I don't think I'm quite at the selecting a mentor stage yet, and I realize that was the assignment this week, so you can fail me on this post if you want. But I know we're close friends and it's nothing personal. I just feel like I have to update you on where I am in my scatterbrained process.
SO
This morning I went to the Student Entrepreneurship Conference. It was awesome. I won a pair of sunglasses and a phone case that I love. Even more valuable, I learned so much about the resources available to student entrepreneurs. Even MORE valuable, we were able to network with one another. Which is my favorite. And that's what I'm going to tell you about right quick, because I had this one interaction that may have changed my impact statement/life. No biggie.
It was breakfast, we're talking five minutes past arrival time, and I saw a fella' sitting alone; that always breaks my heart. So Dane and I plopped ourselves next to him, in our probably over-bearing presence, and started asking him uncommonly personal questions for someone we'd just met. And by we, I mean I. I have a serious problem delving into people's stories.
Here are the things we learned in the first couple minutes, solely in response to the question: "So, uh, what's your life story?"
Name: Xavi
Major: Communications
Year: Senior
Hobbies: Skiing, traveling
Religion: LDS
Political Views: Apathetic
Reason for being at the conference: (and I quote) "Eh, my friend told me to come."
So I'm assuming he's just some average kid who got dragged to this event, right? Isn't that a normal expectation? But then, and I have no idea how it came about, but he quietly mumbled something about some company he had started by himself.
The kid freakin' started and runs VolcanPaks. They were giving away one of his Paks AT the conference. And he's just so nonchalant about it, like he was dragged to the conference and like this awesome lil' startup is just something he does when he gets bored or whatever. What a humble guy.
But then I became intrigued. How does someone just design and sell backpacks out of nowhere? So I poked and prodded. How did you start? What gave you the idea? How do you execute it? Who helped you ____? How did you ____?
Then I just kept getting more and more inspired as he talked about it. "I could do this!" I thought. In fact, this is something I've always secretly wanted to do but never felt like I had the skills.
So, Kathy, here's where I give you a disclaimer: You know all of those really wonderful, profound chats we had about how storytelling is my niche and how I should pursue it? I agree with you, and those chats helped me so much. But I don't think that's what I'm passionate about right now. At least not passionate enough to do anything about it.
Now here's where I throw you a completely random curveball: I love dresses.
Not just love, as in, I enjoy wearing them. No, like, I am the largest dress-wearing advocate in the nation. Probably.
I just think they're beautiful. I think women feel beautiful in them, I think I like myself better when I wear them. But not just any dresses. The kind of dresses that are classic. Fit and flare. Big lapelles, flattering to the body, classy, the works. And here's the kicker: dresses with sleeves that cover the knee. Unique dresses. Dresses that help you look and feel beautiful without feeling like you have to expose all of your skin.
Sara, there's already a market for that.
I know. But have you seen how expensive they are?
That's my problem. In fact, it's a problem I face a lot. Because I really don't feel comfortable in anything else, but modest dresses are hard to come across...
I buy all of my dresses second hand. Usually they're expensive for second hand, about 40 bucks. And they almost always have holes in them, or they don't fit, or the hem is funky, or they're stained. I make do with most of those problems in every article of clothing I own. But it's still better than buying cute, modest dresses new, which can cost anywhere from $60-100. How silly. It's just a dress.
So, listening to Xavi, he explained how to keep your costs low so that:
1) You can afford to start a company at all.
2) You can afford to keep your product inexpensive.
This, like all other ideas I have, is unformulated. But it's idea an that is much more inspiring than anything else I've kicked around my brain for the past few weeks, so I hope you don't mind if I abandon what I've been working on to pursue this.
When I got home from the conference, I spent hours trying to find a supplier to make the dresses and researching how to have an online startup. Turns out, I don't know much. But I'm willing to learn. And I think this will be a project I could give my soul to. Because it's more than a silly online clothing store, it's helping women feel confident.
"I want to find a better way to help women purchase inexpensive, timeless dresses because I think they increase self-esteem and are hard to come across."
It seems like a lame impact statement, but it's important to me.
Let's see... I don't want to blow off this mentor assignment entirely. I had a list of people I wanted to work with for my last idea, but they don't seem quite so applicable anymore. I met Trapper today at the conference, and although he's not faculty, I think he would be a good resource to get me connected to people who know quite a bit about the industry.
Having done my research on the people.utah.edu page, I've selected a few potential mentors.
Bonita Austin: Assistant Department Chair - Entrepreneurship & Strategy
Yehua Dennis Wei: Affiliated Faculty, Institute of Public and International Affairs (IPIA)
Robert Wuebker: Community Foundation of Utah Social Impact Fund, University of Utah
Assistant Professor, Strategy Department
Jack Brittain: Professor, Management Department, Pierre Lassonde Presidential Chair in Entrepreneurship, Department of Management
To be honest, I think I need to do a little more research before I think about mentors. Agh, I feel like I end every blog post on this weird, like, "I promise, it's all coming together..." note. But, I promise! It's all coming together!
I appreciate you helping me through this strange, cavernous path. I owe you a draft of something I might say to a mentor... I'll get one to you ASAP.
Yours truly,
Sara "Scatterbrain" Best
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