CELecting St. Louis: Discovering the city’s startup ecosystem

WashU Olin’s CELect St. Louis, a program of the Center for Experiential Learning, pairs teams of undergraduate and graduate students with local startups, allowing them to gain real-life consulting experience. CELect St. Louis students Reagan Edwards, JD 2025, and Nico Stuart, BUCS 2025, described the kickoff event for their semester projects, including their initial meetings with clients:

Our joint CELect introduction

Our experience with CELect began with an immersive, three-day exploration of the St. Louis startup ecosystem. On Day One, we met at The Boat House in Forest Park, where entrepreneurs including George Mitrev (BS 2024) and Samuel Brehm (MBA 2025) spoke about their experiences.

Day Two began with a tour of Delmar DivINe, a collaborative workspace founded by Maxine Clark, who is also the founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop. She spoke about her beginnings in entrepreneurship and her initiatives to support the St. Louis community. We later met for dinner in the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship, where student teams met their clients and determined their respective consulting projects. The clients working with students this semester include Bold Xchange, Reimagine Resources, Sobriety Hub, and Ellipsis Travel.

On Day Three, we toured the Cortex Innovation Community and presented our statements of work for our clients. The day ended with a founder panel of entrepreneurs who talked about their experiences in the St. Louis startup ecosystem.

After our three-day kickoff, we were all brimming with excitement to get started on our consulting projects. Because each student project is unique, we wanted to give readers some insight into the projects we are working on this semester.

Reagan: Bold Xchange

My CELect group is working with Bold Xchange and its founder, Doug Spencer. Bold Xchange is a St. Louis startup that focuses on the e-gift card industry. The company’s technology allows users to seamlessly and conveniently send prospects, clients, and partners thoughtful e-gifts to their favorite local restaurants, coffee shops, and more.

I am working with Bold Xchange on its client acquisition strategy, with a particular focus on determining its user persona. I had the opportunity to interview St. Louis businesses in a variety of industries, which has increased my knowledge of how businesses operate and what is important to consider in business strategy. I have gained valuable consulting experience in my regular project update discussions with Bold Xchange’s founder. (CEL faculty advisor) David Kanoff has provided exceptional guidance throughout the program, which has drastically enhanced my ability to think critically about entrepreneurial issues.

As a law student and future commercial litigator, participating in this program has been very beneficial. Prior to CELect, I had no consulting experience and considered my business acumen to be virtually non-existent.

Now, I bring a depth of understanding to my practice that is informed by my experiences in CELect.  

Reagan Edwards

I am so grateful to the Center for Experiential Learning for providing this program, as I think it gives CELect students an experience that will be valuable for the rest of their careers, no matter what those careers may be.

Nico: Reimagine Resources

During the semester, I have consulted for Juliana Scheidhauer as she seeks to strengthen her business, Reimagine Resources. It is a St. Louis-based startup and full-service provider specializing in transforming fitness spaces by offering seamless management from gym planning and design to equipment relocation, installations, inspections, assembly, and disassembly. The company primarily operates in the Midwest, though Juliana plans to continue expanding nationally.

My team is helping Reimagine Resources improve efficiency and data management to position the company for a larger customer base across a larger geography. Our team researched an array of industries and businesses to determine effective automation and data management practices. Our group has worked to develop and elaborate on a workflow process diagram and service blueprint that outlines each step in the process of customer discovery to product installation. We have flagged key steps where we will provide a comprehensive plan for Juliana to automate or eliminate superfluous steps and create a more cohesive strategy to then expand nationally—whether through organic growth or acquisition.

Though I am a senior undergraduate student at Olin, this course has been my first experience with the Skandalaris Center. In addition to general consulting skills, I have learned about the startup ecosystem and many core strategies for building a business from David Kanoff, who has significant experience working with startups.

If nothing else brings you to visit the Skandalaris Center during your time as a WashU student, I highly recommend you take CELect to experience a small amount of what it means to build a business.  

Nico Stuart