A Decade of UBalt's 'Rise to the Challenge' Business Competition: Entrepreneurs Look Back
April 15, 2022
Contact: Office of Advancement and External Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
This year marks the 10th anniversary of The University of Baltimore’s "Rise to the Challenge" Pitch Competition, an event coordinated and hosted by UBalt's acclaimed Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation as an opportunity for members of the greater UBalt community to pitch ideas and concepts for new and existing businesses before a live audience of their peers, supporters and entrepreneurial experts from the metro area.
The 2022 "Rise to the Challenge" finalists have been announced, and excitement is growing for the live competition, which will take place on Thursday, April 21 and held in person for the first time in almost three years.
"Ten years for a business pitch competition means that we've built a strong foundation for entrepreneurship—both at the University and in the region's ecosystem for start-ups and small business," says Murray Dalziel, dean of the Merrick School of Business. "Every year, 'Rise to the Challenge' gets better, with more enthusiasm, stronger networks, and fantastic stories of grit and determination. This competition has added a lot to our success in the Merrick School of Business, and we are prouder than ever to present it in 2022."
In celebration of this decade of entrepreneurial success, we asked several past "Rise" participants to share insights into what the experience of the competition meant to them—that night, and in the days and years since. Here are a few of their responses:
Nikia Madison, B.S. '22 (anticipated), a finalist in the 2021 competition as founder of Safe Pl8te Grocery, which helps people living with food allergies purchase allergy-friendly products, says the live event itself was important to her.
"Participating in 'Rise' helped give me more of the confidence needed to speak in front of people," Madison says. "I was so proud of myself after the pitch, I didn't think that I would be able to do it."
Madison says the judges' feedback following her pitch was meaningful to her. She also offered a bit of advice to upcoming finalists:
"Practice your pitch as much as you can and know your business so that you are prepared for questions," she says.
Robert Myers, M.B.A. '23 (anticipated), who earned the top "Rise" award in 2021 the category of "Aspiring Business Ventures" for his Switchboard Pedal Management System tool for musicians' pedalboard set-ups, says the competition added to his confidence.
"Putting ideas out isn't easy. What you think is good doesn't mean the world thinks it's a good idea,” he says. "Validity to a very personal pursuit is welcoming."
Myers, who says he is using his winnings to patent his invention, adds:
"Don't worry about being different from the pack. Entrepreneurship is about solving problems that haven't had a solution [before]. The unknown is difficult because people won't automatically agree with you. Stick with your guns and keep finding ways to describe the unknown."
Nikolay Ratajczak, B.S. '19, a 2014 competition winner for Charm City Model, a residential real estate development business devoted to the responsible rehabilitation and leasing of vacant properties, says "Rise" takes the participants out of the realm of concepts and ideas and places them into the real world.
"The business pitch competition is a good platform from which to organize your business thoughts, to create a focused concept/presentation, and to get feedback on and resources for an entrepreneurial enterprise," Ratajczak says. "'Rise to the Challenge' is a great place to start that journey."
Stacy Stube, B.S. '08, M.S. '15, whose years of crisscrossing the globe in pursuit of her dream of innovative fashion made by skilled, appropriately compensated workers has brought her back to Baltimore as creator of the SEW BROMO garment industry trade school, says "Rise" speaks to the entrepreneur's need for connection.
"'Rise' gives you the stage," she says. "From there, a community forms, which leads to your platform for things like innovation and social change. You can find that space for your passion, and eventually you're meeting commerce, or that place where exchange can happen."
Stube, a finalist in the 2015 edition of the competition, says she has learned that a volatile business like fashion is difficult to predict. Still, talking about your ideas about any business, slow- or fast-paced, generates credibility. From there, she says, tomorrow's entrepreneurial success stories learn about pacing, patience—and how to ignite passion in others.
"Don't be so quick to sell when you're talking about your ideas," she says. "Just share. People will start following you. When it's time to make your pitch, they're already there because they were with you on your journey."
According to Nicholas Whited, B.S. '19, who netted $1,000 in 2018 for his business idea, RaxCity, which provided unique marketing opportunities for urban businesses through custom bike racks, winning the money was "a nice payday," but it meant far more than that.
"Winning was a great source of validation," says Whited, who now serves as client success lead at Whitebox Technologies, Inc., in Baltimore. "I worked hard and to be appreciated in that way was truly rewarding. This experience [also inspired new skills] that I use in my presentations for work."
Rebecca Thompson, B.S. '22 (anticipated), who captured both the Pitch Creator "Hustle Award" and Best Existing Business Award in the 2021 competition, says the best thing she learned as a competitor is that being an entrepreneur is a state of mind—the knowledge, networking and preparation all add up to a belief that you can and will be successful in your venture.
"I looked at 'Rise' as an investment," Thompson says. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You have it on your resume, you can show it and use it for networking. And the networking is phenomenal."
Having moved on from her winning venture to start a consulting company called D&R Solutions, Thompson says the best thing any "Rise to the Challenge" competitor can do is fully commit to the process.
"Go all in," she says.