This past spring, sophomores Jack Fiedler, Andrea Lee, Benjamin Gomez and Daniela Galarza were assigned a group project in Luis Martinez’s entrepreneurship class that asked them to address a specific problem.

“We started with something that we all addressed as a common need,” Gomez said. “The original idea was that people would call in and we would write them a handwritten letter, but we realized that we’re college students, too, and we don’t have the time to do that, either.”

The group’s original idea expanded into what they now call Modern Snail. Through their website, students can upload their information and choose cards to send to their relatives or friends for specific holidays and occasions.

“It started out as a newsletter idea where students could go online and fill out a form to mail to relatives, but we later moved to the card idea. That way, you could go to our website and fill out a one time thing,” Lee said.

The name “Modern Snail” stemmed from the idea of modernizing the traditional “snail mail” to be more accommodating to a busy lifestyle.

“With as busy as Trinity students are, few students have the time to send out physical cards to family and friends,” Fiedler said. “We want to go beyond sending a text message or a Facebook post, something more meaningful.”

When students enter the website, they will be able to input all of their important dates and information at once.

“Every year I send cards to all of my family and friends for their birthdays, yet I always forget someone. We don’t want anyone to be forgotten,” Fiedler said.

When the group pitched their business idea last spring, their proposal was chosen as the best out of the class.

“We won the competition in our class at the end of the academic year,” Lee said. “Four of us were able to stay here in San Antonio over the summer and work with Trinity to get the business started.”

Since winning the class competition, the group has been working on developing Modern Snail, which has included seeking out student and local artists who are interested in displaying their artwork on the cards.

“One of our big principles is trying to get local art out into the world,” Gomez said. “Nothing is mass-produced. We’re starting out with art from Trinity then expanding to the Trinity area. We are still taking artists, and anyone interested can submit their work to [email protected].”

The students hope to officially launch Modern Snail’s services around Thanksgiving of this year. Visit modernsnail.com for more information.