It all started with a burnt T-shirt and a merciless flat iron.
Taylor Vande Beek, a self-described girl-on-the-go, was unpacking her suitcase only to find that the hot end of her hair straightener had left its cruel mark on one of her favorite tees. Later, it scorched a travel bag.
That’s when Vande Beek had a brainstorm. She had to do something fast before her hair care ruined her wardrobe.
“Basically going from my mom’s house and my dad’s house I would sort of freak out constantly thinking, ‘O-mi-gosh, are my clothes burning in my bag right now’?,” the 17-year-old said. “I was hoping that there was something on the market that would help me.”
When the Atlanta Girls School senior couldn’t find what she was looking for, she invented The Straightener Mitt. And Thursday, her new product and business plan, which she developed for an entrepreneurship class, won her some seed money to finance her new venture.
The chance at winning $1,000 in “venture capital” was the climax to a year of business training for students in the Sara Blakely Entrepreneurship Academy at Atlanta Girl's School. The program, named after the successful Atlanta businesswoman who turned an idea for body-slimming hosiery into the multi-million company Spanx, was launched this school year to expose girls to economics, marketing and the idea of their name landing on the door of a corporate executive office.
“I would like them to walk away with the understanding that they can thrive in the business world and even pursue their own dreams as entrepreneurs,” said Joan King, who teaches the course and has worked 20 years in business and technology. “Many of them came into class not thinking of themselves as business people at all.”
During the school year, King’s students took field trips to visit businesses. They met inventors. They got advice from CEOs on the frontlines.
Students were challenged to develop their own business plans for new products. Six of those plans were presented Thursday during a competition for $1,000 in seed money. The projects were judged by Spanx CEO Laurie Ann Goldman and Brad Bell, the company’s chief financial officer, who scored them for their creativity, practicality and profitability, among other things.
“You have to dream it first to make anything happen in your life,” Goldman told the students.
Vande Beek was shaking. Her classmates, Jada Curtis and Miranda Gonzalez-Brown, seniors who hawked healthy jars of 100 percent shea butter as part of their new Natural Selections Body Products line, sat holding well-moisturized hands.
All three students won the top prize and will split the money three ways.
Curtis said she learned that you don't have to invent a new product to launch a successful business. She and Gonzalez-Brown came up with the idea of selling low-cost shea butter because it was easy to make and they used it all of the time.
“I use it on my skin, I use it as a leave-in conditioner for my hair, some people cook with it or use it for sunscreen,” Curtis said. “It’s an all-over moisture provider. A little goes a long way.”
Vande Beek began taking requests for her product. She hand sews her mitt from pillowcases and adds silicon mats to absorb the heat. The product is sold in four sizes.
"I have up to 14 orders so far," she said. "It's very exciting."
Goldman, who wrote the business plan that helped Spanx land in major department stores, told students passion is key to selling a good idea.
"So many people have said I have been cutting the feet out of my pantyhose for years, but Sara Blakely was the one with the passion to actually get the idea off the ground," Goldman said. "You have got to use your imagination and realize your potential."
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