On February 18, the Winona State University College of Business hosted their latest speaker in the speaker series “Evening with an Entrepreneur.” This week’s speaker was a successful entrepreneur and Winona local, Corey Tomesh. He spoke to students about his life growing up, his education, and his numerous business ventures that have led him to be where he is now, all in the hopes of giving students helpful advice and a story to lean on as they approach the time when they too will have to make their way in the world.
Tomesh was raised in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, where a popular pastime for his family during the winter was snowmobile racing. His love for this activity prompted him to start attending other snowmobile racing events and write about them online, as well as try to livestream them before livestreams were even a popular tool. His engagement with racing allowed him to make many connections. Tomesh tried out a two-year tech school but soon realized that he was learning more about computers and design simply on his own.
“I bought my own equipment and computers, cameras, and I started a business—which basically meant I was a freelance digital marketing website graphic designer.” Tomesh said.
By approaching various companies and presenting them with his services, he gained customers. Later on, he ended up in a retail shop in downtown Winona selling printed items like t-shirts, stickers, and more to Winona State students.
“At that time, homecoming T-shirts were just a huge thing. I ended up printing I don’t know how many hundreds or thousands of T-shirts for homecoming out of that little space. And it just really kind of snowballed from there,” Tomesh said. “And then it also, kind of being a little more public, got me connected to some of the businesspeople in Winona.”
After a stint in Arizona selling his digital design services to large companies, COVID-19 hit. Tomesh and his family moved back to Winona since his customers in Arizona were struggling during the pandemic. This led him to create Sprint Graphics, which he has been growing over the past few years. Recently, Tomesh joined American Solutions for Business, a company that backs the spending and creates more connections for smaller businesses that remain independent so that they can focus on growth. Tomesh’s biggest piece of advice to students is to be confident in what they are selling.
“I’m not your typical salesperson who is a shark and, as they say, can sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves,” Tomesh said. “That’s not me— but when I know that I have a solution for someone, then it gives me confidence to go in and actually knock on the door and say, hey, we can help you.”
He also emphasized that sometimes, you just have to take the risks, especially when you are young and don’t have as many people depending on you.
Third-year marketing student Caitlin Sturm attended Tomesh’s talk to learn more about his story and gain firsthand advice from an entrepreneur. She found it interesting that “he did something for a couple of years, then did something else. It’s just refreshing to hear that you’re not tied to one thing once you start doing it. Like, there’s always room for growth and change.”
Sturm’s biggest takeaway was “what he said about sales— just be confident that you’re offering them a solution. Don’t be afraid of selling them something because you actually can help them and partner with their company to make their company better.”
