Schulze Innovation Scholars Cohort 5 Bios

Schulze Innovation Scholarship Awardees Spring 2022 Reese Anderson My name is Reese Anderson and I am from Farmington, MN. I have always valued listening to others, taking the time to figure out what pains them and how I can help. I had my first experience with entrepreneurship my junior year of high school. I participated in a Shark Tank challenge where I researched an idea and created a business plan. I decided to focus on ways to improve a person's hydration level and overcome mental blocks related to physical health. I created Water360, an innovative water bottle that assists users in meeting their daily water intake goals. Water360 helps individuals stay hydrated by providing them with useful features such as app reminders, automated water intake calculations and other educational information. By developing Water360, I was able to combine my creative problem-solving skills with my passion for health. I am excited to further explore and expand my passions with the support and opportunities provided by the Schulze Innovation Scholarship. I am very thankful to be a part of this amazing program and call St. Thomas home in the fall.

Maddie Bent My name is Maddie Bent and I am from Westchester, IL. I began thinking about starting a business my junior year of high school during the pandemic. At the time, I was interested in starting a jewelry business, making and designing necklaces. I designed multiple custom necklaces started learning how to build a business. Finding supplies for my business was difficult due to the pandemic and problems in the supply chain, so I decided to pursue other opportunities. After considering my options, I decided to start a podcast. My podcast will focus on mental health, specifically self-confidence. I am excited to be able to grow my podcast and start a business. I cannot wait to be part of the Schulze Innovation Scholars and take full advantage of the many opportunities the program provides to young entrepreneurs.

Schulze Innovation Scholarship Awardees Spring 2022 Caden Fritz My name is Caden Fritz. I live in Edina, MN and attend Edina High School where I play varsity hockey and lacrosse. I have been an entrepreneur for as long as I can remember. It all began when I opened two lemonade stands and hired my friends to operate them in the summer. From the lemonade stands, I moved on and started a vending machine business placing machines around the metro. Eventually I sold my vending machine business and started working with the officiating side of general sports. After three years of selling officiating gear, I closed the business due to lack of inventory from suppliers during the pandemic. In June of 2020 I started my most successful company, Fritz Construction, LLC. My construction company provides a wide variety of services to the metro area including decks, interior renovations, exterior storm restoration, concrete, excavation, and land clearing. My company, at peak operation, employs 42 individuals to keep up with the increasing demand for work. I am excited to attend St. Thomas and be part of the class of 2026.

Sam Gausmann My name is Sam Gausmann and I am from Hopkins, MN. My entrepreneurial spirit was sparked by frequent trips to thrift stores with my dad when I was in elementary school. I learned to identify treasures that I could flip for a profit. My initial interests started with toys and sporting goods, and in middle school, I turned to clothing. I learned today's fashion industry is incredibly wasteful. My entrepreneurial passion coupled with my love for the environment and outdoors naturally led me to start my own sustainable vintage clothing business. I offer a wide variety of fashionable secondhand items. My business grew, and I took what I learned and joined a couple of college grads to learn the process of scaling a business to get where I am today. I am blessed to be able to call myself a Schulze Scholar and cannot wait to join the brightest entrepreneurs at St. Thomas.

Schulze Innovation Scholarship Awardees Spring 2022 Suzy Haakonson My name is Suzy Haakonson and I am from Minnetonka, MN. I have always been incredibly outgoing with a passion for helping people. My engineering teacher approached me with a business idea to help schools around the Twin Cities expand their education into STEAM activities. Over the past year, I have created an immersive class, KidsCreate, where students in grades 6-8 can explore engineering at their own pace. I go into schools and teach students how to 3D model. After they complete their assignments, I 3D print all the students' creations. So far I have taught over 90 people how to 3D model online and printed over 300 models for students. The idea behind KidsCreate is to assist teachers and give students a way to explore their own creativity without adding more to the teachers' plates. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity and cannot wait to see what lies ahead for both me and KidsCreate at St. Thomas. Thank you so much. I am very excited about this opportunity!

Blair Horan

My name is Blair Horan and I am from El Dorado Hills, CA. In sixth grade I started a business, The Yard Boys, which offered general labor and field mowing services in my neighborhood of five-acre parcels. My passion for working outside came from growing up on a large property and tending to it alongside my dad. During my freshman year of high school, I began to significantly expand my business and rebranded the company as The Hills Lot Clearing, LLC. The services my business offers extend from specialized fire prevention, designed to protect residential and commercial properties and maintain escape routes, to tree removal and landscape installation. The Hills Lot Clearing now services over 150 clients and is featured as a recommended contractor by my county’s fire department.

Developing my business and contributing to the safety of my community has been extremely rewarding and has offered many valuable learning experiences. I am beyond excited to continue my education at the University of St. Thomas in the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship and am grateful for this incredible opportunity.

Schulze Innovation Scholarship Awardees Spring 2022 Fletcher Johnson My name is Fletcher Johnson, I am from Duluth, MN. The entrepreneurial achievement I am most proud of is my work with the elderly. I started a business combining my personal values and insights to develop solutions to help people, managing tasks, running errands, and doing handiwork.

During one of my first jobs, I noticed that some of the people at the elder residence where I worked had trouble going up and down the stairs at the front entrance. After identifying this issue, I was determined to solve it. I wanted the residents to feel as if their age wasn’t a limiting factor in life and instill a feeling of being able to complete tasks on their own. After consulting with a general contractor and working closely with the complex, I concluded that a ramp would be the best solution and this goal became a reality. Being a Tommie will be an exciting experience, however, to also be part of this entrepreneurial opportunity is something that I am very grateful for. I hope to learn many new things that will help me in my future business, a business of helping others.

Maddy Kmiecik My name is Maddy Kmiecik and I am from Omaha, NE. I began my small business at the beginning of high school, making centerpieces for family events. After many people asked if they could purchase them, I decided to turn it into a business. I started by making an Instagram for my new business, Centerpeaces. This allowed me to promote custom centerpieces and gain new customers. About a year later I decided to take the next step and create a website to sell individual items. Some of my biggest accomplishments since starting my business are decorating a restaurant for Christmas, creating centerpieces for a wedding and a nonprofit fundraiser event. I currently deliver bouquets to a local restaurant weekly, make boutonnières/corsages for high school dances, and take custom orders. Since starting my business I have enjoyed learning about the various aspects of entrepreneurship. I am excited to be surrounded and influenced by the ideas of other young entrepreneurs over the next four years. I am so grateful to be chosen as a Schulze Innovation Scholar and I cannot wait for all of the opportunities ahead.

Schulze Innovation Scholarship Awardees Spring 2022 Zack Navone My name is Zack Navone and I am from San Anselmo, CA. Business has always been an interest of mine, but my knack for entrepreneurship started during my sophomore year of high school when my school launched the Principled Entrepreneurship Institute. When I heard that I was accepted into the inaugural two-year program, I felt like I found my vocation. In the first semester of my junior year, we studied discernment to take a deep dive into ourselves to find our Godgiven gifts, talents, and abilities. What an incredible process!

We then looked for a problem in the world that we were passionate about and reverse engineered it until we found a solution. I loved the idea of making entrepreneurship simple and feasible, and ultimately this simplicity gave me confidence in my business idea and myself. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity given to me by the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation to enhance my education and build my business into something bigger than I could have ever imagined.

Olivia Tadych My name is Olivia Tadych and I am from St. Cloud, MN. My interest in entrepreneurship began in third grade when I started my first business, Liv 2 Kraft. I made rubber band bracelets and duct tape purses and sold them to family and friends. Although this business only lasted for a short time, it sparked my passion for entrepreneurship. Several years later in June of 2020, I started another business with more of a purpose. When the pandemic hit, a local autism center was struggling to keep up with cleaning protocols to keep the children and staff safe. I saw the need and created a business that was able to go into the center after the children had left for the day and thoroughly clean. As the autism centers expanded across the state, so has the cleaning company. We now serve nine centers across Minnesota. Through this endeavor I have learned so much about what it means to run a business. These experiences have made me so excited to be able to study entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas. I am thankful for this opportunity to be a Schulze Innovation Scholar!