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A future in creative consulting lies ahead for three students from The University of Western Australia who reached the finals of the Visagio Challenge .

Sandra Johnston (Commerce), Emmelyn Wu (Commerce), and Jani Song (Arts) responded to the challenge to help a local kombucha (fermented tea) manufacturer, Kommunity Brew , upsize sustainably.

Competing against 100 students from across the state, the team of three UWA students – who called themselves Teamo Supremo – used their collective Commerce and Arts skills to find a creative solution.

“We were given comprehensive information on the start-up and after looking through it, we decided that a crowdfunding campaign would work best, as this solved Kommunity Brew’s problems of raising capital and increasing brand awareness,” the students explained.

Teamo Supremo presented their solution in a ten-minute pitch to a panel of judges consisting of Visagio Managing Director Wilson Casado, and the three founders of Kommunity Brew.

“One of our concerns was our lack of technical experience needed to correctly advise Kommunity Brew’s future operations,” the students said.

“However, the skills we have learnt in our Commerce and Arts degrees were just as useful in designing and developing a creative solution to their problem, and in fact let us view it from a unique perspective. The judges ended up being really impressed with our level of presentation and awareness of who our client was when compared to other teams.”

For Sandra, Emmelyn and Jani, one of the bonuses was being able to work on a business challenge with friends.

“The three of us met through the Australia-China Youth Association, as we all learn Chinese and are interested in the Australia-China space. We soon discovered that we also had a mutual interest in management consulting and start-ups,” they explain.

“We really enjoyed working together in a team on a subject that we are all passionate about.

“Although we have each completed a few group assignments in our respective courses, this challenge really taught us to work together and play to each of our strengths. It also taught us a lot about consulting, and helped us to develop our problem- solving skills.

“We learnt how important it is to listen and know your client, and give them the best possible solution that solves their problem, not your idea of what their problem is.”

The Visagio Challenge was run by Visagio, Bloom and UWA Young Engineers. Bloom CEO Mark Shelton said the challenge was a great opportunity for budding entrepreneurs. "Visagio Challenge gave students the opportunity to engage first-hand with a local startup, and see how they can apply the skills that they learn in university to solving real-world problems. At Bloom we're proud to be supporting local entrepreneurs by offering free office space, professional services, and access to mentors," Mark said.

So what’s next for Teamo Supremo?

“Since taking part in the Visagio Challenge, we have decided to start our own creative consulting agency, and already have a couple of clients lined up,” Sandra, Emmelyn and Jani told us. “Watch this space!”

Media references

Karen Della Torre (UWA Business School)                 (+61 8) 6488 8538
Verity Chia (UWA Business School)                           (+61 8) 6488 1346