and submitting a concept for competition is the importance of supporting ideas. Without the encouragement of Kjrk Reyerson, our idea would probably be only “on paper". It’s easy to dismiss ideas as unfeasible—I’ve been guilty of this myself. But as leaders, the organizational power we wield amplifies either the encouragement or discouragement we provide. A little oxygen for a seemingly 'outfield' idea might just solve an unsolvable problem or provide the motivation to continue to innovate. Have you witnessed a small idea grow into something impactful? I’d love to hear your story! Thank you University of St. Thomas - Schulze School of Entrepreneurship for creating and facilitating a place where students can test and present their ideas that just might change the world!

Yesterday, I had the incredible opportunity to compete as a semi-finalist in the business track in the University of St. Thomas - Schulze School of Entrepreneurship's Fowler Business Concept Challenge. My business concept was Encore Dancewear, an e-commerce platform to resell discounted second-hand dance costumes. This experience gave me the chance to pitch my concept to a panel of industry leaders, present during a poster session, and share ideas with innovative students from a wide range of programs and disciplines. I am thankful for the feedback and encouragement I received from the judges, mentors, and organizers, all of which have pushed me to further refine my business concept. The Fowler Challenge has been a powerful reminder of the creativity and drive present in our community, and I am incredibly grateful for this experience. #USTFowlerChallenge #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #BusinessPitchCompetition #Tommiepreneur