Chestnut Hill Graduating Senior Headed to UPenn After Emerging Victorious at Global Startup Challenge

Colin Salas, founder of Soothe Pops and first-place winner of the Expop High School Startup Challenge. Photo credit: Colin Salas

Salas, a senior at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (SCH), emerged as the top winner among hundreds of student entrepreneurs in the Expop Startup Challenge, a six-month entrepreneurial program and competition that guides young people to build real-world businesses from ideation to go-to-market. His venture, Soothe Pops, offers all-natural chamomile-infused calming popsicles for toddlers and young children, giving parents a medication-free way to ease children into bedtime.

Salas’ first-place finish earned him $2,500 in seed funding while providing him with the opportunity to learn from top Ivy League entrepreneurs within the Expop program.

A solution for bedtime

For Salas, the idea behind Soothe Pops came from identifying a challenge faced by countless families.

“I think an accomplishment for me is actually coming up with a real solution,” said Salas. “Bedtime has been a problem for parents forever. If I’m able to make that easier for families, that would be an incredible accomplishment.”

Like many successful startups, Soothe Pops evolved significantly from its original concept. Salas began developing the idea as a high school freshman, refining the product through customer feedback, testing, and repeated iterations.

Soothe Pops, an all-natural chamomile-infused calming popsicle developed to support calming bedtime routines for young children. Photo credit: Colin Salas

“The hardest thing to do is just start something and get it rolling,” he explained. “Once I landed on something strong, I felt confident enough to bring it into a real space and actually sell it.”

From the classroom to the community

Topping classes and selling out his products was no easy feat to balance. Salas expresses his gratitude to his teachers and school for giving him the start he needed: “Thank you to Springside Chestnut Hill Academy and the CEL program for helping me with my entrepreneurial journey!”

Launching his idea beyond the classroom, Salas expanded his business into the heart of the Philadelphia community. He sought advice from local entrepreneurs, explored retail opportunities, and began selling at neighborhood events, farmers’ markets, and festivals throughout Chestnut Hill.

The response was apparent almost immediately. “The first day I sold at a festival, I sold 120 pops,” said Salas. “What excited me wasn’t just making money. It was making genuine connections with people and seeing that something I created could put a smile on someone’s face.”

Building a real business

Salas also credits Expop with helping him transform what was essentially a successful student-run venture into a more structured business.

“I was selling my popsicles, but I wasn’t really thinking about things like marketing, customer research, and financial tracking,” he said. “Expop pushed me to focus on my target audience, collect customer feedback, document my finances, and build the foundations of a real business.”

Throughout the competition, participants completed mini quests geared toward customer validation, sales, marketing, financial planning, and investor pitching. Salas said the experience provided practical lessons that extended beyond entrepreneurship.

“It really leads you through what being an entrepreneur is like,” he said. “You’re not just practicing. You’re actually doing the work and building something real.”

Entrepreneurship with impact

Beyond business success, Salas has developed a strong interest in ethical entrepreneurship. He hopes future business leaders can balance growth with social responsibility and community impact.

“I think my role as an entrepreneur would be making sure there’s not too much greed in business,” he said. “We’re so fortunate to have opportunities like this, and I think successful entrepreneurs should find ways to give back and help others who may not have the same access.”

As he prepares to embark on his next chapter at the University of Pennsylvania, Salas plans to continue exploring entrepreneurship while building on the lessons learned through Soothe Pops and Expop.

His story inspires an emerging entrepreneurial spirit among Philadelphia teens who aren’t waiting around to start businesses, and are instead launching ventures, testing ideas, and creating meaningful solutions from their high school classrooms.

“Looking back over the last six months, I’m really impressed with how much I’ve accomplished,” said Salas. “There are pages and pages of work that helped me grow both as an entrepreneur and as a person. It’s been eye-opening.”

About Colin Salas

Colin Salas is a 17-year-old student entrepreneur from Philadelphia and a graduate of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. He is the founder of Soothe Pops, an all-natural chamomile-infused children’s wellness popsicle designed to support calming bedtime routines. Salas recently won first place in the Expop High School Startup Challenge and will attend the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts and Sciences in Fall 2026.

About Expop

Expop hosts a Global Startup Challenge each fall, designed to guide high schoolers in forming real-world startups. Founded by undergrads and grad students from Harvard and UPenn, Expop’s Challenge brings students through the phases of establishing a startup — from ideation and product validation to customer engagement and pitching to investors. Through hands-on and curriculum-backed quests, students gain a shot at building a real business or career before graduation, with Expop’s Fall 2026 cohort introducing a $50,000 grand investment prize exclusively open to high school seniors.