JUDGE'S POINT OF VIEW
The tenth annual Student Showcase featured 300 projects, 500 students and 15 community judges including Greg Olson
BY NANCY LOFHOLM DESIGNED BY SUSANNAH LABONDE, CMU VISUAL DESIGN MAJOR
Three Colorado Mesa University students fidget nervously as Greg Olson walks up with a file folder in hand. In the next five minutes, they will have to convince Olson that their idea for a startup company to locally repair and replace knee braces makes good sense.
Seth Coisman, Christopher Sarabia and Gregory Waldorf didn’t know that their judge for the 2019 Student Showcase once had an idea like theirs and ran with it. He is now the owner of Growl Agency, a design and marketing firm with 15 employees in Grand Junction, Denver and Vietnam.
Olson was once a 20-something with a mechanical engineering degree, a head full of ideas and no sure path to success. He only knew he wanted to work for himself and to grow a business with a great culture so employees could let their creativity fly.
Olson was 34 before he identified a need in the emerging digital design and marketing realm. He and his wife, Libby, started Growl in Denver and two years ago moved part of the business to Grand Junction.
