Drinking Gatorade on a sunny day, graduate student Brandon Adams never guessed he would find the thoughts that would shape a product of his future.

“It was on a hot day, and I was working at a family business,” Adams said. “I had bought a Gatorade and about ten minutes later, I had half a bottle left. I [then] went to take a drink, it [was] warm, and I thought, ‘Well, how could I make this [stay] colder longer?’ I could put ice cubes inside of bottled beverages — we’ve all tried that, and it’s very difficult. Then I thought, ‘Why don’t I come up with this stick of ice?'”

Adams began contemplating and researching his idea that would become the Arctic Stick. The Arctic Stick is a device one can put in their drink to keep it cooler longer than ice, which also has the ability to add flavor and/or caffeine through tablets.

Adams took the concept to one of his classes and won a competition. He then partnered with Sling Shot Products, which handles all of the manufacturing and prototype versions of the Arctic Stick. Adams also partnered with business expert Jack Barringer, who makes regular appearances on the television show, “Shark Tank.”

This led Adams to an unaired television show called “America’s Got Money,” which also led him to future business partners, as well as 2007 “The Apprentice” finalist Tana Goertz.

“We shot a pilot for a television show [“America’s Got Money”] that never really went anywhere just yet. [Adams] came aboard and pitched his product,” Goertz said. “I immediately liked him and saw potential in him.”

Adams then took the Arctic Stick to the app world where Adams found the My People App and the “My People App-rentice: Des Moines” competition.

“I was sitting [and] waiting for somebody to get ready, and I was on Facebook, and I saw it randomly come across my page,” Adams said. “I don’t know if God was saying something or somebody randomly telling me to go on it, but I clicked on it.”

“My People App-rentice: Des Moines” is a competition put on by My People App, which is hosted by Goertz. The competition takes the top 50 Iowan inventors who submitted their inventions in a three-trial competition to win one of three grand prizes. The winner has a choice of a $5,000 vacation to any place in the world, a year-leased Mercedes-Benz or BMW or Apple products to fill one’s home office.

“The program is actually my program that I’ve done for other businesses. It’s a unique, competitive marketing strategy,” Goertz said.

After signing up for the app, Adams got a phone call notifying him he was one of the 50 Iowans chosen to be part of the competition. 

“I didn’t know what to think [when called],” Adams said. “Yeah, I was like, ‘This is awesome!’ I was somewhat shocked, but like I said, I can be confident, so I’m not always as shocked as I should be.”

After Adams received the call, the real competition began.

Adams has three tasks to complete to win the competition. Adams’ first task is to make connections to his profile on his My People App, and the most connections out of anyone in the competition wins. Adams is sure he will win the competition.

“People think I come off cocky, but I’m more just confident,” Adams said. “When I say I’m going to do something, mentally I have to do it. Otherwise I look like a fool.”

Anyone wanting to help Adams with the competition can download the My People App for free on their Android or iPhone, and can connect to ‘Arctic Stick’ or look under ‘Brandon Adams.’