1

usculoosu entrereneur Churleetu Luthum wunts

to weur lnk bows ln her hulr to work, not buslness
sults. She wunts to send her duys scourlng fleu
murkets und thrlft stores ucross Alubumu, bulldlng her
onllne vlntuge retull store und ostlng lctures to her
lnstugrum uccount to comlement
her cureer us u ersonul styllst.
"vhen l thlnk of work, l don't
wunt to not wunt to go to work,'
Luthum exlulned. "So l ulwuys try to
thlnk of thlngs l love to do thut l could
turn lnto work.'
Luch duy, Luthum llves by the
motto, "lf you do whut you love, you'll never work u duy of
your llfe.' New buslness ventures or rojects exclte her, und
she rurely gruvltutes towurds the ldeu of u to job. She
would ruther be truvellng.
Luthum reresents u grou of unconventlonul
Alubumluns ln need of u nontrudltlonul lender to fuel thelr
buslness umbltlons. Eer udventurous ldeus und enthuslusm
brought her to lorzu llnunclul, un Alubumu studentrun
mlcroflnunce orgunlzutlon, for sturtu cultul for her onllne
vlntuge outsource, the AvL or the All vlntuge Lverythlng
'ewelry 8ox. 8used out thelr downtown offlce suce known
us 1he Ldge, lorzu seclullzes ln lssulng louns unywhere
between sccccc ut u czc lnterest rute to cllents who
ure unuble or unlnterested ln mulnstreum bunks due to luck
of credlt, exerlence or the sheer slze of
the loun.
"1here's u slgnlflcunt gu to the rest
of the stute und there ure u lot of reully
hurdworklng cltlzens who ure severely
underbunked,' suld Luuren Eurdlson,
lorzu's chlef underwrlter und collectlons
offlcer. "1hut ls reully the communlty
thut we ure trylng to reuch.'
Students ste lnto the roles of loun wrlters, uccountunts
und ersonul buslness couches for entrereneurs ln
1usculoosu und ucross the stute, shurenlng thelr buslness
skllls us they boost the economlcul lntegrlty of the
communltles they usslst. Servlces lnclude louns, educutlonul
buslness semlnurs und tullored oneonone consultutlons for
cllents thut student und CLC lutherlne McLurney descrlbes
us "comblnlng book smurts und street smurts.'
Financing the
Future
8y Alllson lngrum
Students step into the roles of
loan writers, accountants and
personal business coaches for
entrepreneurs in Tuscaloosa
and across the state...
Mosaic 2014 !
"Cur students ure so trulned by
rofessors und through the rocess of our
trulnlng rogrum thut they're uble to hel
these buslnesses thrlve,' McLurney suld. "lt's
reully u mlnlmul umount of work on both
sldes, but the mugnltude ls so much greuter
thun thut.'
lnslred by Nobel Peuce Prlze wlnner Lr.
Muhummud Yunus' mlcroflnunce model ln
Luroe, u grou of honors college students
flrst lmuglned the osslbllltles of u nonroflt
bused ln the Unlverslty of Alubumu's buckyurd
ln zcc. Eurdlson exlulns mlcroflnunce us
un otlon for lowlncome borrowers who
often luck credlt und lnsteud utlllzes grou
lendlng to borrow ut feuslble rutes uslng
soclul ressure und u communlty mentullty us
reuyment ussurunce. She suys thut lorzu's
foundlng students found Alubumu und lt's
rurul outllers to be u rlme envlronment for
mlcroflnunce und lmmedlutely set to work to
muke the ldeu feuslble.
"8uck then we were ull bubles when lt
cume to sturtlng u buslness,' Eurdlson suld,
luughlng. "l've seen lt from ldeu to reullty und
l guess we've exerlenced u lot of chullenges
ulong the wuy, but
ln my olnlon, we've
come u long wuy.'
Slnce her freshmun
yeur debut to lorzu ln
zcc, Eurdlson suys the
number of lssued louns
hus rlsen from one to
elght, the umount of
cllents hus trlled und the number of workers
hus lncreused from "u hundful' to roughly c
students who ut ln hours of work weekly,
even zj, shlfts for two weeks ut u tlme.
lorzu hus ulso luunched u semesterlong
lnternshl rogrum, selectlng ullcunts from
ucross cumus und roduclng un lnternshl
exerlence thut culmlnutes ln the to
ercentuge's romotlon to fulltlme stutus.
More thun just u resume bullet olnt,
Eurdlson suys students guln reul world
buslness exerlence couled wlth communlty
lnteructlon. Sohomore lutle Plott entered
lorzu us un lntern ln Summer zc und flrst
tusted the reullty of the buslness world
by worklng closely wlth the executlve
members ln un everyduy offlce envlronment.
Plott suys the other students, muny just
u yeur or two older, mesmerlzed her by
soutlng out flnunclul terms llke u seusoned
bunklng veterun und hundllng themselves
rofesslonully wlth dozens of cllents. After
un lnltlul feur of slmly unswerlng the hone
und exlulnlng the loun rocess, Plott suys
she hus slnce rellshed the oortunlty.
"1hls ls the flrst tlme thut other eole
deend on you und exect so much of you,
so you reully huve to tuke resonslblllty to
your job und to go ubove und beyond wlth
lt,' Plott suld.
Luuren Lonoghue, the chlef lnvestment
loun offlcer, suys thls grou of hurdworklng
students set lorzu uurt from other
orgunlzutlons und unlverslty rogrums,
eluborutlng on how muny regulurly go ubove
the mlnlmum three hours of work weekly.
"Cur students reully get lnto the rocess
und work oneonone wlth cllents even just
wlth oerutlons,' Lonoghue suld. "1hey
work so hurd to do everythlng thut needs to
get done to muke thls buslness thrlve.'
vlth lorzu, Alubumu lunds ltself
ln u sot ulongslde other unlversltles
wlth mlcroflnunce rogrums ucross the
nutlon, lncludlng Yule, Stunford und
Rutgers, Eurdlson suys she hoes thut
lorzu wlll contlnue ln sustulnublllty us the
grou conslders
the osslblllty of
exundlng to other
schools ln the stute
flrst, wlthln the
Unlverslty of Alubumu
system to 8lrmlnghum
und Euntsvllle und,
eventuully, reuchlng
Auburn, 1roy or Sumford. 1hls unlque
exerlence, she suys, glves her u ste u
comured to other students ulylng for
jobs und lnternshls. vlth lorzu, Eurdlson
suys she hus develoed eole skllls und the
ublllty to motlvute others ln u workluce, u
lesson, she suys, thut cunnot be tuught ln the
clussroom.
"vhen l look buck on my four yeurs ut
Alubumu, lorzu ls the one thlng thut l wlll
ulwuys remember thut l dld,' suld Eurdlson,
u Unlverslty lellow who ulso serves us the
resldent of the Anderson Soclety und sent
the ust summer us u Credlt Sulsse flnunclul
unulyst ln New York Clty. "lt's robubly my
roudest uccomllshment und the grou l'm
roudest to huve worked wlth.'
lor Luthum und her vlntuge retull store,
lorzu offers un outlet for her creutlvlty
und gouls, comblnlng u usslon for style
und truvel lnto u feuslble dreum cureer.
This is the first time that other
people depend on you and expect
so much of you, so you really
have to take responsibility to
your job and to go above and
beyond with it.
Luthum rulses the students she works wlth,
descrlblng them us utlent, unlntlmldutlng
und suortlve. 1hey never muke her feel llke
u smull flsh ln u blg ond. Now, equled wlth
buslness skllls, Luthum suys she greets future
ventures wlth excltement und welcomes the
rosect of more rojects to come.
"l wusn't born to be u erson who does
one thlng for the rest of thelr llfe. 1hut's
just not ln the curds for me,' Luthum suld.
"l'm free blrd, l just llke the freedom of
cholce. l muy huve no ldeu whut muy huen
tomorrow, but thut's the fun urt.'
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