Brush Bestie, a LFHS Business Incubator Accelerated company, attempts to make your life easier one step at a time. As one of the last remaining Business Incubator groups from last year, their strong efforts have come a long way. 

Seniors Ally Galiene, Colin Martens, Julia Grum, and Lauren Milanak joined forces to create a makeup brush pen for on-the-go users who want an efficient way to put on their makeup.

When the team was thinking of business ideas, the members identified their everyday inconveniences and, in the end, decided to tackle the struggle of makeup organization. 

Last year, the team focused primarily on Pitch Night, a competition to pitch their business idea to investors and members of the community.  After working all year to make it to the local competition, they became one of four groups that competed.

Their idea, their dedication, and their persistence landed them to win first place at Pitch Night, receiving $4,000 and a full year of support from LFHS Alliance (a mentorship from Fresh Start Business Incubator and access to Lifeworking Coworking space throughout the year) to help their business thrive.

Since then, the team has been pushing through the pandemic and have been very grateful for the donation they received at Pitch Night, Galiene said.

“Having this money has definitely benefited our company and allowed us to grow our business,” Galiene said.

The team has used this money to purchase insurance, business cards, promotions, flights and hotels for the South by Southwest (SXSW) Edu. Conference—a Student Startup Competition in Austin, Texas. They also plan to spend this money to run a patent speech. 

Behind the scenes, the team has been working on the prototype to be manufactured. The team has tried four different prototypes in hopes to attain a design patent and identify what route is best for the future of Brush Bestie.

The product has four brushes. It is double sided and you simply slide up or down the brush that you want to use.

The team got their inspiration from the multi-colored pens they used when growing up, Martens said. On the pen, there are different buttons for different colors to use. Push on the red button, and the red pen comes out. 

With their product, it is essentially the same idea. 

Back in January, Brush Bestie was selected as an alternate for the SXSW Conference. 

“We applied for the competition in November, and we were notified about our selection in January. The purpose is to gain exposure to the thousands of people who will be at the conference,” Martens said. 

The conference, held in August, Texas, is taking place on Mar. 8, where two members will conduct a one-minute pitch of their company. In the upcoming days, the team will be preparing for the conference in Austin. 

“This is a very special opportunity for us because it will give us the opportunity to network and gain connections with as many people as possible,” Galiene said. 

The Forest Scout wishes good luck to Brush Bestie at the SXSW conference!