Student View: Danielle Tice, Founder of Fello
Danielle Tice is a first-generation college graduate. In May 2022, she earned her bachelor of fine arts from the College of Arts and Letters. Alongside graphic design, Danielle completed a minor in entrepreneurship and innovation from the Burgess Institute. In Danielle’s final semester at MSU, she started a company, Fello. With that company, she was named a finalist for the Burgess Institute’s annual pitch competition and participated in the Momentum Pre-accelerator program. Danielle also won American Advertising Awards for her graphic design work.
Becoming immersed fully in MSU’s entrepreneurship ecosystem changed my life.
I constantly face imposter syndrome. It tries to hold me back from many opportunities and experiences. I’m continually questioning, why me? What have I done that’s so important? Then I remind myself of my achievements: today, I woke up in a home I own as a first-generation college student and alum, a professional graphic designer, and the founder of my own company, Fello.
When I started at Mott Community College, I had a graphic design professor, Jim Shurter, who planted the think-like-a-designer seed. I learned the necessary skills to practice empathy and optimism and embrace diversity. It’s funny; I understood these skills but didn’t fully unlock them until I began to think more like an entrepreneur.
When I transferred to Michigan State in the summer of 2020, I began working for the Burgess Institute as a graphic designer. Closely working with various startup teams and seeing these student entrepreneurs’ drive was inspiring! They took their education to the next level with the entrepreneurial mindset. Realizing I wanted to be like them allowed me to change my state of mind rapidly.
When the idea for Fello started, I didn’t think it would go far; but my gut did. The concept for Fello was to develop a way for creative people to connect in a localized area. Bringing the creative community to the forefront of the public eye makes it easier to find other like-minded individuals. The first time I pitched my idea for Fello was at 2Day Venture in February 2022. I had nine students on my team; one of them, John Hart, is now my co-founder.
Our time during 2DV could have been considered a failure. During this two-day / 36-hour event, our team spent the whole first day trying to rework my initial idea. Iteration and critique are essential for growth. Staying in the entrepreneurial mindset, I was willing to keep an open mind and experiment with these new ideas. Ultimately, however, we landed back on the original idea. We pulled everything together in the last 12 hours of the competition and won first place! The fact that we spent countless hours adjusting the initial idea demonstrated that the growth and need for this platform are limitless. John being open-minded, collaborative, respectful, and taking the lead, caught my attention. It was a no-brainer to move forward with Fello and with John.
Since 2Day Venture, John and I have been sculpting Fello. By talking with local art galleries and artists, going to art fairs, and doing customer validation, we find out how we can best serve creatives. Fello’s mission is to end creative isolation. We are designing an app to build local creative communities by promoting spaces for like-minded individuals to create together. We provide the opportunity to make locally and digitally authentic connections through social sharing, collaboration, and celebration.
John and I know the success rates of developing an app are poor, but we have decided to move forward. Our passion for Fello’s mission drives us daily. Plus, our gains and potential gains have already outweighed our possible losses.
After 2Day Venture, the Burgess New Venture Challenge (BNVC) application deadline was the next day. I wondered, How crazy would it be if this idea seedling got in?! — apparently, not too crazy! When BNVC announced the fifteen semi-finalist teams, John and I were shocked to find out Fello was among them. Fello was moving forward in this prestigious startup competition? There was a lot of work to be done. BNVC was on April 7th; we had less than one month to prepare. I attended classes, designed the graphics for the BNVC event during that time, and began writing Fello’s business plan. John and I started developing Fello’s brand identity, not to mention preparing a pitch deck and crafting the marketing for the day of the competition. It was overwhelming. There were failures and tears, I wanted to call it quits, but resilience persisted. Having so many balls in the air at once is scary. But, having the ability to bounce back, learn from our pain points, and, ultimately, stay afloat is all we need to inspire ourselves to keep going. We were living the entrepreneurial mindset.
No, Fello didn’t win BNVC. But we did come away from that experience as winners. As a company that was only six weeks old, we kept up with the pace of these other companies that were between seven months and a couple of years old. We had the opportunity to meet people who fell in love with our idea. We connected with mentors and got to experience pitching to a panel of highly respected fellow MSU entrepreneurs. It was terrific; I can’t say enough about my entrepreneurial journey at MSU with the Burgess Institute.
Recently, Fello finished Momentum, a six-week pre-accelerator program with Burgess. Each year, Momentum takes only five startup teams into this summer program. Each startup receives a scholarship to fund their endeavors and take the time needed to focus on our startups for those six weeks.
Momentum kicked off with traveling to Traverse City for networking and growth opportunities. The following five weeks followed designated topics, with guest speakers covering goals-setting and metrics, legal, accounting and financials, de-risking, and marketing topics. Momentum helped Fello grow in a more professional sense. We officially became an LLC, have a beta list that is growing daily and are currently building our platform.
One of the most considerable mindset changes I have experienced has been finding the ability to confront my self-doubt. Anxiety, depression, and their close companion, imposter syndrome, make this entrepreneurial lesson the hardest one for me to implement daily. I am still learning how to own my power. A friend constantly reminds me to show up, speak your truth, and let go of the outcome. Remembering those words helps me stand in my power, but I need to learn how to OWN it.
On our final day of Momentum, Provost Woodruff invited me to an event during the Women in Philanthropy Summit. At this meeting, she introduced me as an entrepreneur, an innovator, a creator, and an academic success—all the things MSU 2.0 is attempting to tailor to its students. It was something she defined in me. It was an honor to be in a room of women who are absolute powerhouses. After Provost Woodruff introduced me, all the faces in the room were suddenly staring at mine, beaming with excitement. It was a beautiful moment to experience female power recognizing female power. After the event, I sent the Provost a thank you email and admitted my feelings about my impeeding imposter syndrome. Here’s part of her response: We each have to know that our steps toward grace for ourselves, and being one of those individuals who are welcoming to all, widens the door and helps those who follow in our footsteps. One day, and one step, at a time.
As a member of the MarComms team at the Burgess Institute, we have a tradition. Every Friday, we close out the week with a note of gratitude. So, I want to wrap this piece by sharing how much I appreciate everyone in my life. I’m grateful to those who came into my life in the past year. This year I met my best friend. I also met my wise word advisor and my Fello co-founder! My life would be nowhere close to what it is today without the guidance and support of the excellent staff at Michigan State’s Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
