“There's a line you have to find between being persistent and being annoying; however, I'd rather say that I tried my best than say, ‘I wish I had.’”

Jessica Ekstrom

College student and CEO of Headbands of Hope

44%

MBA students who start their own businesses after university.

30%

Students that plan on pursuing their business full-time.

205%

Increase in amount of entrepreneurship courses offered at post-secondary institutions.

Empowering college students to build successful businesses

Take your ideas and turn them into reality

Corinne, a 20 year old student built a $100k business selling hats

Her hats and neckwear, in neon polka dots, geisha flowers, and hipster plaids, are in 47 retail stores across the country. The joint major in anthropology and geography says her company, Skida, has been profitable since 2009. Sales for the last 12 months have hit $100,000.

As a second year student at University of Virginia, LeiLei opened up her own jewelry shop

When she was in high school, balancing everything was pretty easy. When LeiLei got to college, she treated it as if it were any other part-time job or work study.

“I set aside a few hours each week to fulfill orders. This got a lot harder around finals and holiday shopping season. I would try to multitask by studying and making jewelry at the same time. I work on the more time consuming aspects (new products, photography, website design etc) during breaks.”

Esma started her online jewelry store after high school

At a loss for what to do after high school, and having no solid educational plans, Esma signed up for community college. All she knew was that she had a passion for something. Esma started a company inspired by her love of sparkly things, and built it through her influential Instagram account.

Erin started looking for internships, saw the salaries, and realized she could do better

She founded Shop Jeen from her college dorm room three years ago, using the profits from reselling a generously marked-up Céline bag via an online marketplace. Her first foray into entrepreneurship started at age 11, when she flipped autographs from MTV guest artists, making an average of $500 per week.