STUDENT BUSINESSES TAKE OFF

WITH HELP FROM LAUNCHPAD

April 8, 2015
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Melissa Catalanatto

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Students shuffle into the Blackstone LaunchPad

located in the Student Union at UCF and listen to a
presentation given by someone they aspire to be
like a businessperson. An entrepreneur.
While managing schoolwork and a social life may
already be enough to handle for many students,
some have decided that they want more on their
plates and choose to pursue entrepreneurship
while in college. At a university where 14 years ago
only one entrepreneurship course was offered,
there has been a surge of students who have
declared that they want to be their own bosses.
Students have recognized the LaunchPad as an
important resource when it comes to starting a
business. Since its foundation in September 2013,
nearly 4,800 students have participated in events
dedicated to creativity and innovation. There have
been 781 UCF student ventures, 104 of which have
been labeled student ventures in revenue,

according to the UCF Starters website.

Kathie Holland, an associate instructor at UCF who
teaches a creativity and entrepreneurship course,
has personally watched this growth in student
entrepreneurs.
The course that Im teaching right now, the
creativity and entrepreneurship course I started
teaching that course in the fall of 2010, and I think
I might have had 350 students in the course then,
and this semester, I have 520. So theres a growth
in interest in entrepreneurship has definitely been
on an upward trend, Holland said.
A student entrepreneur at UCF, Joycelyn Bryant,
opened Joycelyns Southern Kitchen at the age of
22. She described her catering service as a fulltime catering operation specializing in Southern
gourmet and fusion cuisine.
It started as an individual meal delivery service for
college students. It was inspired by the spirit of
entrepreneurship as well as the realization that
many students were not getting home-cooked
meals, Bryant said.
As the companys reputation grew, Bryant sought
help from the LaunchPad, and they assisted her in
developing her business.
They were very hands on and led me to even
more great resources on and off campus, said
Bryant. [They are] very warm and inviting, but
serious at the same time. They really take a stake
in your success.
Entrepreneurship in school may not be for
everyone but the students who decide to pursue it
have found that they have sufficient support from

campus staff to help them pursue their dreams.

Jadon Stringfellow, a senior at UCF and business
partner of Paint Society, a clothing brand, did not
have much support from his family in starting a
business, but the LaunchPad helped him succeed.
My parents are all strict products of education, so
they believe that if theres no guarantee, its not
really worth it, Stringfellow said. But the thing is,
the only thing that you will actually be willing to do
for the rest of your life is the thing you love, and
entrepreneurship is that thing [for me].
Holland said that everyone has a desire to be some
sort of an entrepreneur.
I think we all have some kind of an independent
streak in us. We want to do our own thing at some
point in our lives rather than go work for a big
company where you have a boss or supervisor
who tells you this is your job and how you do your
job. For some people, that streak of independence
is stronger than in other people, she said.
With more and more people discovering this
independent streak at a young age, students
continue to shuffle into the Blackstone LaunchPad
and seek the advice of those who have already
paved their own way.

Story by Brianna Ordenes

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tagged with Blackstone Launchpad, Business,

entrepreneurs, ucf
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