By Lookout Staff

March 5, 2015 -- Rosalind Niu might be just a junior at Santa Monica High School, but she also has a pretty sweet title to add as well: She is chief of human resources for a fragrance company – an enterprise called Pheressence.

Santa Monica High School's Virtual Enterprise business team, with class teacher Teri Jones

It’s not real, of course. It is virtual, part of an assignment that earned big kudos for students of the Regional Occupation Program’s Virtual Enterprise Class at Santa Monica High School.

In the innovative venture, students developed a product line, made major management decisions – including electing a chief executive officer and deciding on salary – and created a business plan to pitch at a simulated trade show in Long Beach.

The students won first place there for the pitch of their virtual product, outdoing 63 other school competitors, said Gail Pinsker, a spokesperson for the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD).

The team also placed in the top ten of the sales category and will compete in the 2015 Youth Business Summit in New York next month.
 “It’s a great program,” Pinsker said.

Niu said the project gave her insight into the type of research and hours of research needed to start a business.

“This class will help with my long term goal of doing business overseas,” she said. “Every minute I have invested in the program has been worthwhile.”

Students worked collaboratively on developing the product and also on figuring out how to best market the fragrance. They designed a logo and website, Pinsker said, which features shades of violet and lavender and flashes images of the merchandise along with photos of fashionable young adults and romantic destinations.

 Their website assists users in choosing the best product for them, and includes links to social media  sites like Facebook and Instagram.

Their teacher, Teri Jones, entered their business plan into the Virtual Enterprise International Long Beach Trade Show, which Pinsker said operates like real-life industry shows, with booths set up and employees tirelessly pitching their products.

The students were responsible for setting up the booth, hanging the banners, making uniforms and providing the merchandise, catalogs and business cards needed to sell their product. They had two hours to virtually outsell their peers, racking up more than $50,000 in virtual sales.

Next up is the 2015 Youth Business Summit in New York in April. The six students who are going to the competition are Jason Funston (the CEO of Pheressence), Niu, Alexis Reyes, Jennifer Santiago, Carlos Bustos and Clara Gindin.

Pinsker said the students will be placed on separate multinational teams  and be given two hours to complete an assignment. They then formulate a 10-minute presentation to be given in front of judges and answer five minutes of questions.