Students Pitch with Purpose in annual "Shark Tank"-style competition

Spring Lake Park High School students in the year-long Marketing and Entrepreneurship class once again stepped into the spotlight to pitch their innovative business ideas in this year’s “Shark Tank”-style competition. After months of research and planning, teams presented business concepts inspired by real needs in their own lives - solutions for student-athlete equipment and injuries, products that ease everyday stress for pets, designs for those with accessibility challenges and more.

What began as classroom brainstorming evolved into thoughtful, well-researched concepts shaped by teamwork, financial planning and feedback from professionals working in business. Many students shared that their biggest growth has come in the form of confidence - learning to present without notes, asking for help, trusting their ideas and discovering they really can turn an idea into something bigger.

Preliminary rounds had students pitching multiple times to different panels of local industry judges. More than 30 professionals from the community volunteered their time to judge the preliminary rounds. They scored each presentation and offered valuable insights. After tallying the results, five teams advanced to the final round, which took place Wednesday, December 17.

The winner? Cloud Case a Needoh-inspired fidget embedded on the back on a cell phone. 

We caught up with the finalists in advance of the final round to learn more about their ideas, how this class is shaping their futures and how they used feedback from the judges to sharpen their final pitches.

Finalist #1: Jamal Smith and Cam Stewart

Service: Recovery Room

Describe the product or service you are pitching and why:

Jamal: Recovery Room is for student-athletes ages 14-24 and also for anyone who is active ages 25-50. We tailored it for two different age groups to best fit their needs. We would offer services to recover for the strain of being an athlete or being active such as aches, soreness and pain in general. We would offer saunas, ice baths as well different types of recovery technology like cupping, dry needles and more. We came up with this product because we are both currently student-athletes and have experience with soreness and having different injuries.

What has been the biggest learning you've had in this class so far?

Jamal: I've learned that thinking through the financials is the hardest part. There is so much that goes into it and you have to account for every single thing. Made me realize how much behind the scenes work is done for businesses.

Cam: I've learned that it's possible to come up with an idea and turn it into a business adventure. It's cool that people can relate to this idea and understand the aches and pains that come with being active. Being able to present a business idea from our own experiences isn't something I had thought of before this.

How is this class helping you think about your future and what you might want to do?

Jamal: I want to go into sports and health science after graduation. Even if a person doesn't end up going into business, this class is great in general to come up with ideas. You get to be innovative, creative and you're just learning how to create your own flow.

Cam: I want to be an engineer but this class has given me good entrepreneurship experience which I could possibly do a business on the side someday. It is showing me how intricate businesses are and once you have a good idea, having knowledge and experience can help make it possible.

What has it been like pitching to judges? How are you incorporating their feedback for the finals?

Jamal: It was scary at first but I feel like once I started presenting, I locked into my role and the nerves fell away. Once we started talking, the judges were nodding and everything so it made me more comfortable. We took all of their feedback and made a couple of tweaks going into the finals. They are trained professionals, and we want to take their advice to improve our project.

Cam: Once we figured out how to build off of each other, it got way easier. We also started to anticipate what questions the judges would have so we were prepared and locked in there.

Finalist #2: Amilya Wordlaw and Taylor Blahna

Product: Zenpaws

Describe the product or service you are pitching and why:

Amilya: It's a dog and cat collar with a bluetooth speaker in the the middle that releases white noise or any selected sound that an owner picks or creates for themselves to help calm their pet's anxiety or stress levels when they need it. We both have experience with anxious pets as well as friends and family members who do and wanted to come up with a solution besides drugs to help them.

Taylor: We know how hard it is to calm down an anxious pet and this is a quick, alternative way to do it that doesn't involve medication. It's also not much work for the owner who might also be stressed because of the situation.

What has been the biggest learning you've had in this class so far?

Amilya: The financials and all of the work, such as licensing, to complete a new business was a really big shocker to me. Figuring out every single material and where to source it and how much it is going to cost took a lot of research and it was just a lot more behind the scenes work than I expected.

Taylor: This class teaches us the importance of confidence. The more confident you appear, the more reliable you're going to seem. Being confident was something we really worked on when we pitched to the judges.

How is this class helping you think about your future and what you might want to do?

Amelia: After high school, I am deciding between occupational therapy and radiology. Not exactly business related but this class is helping me build confidence in public speaking and getting over some of my social anxieties.

Taylor: The two options I'm looking into are going for a business major or going into sports journalism. This class made me realize I'm good at public speaking. It used to be so nerve wracking but now I'm excited and think it's a fun thing to do.

What has it been like pitching to judges? How are you incorporating their feedback for the finals?

Amilya: I personally really liked it. After we introduced ourselves it progressed naturally. Once we got the first pitch out of the way, it got even easier because we realized the judges aren't scary and are just here to help us. Going into the finals, we're going to look at the feedback and make sure we draw these judges in. We are going to go in with confidence in ourselves because we made it this far and have nothing to lose now.

Taylor: Pitching to the judges and hearing their feedback gave me a lot more confidence in our product. When the first group told us that they really liked our idea, we were way more excited to present to the next group because we were more validated that we had a good idea. Hearing positive feedback from the judges made us really happy.

Finalist #3: Maddie Smith and Ava Tomlinson

Product: Cloud Case

Describe the product or service you are pitching and why:

Maddie: It's a protective phone case with a Needoh-inspired fidget embedded directly into the back. Essentially, it's a fidget phone case. We came up with this idea because we saw that so many people in this class have Needoh fidgets, whether it's the ice cubes or the butter ones, so we were like "how can we combine this product that's really popular right now with something that students already have on them every day?" That's where we came up with the phone case because we always have our phones with us and then adding that Needoh-style fidget on the back would make having the phone a lot less distracting and easier to remember that the fidget is there, too.

What has been the biggest learning you've had in this class so far?

Maddie: I feel like the biggest thing this class has taught me is how to be professional and be a good public speaker without using note cards. I had never done a presentation or speech without using notes of some sort so it was a big skill to learn how to present without having something to read off of.

Ava: Communication has been a big thing in this project. Not only communicating with your partner but also with the judges. Knowing how to answer a question, even if we didn't know the specific details or answer, there is a way you can guide the conversation back to something you do know how to answer.

How is this class helping you think about your future and what you might want to do?

Maddie: I would like to go into finance in the future so the financial aspect of this project was really helpful when thinking about what I want to do someday. We had to go through all of the startup, operating, material costs and getting those numbers helped me learn a little more about what finance might entail.

Ava: I would like to go into marketing and business analytics, either brand management or sports marketing. This presentation appealed to the branding side and it was really important to me we stayed on brand and used colors and other visuals to appeal to the judges.

What has it been like pitching to judges? How are you incorporating their feedback for the finals?

Maddie: It was definitely stressful to begin with but once we started the presentation and got more into it, I felt a lot more comfortable. We also went in very prepared so that made me feel better.

Ava: The first pitch was nerve wracking but then we got into the flow of it and it was just like presenting any other time. All of the judges had a kind of soft smile on their face and were making eye contact so that made us more comfortable. Going into the finals, I'll be a little nervous because it's a bigger audience but we're going to make some tweaks based on the feedback and making sure questions are addressed. Overall, I feel pretty confident with our presentation.

Finalist #4: Lauren Morton and Sam Millis

Product: TruEase

Describe the product or service you are pitching and why:

Lauren: Basically we redesigned the typical cosmetic pump bottle that you would find for items such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion and all of those kind of things. We designed it in consideration for people who have conditions such as upper limb differences, arthritis and muscle weakness.

Sam: We came up with the idea because we have some close personal friends who do struggle with some of those things, including arthritis. We also know that our grandparents struggle with muscle weakness, and it's sometimes hard for them to open up products independently. Since this impacts people close to us, we wanted to help them in their everyday lives.

What has been the biggest learning you've had in this class so far?

Lauren: For me personally, confidence. You can tell someone anything but you have to have the research and facts to back up what you're saying. Having confidence in the facts really made a difference, and I've just learned to trust myself and trust in my explanations and what I have to offer to the class.

Sam: I also learned to really trust myself but also learned to trust my partner. We did a lot of collaboration for this project and I always knew that if I needed help I could rely on Lauren. We were working together as a team, and I knew I was being supported. And it wasn't always just Lauren providing support, my teachers and the entire class was supportive. Everybody is here to help everybody.

Lauren: This class has been the best because we really have become like a family after awhile. It's really fun because you wouldn't think that a group of very different people would come together and collaborate and have as much fun as we do.

How is this class helping you think about your future and what you might want to do?

Lauren: After high school, I plan to go to a 4-year college and hopefully major in something along the lines of financial analytics. Having worked with a lot of the financials for this project. I was able to see what I could possibly be doing in the future. I actually got the opportunity to talk with a couple of financial advisors who helped me think through a path and how to maneuver through the field to get where I want to go someday which was really cool.

Sam: I'm also planning to go to a 4-year college for either business or biology. For this class, especially with the business lens, the creativity I get and the entrepreneurship aspect really intrigues me. Either way, this class is teaching me a lot of skills that will be helpful for the rest of my life.

What has it been like pitching to judges? How are you incorporating their feedback for the finals?

Lauren: It was definitely nerve wracking the first time we went up there. It's different presenting in front of your friends versus in front of these cool business professionals who are possibly in the field you want to go into and who you want to impress. But after our first presentation, we just relaxed and realized it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be, and we had a lot of fun with it. The judges also asked some really interesting questions which helped us think about our product in different ways. We're going to dive into what the judges had to say to provide some more clarity going into the finals but feel we're in a very good spot with our presentation.

Sam: It was definitely stressful, but after the first presentation, I realized the judges are there to be supportive. Going into the second round, it was a lot easier to just breathe and have fun with our presentation. It went a lot smoother, and it was a really great experience.

Finalist #5: Isabel Stewart

Product: IZÉLLE

Describe the product or service you are pitching and why:

Currently, a lot of cleats out there aren't really made to fit the anatomy of a woman's foot. These cleats would be made with a wider toe box, extra silicon padding to add more protection and would be made more shock absorbent. I also added a more narrow heel cup and a higher arch so there would be better arch support.

I wanted to develop this product because I've been playing soccer for a really long time and girls around me were getting injuries, such as ACL tears, over and over again. When I looked into it, I realized that there is a women's ACL epidemic and a lot of it stems from not having the proper equipment, including cleats.

What has been the biggest learning you've had in this class so far?

I've learned that it better to start over or redo things the right way than have something wrong and present it. It's okay to ask for help. I asked for a lot of help, especially around finances, and I'm glad I did.

How is this class helping you think about your future and what you might want to do?

I want to go into business, perhaps sales someday. Being able to talk to professionals through this class is really cool. The other students in this class also inspire me because there are so many people who are passionate about stepping into the business world and their passion and advice has made me feel more confident moving forward.

What has it been like pitching to judges? How are you incorporating their feedback for the finals?

At the beginning of the day, I was definitely nervous, but once I got in the room and started talking, things just got easier and my nerves flattened out. Based on their feedback, I'm going to fix a few slides and make sure my financials are spot on, but I'm pretty confident going into the finals.