Freshman wins free tuition and a start to her business
By Hannah Newman
ALTHOUGH the pandemic felt like a step back from reality, freshman marketing major Brianna Bogos used the time to step forward in her career as she begins her first year as a Bronc with a full-tuition scholarship from the Norm Brodsky Business Concept Competition.
Her business entry, Find the Perfect Outfit, LLC, won the annual competition in which students compete to win a scholarship gifted by Norm Brodsky, Rider alum ’64.
“Once you have a passion for something, I feel like you can make it what it is,” said Bogos.
Find The Perfect Outfit, LLC, is a platform that provides looks for a variety of styles by showcasing a plethora of different businesses and the clothing they offer.
Viewers are able to make a wish list and follow their friends to see what styles, retailers and new releases are available.
Bogos collected her ideas to start the platform during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time where small businesses were suffering immensely.
“When I was 15 during COVID-19, I saw a lot of small businesses and fashion designers failing because they couldn’t get their stuff out there,” said Bogos.
After advertising the platform on social media sites like TikTok and gaining around 20,000 followers, Bogos found herself overwhelmed by the opportunity to make her vision come true. Boutiques would send free merchandise in exchange for boosting their consumer rate.
Bogos was determined to turn stress into strategy by taking the successful outcome of a versatile fashion platform to an app that will make the content even easier to access.
“The website physically couldn’t hold enough people and I couldn’t handle it all myself,” said Bogos. “I had the idea to create a social media app … it’s on your phone and it’s more affiliate links, so I get much more money from that, and you can follow your friends, find fashion designers and just basically get styled by the app.”
Bogos found herself unable to find the funds to produce the app and was convinced by her high school economics teacher to submit her idea to the Norm Brodsky Business Concept Competition.
“I didn’t have the funds for it and nobody took me seriously because I was 17, and so that was a huge pushback,” said Bogos.
Not only did Bogos win the contest, but the achievement allowed her to put her college savings into taking her business to the next level.
“It’s actually been really hard for funding to be the main issue. But since I won the competition, I don’t have to pay for school anymore,” said Bogos.
The app is currently in the process of being launched.
Sophomore accounting major and former winner of the Norm Brodsky Business Concept Competition Caitlin Hopkinson was inspired by Bogos’ determination to bring her vision to life.
“I love her business idea and think it’s very useful,” said Hopkinson. “It’s so inspiring that she is already running this business. I’m so excited for her to join everyone at Rider.”
Although Brodsky does not take part in evaluating the winning entry, he is amazed by the current generation’s ability to use technology to their advantage within the business world.
“Like every six months there is a whole turnover with platforms and technology and so I think that the younger people have a better opportunity. They’re not stuck in the old way of doing things,” said Brodsky. “Sometimes when you reach your 30s through your 80s, it’s really hard to change your way of doing things. You have to have an open mind to do that. And so I am not surprised that the young people today sometimes have better ways of doing things, and they’re always thinking about it.”
