Marietta College grad student claims top spot at PioBiz second round

by Tom Perry

Marietta, Ohio (12/08/2022) — After her own unsatisfactory experience, Rylie Wahl '19 (Columbus, Ohio) wanted to come up with a way to improve therapy sessions for future clients.

"I did not respond to therapy from underpaid and overworked therapists," said Wahl, who will earn a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in May 2023. "As a therapist-in-training myself, I've used myself, I've used my experience as a client to give my own clients a better therapeutic experience, but I've still been limited in similar ways."

Wahl proposed a solution to the problem during the second round of Marietta College's PioBiz competition and her idea, Jovial Counseling, took the top prize of $450.

"It is a cash-pay private practice, providing great mental health therapy," Wahl said. "By charging a premium fee without directly billing insurance, I would be able to provide more effective mental health treatment for my clients, helping them reach their goals in less time, ultimately saving them money in the long run, all while keeping my caseload manageable and meeting my needs, too."

PioBiz is a three-round business start-up competition open to all Marietta College students and their partners. The competition is in part supported by the Entrepreneurship Program Sponsors. The second round is entitled "Proof of Concept," and competitors must provide evidence that their business ideas are feasible. The key components of the seven-minute pitch are:

Problem: A clear description of the problem.
Customer Segment: Who has this problem?
Solution: A clear description of the product or service.
Proof of Need: Share the results of secondary research on the overall demand in the market, and the potential demand for your product.
Existing Alternatives: How do target customers currently solve the problem?
Unique Value Proposition: What is the advantage of the product or service over the alternatives? Why should people buy your product?
Prototype/Experiments: Display a prototype, and/or describe the results of the experiments and hypotheses testing.
Existing and Needed Resources: What are the major resources that already exist, and what are the major resources that are needed to start producing the product or service?
Cost Structure: Describe the major sources of fixed and variable costs.
Revenue Stream: Describe how revenue will be generated.
Road Map/Next Steps: Provide a timeline for the next steps.

"Though I expected some hesitation from the judges and audience, as this is not the traditional model we think of when we think of therapy, my story seemed to resonate well," Wahl said. "I was surprised to win first place, but I know that my time at Marietta, especially as an undergrad, really contributed to my success. I learned how to effectively communicate and present, which I think is the most important skill when trying to pitch a new idea."

The top five winners of the competition were jointly determined by five judges and more than 50 audience members. Each member of the audience had one vote, equivalent to 1 point. The judges were instructed to assign between 0 to 10 points in each of the seven categories for a total of 70 points per project.

"I couldn't have done it without my Marietta mentors, like Dr. Cheongmi Shim, Christy Burke, and Joyce Pennington," Wahl said. "I'm excited to connect with new mentors through the Entrepreneurship Department as well."

Rounding out the top five were:

Eric Debolt '23 (Uhrichsville, Ohio), Environmental Engineering, finished second and received $400 to go toward ControllerView Studios, LLC, a service that utilizes drones to capture aerial video and photos for clientele.
Gabriel Torres '26 (El Paso, Texas), Entrepreneurship, finished third and received $350 to go toward GTS Auto Detailing, a mobile auto detailing operation.
Gavin Ott '23 (Marietta, Ohio), Management, finished fourth and received $300 to go toward 740 Pressure Washing, a residential and commercial pressure washing company.
Alexis Sommers '25 (Nelsonville, Ohio), Entrepreneurship, and Lilly Posti '25 (Burgettstown, Pennsylvania), Communication, finished fifth and received $250 to go toward The Big Blue, a campus thrift store they opened earlier in the semester.

Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy back in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today Marietta College serves a body of 1,200 full-time students. The College offers more than 50 majors and is consistently ranked as one of the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, as well as one of the nation's best by Forbes.com. Marietta was selected seventh in the nation according to the Brookings Institution's rankings of colleges by their highest value added, regardless of major.

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