POWER UP

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

It happens to the best of us. So many electronics to keep charged, yet never enough outlets. And forget those bulky power strips with cables the size of a pipeline. It was the experience of studying at home during the pandemic that led four students from Lake Forest High School to create EZ Plugs, a portable power strip that looks more like a Lego than small power plant.

With a prototype in hand but college on the horizon next year—all four members of the group are seniors—they’ve got some business decisions to make. But with a potentially hot product in their portfolio, that’s not a bad position to be in.

“Last year, we were all in a class called Business Incubator where you get assigned a group based on test to see if we were all compatible with each other,” says Pride Haggerty, a co-founder of EZ Plugs. “Once we had our group, we came up with an idea, did problem and solution interviews, and by the end of the year we had our working prototype.”

The group, which in addition to Haggerty includes Sarina Vora, Connell Sassen, and Sean Kupperman, presented their idea last May to Pitch Night (think Shark Tank), during which groups in the Incubator class present their idea to an audience of potential local investors. The group won the night and came away with a check for $2,500.

“We first we did a mini pitch to them and then from there, four teams got chosen to go to Pitch Night held in our auditorium where people could come and invest in your idea,” Haggerty says. “From there, we got awarded best pitch and we got funded, which meant we could move on to the next class this year, which is called Business Accelerator. From there, we’ve just taken off with our idea.”

Vora says the concept is simple. A slim power bar that accommodates all of your charging needs, from the various USB formats to your laptop to cables that charge your Apple devices.

“Two years ago, during COVID, we had the issue of finding the right amount of power plugs that fit your computers or chargers for all your devices,” says Voya. “So, we were like, ‘I wish there was a better way we could just charge all of our devices,’ and we came up with the idea of Lego blocks you could attach power plugs to and make it as long or as short as you wanted and have different outlet types. It could be super friendly and very easy for the customer.”

The challenge for the group of seniors now who are all going off to college in the fall is how to keep the momentum going. They’ve refined their prototype with the help of a product designer—they wanted to make the power strip slimmer—and may be looking to shop the company to potential investors.

“The dream has been kind of the most difficult part throughout this year because we all know we are seniors and know what the deal is for next year,” Sassen says. “We want to bring it as far as we can this year. We're not changing our path just because we know we might eventually try to sell it off.

“Ideally by the end of the year we’ll have sold the idea to someone who can maintain it for longer than we can.”

For the four members of the group, the journey they’ve been on the last two years, and what they’ve learned from the Lake Forest High business program, has been as important as what they ultimately accomplished.

Kupperman, who is off to the University of Miami in the fall, says all four had opportunities to take business classes even before the Incubator class they took their Junior year.

“We all had some interest in this, but I think it really has grown over the past few years because we really got to see the ins and outs of running a business and the opportunity that presents to us,” Kupperman says. “We're so lucky to be able to explore all the possibilities of what we want to do when we are older.”

The four have high praise for Lake Forest High’s business program and also for their teacher, Joe Pulio, who mentored them through the business development process. Pulio is also a theater teacher and helped the group hone their presentation skills.

“I think the school does a really great job of introducing us to different aspects and different ways for us to grow, and I think this is a great opportunity for us because we learned many skills, like public speaking and group work,” Kupperman says. “I think it's just a great program and I think a lot of schools should offer this to kids because it's awesome to get to have this experience.”

“Mr. Pulio is really able to teach us the values that we've gotten from this class and the public speaking is definitely one of them, especially with the steps we took to make it a full business,” says Sassen. “We learned so much about marketing, customer segments, and channels. That's all information that is so very valuable that you can't learn anywhere else.”

For more information about EZ Plugs, visit ezplugsconnected.com.