Community lady earns major prize in ‘Shark Tank’ design small business competitors

Greta Thurston presented her notion Study Buddies at this year’s Suffolk College 10K Idea Pitch Competition and won the $10,00 very first prize that went to the winning company. (Picture courtesy of Greta Thurston)

The 10 finalists in this year’s Suffolk College 10K Strategy Pitch Opposition came prepared with new concepts that ranged from washable yoga mats to a way of detecting Alzheimer’s disease early with a non-invasive take a look at.

But at the conclusion of the last round it was Review Buddies Tutoring, an online tutoring and mentoring corporation for center and significant college college students established by Steamboat Springs indigenous Greta Thurston, that took dwelling the prime prize.

Thurston, a junior majoring in organization at Suffolk University in Boston, will use the $10,000 first prize for lookup motor optimization, marketing and building absolutely sure the business’s internet site is quick for mom and dad seeking to uncover mentors or for tutors for their small children.



Examine Buddies works by using faculty learners as the tutors, or as Thurston prefers to connect with them “academic mentors.”

“The plan powering employing school learners to tutor center of higher college learners is that they can also be mentors for the younger college students, not just boring tutors,” she reported. “Our mentors are job types that the youthful learners can look up to and discover from, and there is a very little bit far more of a marriage than just tutoring.”



Thurston, who is a comprehensive-time scholar who also is effective complete-time at night, arrived up with the plan though at house on a break from university.

“I was volunteering with 4-H and training horseback using lessons to middle and significant college pupils,” Thurston stated. “A major section of what 4-H is has to do with mentorship and so I experienced a couple parents inquire me about tutoring for their youngsters and that acquired me wondering.”

Thurston felt the parents experienced requested her to tutor mainly because they desired to find anyone their youngsters could relate to, but also be a part design.

When Thurston returned to college previous tumble she recruited nine mentors, established up a site and started the business enterprise. Since of COVID-19 and the movement to on the net platforms, Thurston felt the timing for her strategy was perfect. It authorized faculty college students who were absent from home to make income and also presented a services for center and significant college students anyplace in the county who essential academic help.

Greta Thurston introduced her idea Study Buddies at this year’s Suffolk University 10K Plan Pitch Levels of competition and received the $10,00) initially prize that went to the successful business.

When Suffolk opened submissions for its notion pitch competition, Analyze Buddies Tutoring was presently up and managing. The contest adopted a “Shark Tank” structure and was open up to all students at Suffolk’s arts, science, organization and legislation faculties.

“It was anything that I was comfortable with,” Thurston reported of earning the presentation. “I was primarily just energized to be able to present and share my business with the judges.”

The party, hosted by the Centre for Entrepreneurship, made available a $10,000 top rated prize funded by a Suffolk graduate’s company, Inexperienced Rabbit. All finalists been given $250 in seed dollars and the opportunity to perform with a mentor.

The competitiveness begun with an initial spherical wherever participants submitted specific enterprise programs, explained what their plans have been for the $10,000 prize and introduced a video highlighting their firms. In the initial spherical the field was trimmed to the top rated 10 entrants and those people companies were being paired with a mentor and started preparing a 3-moment presentation for judges.

Thurston was paired with coach Joanna Trainor, who earned her MBA from Suffolk in 2007. With each other they worked to good tune Thurston’s closing presentation and identify the viewers to which she was presenting the plan — quite a few of the judges were being Suffolk graduates and linked the local community that features the college.

The crucial was building absolutely sure the judges comprehended how Analyze Buddies was likely to advantage the Suffolk local community, Thurston mentioned, and how having students from the university working with more youthful students was going to assistance advertise Suffolk to long run students.

“What we were being doing work on that previous week was how you usually have to preserve your viewers in head and how do you end potent,” Trainor mentioned. “So she certainly reworked the stop of her pitch that very last 7 days though she was on trip with her spouse and children.”

Trainor reported she could not have been extra amazed with Thurston. She stated the notion for Research Buddies was great as it filled a need to have for mentors of youth and by providing college or university pupils task options.

“I imagine the most significant issue was the essence of Greta and her means to get matters done without hurdles. There are no road blocks for Greta,” Trainor stated. “Other folks may feel that functioning whole-time and heading to faculty whole-time is going to be difficult … but these matters are not obstructions for Greta and her capacity to get factors finished is going to just take her so significantly in existence.”