The winning business idea from the College of Human Sciences Pitch Off competition, Swoon Event Studio, was years in the making.

Ashley Jones, senior in marketing and event management, won judges over with her business idea, Swoon Event Studio at the competition, held on February 27.

The CHS event was one of seven total events, taking place in each of the colleges at Iowa State. Students had the chance to deliver a 90-second pitch about an idea or business plan to a panel of judges for cash prizes. In addition to a cash prize, the first-place winner in each college automatically advanced to the ISU Innovation Pitch Competition, taking place March 6.

Jones’ business is an online studio that allows people to tailor tables and table settings for events. Users can drag and drop items to create a truly customized look and rent those items directly from the site. Jones is mainly targeting bridal parties and wedding planners, but could expand to different types of events.

Jones thought of this idea after working in the wedding industry over the past few years.

“I had experience sitting in consultations with brides and something that would always happen is they would pull up their Pinterest board and show us pictures that they’d pinned ideas, so I just thought of the idea of creating a website where they could create by themselves with the tools and the design studio,” Jones said.

Jones thought of the idea for Swoon Event Studio during summer 2016, when she first worked in the wedding industry and noticed the problem. She said she’s been developing the idea for about a year, and hopes to get it off the ground in the next year.

Although Jones has had the idea for years, she only decided to pitch it at the competition a few days before the event.

“I’ve been developing the business plan for a while, which helped [prepare to pitch],” Jones said. “I know my business like the back of my hand, so it was easy to answer questions.”

Jones pitched her business idea to three judges; Dr. Kent Tsai, Brian Tapp and Dr. Lisa Lorenzen.

“Ms. Jones seemed very prepared for questions and provided a lot of direct information during her pitch,” Tapp said. “The business model appears to have opportunities that she is familiar with and the key will be the tech integration into her project.”

Jones and the other college pitch off winners will compete in the ISU Innovation Pitch Competition, held at 5 p.m. on Wednesday in the Maintenance Shop in the Memorial Union.

The event is open to the public, and audience members can vote on their favorite pitch.

Although the pitch list is full, event organizer Diana Wright recommended students find other opportunities to pitch their ideas.

“I think it’s really good to actually practice presenting and getting up in front of people,” Wright said. “And then for those students who are actually working on businesses, I think it’s great to get feedback and validation as to where they’re going with their idea.”