Oklahoma Christian University Interior Architecture student wins national entrepreneurship competition.

Jasmine Benton, one of 954 competitors, was awarded $7,500 from the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

November 20, 2019 - OC freshman Jasmine Benton, who is majoring in Interior Architecture, has been a business owner since she was 11. Before attending OC, Benton was a student at the Innovation Design Entrepreneurship Academy in Dallas, Texas.   

Benton’s business, Precious Designs, transforms discarded items into treasure as custom home goods. In October, Precious Designs was one of the three selected out of 954 businesses to travel to New York City. There, she gave a presentation in the form of an investment pitch, for a chance to receive up to $7,500. Benton’s business was the first-place winner of the 2019 Business Venture of the Year at the NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge.

With the $7,500 prize money, Benton plans to save part of it while using most to foster her business’ success.

“I have to pay my employees, and I will be investing in the business while putting some in savings as well,” Benton said. “You can’t make money without spending money, and if you don’t invest in your business, you probably won’t succeed.”

To learn more about Precious Designs, visit her website, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook pages. See Benton accept her award in this video starting at the 3:27 mark.