Trinity and CIA students work together in first entrepreneurial camp

This week, Ty Medaris, a student at the Culinary Institute of American in San Antonio, got to experience what it was like to work in the kitchen alongside finance, engineering and marketing students. 

“It’s interesting,” Medaris said. “I won’t say it’s easy, but everyone has different benefits … I’m working with two of my classmates right now, so we are still able to run in the kitchen relatively smoothly.”

Medaris, 19, was one of 20 students from the Culinary Institute of America and Trinity University who participated in a pilot program focused on entrepreneurship. The first collaboration of its kind between the two institutions. 

During the week-long bootcamp, participants were tasked with conceptualizing a dish — incorporating the iconic grilled cheese sandwich — and then preparing a full business plan, marketing strategies and pitch for buying customers. All in the hopes that their customers and judges at this Sunday’s Pearl Farmer’s Market choose their creation as the tastiest and the most successful. 

“For our students, a lot of times their dream is to open up a restaurant,” said Chef Uyen Pham, associate professor at the Culinary Institute. “They’re just so focused on the food but there’s the business side of that that is equally important for their longevity, for their success.”

Trinity University marketing student Julie Navarro records video of CIA student Patrick Lindsay making a chipotle aioli recipe to share on Instagram and Facebook for a social media campaign as part of their marketing bootcamp project. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

The event takes place on Sunday, Jan. 11, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and will be open to the public with the purchase of a $25 ticket that will go to benefit the San Antonio Food Bank. 

While all CIA students are focused on becoming chefs, the Trinity students brought a variety of skills and backgrounds including marketing, engineering, and communications, said Mar-y-sol Salinas-McCoy, senior director of academic success at Trinity University.

“We wanted to make this a really accessible program,” Salinas-McCoy said. “Any student of any major could apply to be part of this. They didn’t have to be in our entrepreneurship program. They didn’t have to be in business. They just had to be in good academic standing.”

The collaboration had been a few years in the making, with administrators figuring out how to better align their academic calendars and programs to make something happen. For the Culinary Institute of American in San Antonio, this is the first collaboration of its kind with another higher education institution. 

“[In] San Antonio, I think we are very community focused and centered,” said Chef Jose Frade, associate dean of academic affairs at the culinary institute. “So when we can collaborate with other leaders in the community, it just makes sense.”

Trinity University students Julie Navarro and Apple Garcia review footage they just shot for a recipe video from CIA students to be used in a social media campaign as part of their marketing bootcamp project. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

Apple Garcia, 19, is a freshman at Trinity who decided to participate in the program after seeing it advertised around campus. She is still undecided about what major to pursue and open to options, but for the last three years she’s run her own small business, Apple Bliss, to sell her crochet items and other art pieces. 

“I really wanted to learn more about Trinity’s entrepreneurship space,” Garcia said. “I have that experience … setting up and then talking with customers and building publicity around an event, like when I’m at a market.”

At first she didn’t know this program would be in partnership with the culinary institute, but once she found it, it was even more enticing, Garcia said. 

She landed on the same team with Julie Navarro, 21, a junior studying marketing at Trinity. They didn’t know each other before this event, but Navarro also started a small business a few months ago selling affordable spa kits. 

“I’m definitely adding in my own two cents with marketing,” Navarro said. “But I also like seeing what their ideas are and helping them come to life, seeing how we can cross collaborate and figure out what each other’s strengths are … to see where we can all shine.”

The institutions put together a list of speakers, including Chef Johnny Hernandez, Bryant Amberlant of NatureSweet Tomatoes and marketing professor Mario Gonzalez. The students  learned the fundamentals of budgeting and cost assessment, concept alignment and guest engagement, among other basics of running a successful business. 

CIA Culinary Arts students Gloria Castillo and Paul Brian Liban show Trinity University marketing sophomore JR Law how to prepare melon for fruit salad in the CIA kitchen on Thursday. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

The students will also get their opportunity to receive feedback, not only from the customers during the farmers market on Sunday, but from their professors and chefs who will choose a winning team based on taste, their overall business idea, marketing and hospitality strategies and performance. 

For the professors, chefs and administrators running this pilot program, the goal of this week will also be to gather feedback from the students to see how they can successfully run this program in years to come. 

“The priority, in my view, is we’re looking at the student experience,” said Chef Jose Frade, associate dean of academic affairs at the culinary institute. “It’s been a long week. So, once you add the rigor of the week and the project, but you still see them engaged and motivated. I mean, that’s already a sign of success.”