I'd like you to meet the 2021 Wichita Inno Under 25.
These young entrepreneurs have hit their stride early in life. And that's what the Inno Under 25 Is all about. We're pleased to be able to highlight the exceptional work of these men and women and help you get to know them better.
Their areas of expertise are wide-ranging and their businesses reflect their passions. They are certainly an important part of the Wichita innovation ecosystem.
Here are a few to start with. Watch for more to be added in the coming days.
Congratulations to our Wichita Inno Under 25!
SPENCER STEINERT
Age: 23
Name of company: Homeplace Ventures & Wonder
Title: Chief Vibe Officer / Chief Excitement Officer
Service or product your company provides: Homeplace Ventures acquires high potential small businesses and injects innovation and design in order to accelerate their growth. As a school, Wonder is a belief that every child that walks through our doors has the ability to find a calling and change the world. Wonder seeks to help bring up a generation of doers – leaders, creators, innovators, inventors and discoverers.
Your age when you started the company: Homeplace 22, Wonder 20
What is the biggest challenge you've faced in starting your company? Being as diligent on the little things as you are with vision. Big ideas are worthless without effective execution.
Who provided the most help to your effort to start a business? Zach Lahn is the partner that allowed Jared and me to be a part of the Homeplace Ventures team. Zach Lahn was and continues to be an incredible mentor through my journey with Wonder.
What's the biggest lesson you have learned creating a business? Take as much ownership as possible, acknowledge the high likelihood of failure and missteps, but work tirelessly to increase your success potential.
What are your career goals? Build something meaningful, develop deep bonds, and go to space.
What would you tell other young people who want to start their own business? Take on as much responsibility as possible, pursue meaning not happiness, Memento Mori & Amor Fati.
JOCELYN GALICIA POWELL
Age: 24
Name of company: 2U Auto
Title: CEO
Service or product your company provides: 2U Auto is a mobile detailing service. We partner with large employers to provide auto detail services to their employees and fleets. We also offer concierge auto cleaning subscriptions for busy individuals and one-time services. Unlike our competitors, we come to you, we are thorough, we get the bugs off, and we care!
Your age when you started the company: 19
What is the biggest challenge you've faced in starting your company? The biggest challenge was learning the right way to balance working on my business versus working inside my business.
Who provided the most help to your effort to start a business? Mark Torline and Nancy Kersenbrock at the Center for Entrepreneurship became very close mentors to me. I also have to thank my investor, who took a chance on me when all I had was a vision and a few sales.
What's the biggest lesson you have learned creating a business? The greatest lesson I have learned is that many limitations are self-imposed. I am actively working on learning to overcome those mental limitations.
What are your career goals? I am passionate about making life efficient. People have more time to spend on the things they love if they have groceries delivered, house/car cleaned automatically and on a schedule, etc. My goal is to become a company that leverages the latest technology to provide services that make people's lives easier. So they can focus on what they love.
What would you tell other young people who want to start their own business? The best time to start is now. Don't be afraid to fail. Go for it! You've got this!
CODY HANNA
Age: 22
Name of company: Victory Pyrotechnics & Special Effects, LLC
Title: Founder & Director of Business Development
Service or product your company provides: A variety of pyrotechnic and special effect services across Kansas and Missouri. Pictured below is one of our multimedia pyromusicals displays from 2020. These displays feature a custom audio track that tells a story coupled with synchronized pyrotechnics and lighting effects.
Your age when you started the company: 17, I had been doing backyard “firework shows” from the early age of 13 after a trip to Disney World that inspired my younger self.
What is the biggest challenge you've faced in starting your company? My age was a very challenging factor early on and could have quickly turned into my excuse for never taking Victory to the next level. When we first started, I was going into City Council and Committee rooms to pitch our services. Most of the time, the average age was sometimes double if not triple my own. A lot of times early on, the clients would go with our competitors because of “our age” and “experience level” which was really frustrating. Instead of this hindering our forward momentum, I leveraged my age and built relationships with clients, creating a recognizable brand with a voice that people trust.
Who provided the most help to your effort to start a business? I had a few great mentors early in my high school career. In particular, Cheryl Meyer, my high school Youth Entrepreneurship instructor inspired and equipped me to be successful. Youth Entrepreneurs (now EmpowerED), an initiative by Liz Koch, inspired me to take my passion for fireworks and live events and capitalize on it. While it was scary, it was by far the best decision I have ever made.
What's the biggest lesson you have learned creating a business? Perfect is an illusion. Sometimes you won’t be completely ready in your own eyes but you just have to take that first step, that first risk, and do it! I constantly got stuck in this rut while building out the business early on and once I realized this fact, my entire perspective changed. Of course, I still get stuck in it sometimes, but I am able to clearly call it out now and keep pushing us forward. If you wait and keep “perfecting” something, you will wait the rest of your life. Take action now, don’t wait. Speed bumps will come your way but address them as they do and keep moving forward.
What are your career goals? I am currently finishing my Bachelor of Business Administration with an emphasis on Operations and Supply Chain Management from Kansas State University. Upon graduation in May of 2022, I plan to take Victory on full-time.
What would you tell other young people who want to start their own business? Like above, don’t wait around, don’t wait around for someone else to start the business you have always dreamed of. If it’s something you feel passionate about, take that first step. It won’t be easy but the outcome will be more rewarding than you could ever imagine. The resources at your disposal are endless. Furthermore, entrepreneurship can sometimes be a lonely place, surround yourself with like-minded individuals and create a culture of continuous improvement. Having friends and mentors that push me to be better every day is a large part of why Victory has seen the growth it has.
JARED GOERING
Age: 23
Name of company: Homeplace Ventures
Title: Chief Operating Officer
Service or product your company provides: We acquire high-potential small businesses and add innovation and design to them to accelerate their growth.
Your age when you started the company: 22
What is the biggest challenge you've faced in starting your company? Handling the strain that scaling puts on a company and learning what infrastructure is needed in place to do this without everything collapsing.
Who provided the most help to your effort to start a business? Zach Lahn, the partner on Homeplace Apparel and mentor.
What's the biggest lesson you have learned creating a business? How fast a team can move and iterate seems to be one of the major indicators of success over time. Therefore, focus and making a move, even when there are no good moves, needs to be the default.
What are your career goals? To continue to help build great teams and great companies.
What would you tell other young people who want to start their own business? Learn to act quickly, decisively, and boldly.
DEVON CREASMAN
Age: 20
Name of company: ICT Box
Title: Owner/Founder
Service or product your company provides: ICT Box collaborates with and highlights small, local businesses to craft gift boxes for any occasion, delivered straight to any doorstep, anywhere.
Your age when you started the company: 19
What is the biggest challenge you've faced in starting your company? The mission with ICT Box was to find a new and boundless way to support small businesses during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Many shops were losing their brick-and-mortar presence and were struggling to balance their product with a new workload of digital marketing and reaching customers online, which is where ICT Box could help out. Our platform was created to bring awareness to these brands on social media, as well as bring these makers’ goods directly to consumers’ doorsteps across the country. The biggest challenge during the beginning was gaining the following and reputation we needed to not only get online orders but also be able to work with many of the businesses we collaborate with for each box.
Who provided the most help to your effort to start a business? My parents. They have been so generous with their home and allowing me to operate out of the basement. As ICT Box has scaled, they not only offer their time to help fulfill and hand-deliver orders but their praise and motivation that gave me the confidence to start with this business in the first place.
What's the biggest lesson you have learned creating a business? The biggest lesson by far I’ve learned during the ICT Box journey is that asking questions is the bridge to many opportunities. The confidence and steadfast belief in your mission, even alone, will be evident as you try different routes to achieve your business goal. We have so much to learn from each other, and that in itself should be the facilitation for a supportive and collaborative social and business environment. Never be afraid to ask questions!
What are your career goals? This is something I’m still clarifying for myself, but who isn’t? I have a passion and draw to innovative perspectives, so I find myself intrigued by start-ups and new concepts. I am in school for Marketing and Graphic Design, which has led me on a new career path as a Special Projects Lead and Social Media Manager for a new restaurant in town that highlights and focuses on ingredients from local farms; there’s definitely a pattern for me of working closely with people from different walks of life as they fill their days doing what they’re passionate about whether that be candle-making or harvesting garlic. I can’t see myself in a career that doesn’t follow this pattern in one way or another.
What would you tell other young people who want to start their own business? It is such an amazing thing to have a business idea that you are passionate enough about to be able to visualize it in the first place: that should be your first sign that you are on the right track. Keep that passion and light shining as you learn, you have full control over how you overcome and learn from challenges and missteps. Practice getting out of your comfort zone and making connections in your community, these are invaluable resources. Lastly, take time to care for yourself: clarity and mental organization will be the make or break for productivity in your business.
Look for more Inno Under 25 profiles at WichitaInno.com.
