Fond du Lac teens create a way to wear bug spray fashionably
Fond du Lac teens create a way to wear bug spray fashionably
Two Fond du Lac Teens are hoping to win a $5,000 scholarship by highlighting their company, Repeluxe.
FOND DU LAC, Wis. - Two North Fond du Lac High School students are hoping to win a $5,000 prize. They turned their hatred of mosquitoes into an opportunity that has earned them the title of finalist for Junior Achievement's Young Entrepreneur Competition.
Danielle Gustafason and Kaylee Dobke
Fond du Lac teens create Repeluxe
What we know:
Juniors Danielle Gustafason and Kaylee Dobke of Fond du Lac may appear like most teens. They're goofy, busy with sports and school, and both share the same summer job. But it's that summer job that has launched a new venture, their very own business. It all began when Kaylee was trying to keep bugs away from a chair at her job.
"After a long day, I once sprayed the chair that I was sitting on with mosquito repellent, and my boss was sitting and watching the cameras, and he was like, 'what are you doing, Kaylee?'" said Dobke.
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What confused their employer led to an aha moment. The teens wondered if there was a way to keep the bugs away and look fashionable doing it.
The backstory:
The two are now the proud owners of their own business, Repeluxe.
"We decided to put it in a piece of jewelry that you could wear," said Gustafason.
"So we'll make essential oils, and then we'll put those on a cloth, and then we'll put those inside a locket," explained Dobke.
The two said after testing their product, it works.
Learning business at school
Local perspective:
The business was created in part through a class offered at North Fond du Lac High School.
"It's super cool to see them grow as humans and work through this with confidence and be able to manage through all the problems that pop up as an entrepreneur, but also have the passion and the drive to continue to do it on their own," said teacher Kurt Wismer.
Kurt Wismer
Wismer said he has pretty much just gotten out of the teens' way, and let them feel the ups and down of starting a new business on their own.
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"Yep, that's, we build that into the entrepreneurial mindset. It's actually on our mural over there. It said fail fast, fail often. And I expect them to fail and go through that trial and error process all the time. That's how we learn," added Wismer.
Trial and error:
Not everything has gone perfectly. For example, the girls were hoping their product would smell like lemons. Instead, the repellent they created ended up smelling more like Trix cereal.
"I wouldn't say it was terrible. It just smelled different from what we thought it was going to smell like," said Gustafason.
Their customers loved it, so they kept it that way.
Learning as a team
Dig deeper:
The two enter the competition as the only business with multiple owners. They two have had to learn to create their product while leaning on each other's strengths.
"Kaylee knows a lot about numbers, and I'm not really great with all of that," laughed Gustafason.
The pair add they've created a second company as well that offers candles that they hope to merge with Repeluxe.
It's their creativity and team work they hope allows them to swat away the competition as they've been named a Junior Achievement Young Entrepreneur finalist.
The Source: Information gathered was provided in part, by Junior Achievement.