Since 2014, Seton Hall University has hosted its annual High School Pirates Pitch Competition, in which teenage entrepreneurs compete for scholarships. This year, Molloy junior Brianna Robinson ‘24 applied, was accepted, and made it all the way to the finals!
For years, Brianna has been interested in starting her own business. Before stepping foot in high school, she participated in Girls With Impact, an entrepreneurship program developed with Harvard leaders made specifically for teenage girls. The summer before her junior year, Brianna attended the Bossgirls summer program offered by CCNY, where she worked with a group of teenage girls to create their own product or service. Wanting to continue learning and expanding her own small business, Brianna sought the guidance of Mr. Touzin, who teaches math, business, and Virtual Enterprise at Molloy.
After hearing about Brianna’s business, called Bri’s Varia-teas, Mr. Touzin recommended she apply to Seton Hall’s Pirates Pitch Contest. Brianna sells flavored sugar cubes to add to tea, sharing, “My business’s purpose is to take basic tea flavors that people have in their homes and elevate them.” Out of the 180 applicants from 15 U.S. states and five foreign countries, Brianna ended up as a top 10 finalist, getting the opportunity to pitch her business idea to Seton Hall business faculty and entrepreneurs!
Brianna shares that through this experience, she “gained a better understanding of what it means to really work on a business,” and that “it all became very real!” By competing, she saw how business-minded she really is, and loved the rush of competition. Brianna ultimately walked out of the competition with a $4000 scholarship to Seton Hall. Congratulations, Brianna!