Two students hoping to expand their business dreams got to spend three weeks at the Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs this summer.
Melesa Herzet and Jose Gomez Castillo, both students at Carroll County High School and iLEAD Academy, were selected for the honor on the 10th anniversary of GSE. Both of them attended sessions held at Northern Kentucky University, but they were not together. Students were divided into teams and each assigned a team lead who is actively working as an entrepreneur.
“I thought it was an amazing experience,” Jose said. He noted learning about financing, determining how much it costs to develop a product and at which point you should expect to break even in a business were high points.
Jose is a businessman who dabbles in art, welding and is interested in flipping houses. Jose’s team lead was William Burroughs, who has a business designing websites. Melesa is known for her 3D printing and design skills utilized at iLEAD.
“We are very proud of Melesa and Jose for their success in the Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs program. They are exemplar examples of students wanting to further their education around their area of passion,” said Carroll County Schools Superintendent Casey Jaynes.
iLEAD Director Jenna Gray added that Jose and Melesa have been a vital part of iMAKE, iLEAD's entrepreneurial club. “Both are very talented so I was very pleased when both were chosen to participate in GSE last summer,” she said.
Each team took multiple field trips to businesses and engaged in a lot of team-building activities. They also spent a large chunk of time working on designing their project.
“I learned so much about entrepreneurship that I didn’t even know mattered,” Melesa said. Her team lead was Andrew Dunn, who created the Random Acts of Kindness in Louisville.
Melesa’s team created a posture correcting brace called Postureset. It is built into a standard undershirt and utilizes straps sewn into the shirt to stimulate muscles and improve posture.
“We decided that would be an area we could make the most impact,” she said, noting that nearly all of her teammates suffered from back problems or have family members who struggle with back pain.
They researched the problems and solutions before settling on Postureset. “We geared away from a back brace to a posture shirt,” she said, noting it is much less constricting than competitors products and it’s less expensive but better quality.
“What we were most worried about was that people would not take the product/problem seriously. Bad posture is an unfortunately common problem, but it can cause significant damage to the internal organs,” Melesa said. Her team determined startup costs would be $40,000 and they should break even within five to 10 years.
“Melesa is one of our executive council members for iMAKE and continues to be a driving force with laser and 3D design. I can't wait to see what she designs in the future,” Gray added.
Jose’s team created a dietary app that will help people with various diseases find the right kinds of food and plan their meals. “Our goal is to make the identification of healthy food items for those with chronic illnesses easy and efficient,” according to the presentation created by Jose’s team.
Teams spent the first week of GSE identifying 100 problems and creating solutions for each of them. “We could only talk about problems we wanted to create solutions for,” Jose said. His team determined the primary problem was connected to health issues and finding the right foods.
According to Gray, Jose has chosen to start his own business for his senior capstone project called Jose's Messy Craft. It features wood, metal and painting.
Neither of their GSE projects have been put into production, but they are waiting on the back burner for these future entrepreneurs.