Stone Fish, an innovative fishing apparel brand, has won the 12^th annual Baker Business Bowl, sending Cadet Bryson Barrett home with a $10,000 check.

Barrett said Stone Fish will go from the classic polyester fishing shirts that have no features, like pockets, to a more technical design that will introduce different features, such as waterproof pockets, magnetic front enclosure and more. The idea struck him last summer.

“I was at the beach and wearing a shirt I’d just bought for $70, a Columbia PFG, performance fishing gear. And I realized there is nothing ‘performance’ about the shirt at all, there’s nothing to it, it’s just a plain t-shirt. I kind of had an ah-ha moment that there’s a big gap within the fishing apparel market, and the fishing industry period, that we’ve been ignoring. And these big companies have been able to push the same product, and everyone continues to buy it at a premium price, but it’s not a premium product,” said Barrett. 

One of the main features of Stone Fish designs will be a magnetic enclosure, a patent that Barrett is working on securing now, since it’s never been used before in apparel. He said the idea is almost like a self-buttoning shirt because they have the opposite polarity on all the buttons.

“When you’re on a boat or in the water, your shirt gets wet, and it’s a pain to take off the shirt, and if it’s a button up shirt, it’s hard to fiddle with the buttons. They’re these small, strong magnets called neodymium magnets. I’ve done a lot of research into it, and I think it’s a great idea that’s been ignored this whole time,” said Barrett. 

It’s easy to assume that Barrett is a business major; after all, he did just win a business competition. But the senior is majoring in biology, a major that, seemingly, has nothing to do with business, so how did he win? He said it took a village.

“I have a good friend who’s very business-oriented. I’ve known him my whole life and he helped me with understanding the business side, because we needed a business plan, we needed financial projections, all that,” said Barrett. “I have an idea and I can tell everybody about it, I can write about it, but I don’t understand how that worked. So, my friend, Nolan, helped me with the financial side. I have another friend, Nate, in November Company who helped me with the presentation. My dad has been helping me as well, guiding me towards getting my LLC, setting up a business bank account, everything.”

The Baker Business Bowl includes three rounds. Teams first submit a written overview of their idea; a judging committee selects up to 10 semi-finalists. Those teams deliver an elevator pitch, which narrows the field to five finalists. The final five develop and present a full business plan, covering marketing, pricing and financial projections, before a panel of judges.

Even without the Baker Business Bowl, Barrett said this idea was about more than the competition; it’s something he knew was going to happen, with or without winning. He had already put $4,000 of his own money into Stone Fish, money he’d worked for and had been saving up. And he already has a game plan for his winnings.

“About $2,000 will go towards filing and applying for a provisional patent. That gives me 12 months of having some type of security over my idea. Then, the rest of the $8,000 will go to the shirts themselves,” said Barrett.

His biology degree did come in handy, though.

“I love to fish, and the stonefish, which I learned about in biology a long time ago, is the most venomous fish in the world. But it’s been going through millions of years of evolution to get to where it is, to adapt, to be resilient, to thrive in its environment. And so that’s what I wanted my company to be defined as — adaptive, durable, resilient and it does its job well,” said Barrett.

In five years, Barrett hopes anyone can go into a local tackle shop and see Stone Fish on the racks — hopefully, empty racks, of course. He sees Stone Fish eventually expanding into other types of apparel and products.

The win itself was a rollercoaster. When Barrett heard there was a tie for second place, he started to wonder if he’d placed at all.

“Once I heard there was a tie for second, I was like, ‘This is a tight competition.’ And I ended up not getting called there for a second and I was like, ‘Wow, then maybe I just didn’t win at all,'” said Barrett. “It was probably one of my biggest accomplishments and something that I’ll remember forever.”

The two runners up were Lowcountry Lifesavers and Charleston Family Golf. Lowcountry Lifesavers is a private lifeguarding company that services both pools and open water events. Charleston Family Golf is a comprehensive golf development featuring a massive driving range, short-game areas, club fitting/repair, simulators that provide advanced ball and club analytics, and professional instruction. And, thanks to a generous donation from one of the sponsors, each runner up team received $5,000 to start their business venture.

The other finalists for the BBB were Quala and SeatSweep.

This year’s panel of judges included:

• Judge Irvin G Condon
• Mark Dajani
• Herbert Drayton III
• Edward James “EJ” Healey (Class of 1995)
• AJ Richichi
• Kevin Swan
• Campbell Wiltshire

This event is made possible through the generous donations of The Citadel Class of 1989, Mr. Kevin Swan, the Brittingham Group, South Carolina Research Authority and Pinnacle Financial Partners. Click here to learn more about this program and the Tommy and Victoria Baker School of Business.