While walking around campus, students might smell the scent of brownies wafting through the air.
Unboxed Brownies is a student-run Integrated Business Core (IBC) through the College of Business and Communication. Among the IBCs here on campus, Unboxed Brownies sports a roster of 13 individuals who make up and navigate the growing business. Additionally, a teacher’s assistant and business sensei help guide the team of students through classes and questions to maximize the experience.
“Three people per learning team and each team comes up with an idea supported by data and research,” said Lauren La Rochelle, a sophomore studying business management. “We present the ideas to each other and decide based on the operations. It evolved into Unboxed and now we make gourmet brownies.”
The idea of brownies came to them a few weeks into the semester after the students’ experience within their prospective learning teams.
For Unboxed Brownies, Mondays and Wednesdays are production days. Each brownie is made with a cocoa base and is followed by decoration later in the week.
Throughout the week, the team meets each day in the Jacob Spori Building at 8 a.m. where students learn about selling, finance, production and other orders of operations for the brand.
“We top things in Benson building and typically sell from 11-2 each day,” La Rochelle said. “It’s chaotic at times, and even cramped, but usually after 3, we’re done for the day.”
Just like any business, Unboxed Brownies has goals that follow the IBC structure. The program is goal-oriented and based primarily on the learning experience behind starting a business. Among such goals is how to sell without coming off as pushy.
“The majority is based on the success of your company,” La Rochelle said. “However much money you make goes back into the IBC program for the next semester to help others have those experiences.”
Unboxed Brownies provides three flavors each week. A production plan was created at the beginning of the semester that tested out different flavors to see how they would be received.
“We encourage people to follow our Instagram and message us with their suggestions too,” La Rochelle said. “It’s about the experience for the students just as much as it is for us in the program — fun product and fun atmosphere.”
Unboxed Brownies has roughly four weeks of selling left and can be found on campus in different places each week. The team will continue to shuffle through flavors and look forward to requests.
“The operations are so much more than I thought,” said Guervens Larosiliere, who studies business marketing. “Teamwork, HR, advertising, finance, marketing, etc., small things that make it work; there’s a lot of time that goes into it. It’s an investment. Sleep well is my pro-tip.”