Great Ideas competition

TAKING LEAPS OF FAITH

The 2021 Empower Your Dreams competition shows the commitment BYUH students have to making a difference in the world

BY XYRON LEVI CORPUS & ABBIE PUTNAM

From getting plastic out of the ocean, to opening a barber shop in the community, to selling affordable goat milk products in the Philippines to fight poverty, BYU–Hawaii students show they are committed to serving others around the world. Ali Barney, one of the second-place winners in the Math & Sciences category of the Empower Your Dreams competition, is part of the team Poly Plastic Fuel, a business started to clear the oceans of plastic. She said, “We envision taking our project to Kiribati, not so we can earn money and get rich, but so we can help solve [this] problem. We want to help make their lives better.” She said they eventually want to share their technology with the world. According to Spencer Taggart, an entrepreneurship professor in the Faculty of Business & Government, said starting a business is one of the biggest leaps of faith. “It requires faith to take action. The greatest action comes because of faith – faith to move forward, to take a step, to turn the key, to open the door, to make that payment, to design that product, to open that website, to enter a competition.”

Taggart said the 2021 Empower Your Dreams competition differs in two ways from past competitions. First, he said this is the first year the competition was held completely online. Although he was worried not as many students would participate because of this, he said the 157 teams who competed this year made it the largest group of participants the competition has ever seen.

There were four categories: Young Entrepreneurship, Arts & Humanities, Professional Studies and Math & Sciences. Jason Scott Earl, an entrepreneurship professor at BYUH, said the advantage of this was it put the students on equal footing and leveled the playing field. He said it is not uncommon for the best entrepreneurs to be students who are not business majors “because they usually have passion and knowledge for their course studies. So, we’re trying to take that and combine it with a business model that works. Bring your passion and discipline and turn it into something that could actually scale, feed your family and create jobs.” This is also a great opportunity for students to learn about business ideas from those in the same major as them, he added.

Taggart said, “Regardless of what major, these competitions are for you. We hope people from different departments, teams and [with different] ideas get to win, which they will.” He said they want students to “be inspired and motivated to go start businesses.” He wants this inspiration to come to students because he said he believes running your own business is “a wonderful way of life” because “opportunities are endless.” It doesn’t matter if a student is a mathematician or an English teacher, a personal trainer or an artist, he said if a student has a skillset and a passion, they can make a successful business out of it.

On April 1, 2021, the final round of the Empower Your Dreams competition was held via Zoom. Taggart said the original 157 participants were whittled down to 12 finalists. On behalf of the Willes Center for International Entrepreneurship, he congratulated the 12 teams. “No matter what, every one of these finalists are going to walk away with a minimum of $1,000,” he said.

He commended the participants for their impressive work. “I’m so proud, and I know Heavenly Father is too. He is grateful for your work and your courage and your faith.” Princess Stephanie Donato Astle, one of the four judges of the competition, said, “This competition is just a small portion of the bigger picture.” She said the real winners are the ones that continue to develop their business and urged all competition participants to continue following their passion and learning from their mentors.

The first-place winner in each category was awarded $5,000, second place $3,000 and third place $1,000. During the Zoom event, Taggart said he hopes the students use the cash award to change their life by investing in their future.

Arts & Humanities Category

Astle announced the winners for the Arts & Humanities Category during the Zoom event.

1st place: HI Fade Barber by Ka’imi Horito

Horito first moved to the North Shore during high school. He said he soon noticed the lack of local barber shops and said people were driving all the way to Kaneohe or Haleiwa just to get a haircut. He said he dreamed of opening up his own barber shop. Upon saving enough money, he said he eventually opened up a two-man barbershop run in a tiny shack in Hauula. Eight months later, in April 2020, he said he got a lease in the Laie shopping center. “Unfortunately, when COVID hit that really impacted us, [and] that was definitely an obstacle to overcome for me,” he said. Running his shop as a full-time student has been a challenge, he admitted, but what helps him is knowing his business serves others. “As much as the community supports us, I feel like we are supporting the community one individual at a time, and that’s something really special.”

2nd place: Wood Crafts by Tania Delinila & Karizza Llanera

“We are a team of aspiring entrepreneurs, committed to use our creativity to make personalized gift items. Our sole purpose of teaming up was to put to good use our set of skills,” Delinila said. Towards the end of November 2020, she said they started their small business selling Christmas wood slice ornaments. “After hitting our breakeven point at six weeks with a profit margin of 80 percent, we knew selling laser engraved materials has a lot of potential. We wanted to capitalize on that.” She described their business as “timeless.” Llanera said they are currently expanding their business by selling wedding invitations and favors, using an e-commerce Shopify store and collaborating with other businesses.

3rd place: Sempi Co by Ally Pack, Cameron Cameron & Tanner Fernandez

“Here at Sempi Co, we truly believe happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of Jesus Christ. But for many of our Spanish speaking families, it’s nearly impossible to find Spanish [Church-themed] home decor that is modern in design,” Pack said. “So, that’s where I came in,” Pack continued. “I knew I had the passion and the skills to make their dreams reality. … I’m the lead marketer and designer here at Sempi Co. I oversee all our paid advertising campaigns on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook.” Fernandez, chief officer of operations at Sempi Co, said, “I have five years of experience working interior design for a local studio here in Orem, Utah, where I’m located. For the last year, I’ve managed all the e-commerce sales and production for that studio.” He also can speak Spanish because he served a mission in Spain. These tools have helped him assist his teammates in expanding Sempi Co, he said. Cameron, CFO of Sempi Co, said, “I’m currently majoring in finance and I’ve articulated financial plans for multiple small businesses. This has really allowed me to maximize our profit margins by reducing costs effectively.”

Professional Studies Category

Judge Nancy Hill announced the winners for the Professional Studies Category during the Zoom event.

1st place: Home Help by Eli Clark

Clark said it is a struggle for homeowners in the Philippines to hire skilled plumbers and construction workers. Many of them are overpriced, don’t finish the work in a timely manner or are not readily accessible, he said. Home Help is a website for Filipino companies and builders to find reputable builders. Clark said taking advantage of the online market helped him the most. When the pandemic happened, the Philippines adapted by moving businesses online, he explained. “Almost overnight, internet-based industries [grew] tremendously because of their increased demand.” Quoting the International Trade Association, he said, “The need for social distancing has pushed the caste-centric and face-to-face shopping culture towards a more digital one, and this is expected to continue.” Because of this, he said his online listing service has high potential for success.

2nd place: The Space Saving Water System by Franz Kuutti

Kuutti said growing up in Florida taught him the importance of being prepared for natural disasters, such as hurricanes. “The National Hurricane Center says whenever hurricanes come, every family of four needs at least 20 gallons of water storage. But stores run out fast,” he said. People who live in Florida try to combat the water shortage by storing jugs in their garage. “The problem is it takes up a lot of space,” he explained. His product is a five-gallon jug which has a removable top section. “It’s made in different sizes … so they can all be stacked, screwed together and fit inside of each other.”

3rd place: Prosperity Pastures by Jordan Richards

Prosperity Pastures aims to produce and sell affordable goat milk and goat milk products in the Philippines, Richards explained. He served a mission in the Philippines, came to love the people there and said the main issue in the country is poverty. In order to fight poverty, he said Prosperity Pastures “hopes to provide job opportunities in the community … and help promote better nutrition for the [Filipino] children.”

Math & Sciences Category Lindsay Hadley, one of the four judges of the competition, announced the winners for the Math & Sciences Category during the online event.

1st place: North Shore Adventure Van by Hazel Johnston and Bailey Bird

Bird said Oahu received around 10.5 million guests during 2019. However, Johnston explained only 1.5 million visitors made it to the island last year. “Because of the Coronavirus, people were scared of airports, hotels and using rideshares and rental cars,” Bird elaborated. Johnston said to provide a solution to this problem, they converted a van into a hotel and rental car in one, allowing Oahu’s visitors to not only come and go as they please, but also to reduce their expenses by half.

2nd place: Poly Plastic Fuel by Sterling Kerr and Ali Barney

According to the United Nations, 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year, said Project Manager Sterling Kerr. Barney, whose position is public relations, said this problem seems obvious even on Laie beaches, where recycling efforts are made. She urged people to consider how serious the problem is in other countries where recycling is difficult. Kerr said they felt they had found a solution for the plastic problem using a process called “pyrolysis.” Leslie Harper, manager of the BYUH Sustainability Center, said, “Pyrolysis is the process of taking plastic or any material and heating it in a container that has no oxygen.” Through this process, he explained the plastic resumes its original form because certain components are removed. Kerr said they are focusing particularly on removing diesel fuel so the plastic can be used again.

3rd place: Nasty Pizza by Sarah and Emilio Valenciano

Emilio Valenciano highlighted the problem of technology stealing away time with loved ones. “Statistics say an average American family spends only about 37 minutes of quality time together per day. In comparison, we spent over 180 minutes on our phones scrolling through social media.” He said one way to spend more time with loved ones is by playing a game together. “The Nasty Pizza is a card game full of [pizza cards]. The main objective is to avoid getting a nasty pizza card. Each nasty pizza card corresponds to a punishment everyone agrees on at the beginning of the game.” These punishments could range from doing 10 pushups to smelling every player’s feet, he elaborated.