Fergus Falls teen cancer survivor leads national entrepreneurship contest

Isaiah Lawson spent his own cancer treatment thinking about the same problem many children face in hospital rooms: gowns that do little for comfort, dignity or easy access to care. Now the 17-year-old Fergus Falls senior is turning that experience into ZAYAZ Inc. Jammies, an adaptive medical clothing idea that has him leading a national Entrepreneur of Impact contest.

Lawson said long hospital stays and uncomfortable gowns sparked the idea. His campaign is listed in first place in its group, and the contest page says the winner will receive $25,000, an Entrepreneur magazine advertorial and a one-on-one mentoring session with Daymond John. The voting page says the campaign is run by Colossal and raises funds for GENYOUth through DTCare.

For Otter Tail County readers, the story reaches beyond a business competition. Lawson is a local teenager using a childhood cancer recovery story to build a product aimed at helping other children move through treatment with more comfort and easier access for nurses and doctors. Supporters can vote in the contest online, putting Fergus Falls squarely in the middle of a national entrepreneurial race.

The broader youth-innovation world has increasingly used contests like this to push student founders from an idea to seed money and public attention. The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship says its Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, launched in 2006, moves through local, regional and national rounds and awards seed capital, with thousands of students competing in a national championship in New York City. NFTE’s 2025 World Series of Innovation drew 5,112 participants from 82 countries and expanded to younger students through its Imagination League.

Lawson’s campaign arrives in a part of west-central Minnesota that has repeatedly rallied around cancer families. In Fergus Falls, a separate fundraiser for a 9-year-old girl with lymphoma drew community attention, and the Fergus Falls Memorial Ride and Benefit raised more than $35,000 in its first two years for a local teen battling Ewing sarcoma. Against that backdrop, Lawson’s run for national support gives the town a familiar mix of heartbreak, resilience and ambition, this time with the chance to put a homegrown idea into hospitals far beyond Otter Tail County.