Student entrepreneurs lined the bottom floor of the Design and Innovation Hub preparing to show off their small businesses at the “Pitch and Ponder Showcase” Thursday.
LaunchNET hosted the event, allowing entrepreneurs to showcase their businesses and their products and services to other entrepreneurs and attendees. LaunchNET works to help students, staff and alumni transform their ideas into businesses through meetings, mentoring, workshops and events.
Over 20 small businesses set up information tables in the Design and Innovation Hub. Each one showed off their own business and specialties while attendees could approach and ask questions about their business.
The showcase included artists, designers, photographers, baristas, jewelry makers and more. Each table had products and presentations available for viewing.
Junior fashion design major Emily Dicevicius, owner of Dicevici, a sustainable upcycled handbag retailer, started her business in January 2023. The business is fairly new, she said, but she launched her third collection of handbags while at the showcase.
Dicevicius specializes in sustainable, upcycled handbags. She said she utilizes donated fabric in the construction of her handbags and has a donation box set up through her website where she receives donated fabrics. She collects the used fabric and then turns it into handbags for purchase.
Sustainability is one reason why she started her brand, Dicevicius said. She also said she wants people to enjoy their shopping experience and feel great about what they are buying.
“My big thing is not only sustainability — it’s about mindful consumerism,” Dicevicius said. “I want to make people feel good about their purchase.”
The “Pitch or Pounder Showcase” was described as a way for entrepreneurs to show off their products and small businesses to consumers. It is a way to help grow their businesses and get their name out there to the local community.
Sophomore fashion merchandising major Mariana Quinones, the owner of KSU Fitzz, an Instagram account dedicated to fashion on campus, started her account in September 2023. She specializes in connecting entrepreneurs, designers, artists and photographers together, giving them a platform.
Events like the “Pitch & Ponder Showcase” have helped her network with other small businesses and grow her platform, Quinones said. She has grown her page to 630 followers in just two months from networking at events like this.
“I just like connecting with people in person,” she said. “This helps me a lot with just networking with other people who are entrepreneurs and have businesses.”
Chloe Wilson-Henline is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
