A business idea cooked up in her kitchen at home had landed high school student Isa Chapman the title of Wollongong's Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
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The 13-year-old Nowra Christian School student impressed the judges at Pitchfest with her allergy-free range of baked goods called Cosmic Cookies.
Pitchfest, an entrepreneurship program delivered by Zig Zag Hub, was held in Wollongong on Saturday as part of the 2023 Young Eyes Festival of Innovation.
Isa said she got the idea for her cookies after seeing people having to say no to treats.
"I've seen a lot of people, mainly my friends - they have a bunch of allergies," Isa said.
"I've seen them come to school and we'd go 'do you want some of this?' and they'd say 'well, what's the ingredients?' and then they could never have it.
"I was here at the Zig Zag Hub in Nowra and I thought 'what if I create an allergy-free cookie?' and that's where it all started."
She did a lot of research into ingredients and there was a lot of trial and error in the family kitchen before hitting on the winning recipe.
Throughout several rounds of Pitchfest more than 70 students from across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven took part, with eight making the final, where they pitched their business ideas to some of the country's top business leaders, including Sydney Kings owner Paul Smith.
Among the ideas pitched by students were a multi-sport training program, a universal key, schools-based gaming tournaments and hand-crafted shoes.
As a part of her award, Isa will get a mentoring package from the Zig Zag Hub to develop her business idea.
"Taking that next step will obviously be getting the word out there more so people will buy them and starting up a website," Isa said.
"I already have an Instagram that is running so people can contact me through that.
"I'm also going to try and start doing dry ingredients in mason jars so people can make them themselves at home or if you want to give it as a gift or something like that."
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Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
