Please provide some background information about yourself (e.g. major, year in school, hometown).

I grew up on my family’s farm outside of Varna, Illinois, and am now a senior studying Finance and International Business with minors in the Hoeft Technology and Management Program and Spanish. I’ve also been involved in Enactus and compete as an intercollegiate athlete on the Illinois Club Track and Cross Country teams. It’s been a busy four years! This summer I’ll be starting full time with AbbVie’s Finance Development Program in the Chicago area.

 

We heard you are a part of Enactus and other entrepreneurship efforts. Can you please tell us about some of the projects you have worked on?

 Sure! Enactus is focused on social entrepreneurship, so our projects are businesses that address some type of social need in the community.The first project I led in Enactus was the establishment of the first Chamber of Commerce in

Masatepe, Nicaragua. It’s extremely difficult to start a small business in the country thanks to decades of government corruption. The Chamber of Commerce, which now has over a dozen members, is a way for businesses to band together, receive legal and financial advice, share information, and provide a unified voice for the community. As an Executive Manager, I’ve been responsible for the strategic direction of four other projects over the last year:

 

En-ABLE-ing Entrepreneurs - seeks to provide meaningful employment to the disabled community in Champaign-Urbana by empowering them to start their own businesses. We’ve worked with three developmentally disabled adults to start their own T-Shirt printing business, Got You Covered.

 

Decreasing the Distance - a water purification business model that allows entrepreneurs the ability to purify and sell water to residents of their community at an affordable price. We’ve seen some initial success in Trujillo, Peru, and are now looking to expand elsewhere in the developing world.

 

Filify 3D – the first 3D printing recycling program on campus. Around 20% of 3D prints in campus labs fail, and as normal recycling centers can’t accept PLA, they are dumped into the trash. Filify has developed a method to recycle that plastic into new spools of filament to be repurchased by campus labs.

 

H2Grow – a project that has built their own affordable aquaponics system and is looking to sell to area schools to supplement agricultural and science programs. The compact system can fit on a tabletop and used to grow fresh fruits and vegetables in area food deserts.

 

What led you into entrepreneurship? What is your favorite part about helping people and running your own businesses/projects?

I got into entrepreneurship because I want to use my business education to make a positive difference in the world around me. Hands down the best part is getting to meet the people you’re impacting and the entrepreneurs you’re empowering. It can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day frustrations of developing a product or a business model, but that melts away once you see how your work will actually make a difference in someone’s life. As an Executive Manager, too, it’s been incredible to see my direct reports grow into leaders and drivers of their own projects. They’ve learn how to ask the right questions, think critically, manage partnerships, and lead a diverse team. I couldn’t be more proud of their accomplishments this year.

 

We heard you have been a great mentor. What advice do you have for other students that want to get involved in international projects or starting their own business or company?

No one becomes an entrepreneur on their own – make diverse friends and partnerships, ask for advice and feedback, and never be afraid to admit what you don’t know and seek out the answer! I still routinely call on my own mentors for help, even though most of them have now left U of I. International projects present a wealth of challenges, and you have to understand (or have people on your team who do) the language and culture if you want to accomplish anything. After that, international projects run on mutual trust, respect, and good communication.

 

What do you think the world needs more of? Less of?

 I think that the world would greatly benefit from more people from different backgrounds working together. Even on a small scale I would love to see more people at U of I venture out of their own field of study and seeing what else the campus has to offer.

 

What is your biggest dream in life? Your biggest fear?

 I would love to see every single country before I die and to have left a positive impact on my own community. I most fear losing my independence, whether financial, physical, or mental.

 

Who is a woman you look up to? Why does she inspire you?

My mom graduated with a Computer Science degree in 1982, when female engineers were even more of a rarity than they are now. She succeeded in a field where the odds were stacked against her, and in her management roles she’s inspired others to do the same. I want to leave a legacy of pulling other people up with me the way that she has, rather than trampling over others to get to the top.  

 

What is your favorite memory from UIUC? Anything you still want to experience at UIUC?

My favorite memories from college are of the friends I’ve made and places I’ve traveled. Of all the things I’ve done in college I’ve never taken an afternoon just to lay out on the Quad with friends and relax, so I’ll definitely do that when the weather warms up.