Written by MaryGrace Grego
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation offers a multitude of opportunities for motivated students of all majors and years at Grove City College. Junior, Jessica Pratt, a double major in Communication Arts and Design & Innovation with a minor in Exercise Science, has been recently involved in two of The Center for E+I’s programs: the E+I Fellows Program and the Elevator Pitch Competition.
E+I Fellows Program:
Grove City College’s E+I Fellows Program gives students an opportunity to add to their resume, hone their skills, and share their talents as they intern with small businesses, startups, and nonprofits in the Western Pennsylvania region that have been vetted by The Center for E+I. Students who are accepted to the E+I Fellows Program are paid $25 per hour, which is the highest wage offered on campus.
Pratt said she was motivated to get involved with the E+I Fellows Program because “There was an opportunity to have an 8-week paid internship while on campus, and as someone who had never had an internship before, I thought it looked like a wonderful chance to put something on the resume and have real-world experience in my field of interest.”
The process of becoming an E+I Fellow started with Pratt going online to the E+I website to research participating companies she might be a good fit for. “After writing down 4 or 5 company names, I attended Preview Night in Rathburn, handed them my resume, and talked to the hosts of each company. I filled out the online application for E+I Fellows and was fortunate enough to be offered an interview by a nonprofit, Joy in the Journey,” Pratt said. About a week after that interview, she was offered an internship with the organization as a web designer. Joy in the Journey is a non-profit whose mission is to deliver support and resources to families that have children with complex medical needs.
“Working with Joy in the Journey was one of the most professionally challenging and rewarding experiences I have had since coming to college. Although I was accepted as a communications intern to manage the non-profit’s social media presence, upon looking at my portfolio, the organization decided that it would be better to use my skillset to design their website… I never thought that I would have been taking on a project that would mean so much for an organization, and I felt a huge responsibility to accomplish my job well… Overall, it was a wonderful experience as I got to see so much about what other families go through, how they rely on God during hard times, how to use different design technologies, how to communicate professionally, and how to deliver a working product to an organization that really needed it,” Pratt shared.
Reflecting upon her experience in the E+I Fellows Program, Pratt said, “I would absolutely recommend the E+I Fellows Program to other students who are looking to gain confidence in their field, grow in their professional skills, and offer themselves a little more financial support. There are plenty of people who are willing to help you succeed and will communicate with a host organization on your behalf. You learn responsibility, but there is also grace extended when life comes up. Overall, it is a safe and nurturing environment for freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors.”
Elevator Pitch Competition:
Every year, The Center for E+I hosts the Elevator Pitch Competition at Grove City College. This competition provides students with the chance to give a two-minute elevator pitch of their business idea to a panel of judges for a chance to win cash prizes. This experience gives students the opportunity to refine their communication, presentation, and networking skills to take ideas to the next level. The Elevator Pitch Competition is open to students of all majors across campus.
Pratt attended the E+I Open House event where she ran into Logan Hammerschmitt ’16 (former E+I Campus Director), who encouraged her to meet to discuss a concept she had been working on the previous semester. Pratt recalled, “After speaking with Logan a few times, he encouraged me to take the idea and make a 2-minute elevator pitch for it to see if it had much traction in a competition setting. I decided to take him up on the offer since it was a wonderful opportunity to see if I could communicate a vision effectively.”
Pratt’s idea was entitled, Adapted Adventures, which is a non-profit video concierge service for individuals with special needs or physical limitations.
Preparing for the final competition, Pratt refined her pitch, practiced multiple times a day until she could wake up in the morning and say it automatically, and recruited friends to provide distractions as she practiced. Before Jessica went into the competition, “I went to chapel and prayed for God’s hand to be on me and to support me in all things that were in line with His will. Then I just went in and gave it.”
“I was incredibly nervous to give my pitch as it was quite personal to me, and it was the largest audience I had ever spoken to. Generally, I had some great friends who I got to be with, and I greatly enjoyed listening to their pitches as well. The energy in the crowd was wonderful and overall, it was so fun to see the other competitors passionately pitch their ideas… I was fortunate enough to receive $1,000 for first prize in the Social Impact category of the competition,” Pratt shared.
Moving forward, Pratt is working to edit her idea to become a product that she can practically launch. She says, “In the end, my only goal is to help individuals with disabilities live a better quality of life by helping them reach where they need to go.”
Pratt’s advice to students who are interested in the Elevator Pitch Competition is “Have the right heart behind what you are trying to pitch. Share your idea with the purpose of wanting to bring something into the world to make it better and edit your idea so that it can best accomplish that mission.”
Tying it Together:
When asked how the E+I Fellows Program and Elevator Pitch Competition has impacted her time at Grove City College, Pratt answered, “I think in many ways it has been more beneficial to me than some of my classes. It has helped me grow professionally and personally in many ways, and the support that I have gotten from the Center for E+I throughout my entire college experience has been invaluable. Being able to share what I’m passionate about with people who can help me to make dreams a reality is such a gift, and the E+I Fellows Program has not only helped me to work through potential ideas, but has also given me resources (like guest lectures and responsibilities) that have helped me grow in ways I didn’t know I needed to.”