While the coronavirus has prevented students from attending in-person classes, it has not stopped Hofstra entrepreneurs from pursuing their business goals.
The Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge was first launched in 2012 and has remained an annual competition since then. Hofstra Board Trustee Mike Seiman created the competition as a way to help students build their resumes and develop skills that will be beneficial in any career, all while receiving advice on launching their own startup companies. Seiman started his own business as a computer science major at Hofstra University.
Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship and Business Development Sharon Goldsmith said the competition is beneficial to students because they receive hands-on business experience.
“Students gain invaluable and transferable skills during the process of the competition,” Goldsmith said. “Not only are we assisting them with business fundamentals, we are assisting them with public speaking and presentation skills, interview skills, mentorship and networking. Previous participating students have gone on to run these companies after graduation or start new companies down the road.”
Every fall, the Hofstra Center for Entrepreneurship hosts the Hofstra-Digital Remedy Lion’s Den Challenge to give students the opportunity to participate in a “Shark Tank” style pitch competition, where they learn valuable presentation skills. In December, applications open for the spring Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge.
Each applicant is eligible to participate in a one-day bootcamp where students learn how to build a startup company, as well as how to prepare a pitch. The event took place on Friday, March 6. The competition was intended to be done entirely in-person but plans quickly had to change as schools around the nation were forced to implement online, distance learning. The semi-final round took place entirely over Zoom on Thursday, March 26.
“It was important to Hofstra University and our sponsor Mike Seiman that we continue to provide opportunities to student entrepreneurs who have the drive and determination to build their companies and innovate during this difficult time,” Goldsmith said. “The students have been working diligently through mentor sessions and independently to make a difference in our world through their new companies.”
On Friday, April 24, the finalists presented their businesses before a panel of judges on Zoom. Senior criminology and global studies major Makayla Farrell was named the first-place winner for her startup business, Totally Tubular Tats. Farrell creates temporary tattoos in order to transform feeding tubes into something fun and imaginative.
Farrell’s inspiration for her business came from her very own home. “Both of my younger siblings have feeding tubes as a result of them having a rare type of Children’s Interstitial Lung Disease (chILD),” Farrell said. “My sister is 6 years old; she has had her tube since she was a baby. My brother is 8, and he had his tube placement surgery only a year ago.”
Farrell came up with the idea for Totally Tubular Tats after witnessing her siblings cope with the way others treated them because of their feeding tubes.
“Because he was older, he had a harder adjustment period and it hurt me to watch. At the same time, I noticed Charlotte becoming more aware of how people treated her because of her tube,” Farrell said. “At the beginning of the spring 2019 semester, the idea came to me and I couldn’t get it out of my head. At first it started as a project just for my siblings, but once I had invested all my time into it, I realized its potential to spread positivity.”
Farrell created the tattoos herself using an in-home tattoo printer. Since winning the competition, Farrell hopes to expand her business and work with mass printers. She said the reward money will help her to work with a graphic designer and create a website.
Originally Farrell had not planned to work for Totally Tubular Tats full-time, but her plans have changed – both as a result of winning the competition and implications from the coronavirus.
“If you asked me three months ago, the answer would be no; however, COVID-19 has derailed my post-graduation plans like it has for many of us,” Farrell said. “I never expected to do so well in the competition, it has given me the confidence and the resources to upgrade my side gig to a business. I will absolutely be pursuing this.”
For the future, Farrell plans to sell her products online and begin mass distribution. She hopes that with her tattoos, she can help people with feeding tubes to feel more confident.
“I am on a mission to promote self-confidence, body positivity and individuality among people of all ages, but especially our young developing minds,” Farrell said. “In my family, we are also always looking to create awareness of feeding tubes and their associated illnesses. These tattoos are an easy way to encourage others to learn about the tube in a lighthearted way.”