For children who are nervous about needles, a routine visit to the doctor can bring an uncomfortable wait before an injection.
asserted
visit → bring → injection
Kailyn Brown, a schoolgirl from Columbia, South Carolina, knows the feeling herself.
asserted
Brown → know → feeling
Rather than simply putting up with it, she began thinking about something that might make the experience easier for other children.
uncertain
experience → put → children
Her idea became Sticky Pals with Magic Medicine, a concept for skin patches shaped around friendly characters that could help numb the area before a shot.
uncertain
that → become → shot
Brown, who was in the third grade when she developed the idea, went on to win $25,000 in the kindergarten-to-fourth-grade business category of the Mott Million Dollar Challenge.
asserted
she → develop → Challenge
How Kailyn Brown turned her fear of injections into Sticky Pals
Brown did not begin with a business plan or a complicated medical problem to solve.
asserted
Brown → turn → plan
She started with something familiar from her own life: she disliked getting injections.
asserted
she → start → injections
The discomfort gave her a reason to think about what might help children facing the same experience, and she came up with Sticky Pals with Magic Medicine.
uncertain
she → give → Medicine
The proposed product combines a numbing patch with a character designed to make the process less intimidating for young patients.
asserted
process → propose → patients
In her interview with Mott, Brown described the idea as a formulated patch applied to the skin to numb the area where a person would receive a shot.
asserted
person → describe → shot
Although children were the main audience, she also envisaged versions that could appeal to teenagers and adults.
uncertain
that → envisage → teenagers
How Sticky Pals patches aim to ease needle anxiety in children
The characters are central to Brown's concept.
asserted
characters → aim → concept
She introduced two of her creations, Chelsea the Unicorn and Dino the Dino, in a demonstration of how the product might be used in a medical setting.
uncertain
product → introduce → setting
The idea is to give children something familiar and approachable to focus on while a healthcare professional prepares the injection.
asserted
professional → give → injection
In her demonstration, Brown explained that the patch would be placed over the area where the patient was due to receive a shot.
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patient → explain → shot
The needle would then pass through an opening at the character's mouth, making the animal figure part of the process rather than simply a decoration on the skin.
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figure → pass → skin
How Kailyn Brown prepared pitch for the $25,000 business competition
Brown had to record her pitch video several times before she was happy with it.
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she → prepare → it
In the first few attempts, she spoke too quickly, then slowed down too much in the next recordings.
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she → speak → recordings
Getting the pace right took some practice, and she later said she had learned not to give up when something needed repeating.
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something → get → practice
Her aunt helped put the pitch together, while her mother listened as she practised at home.
asserted
she → help → home
Brown worked on it every Tuesday and Thursday, going through five or six pages of notes.
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Brown → work → notes
She also got advice from Elizabeth at VentureLab before travelling to Flint, Michigan, to present Sticky Pals in person to the competition judges.
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She → get → judges
Kailyn Brown explains how a growth mindset helped shape her Sticky Pals invention
As part of the final pitch, contestants were asked to identify an entrepreneurial trait they had demonstrated during the process.
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they → explain → process
Brown chose a growth mindset, connecting it to the way people approach problems and learn from them.
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people → choose → them
She explained the idea through the image of a stone in someone's path.
asserted
She → explain → path
A person could try to kick it away or remove it, she suggested, but another approach would be to learn how to climb over it.
uncertain
approach → try → it
Her comparison reflected the way she had worked on Sticky Pals, refining the pitch and responding to feedback rather than treating the first attempt as the finished product.
asserted
she → reflect → product
Winning $25,000 opens the next chapter
Brown won the grand prize of $25,000 in the K–4 business category of the Mott Million Dollar Challenge.
asserted
Brown → win → Challenge
The award recognised her entry in a competition that gives young students an opportunity to present business ideas, explain the problems they aim to solve and develop their skills as entrepreneurs.
asserted
they → recognise → entrepreneurs
The Aporia
