At only 23 years old and little-to-no experience in the tech world, it may be hard to believe Brigit Blote is the CEO and co-founder of an app. In fact, that was not what she had planned at all. "Med school was the dream," she said, discussing her plans when she enrolled at the University of South Dakota.

But things quickly changed. She graduated early, in 2021, with a degree in sustainability while working full-time in her tech startup company.

Entering her freshman year at USD, Blote was a walk-on to the track team. Blote was a competitive runner throughout high school, but her times were not at your typical division 1 level. "People had even said, 'on paper, I don't know if she's capable of running D1'," she recalled. "I wanted to be challenged."

Friendships made during that first season led to Brigit entering the USD Hult Prize business competition as part of an extra credit project. "Our first business plan was absolutely terrible!" she laughed. Something about that experience started to shift Blote's mindset about what she hoped to do with her future. "I always knew I wanted to serve and help people, which was why I wanted to enter the medical field," she reflected. "As we went through this process, I realized business isn't just for profit. I can't believe you can do so much good!"

Unsure about her major and coming off an injury, Blote signed up for a study abroad experience in Costa Rica – including a class on sustainability. Students had to hike to access their host family's home, carrying anything they needed. This meant packing less and a lot of washing clothing to re-wear.

Carter, a classmate, was wearing a forget-me-not floral shirt that Blote quickly fell in love with. She likely could have found the same one online to buy for herself, but their studies on the fashion industry caused her to think of another way. "We were learning about the fashion industry and the fact that there are more than 2,000 trucks of textile waste daily. I said to myself 'let me see if I can thrift this back in the U.S.'"

This experience, looking for a floral shirt, planted the seed. Blote had to use different apps and websites and still couldn't find the right size at the right price. What if there was one central website that would allow her to search and shop across online thrift stores?

With this idea in mind, Blote and her co-founders, Ashlynn Atwood and Payton Ryz, decided to enter the Hult competition once again – but this time, it wasn't just for the extra credit. They had nothing more than a few mockup drawings of what the app could look like and a dream of creating meaningful, large-scale change in how people shop for clothes.

They won the USD Hult Prize, advancing to the regional competition in Boston, which they won. This qualified them for the World Hult Prize Accelerator. The team was set to travel to London in December of 2020 and compete for the $1 million prize, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization divided the prize among the global finalists. Fomeno (a shorter reference to the "Forget Me Not" T-shirt) was a top recipient, securing the team $100,000 in seed capital to start their business. They were participating with students from universities like Harvard, Duke and Vanderbilt. After winning, Brigit quickly realized, "we're on to something more than a school project."

As is the story with most startups, it has not come easy, and people did not always believe in the success they could have. In fact, during the accelerator, one of the mentors asked them, "Do you know how hard this will be?"

More than two years later, fomeno has moved beyond the wireframes and is a downloadable app with more than 11,000 downloads and 45 thrift partners. "I am so glad I was naïve to how hard this would be," Blote laughed.

The aspiring tech company did not have a technical lead for a long time. Not one to shy away from a challenge, or let it hold her back, Blote used the time quarantined during covid to teach herself as much as possible; watching YouTube videos and taking online coding classes. “Don't count yourself out, even if it's hard,” she said to aspiring entrepreneurs. “If you believe in your vision and are passionate about it and have the right team, you can do it."

 A St. Thomas More graduate, Blote has returned to the Black Hills, where she works to continue building fomeno with Atwood, Ryz, Annie Lien, interns and remote contractors. "Am I qualified to do this?" Blote reflects, "no, but with the right people, I know we can be successful. We have so many good clothes that exist, they just aren’t with the right people.” Fomeno will be there to make that connection, one thrift buy at a time.

Click here to download the fomeno app from the Apple Store.