Brooke Dominiak \u201923 pitched her way to a win in the inaugural Southern Conference Entrepreneurship Challenge, becoming the event\u2019s first ever for-profit champion on Saturday, Feb. 26.<\/p>\n
The competition involved teams from all 10 SoCon<\/a> schools in two divisions, for-profit and not-for-profit. Dominiak won the for-profit division with her venture To-Go Bros<\/a>, a meal delivery service for college campuses, that also won the 2021 Paladin Pitch Competition<\/a>. She took home a trophy and a $10,000 check.<\/p>\n Alexandra Valdovinos \u201925, a music education major, pitched her non-profit idea called Monta\u00f1a, a business designed to reduce waste by redesigning sustainable reed packaging for musical instruments. She made it to the semi-finals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like all my hard work and hustle had finally paid off, and I have never been so proud,\u201d said Dominiak, a communication studies major. \u201cMy passion and drive for my business venture was reinforced when they called my name as the SoCon winner, and it was the best feeling ever!\u201d<\/p>\n The Shark Tank-like format was created to \u201cshowcase students with an idea for an innovative business or non-profit organization,\u201d and to illustrate that the conference \u201cis more than just athletic competition,\u201d according to a SoCon press release.<\/p>\n The competition was held at The Citadel’s Tommy and Victoria Baker School of Business. Students from each of the schools pitched their ideas to a panel of judges on Friday, and finalists were selected to pitch again on Saturday.<\/p>\n