Business case: Wings of Strategy

When my friends and I started Wings of Strategy, I honestly didn’t know what I was getting myself into. They were all talking about business cases, strategies, and numbers, while I was sitting there thinking about colors, layouts, and how things should look. I’m a designer, not a strategist, but I wanted to be part of it because it sounded fun and challenging, and I liked the idea of building something together that could inspire other high schoolers.

At first, I felt a bit out of place. Everyone had their own ideas about how things should work, and sometimes it got messy. Deadlines were tight, schoolwork kept piling up, and we didn’t exactly have endless resources to throw at the project. There were nights when I wondered if we’d even make it to the finish line. But slowly, I started to see how design wasn’t just about making things pretty. It was about helping people understand. A good visual could take a complicated idea and make it simple, and that turned out to be really important for our team.

We kept pushing through the tough parts, learning to listen to each other and finding ways to compromise when opinions clashed. My designs became a kind of glue that held the project together, making our ideas clearer and giving us confidence to keep going. And every time we managed to solve a problem or finish a piece of the project, it felt like a small win worth celebrating.

Looking back now, Wings of Strategy feels bigger than just a business case. It’s late-night brainstorming sessions, messy drafts, and the feeling of overcoming challenges with friends. It’s proof that even as high schoolers, we can take on something ambitious and make it work. For me, it’s also a reminder that design isn’t just decoration — it can be the wings that help an idea fly.