Mahalo Chicago, Aloha Hawaii 🌺👋
Remember to wander. Let curiosity be your compass. — Jeff Bezos
Sometimes in life you need to shake the snow globe and start over again. That sense of adventure, challenge, and curiosity is what drives many entrepreneurs, including me. Some people are afraid of change, but I embrace it and seek it out. So, when my husband was offered a job on Maui, we had to say “yes” to the adventure of a lifetime. Yes to perfect Hawaiian weather, sunrise ocean swims, rainbows, and sea turtles. It will be a radical life change, but one we are embracing wholeheartedly.
Building The Garage at Northwestern has been one of my proudest professional accomplishments. In 6 years, The Garage has incubated over 1,000 student startups, built a network of more than 500 mentors and experts, and has become one of the most meaningful parts of the Northwestern student experience. 95% of our students report that The Garage significantly enhanced their college experience. I asked the question “What would happen if we brought the culture of Silicon Valley to Evanston and empowered our students with an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set?” The answer is: magic. We’ve built a community of fearless, entrepreneurial leaders that are founding companies, joining startups, and lending their brilliance to innovative companies. Our students have been named Thiel Fellows, incubated startups in Y Combinator, and raised millions of dollars from prominent investors. I can’t wait to see how far they fly.
The Garage is recognized as a leader in entrepreneurial education and student development. In January, the Garage’s Propel program for women entrepreneurs was awarded the top prize for Innovation in Co-Curricular Education by USASBE. Last summer, the same program was featured in a television documentary that aired nationally in South Korea. Our thought leadership has been featured in publications like The New York Times, Entrepreneur, Fortune, and TechCrunch and we have been studied and emulated by other universities around the world.
Some of my favorite memories of The Garage were introducing students to once-in-a-lifetime experiences. We met Mark Cuban courtside at a Bulls vs Mavericks game. We heard career advice from Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, at their headquarters in San Francisco. We had lunch with Gwyneth Paltrow, actress and co-founder of goop. Katrina Lake, Founder and CEO of Stitch Fix, keynoted a panel on advice for women CEOs at The Garage two years before taking her company public. Thanks to the Little Joe Ventures Fellowship, we met Maye Musk, Elon’s mom. We took students to visit Bumble’s headquarter in Austin, walked the floor at SpaceX outside of Los Angeles, and witnessed the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. By meeting accomplished entrepreneurs and visiting popular startups, we made entrepreneurship more inviting, inspiring, and attainable for our students.
Earlier this year, I published, Founded: The No B.S. Guide for Student Entrepreneurs. In Founded, my co-author, Mike Raab, and I distilled The Garage experience into a book to make it accessible to anyone, anywhere. We wrote Founded to be the foundational guide for students and first-time entrepreneurs. Founded is now being used in co-curricular spaces like The Garage and also in high school, community college, and university classrooms. I hope this will be the beginning of disseminating The Garage’s approach, philosophy, and skills to classrooms across the country and world.
I am so grateful to Alicia Löffler, Pat Ryan Jr., and Peter Barris for giving me the opportunity to serve as the founding executive director of The Garage. I also want to thank the amazing team at The Garage for their dedication to our students, our community, and our mission. It has been an honor to transform a parking garage into one of the best student entrepreneurship programs in the world. What a privilege!
What’s next for me? I’ll continue in my current role until mid-May when I will hand the baton to Mike Raab who will serve as interim executive director. I will also be tackling a mountain of crazy, complex logistics to get my family settled on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. After that, I’ll begin looking for ways to apply my entrepreneurial talents on Maui.
All ideas are welcome :)
Please connect or follow me on LinkedIn to keep in touch.
