After multiple pages of possible ideas for an innovative product using F.H.E. technology, Mendz stood out as an idea to not only help us grow in the inner workings of business, but as a way to help others with medical debt and unimaginable pain from fractures. Nearly five months ago, what began as a flexible brace turned into a functioning theory that could one day make it into the real world. After hours of research that idea found its way to a prototype that could become an anti-itch solution to multiple doctor and consumer concerns in casting.  

Our mentor and teacher, Dena Kotz helped our idea branch out into the idea displayed at the Thinkbig final challenge.  She constantly brought real world business fundamentals to our product and that allowed the Cast to grow in potential.  

We also have our parents and other close relatives to thank including: Sandy Nechvatal and Matt Nechvatal (editor for the competition videos) who encouraged us to continue Mendz and push ourselves to put as much hard work as we did into the final presentation of our product. 

As a team we really only developed Mendz within the school year, but it is possible that we will take this idea beyond our high school years. Each of us has a lifetime ahead of us and if we do decide to take Mendz further we would look into an expansion in the business’ product line and FDA approval for the Cast.

We hope to ease the burden medical debt forces on the millions it does each year while introducing a technology advanced cast. Through the FHE (flexible hybrid electronic) technology within the Cast, we also hope to limit the amount of hospital re-visits by detecting infections around the patients’ injured areas before they fully develop.

The biggest challenges that our team had to face was quite literally everything. This was our first time trying to come up with a business from scratch. None of us had taken any previous business classes beforehand so all of us were stepping into this for the first time. From our time as a team, we faced challenges such as making a financial spreadsheet, writing many informative paragraphs, creating a prototype, and even learning how to present in front of a large audience. We spent a lot of time researching how to make our product better and improving our company as a whole. However, none of this was easy. There were days when we struggled to find an answer or the right materials we needed. 

Thanks to the leader of “Mendz” our team was able to organize everything into “Notion”. This helped massively throughout the process. We were able to find any documents we’ve made through it. Some tips that we believe would help any future entrepreneurs is to make sure to organize everything you have onto a website, documents, etc. and to keep a calm mind even under stressful situations.

We were originally introduced to the forum by our business instructor Ms. Kotz as part of the curriculum and class experience. Before taking the class, none of us knew the real world of business or how to set up a business model, but with a lot of perseverance and guidance we created Mendz.  

The entire experience was surreal and every time our idea advanced to the next round thoughts to polish and add to our idea began to mount on top of each other. Although there was stress to come up with ways the Cast stood out among our peers’ products, we always stood tall as a team and worked together to accomplish what we did. We always made an effort to keep our ideas organized with the aid of “Notion” and as we continued to work together, we adopted designated roles inside of the team that held it together. 

When it was time to walk up to deliver our final presentation, it was a bit overwhelming, but we knew how much work was put into Mendz. Once we made it past the final four, as the innovative track winner, it was an unreal feeling that all of us will hold onto as we continue Mendz’ story.

The biggest shock at first was the beautiful venue as well as how many people there were, it felt intimidating to be in the room with that many people. The panelists were also very interesting, as in being able to learn about some real-life entrepreneurs and their journeys as the founders of their businesses. The biggest takeaway was of course from our presentation where we were very overwhelmed at first, but then remembered how much work was put into the project for the last couple months and pushed through.

Definitely! Throughout the competition process we learned how to build a bridge of familiarity and other necessary ways of thinking that will help us achieve smaller, everyday goals. The same ideas can be applied to us as we are all preparing for college as well as wrapping up the end of the 2022-2023 school year at Olmsted Falls High School.

I think all of us would say to put your heart into it. To anyone thinking about starting their own business or even pursuing the framework of an idea, follow through with it. As long as any one person has the drive to see their vision through, the world will become a field of opportunities. It will be hard at first, but in the end, you could help millions dealing with the same problem, and find a solution.