What is your story?

Originally from Springfield, Nebraska, I grew up in a rural town just outside of Omaha. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to get involved with agriculture through 4-H at a young age. This experience combined with having a passion for educating consumers about where their food comes from, I decided to pursue my degree in Agricultural Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It was then that I discovered the Engler Program and changed my perspective on my life goals. Through real-world experiences and discovering more about myself, I found myself excited about starting my business. While my passions are in completely different industries, I'm excited to have found a way to incorporate both into my life. Today, I work for Dow AgroSciences - Mycogen Seeds in sales while also running my online clothing boutique part-time.

What is your business?

MyEllement Boutique (facebook.com/groups/myellementboutique). I started a small-scale clothing boutique through a Facebook group. My goal is to figure out what my target customers like and gain a better understanding of the market while providing them with the same styles and brands at well-known boutiques at a more-affordable price.

Who is your entrepreneurial inspiration OR biggest hero?

My entrepreneurial inspiration is Tim Ferriss - The guy is a genius. For example: for several years, he wrote down every workout and meal he had so that if he looked back at a picture and liked the way he looked at some point in time he would go back and look at what he was doing for his workouts and diet and repeat that so he could get back to that same look. Okay, that's a little excessive. But I admire his drive to be the best version of himself and have enjoyed reading his book and weekly emails and listening to his podcasts. I have found a lot of motivation through them to be the best version of myself as well.

What advice would you give to a student starting their entrepreneurial journey?

It was three weeks after graduating college that I finally decided to take the leap and start what I always wanted to do. My business is something I had dreamt about and worked on most of college but never could get myself to jump. My biggest advice to other students is if there's something itching at you, don't let self-doubt and distractions that you're not as passionate about get in the way of pursuing your entrepreneurial journey. Just do it!