Katie Kolls
MEDIA ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
E lizabeth Greenberg had no idea the
origami flowers she sent to her friend in
the hospital would turn her into a busi
ness owner, but they did.
Similarly Yasmine Arrington didn’t real
ize her idea for a social service presenta
tion would become a reality in the form of a
nonprofit, but it did.
We all know Elon is a place full of mo
tivated people. Every day students on this
campus are doing amazing things with the
resources available to them. Some have even
already started their own business ventures
and are looking to build a future upon them
or to improve the lives of others.
Elon offers several helpful tools for
students interested in entrepreneurship, in
cluding the Entrepreneurship major and the
Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leader
ship. The Center works with students and
alumni to help them succeed in economic
and social progress on a global scale.
So who has the ability to be an
entrepreneur?
You don't need to be a business major to
be an entrepreneur, as several Elon students
have already proven. All you need is a good
idea and the motivation to make it grow
According to Professor Laura Zavelson, who
teaches entrepreneurship classes within the
Love School of Business, many students out
side of the school have been taking introduc
tory level entrepreneurship classes.
"We really enjoy when people outside the
School of Business take [entrepreneurship
classes]," Zavelson said, “because it shows
that entrepreneurship reaches across aca
demic disciplines."
Bringing fresh ideas to the web
Zavelson says that in her time at Elon,
she's seen a wide range of student business
ventures. One of those ventures is that of
Kevin Ridge, a senior Media Arts and Enter
tainment major.
“What I'm trying to do is start a music
aggregate that would be like the IMDb for
music," Ridge said.
The other part to Ridge’s online creation
would Include allowing up and coming artists
to subscribe to his company’s web promotion
services rather than hiring someone else to
create a website for them. He says he already
has a few phone numbers of artists he would
like to work with, including Mike Posner.
® [ never thought
that it would
actually work and that
it would last.”
-YASMINE ARRINGTOrj,
ScholarCHIPS
There are naturally a lot of difficulties thct
come with trying to start a business at any
time, and especially as a student. Ridge says
his greatest challenge so far has been finding
the right people to help him, but like other
entrepreneurs on this campus, he realized
that fellow Elon students are a great resource'
to turn to.
“I’ve currently got two really promising
Elon students helping me to develop the site"
he said.
Ridge has also found a helpful faculty
mentor in Professor Zavelson, who originally
encouraged him to pursue the idea and
would encourage any student to do the same
regardless of their hesitations.
"It doesn’t matter how old you are," Zavel
son said. “Surround yourself with good advi
sors and try to make your idea a reality whiM
managing risks.”
Turning a solution to a problem into a
business
Junior Entrepreneurship major Elizabeth
Greenberg turned her idea for an origami
flower arrangement business into a reality
with the help of her mother. Greenberg came
up with the idea after learning she could
not send her friend and fellow Elon student
Andrew Genova live flowers while he was in
the hospital. Instead, she went to the craft
store and created paper flowers with a unique
twist.
“’We made very basic origami flowers with
quotes from The Hangover and Seinfeld and
some inspirational things, but more so funny
things," Greenberg said.
Greenberg’s origami arrangement at
tracted attention from nurses at the hospital,
as well as other visitors wondering where
they could order something similar. Erom
there, Greenberg’s mother encouraged her to
pursue her entrepreneurship skills and turn
her craft into a business.
Over the past year she started the venture.
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