UW–Madison highlights student innovation, entrepreneurial success

Entrepreneurship has been UW–Madison’s most popular certificate program since 2018. The university works to support students in a variety of majors and degree programs by providing resources, programs, and networks to support their growth and innovations. UW–Madison recently recognized six students who are making an impact on fellow students and far beyond.

Jayla Thompson, a marketing major, is recognized for her wellness startup, Shape with Jay, which provides guidance for students to achieve healthy living and aims to support Black women in the wellness space.

Xiaohan Shen and Hankel Bao are recognized for their AI innovations: Easyjobs, a tool that assists with job searches and applications, and Coldreach, a personalized sales email generator.

Jake Piekarski is recognized for his three startups: ChoreHub, an online marketplace connecting homeowners with college students for maintenance tasks; Snow Scholars, a snow-removal service; and Storage Scholars, centered on storage solutions for students.

Oyindamola “Damola” Owolabi is recognized for Spicy Nigerian, a startup that showcases Nigerian artisanal foods geared toward Nigerians living overseas. In addition, Owolabi has created a dating app called Jaiye, designed to connect African citizens with African expatriates living abroad.

CJ Wilkerson is recognized for establishing a barber shop at his high school and creating an apparel brand, Croesus. He plans to grow the two in a hybrid space that is half barbershop, half clothing store.