One year ago, Levi Wood had a business idea. Now, he has a booming business: Immersign, which lets clients book 30-minute Zoom sessions with “Deaf Buddies,” who are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), for conversation practice.
Already, Immersign has conducted more than 200 sessions. “And we are more than ready to scale up,” says Wood, who is excited about a new collaboration with Gallaudet’s ASL Development Program to provide practice for the university’s faculty. A recent post on Instagram — where Immersign has nearly 1,700 followers — quoted user James F., who raved, “It is a perfect environment to chat without fear of making mistakes or going slow.”
Wood says that none of this would have been possible without his win at the 2025 Student BisonTank competition, organized by the Gallaudet Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute (GIEI). In addition to a cash prize that has helped him with startup costs, the program provided invaluable mentoring services. “They have given me hidden knowledge that you may not see in business start-up books or classes,” he says. “I am not sure where this business would have gone if it was not for Gallaudet, especially GIEI.”
As participants prepare for this year’s competition on Thursday, April 16, we asked Wood to share what he has learned over the past 12 months. “The journey so far has been incredibly challenging and rewarding,” he says. “I look forward to building Immersign with the highest goal of giving back to the Deaf community.”
Set goals and give them your all
After Wood won BisonTank, he was not immediately ready to get down to business. He had another goal in mind first: biking across the country. His 74-day solo trip from Oregon to Virginia raised $12,000 for the Global Deaf Research Institute and made him crave another challenge. With his mission accomplished, he came back to D.C. at the end of the summer able to fully focus. “My first steps of making this a reality was to completely revamp my branding and website,” says Wood, who wasn’t happy with “Signsika,” the business name he had used to compete in BisonTank. Inspiration struck, and Wood came up with “Immersign,” a blend of “immersion” and “sign,” which clearly explains what his platform is designed to do.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Setting up an online learning platform requires a solid understanding of how to use various technologies. The problem for Wood? “I am not completely a tech expert, so I had some hurdles to overcome,” says Wood, who solved his issues “by asking the right questions to the right people.” He enlisted his friends, his brother, artificial intelligence, Google, and — of course — GIEI’s business mentors. “I have this curious personality and I am not afraid of asking people for their expertise and knowledge,” he adds.
Marketing is everything
“Many people — including me in the past — think marketing is just advertising the service or product. But it is more than that, it is about communicating the right information to the right audience,” Wood says. “I think the most important aspect of marketing is to be as concise as possible.” Figuring out how to convey his concept to the public has required a lot of time and creativity. But it is something he has enjoyed working on, and he sees how this experience will help him with more than just Immersign. As a Business Administration major with a Linguistics minor, Wood is eager to apply his new skills to the field of linguistics too.
Respond to the needs of your clients
As Immersign started taking off, Wood was happily surprised that there was a demographic he had not expected. “Initially, I thought my business would be only used by ASL students, specifically college students, but I realized Immersign is also absolutely a powerful tool for the late-deaf or those who have hearing/speaking disabilities,” Wood says. His platform provides not just a way for this population to have conversation practice, but also a place where they can connect directly with Deaf culture. “I can imagine feeling lost and struggling to find a community if I suddenly lose my hearing,” he says. Wood is now working on developing tools to help these clients.
Learn more about GIEI’s innovative offerings, including the BisonTank competitions, mentorship programs, and the BisonTalk series.
