DePauw Stories

On March 8, the Growing Green and Gold Together Spring Pitch Competition brought together dozens of DePauw students to share their small business ideas and envision the future of downtown Greencastle’s ongoing revitalization. After hearing 21 innovative proposals, a panel of local judges awarded the first place prize to a group of first-year students whose pitch featured a unique recreational space offering sweet treats and fun for all ages.

For Feroza Murad ’28, Eli Ellis ’28 and Kailey Cao ’28, the idea for Oasis Mini Golf emerged from a collaborative process of assessing community resources – what it already has, what it currently lacks and what new addition could provide value and achieve financial sustainability.

“You have to play into people's wants and needs,” says Ellis. “When coming up with a business, we had to look at what Greencastle residents want as a community, rather than what we want.” Ultimately, the group settled on a business model that could attract community members and DePauw students alike, providing a space for corporate events, group outings and a form of entertainment that would otherwise require a long drive for local residents.

This process allowed each member of the team to bring their own unique strengths and find how they each fit together. “I learned a lot during this competition,” says Murad. “I didn't know you could look at it from all these perspectives. Eli did a lot of the key metrics. Kailey covered a lot of the marketing. I feel like that's what really made it work. We all had different areas of expertise, and it just came together.”

For Cao, the process actually helped clarify her future career path. “I didn't know that I was interested in marketing or design. I just realized it recently after the pitch competition. With my background in economics, business analytics and communication, I now see how I can combine them all and pursue a pathway in marketing or something similar.”

Murad had a similar realization. “This competition helped me realize it would be nice to work in a corporate setting where there's a bunch of people who are focused on being productive and being creative. It helped me expand my horizons a little bit, think about the possibility of failure and success and do my own research. I think it did push me a little bit toward a future in business.”

Even though this winning trio may not have the immediate bandwidth as full-time college students to implement their vision for a local small business, they still hope their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit will leave a transformational impact on the community during their time here, whether or not Oasis Mini Golf becomes a reality.

“Something that I want to focus on going into the next three years is bringing something to life that would actually work here,” says Ellis. “I want to pursue something as a group or as individuals that we can sustain.”

One thing is for certain. These three visionaries aren’t done working and dreaming together. They’re excited to find more competitions where they can stretch their abilities and leverage their teamwork for further success. 

“It was great working with Kailey and Eli,” says Murad. “They’re such flexible people. I feel like that’s what makes a good pitch, good idea, good anything. It's about considering what the other person is thinking, what I'm thinking and how we can meet in between. There wasn't ever a time where we faced a standoff.”

Cao agrees. “We really enjoyed doing it. Everyone respected the others’ opinions and found a meeting point for each other’s perspectives.”

To learn more about Growing Green and Gold Together, visit the project website. And for more news about how this initiative is shaping the future of entrepreneurship within the community, see this recent news story.