Student entrepreneur wins $5,000 at local pitch competiton

A local charter school hosted its first student entrepreneurship contest this week. 

Sugar Creek Charter School’s J. Frank Martin Campus held its own version of the reality pitch competition TV show “Shark Tank” on Thursday, March 22.  ” for student entrepreneurs.

The competition offered one grand prize of $5,000 and three secondary prizes of $500.

In the final round, held Thursday, students presented their pitches to a panel of judges and a crowd of their teachers, families and fellow students.

“An entrepreneurial spirit” 

Many students at Sugar Creek Charter School have an “entrepreneurial spirit,” Jamaal Young, the principal of Sugar Creek Charter School’s J. Frank Martin Campus, said. 

To cultivate that spirit, in 2021, Young and other staff members began allowing students to sell their products — items like bracelets, clothing, beauty products and artwork — during lunch. Students keep all of their profits. 

What began as a one-day event became a monthly occurrence in 2022 that continues today. 

This gave the school staff an idea to host a pitch competition, following a similar setup of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” Young told QCity Metro. 

Young said the competition’s goal is to support the students and create an environment that creates young business people.

“We want to make sure that we give the kids a voice and highlight this unique talent system,” Young said. “If you give a child an opportunity to do that, it’s no telling what they can accomplish.” 

In November 2023, around 15 students sent in business plans that were then narrowed down to four students. 

The selected students then attended what Young described as mini-boot camps to learn more about owning a business. 

In addition to $5,000, the grand prize winner will receive a year-long mentorship with Innovative Business Development Group, Inc., a local company owned by Adam Wingfield, an entrepreneur in Charlotte.

The other three competitors will each receive $500 in addition to mentorship. 

One winner

Tenth-grader Nairobi Muturi, owner of Trendi Amour, an organic skincare business, won the competition.

Muturi said she created the company after dealing with dark spots and other skin issues when she was 12 years old. She told QCity Metro she started using fruits and vegetables to alleviate her skin issues while staying home during the pandemic and found a solution.

She said the competition and mentorship have made her idea of selling skincare a reality. 

“It just started as a little idea, and now I’m putting products in motion,” Muturi told QCity Metro. 

Muturi plans to use the money to purchase a vending machine full of her beauty products and expand her advertising and marketing efforts. 

Discovering a passion

While there is only one grand prize winner, the competition has encouraged other students to consider entrepreneurship, like Adolphus Trapp, owner of St. Saint Kollective, a local clothing brand.

“The SharkTank not only inspired me to figure out why I’m doing the things I’m doing but also inspired me to do it further and deeper than just for making money,” Trapp told QCity Metro. 

Trapp co-owns the business with two other students, Kamani Lambertis and Arianna Hudson. The apparel line started with Trapp wanting to display his artwork on clothing, he said.

He said the business has developed his passion for creating high-end, fashionable clothing at affordable prices, and he looks forward to seeing what’s ahead for the brand.

Founder of the clothing brand Soldiersdesires,  Mikayla Welch, said she, too, discovered a passion through the competition. 

“It helped me find myself in it,” Welch said. “At first, I was just doing it, but now I feel like I have felt my true passion.”  

Izaya Ali, a hairstylist in Charlotte and owner of ZaadoseHair, says she can express herself through doing hair. She says the mentorship has helped her reach a larger and more diverse clientele. 

Trapp said he believes all schools should have entrepreneurial programs.

“There are always kids who want to sell something or put something out to other people,” he said. “Typically, they don’t have that platform presented to them to be able to sell the things that they want to sell.”