Sparta High graduate helps win $75,000 for startup business ExpressionMed

It’s called ExpressionMed.

It hasn’t hit the bigtime yet, but Sparta High School graduate Jackie Page and her business partner and founder Meghan Sharkus sure got a jump start last weekend.

The two won $75,000 in a Shark Tank-style competition against 24 other teams at the University of St. Thomas for their product, ExpressionMed — special, long-lasting bandages used by diabetics who wear monitors to measure their blood sugar.

“I knew Megan previously from high school,” Page said of Sharkus, who is from Oregon, Wis. “Then we both ended up coming to St. Thomas.

“She kind of introduced me to the idea of ExpressionMed and I said I’d jump on board and help with marketing and communication activities. I thought, ‘This is just a really impactful business, and if I can help in any way to spread the message, spread the product, that’d be a really good space for me to work in.’”

The Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge the women won was sponsored by Richard Schulze, who founded the Minnesota company Best Buy in the 1980s. Schulze said Sharkus and Page are very focused and passionate about their business and the winnings will help them overcome major obstacles financing a new company.

“Only one of 23 startup companies succeed, and my sense is we can do something about that,” Schulze said. “Just like we’re hoping to see ExpressionMed grow into a real force in the marketplace.”

Schulze also said Page and Sharkus had the “complete package” in winning the contest.

“They clearly are focused, they’re passionate,” he said. “Their purpose is so well intended. And it appears like they’re dogged in their determination to make a success of their company.”

ExpressionMed started as Sharkus’ high school research project in 2015, before developing it more throughout her time at St. Thomas — winning school and statewide competitions. In 2018, she added two more employees, including Page as communications and marketing director.

While Sharkus has developed her product to be both fun and durable, Page has helped promote that over social media with videos like this: Goat-proof Dexcom Tape?

On top of winning last weekend’s competition, ExpressionMed has also just been accepted into gBETA Medtech, an accelerator supported by Boston Scientific and Mayo Clinic.

You can follow ExpressionMed on Facebook here or the website ExperssionMed.com.