Ashlee Catona, a second-year student at Penn State Brandywine, was awarded second place. She promoted her company Kodama, which creates anime-themed clothing with a particular focus on marketing to car enthusiasts. She said the idea came from her own interest in anime and the lack of authentic, affordable and quality clothing with an anime theme. She matched that with her interest in cars and car meets when she noticed a lack of anime-themed products at car shows. She also wants to increase the representation of women-owned businesses at car shows, which she said are typically male dominated.
Catona, who started a tie-dye T-shirt business in eighth grade and plans to transition to University Park to complete a degree in finance, said she participated in the Idea TestLab to increase her knowledge of entrepreneurship and see if she is on the right path with her business.
“I gained a lot of knowledge, and I definitely increased my networking skills,” Catona said. “I learned about a lot of resources, too — data and websites that I didn’t know I could have at my fingertips.”
She said her preparation for the pitch competition included multiple practice sessions in front of her friends to refine her presentation.
“To have a chance to win, I just felt like I needed to be very honest with it and put it all out there because I was pitching my idea and my dream to grow this,” Catona said. “I’m very thankful I got to participate. I would definitely encourage people to keep going and chase after their dreams. I don’t want to look back and regret things and I’m sure most people don’t either.”
Catona said she would use her prize money from the competition to pay for supplies, marketing and advertising, and a website.