Brewing more than ideas for the future

Brewing more than ideas for the future

The first-place winners of the 2024 Brewed Ideas Challenge are learning and growing their concept with the help of careful mentoring and generous prize money

• By Caitlin Schoewe | communication intern
• December 16, 2024
• 3 min. read

It's been over six months since student startups AIM: Advertising In Motion and Black Mindz walked away with $7,500 each as the grand prize winners of the 2024 Brewed Ideas Challenge. Today, the businesses are growing due to the students' passion and the generous award to help advance their concepts.

The Shark Tank-style pitch competition hosted by the 707 Hub follows a series of workshops where student founders, mentored by leaders from Brady Corporation, take their concept from idea to a business proposal.

Patrick Monahan, director of innovation at the 707 Hub, says the experience is about more than competition.

"Through the Brewed Ideas Challenge, finalists learn how to think, overcome, problem solve, lead, brainstorm, hustle, tell stories and work in teams like an entrepreneur," Monahan says. "These are all skills that will serve students well, wherever they journey after Marquette."

From kitchen table to mobile billboard

AIM: Advertising In Motion, created by Evan Polak, a sophomore majoring in innovation and entrepreneurship, started as a kitchen table idea that only came to life because of the Brewed Ideas Challenge.

Evan Polak researching for AIM: Advertisng In Motion

"The idea behind AIM: Advertising In Motion is to create an additional revenue stream for drivers while simultaneously showcasing local businesses," Polak says. "Your car transforms into a moving billboard by displaying advertisements on your rear window."

Since winning first prize in the contest's traditional business category, Polak has worked toward advancing his project from concept to company.

"Following the competition, I wasted no time in retaining patent attorneys, along with assistance from the legal department here at Marquette, while bringing in a Chicago advertising firm, Popskull, to develop my website," Polak explains. "The next step was an app; I started working with a family friend, who is a senior director at Nvisia, a Milwaukee-based software company, in conjunction with Marquette's computer science department, to help develop the software."

Polak says his company addresses some of the challenges small businesses may face.

"Because small businesses may not have the marketing budget, AIM now provides them the opportunity to advertise locally," Polak explains.

AIM hopes to redefine the advertising landscape by bringing traditional advertising into the 21st century.

Student club grows into nonprofit organization

Founded in 2021 as a Marquette student club, Black Mindz was revamped by students Jasmine Scott, India Lock, Gabby Shoulders and Maiya Sabree the next year.

"The club is meant to be a space for students of color to discuss mental health and be educated on how to care for their mental health while in college," Scott says. "What first started with four executive board members has now grown to 10."

From left to right Jasmine Scott, Gabby Shoulders, India Lock, Maiya Sabree, at Brewed Ideas Challenge meeting.

She says being a part of the Brewed Ideas Challenge has given her and her team the confidence to speak and follow through on a plan.

Monahan says it's important to have innovative groups like Black Mindz on college campuses who act on a problem they notice.

"The 707 Hub focuses on the idea that all students have the capacity to be innovators, because everyone has experiences. All they have to do is decide to take action," Monahan says. "The experiential learning they received through the Brewed Ideas Challenge is about more than just startups, but also about learning how to work in teams and tackle complex problems."

Since winning the $7,500 top prize in the social impact category, the nonprofit organization has focused on internal and external growth.

"We spent all summer organizing and finalizing legal information for our organization, developing a website, various programs and have reached out to neighboring schools to expand," Scott says. "We want to make a difference in the whole Midwest and farther."

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