Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to serve on the Dayton School of Business Club, a group of individuals passionate about providing Asbury students with meaningful experiences and a community that can help them maximize their time at Asbury. We value community as a student body and understand that it is a key to success as well as relationships with professors and other business professionals. This past academic year we have had many successful events like a resume workshop with professional headshots and speaker events, where we have been able to hear from successful professionals and how they went from college students to making it big in the business world. We also have more personal events where we can pick the minds of students on things that are going well with the Dayton School of Business and things that they would like to change or add. The bottom line: Creating impactful experiences to enhance students' college experience outside of the classroom.   

As a student at Asbury University's Dayton School of Business, I am excited to share the expansion of the Dayton School of Business Club, specifically the Entrepreneurship Club. Like the DSB Club, we share the same passion for being able to further Asbury students' academic experience through fun and educational events and providing opportunities for students to get the most out of their college career. We understand that there are many students with a passion to learn, create, and connect outside of the classroom, and our goal is to be able to provide a community and events for them to do so. In order to maximize this experience for students, the Asbury Entrepreneurship club has the privilege of being able to partner with Awesome Inc in order to provide quality and meaningful events, and also take part in Awesome Inc events like 5 Across and Startup Weekend! With the creation of this club, we are hoping to reach students beyond the Dayton School of Business, like students in other majors who are hoping to start their own business one day (or maybe already have). We want to create a community of passionate and creative students with a desire to take initiative with their ideas or maybe just want to learn more about Entrepreneurship. As a student, you can look forward to events like Shark Tank watch parties, Keynote speakers with successful entrepreneurs, and our very own pitch competition!  

 

Our goal with having the Entrepreneurship Club branch out from the Dayton School of Business Club is to collaborate with other programs and majors at Asbury University and allow more students to get involved. Asbury students have a wide variety of interests and skills, and we realize that there are many different Entrepreneurial opportunities for students taking these routes. For example, we have students who want to start their own Equine businesses, art businesses, and other services and products, but aren't necessarily part of the Dayton School of Business. This club is a place for them to belong, learn, and grow in a like-minded community of students who want to grow their ideas. 

You may be wondering what this is going to look like, and that would be a great question! We may be in the beginning stages of the E-club at Asbury, but we have so many great ideas of ways for students to get involved and learn. We are hoping to have several different speakers who are entrepreneurs and have been in the shoes of many aspiring students. These speakers will walk us through what it looked like for them from when they first had their idea to where they are now and share the good, the bad, and the ugly of being an entrepreneur. Alongside that, we want to acknowledge that failure is normal and expected with a Failure Night, where we will just be hearing about different failed businesses and ideas that people have had. We want to provide a space for students to flip the narrative around and be able to tour and see local startups right here in their community. We will kick back and watch everyone's favorite show, SharkTank, as we build a strong community of innovative students. Lastly, we will be holding our very own pitch competition, where students can pitch an idea for a chance to win a prize as well as have access to mentors and coaches while prepping for the competition. 

Being able to partner with Awesome Inc opens the door for so many different opportunities, like attending 5 Across events. This is a pitch competition where 5 local entrepreneurs have 5 minutes to pitch their ideas to judges for a chance to win. It is a fun night to see innovation in our community, and it is a great time of networking and brainstorming. Speaking of brainstorming, we also have the opportunity to be a part of Awesome Inc's Startup Weekend. This is a 54-hour event where you have the opportunity to brainstorm, create ideas, join teams, and launch startups! Through this event, you will have access to different successful entrepreneurs for advice and mentorship. We are so thankful to be partnered with such an impactful organization that believes that the future of entrepreneurship is students like those at Asbury University, and because of their support, we have so many opportunities to grow and learn that were not possible before. 

This upcoming school year, I am excited to be able to step into the role of the Entrepreneurship Director as we slowly separate from the DSB club and into our own club. I have also had the opportunity to intern at Awesome Inc this summer, which has given me a chance to see innovation and their purpose up close. This has allowed me to grow my skills in my desired field and also brainstorm ideas for the club. I have also created so many great relationships with people that will help me further my own career goals, but also the goals I have for the Asbury Entrepreneurship club! 

I am very excited to see all that will come from the Asbury Entrepreneurship Club, and who knows, maybe you will see one of us on Shark Tank someday!