Scratchpad Spotlight: Haley Hoffman Smith on Believing in Your Idea
This winter, from Jan 2nd — Jan 23rd, we piloted our Scratchpad Fellowship, which gave 5 teams of students 4 weeks, free desk space, and $200 to pilot test their teeny-tiny stage ideas. We adapted this test from Avni Patel Thompson’s Four Week Test. Here’s the reflection for our fellows on what they learned. We’ll be sharing our own reflections on our pilot in the next few weeks.
When you have a great idea, there’s often an insecurity — is this only great to me? That’s how I felt upon coming up with the idea for my wine label. I even felt silly explaining it to others because it’s a wine label based on my dog. It isn’t the glitzy and glamorous next technological gadget or something that could ‘change the world’ per se. My acceptance to the Four94 Scratchpad Fellowship was my first indication that I could be on to something — that my idea was worth pursuing.
My name is Haley Hoffman Smith and I’m a senior at Brown University. My business partner, Emma Butler, is a sophomore at Brown and is the incredible illustrator behind the wine label. We’ve brainstormed concepts together and I watch as she brings them to life on paper, with more vivacity then I could have imagined. I’m the business side, she’s the creative. The Four94 Scratchpad Fellowship allowed us both to have a seat at the table, even though I was the one who applied. It held us accountable to our goals and gave us the inspiration to start new ones.
It’s unique to work alongside other young founders who are just starting out on their ideas, too — because so many of us were in the same stages, there was a sense of comradery between us. The experience has really been valuable thanks to the Four94 Leadership. The leaders really wanted us to succeed. They provided the guidelines and the motivation behind thinking critically about our idea and taking the next necessary steps.
We were also paired with mentors, and there could be no better mentor for us than who we were matched with — Shuya from IDEO further validated our idea and helped us think even more critically about our business model. She also taught Emma how to render our label to see how it will appear on a physical wine bottle, which was probably the most exciting part of the month. Even though it was just an image, it possessed the same magic I’d been dreaming of.
This opportunity really jump-started the pursuit of my wine label, and I’m excited to be doing an Independent Study on it in my last semester at Brown to further bring the idea to fruition.
It’s unique to work alongside other young founders who are just starting out on their ideas, too — because so many of us were in the same stages, there was a sense of camaraderie between us. Because of the Four 94 Fellowship, I now know my ideas are not only possible, but that I can bring them to life and make them as magical as I’ve envisioned. I’m forever thankful for this opportunity.
