If you attend a concert, music festival or nightclub where music is playing at 100 decibels or more, it could take as little as 15 minutes before you suffer permanent hearing damage. 

Liana DeMarco, a soon-to-be graduate of Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture, has a solution. DeMarco is the founder of BARRICADE, a potential business concept that would manufacture affordable, fashionable earplugs. Most importantly, the earplugs would protect concertgoers’ ears while still allowing them to enjoy the sounds that make live music events such a desirable experience. 

Last week, DeMarco pitched the concept of BARRICADE before a panel of judges during the Be Your Own Boss Bowl (BYOBB), taking first place in undergraduate track of the live-pitch competition.  

Now in its 27th year, BYOBB has grown to become one of the nation’s most lucrative pitch competitions for aspiring entrepreneurs as it awards its winners with cash prizes and in-kind services awards worth more than $100,000. 

Hosted by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI) at the Fox School of Business, the BYOBB is open to Temple students, alumni, faculty and staff from all the university’s 17 schools and colleges. Participants compete in two tracks: the undergraduate track, which was won by DeMarco, and the upper track, which is for graduate students, alumni, faculty and staff. The winner of each track receives a $15,000 cash prize while the grand prize winner receives an additional $35,000. 

Participants undergo a rigorous review process to even gain an opportunity to be one of the finalists that pitches during the live competition, and they then spend weeks prepping and finetuning their final pitch. That’s one of the reasons that DeMarco was excited to learn she would be the first to present during BYOBB. 

“I was so stressed the entire week, leaning on my advisors and leaning on my friends, and I feel like today was just a day of zen. I was elated to know that I would be going first,” DeMarco said. “[Winning the undergraduate track] means so much to me. It’s sick. I am excited to continue building the brand, make connections and continue with this process.” 

One of the other participants who made a strong impression on both the judges and audience was Megan Kane, CLA ’24. Together with Stephen Malkowicz, CST ’13, she pitched the concept of AI-Aware Writing Environment (AAWE), taking first place in the upper track and being named the grand prize winner of BYOBB. 

The concept of AAWE was apropos for a higher education setting, as AAWE is intended to be an educational tool that will put instructors in control of how AI is used in the student writing process. Kane, who earned her PhD in English from Temple last year, created the company to address a need she has experienced in the classroom as a visiting assistant professor at Seton Hall University. 

“It’s such an honor to win tonight,” Kane said. “We put a lot of work into the product over the last six–eight months, and we’re really excited with how fast everything is moving. This (funding) will really help accelerate our growth, letting us reach more institutions and instructors to scale this out further. It’s going to significantly help our business grow.” 

Sophia Whitney, KLN ’23, earned the People’s Choice Award for her concept of Mermead, a canned version of mead, an alcoholic beverage made of fermented honey and water. Ellen Weber, former executive director of IEI, was also honored during the event with the Self-made and Making Others Award. 

“We were so thrilled with all the submissions we received for this year’s Be Your Own Boss Bowl and think that the finalists did an amazing job of showcasing their ideas to our judges and live audience,” said Neil Johnston, director of IEI accelerator programs. “To have the representation from six different Temple schools and colleges is another reason we love putting this event on—the BYOBB is truly for anyone at Temple that has an idea they want to see come to fruition.”