A 16-year-old junior at Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas won a “Shark Tank”-style pitch competition sponsored by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and hosted by the University of North Texas at Dallas last week.

Mars Ratliff’s winning pitch for her proposed business, Interio Interiors, features an app designed to help young and aspiring interior designers find customers and build their client base.

The pitch competition featured 11 Dallas ISD high school students vying for cash, a trip to New York City, and the opportunity to impress investors during a national contest later this year.

Mars Ratliff of Woodrow Wilson High School (center) took 1st place in the NFTE BizCamp Pitch Competition at UNT Dallas; Jayliyah Fortenberry of W. H. Adamson High School (left) took 3rd place; and Alexa Muzquiz of Bryan Adams High School Leadership Academy (right) took 2nd. [Photo: UNT Dallas]

Ratliff will receive a $300 prize and a free trip to New York City in October, where UNT Dallas said she will compete in a national pitch competition among winners of other NFTE regions. The students will appear before judges and investors who will be invited to provide capital to expand the students’ businesses and possibly take a stake in them.

The group of juniors and seniors at the UNT Dallas pitch attend six Dallas ISD schools: Adamson High School, Wilmer Hutchins High School, Woodrow Wilson High School, H. Grady Spruce High School, Bryan Adams High School, and Seagoville High School.

Learning the art of the pitch and more at STEM BizCamp 

Pitching “Whisker Wonders” at the STEM BizCamp competition. [Photo: UNT Dallas]

The students have been attending a “STEM BizCamp” this summer sponsored by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and held at UNT Dallas.

The STEM BizCamp at UNT Dallas is a four-week experience where students deepen their entrepreneurial mindset while refining their business models, developing their products or services, and mastering marketing and management skills.

UNT Dallas said that of the 14 Dallas ISD high school students chosen to participate in the camp, 11 competed in the pitch event, learning to create a pitch deck and a detailed financial plan with the option to create a minimally viable product.

The Dallas ISD student participants in the STEM BizCamp. [Photo: UNT Dallas]

UNT Dallas said that Alexa Muzquiz, a student at Bryan Adams High School Leadership Academy, and Jayliyah Fortenberry, a student at W. H. Adamson High School, were the second- and third-place finishers, respectively.

Muzquiz’s business, Alexas Flower Bouquets, is already up and running online, selling real roses and imitation roses made of ribbons. She will receive $200. Fortenberry’s proposed business, called Glash, would create and sell special glue for false eyelashes, with natural ingredients and no chemicals. She will receive $100.

Empowering entrepreneurs through education

Pitching at the STEM BizCamp competition. [Photo: UNT Dallas]

UNT Dallas said that all participants in the STEM BizCamp earn certifications and badges, including a Design for Delight certification and Google and Shopify badges that showcase their skills and credentials.

The benefits of attending the camp include guidance from industry business advisors, UNT Dallas said.

NFTE is a global education nonprofit that said it empowers partners to integrate entrepreneurial education across curricula and equips youth in under-resourced communities with the skills, connections, credentials, and real-world experiences needed to lead change and own their futures.

Pitching at the STEM BizCamp competition. [Photo: UNT Dallas]

Since 1987, NFTE has reached more than a million learners worldwide, UNT Dallas said.

The competition’s judges were Connie Hughes and Chelsea Dixon of Prosperity Bank, Meshell Baker of Meshell Baker Enterprises LLC, and Jason Garrett, dean of the UNT Dallas School of Business.

Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.

Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.