For some, Discovery Channel's Shark Week is simply a way to pass dozens of hours of time during a slow week in the summer. But for six-year-old Miles Fetherston-Resch, it was the catalyst for creating his own business.
Now seven, Fetherston-Resch oversees Kids Saving Oceans, which sells stickers, hats and t-shirts made out of recycled ocean plastics, cotton scraps and recycled vinyl. A portion of the proceeds are donated to a variety of ocean conservation organizations, such as Mote Marine Laboratory, Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Shark Allies and Mission Blue. So far, Kids Saving Oceans has donated $6,000.
"Over the last 50 years we — well, really you, I wasn't alive yet — got us into this mess and now I want my generation to fix it," he said to a chuckling crowd. "But there's not a lot of time for me and your children and children's children. The time is now."
Fetherston-Resch joined four other organizations Thursday night for the city of St. Petersburg's first ever pitch night, which was held at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Kate Tiedemann College of Business.
"I came in 2014 and asked, 'What can the city do to elevate [startups] to the city and country, as a place where entrepreneurs are thriving?'" Mayor Rick Kriseman said. "It's telling our story, fostering our environment, investing in workforce development and creating events to learn and celebrate together and here we are."
In addition to Kids Saving Oceans, the startups who competed for the $5,000 prize include:
- Urban Yoga Foundation, which aims to bring yoga classes to every elementary and middle school class
- GIVVN, which helps nonprofits increase donations using artificial intelligence
- Lunchpool, an interface that helps coworkers schedule lunches more efficiently than Slack or email
- Kids Saving Oceans, started by 7-year-old Miles Fetherston-Resch. The company sells stickers, hats and T-shirts created out of recycled materials, with 30 percent of the proceeds going toward ocean conservation efforts.
- GuestWings, which supplies Airstreams to hosts who want to have guests stay near them, but not in their actual home
A panel of judges voted for Fetherston-Resch as the winner, who said he would use the funds to expand more product offerings. The audience also had the ability to vote by texting from their cell phones for a $500 audience choice award, with Urban Yoga Foundation taking home that prize.
"We're celebrating the spirit of the entrepreneur," Steinocher said. "We believe building the success of the community is building it together. Pitch night is a manifestation of what we've been doing, but now there's real money. We can scale it — it's good to sell one thing but let's sell 1,000."
Officials said they hope to make it a quarterly event and that this is one step toward putting St. Petersburg's entrepreneur scene on the map.
"What we don't get to talk about and brag about is the city and the chamber having the same goals, working together so they're not just surviving, they're thriving," Kriseman said. "That's why things are happening in St. Pete unlike anywhere else."
