Janet  Berenice Flores is an expert at building community and creating connections. After three years on this campus, Flores, has undeniably left an imprint of inspiration and a network of connections for the years to come. Not your typical undergraduate student, she is currently working towards receiving her third undergraduate degree in geography this May.

Flores is an expert at building community because she works from within. Always involving herself in efforts that recognize communities that she personally identifies with, Flores exemplifies what can really be accomplished when you work with what you know best, home. Immersing herself entirely in the community, she has been a part of countless efforts to bring change, unity, and justice to the undocumented, black, and brown communities of Syracuse.

Over her time here she has shown what applying the entrepreneurial mindset of innovation and resourcefulness can do for the community. Working primarily with organizations such as the Workers’ Center of CNY, CNY Solidarity Coalition and other nonprofits and student organizations such as XEX, Xicanxs Empowering Xicanxs, she has strengthened the bond of every group she works with. XEX is another space where Flores has left her mark on this campus, and a place that felt like home to her. A part of the group of Mexican American students that gathered last year in effort to create a space on this campus for the underrepresented students of Mexican connection, she has been a part of a group that works to build community within the university and with the greater latinx community in Syracuse.

Apart from joining efforts of other organizations, Flores has created her own efforts such as BMM, Brown Mujeres Media, a platform for women of color by women of color which she launched April of last year as a response and continuous effort to combat colonization and oppressive systems towards people of color.

On  BMM, Flores shares writing and ideas from people of color everywhere in order to continue to have important conversations, always keeping the voices that need to be highlighted at the forefront. Like a true entrepreneur, Flores is quick to adapt to her environment and has utilized this mindset to grow the platform organically. She has let BMM turn into what it needs to be, a megaphone for communities of color.

There is no doubt that Flores has become an integral part of the Syracuse activist community without her even trying to fill a role. Flores simply does what she loves and she does what is needed. She looks at what needs to be accomplished and finds ways to connect those with the skill sets to get it done! She looks to feel inspired and validated in her experiences as a brown Mexican American woman by the communities that she is a part of, and reciprocates the same love and energy.

Always involved, Flores has recently become a contributor to Rematriation Magazine, an online storytelling platform powered by a sisterhood of over 200 Haudenosaunee women. Rematriation Magazine is an inclusive collective platform for indigenous women whose values and mission align with Flores’s work for the later part of her life. Her work there is an embodiment of the words that she speaks and her commitment to decolonization.

Flores is a trailblazing force that has felt touched by communities in Syracuse and that has undoubtedly left her mark on as well. Wherever she goes she will continue to spark connections, conversations, and efforts that bring solutions and healing to communities.

Story by Blackstone LaunchPad Engagement Scholar Luz Perez

Photo by Blackstone LaunchPad Global Fellow David Fox

You wouldn’t expect most ten year olds to be self-taught web designers, but then again, Hanna Benavides has never exactly been one with the crowd.

“I remember when I signed up for Piczo.com to make my first website, I foolishly believed it was as easy as dragging and dropping text boxes and glittery icons. But I quickly discovered that I was missing an element to get my website to look as pretty as the ‘big league’ fansites,” Hanna said. “That was when I taught myself how to code.”

Hanna’s nature is to be a self-starter.  That trait led her to co-found Globalists, an organization at Syracuse University that aims to give students an outlet to start conversations around global issues, trends and diversity, as well as to celebrate differences in culture and experiences.

“The idea behind Globalists isn’t exactly groundbreaking or new, but what makes it special is that it is the brainchild of two people from very different backgrounds, with very different visions,” she said. “To me, entrepreneurship is new and distinct visions, coming together to create a product. That’s precisely what Globalists is.”

She now serves as Creative Director at Globalists, where she oversees web design, visual layout, photography– in essence, the creative side of the organization.

Throughout her time at Syracuse University as a double major in information management and technology as well as television, radio and film, Hanna says she has gone from being a contributor to being a leader.

“Although I lead a group of people, I still need to make sure people still have the chance to contribute their own ideas, so Globalists can help tell their story as authentically as possible, while still keeping our vision intact,” Hanna said.

Hanna says one of the biggest hurdles she has overcome while expanding Globalists has been navigating different types of content and presenting it in a way that is appealing to readers.

“When we first launched the website, we started off with very little content. That was a challenge in itself,” she said.

While designing the website, Hanna says she had to create a template that brought attention to specific stories and could accommodate multiple forms of media. Moving forward, she wants to continue building the Globalists brand.

Globalists is hosting its first event of the year on April 20. “Joint Narratives” will feature a guest keynote speaker, Professor Hub Brown, an associate broadcast and digital journalism professor and the Associate Dean for Research, Creativity, International Initiatives & Diversity. There will also be a panel discussion featuring representatives from several student start-ups and organizations, including DOodleTheNews and the Society of Professional Journalists. Discussion will revolve around the importance of diversity in storytelling.

Hanna says her own cultural identity motivated her to help put the event together.

“I’m Mexican with a complicated background because I’ve only lived in Mexico for a couple of years. I spent the rest of the time in Japan,” Hanna said. “For that reason, I’ve always been in this weird gray area of identity, and I think when it comes to diversity in storytelling, there has been a lack of representation for people I identify with, or for people who should be contributing their stories.”

Hanna says events like “Joint Narratives” are crucial, given today’s politically charged climate.

“With media now, people have a voice to share their stories, and things are changing on most platforms,” Hanna said. “But to be able to continue this change, there needs to be open discussion on the future of media. Events like this make that possible.”

Visit suglobalists.com and follow them on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/suglobalists/) for more stories.

Story by Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow Saniya More ’19

Photo by Blackstone LaunchPad staff

Erin Miller is “obnoxiously obsessed” with Twitter, loves movies, and is an amazing storyteller. You can often find her wandering around the iSchool, popping into the LaunchPad, or sending creatively written cakes. Spend just two minutes with Erin and you will know she is a creative soul.

Erin, who is from Pinole, CA in the Bay Area, is a 2016 graduate of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with a degree in advertising and a minor from the School of Information Studies.

If you ask Erin to tell you about herself she’ll pause and think awhile.  But if you ask her about what she likes to do, you’ll see her face spontaneously light up. Erin once got kicked off Twitter for tweeting too much.  Each year she has a goal of watching 100 movies.  As of the beginning of March, she was at 36.

Erin is currently “capitalizing on her youthfulness” by working for the iSchool as a self-titled “Innovation and Immersion Recruiter.” She helps to structure and market the iSchool’s immersion trips to Silicon Valley, New York City, Portland, and other major cities around the US.

Outside of working at the iSchool, Erin is a co-founder of Out There Productions, a media accelerator and production company. She is best known for operating out of a renovated school bus and traveling counterclockwise across the United States.

Out There Productions handles anything on the media production side for small businesses. The team, composed of three SU grads, also produces short films. Their first one, No Nuts, comes out this summer.  The film is about a summer camp for kids with peanut allergies.

No Nuts was filmed in Syracuse and casts kids from the local neighborhoods. Out There Productions took the opportunity to not only create the film, but to teach kids a little something as well. The team taught the children in the film about production, character development, and social issues– like gender equality and consciousness of pronouns. Erin says the team “wants to produce socially conscious films on a shoestring budget.”

Erin started out making films with her brother when she was young but didn’t think much of it until she was a student at SU. A friend of hers was starting his own venture and asked her to make a quick promo video for him. That video helped him to raise $4 million. She noticed that judges in business competitions wanted videos and that they were good visual aids for the new companies to use elsewhere. She wanted to help startups get their ideas “out there,” birthing the name Out There Productions.

Erin never thought much about being an entrepreneur but when she reflects, realizes she had always been one. To afford her movie obsession, in high school she would make stovetop popcorn in the morning, and go around the building selling bags of it to kids along with comic books she had created. She’s that kind of natural pitch artist.

She is a self-described entrepreneur, advertising specialist, and artist. “With a passion for creative storytelling and a knack for making connections, I plan to make my way in the world through creating honest, moving, and shareable content to get awesome ideas out there.”

Anyone who knows Erin describes her as super smart, creative, adventurous, eccentric and undaunted.  And that is what we all love best about her.

Read more about Erin:

https://ischool.syr.edu/infospace/author/ecmill02/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinthemiller/

http://newhouse.syr.edu/news-events/news/newhouse-students-create-production-company-inside-school-bus

http://dailyorange.com/2016/03/seniors-will-take-their-video-production-on-the-road/ttp://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2016/05/erin_miller_leadership.html

Check out the digital nomad movement at otpros.co

Follow her on Twitter (until she gets kicked off again):

https://twitter.com/erinthemiller

Story by Audrey Miller ’20, Blackstone Global Media Fellow

Storytelling that encompasses the trials of cultural assimilation by a growing number of international students in a country that is not their own, and the process of embracing differences and diversity is extremely difficult. Divya Murthy ’19 makes the impossible courageously, authentically, unapologetically possible.

Murthy is a junior studying magazine journalism in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications as well as history and economics in the College of Arts and Sciences. Having lived in Chennai, India her entire life, Murthy has always been fascinated by how people interact with each other and how they share their stories. When she arrived on campus in the fall of 2015, she quickly plugged into the Syracuse community of writers. Murthy’s body of work is impressive; she is a writer at the Daily Orange, a writer for the Newhouse Student News Team, the public relations chair for the South Asian Student Association and now the editor at Globalists, a digital publication she helped co-found this year.

Constantly fascinated by the rhythmns of life surrounding her, Murthy has been keen on telling her own story, but more passionate about telling the stories of others. She co-founded Globalists this fall with Hanna Benavides ’19 Saniya More ’19, a fellow international student who recognized the need for the narratives of international students at Syracuse University to be shared. Globalists was born out of a collection of student ideas that explore the diversity of voices on campus. This platform was created to express conversations that are extremely vital for students with international backgrounds. But, the Globalists felt that these conversations are not talked about enough at American college campuses. .

“Globalists aim to bridge the gap between American students and international students. Yes, we have very different stories, but we also share the same human experience of fitting in, of growing up, of growing into our own. That’s beautiful and it’s real,” Murthy explains.

As the head editor of Globalists, Murthy oversees idea pitches every week as well as reaching out to writers who might have interesting stories to tell. Globalists welcome writers of all levels. Murthy and her team works closely with writers from all backgrounds on copy editing and finalizing every article.

“We are publishing important stories, but what’s much more exciting is that these stories are reaching people we really want to reach,” Murthy describes. Recently, a Globalist article on newly elected Student Association President Ghufran Salih garnered close to 2,000 digital impressions and 350 likes on Facebook purely through organic reach.

Globalists is hosting Joint Narratives, a discussion taking place in Newhouse 3 Room 432/434 on Friday, April 20 at 2:30-3:30PM. The event is a student-led dialogue that discusses the role of diversity in today’s media landscape.

Beside running Globalists, Murthy publishes intimate, sometimes hilarious and consistently wonderful blog posts in her personal blog, The Fourth PowerPuff Girl. Murthy is fearlessly herself in each story she tells, whether that is pondering what it means to be 21, or giving her take on the hype surrounding the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks Coffee. Murthy is passionate about this blog, which she has been running since she was still in high school back in India. “It’s important for me to maintain this part of my identity. On this blog, I don’t follow the rules I’ve learned in school about writing and storytelling. This is the most unfettered, human version of my thoughts, and I’m sharing them hoping that my readers will feel the courage to do the same,” Murthy says.

A freelance writing powerhouse, Murthy is expanding her wings in storytelling this summer as she joins the Hachette Book Group for an internship in New York City.

If you are interested in working with Murthy or are interested in joining Globalists, contact her directly at dmurthy@syr.edu.

Photo and story by Amanda Chou ‘18, Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow

In college, while you were throwing parties for your friends, Kalvin Peary 18′ was throwing concerts for the entire world. As a passionate and extremely driven person, Kalvin Peary is one of the most talented emerging entrepreneurs in the music industry. From Snoop Dogg, to Chance The Rapper, Peary has booked them all. His passion for entrepreneurship started very early in life. Growing up in Los Angeles, his parents raised him with a challenge that created his unique mindset. He was not allowed to ask for pocket money.  He had to earn it. It quickly taught him how hard it was to work for it and how to make decisions about spending it.  It was a real life lesson in managing cash flow, and balancing income and expenses, and desires and wants.  It was particularly insightful at an age when “young people know the price of everything, and the value of nothing.”

By 6th grade, he realized he loved entrepreneurship. After getting $20 from his father, he bought candies and started selling them in school, and reinvesting his profits. In only one year, he had saved more than $5,000, and learned another great lesson on creating a business model based on profit margins. After a difficult divorce between his parents, he decided to take some pressure from his mother’s shoulders by throwing backyard parties to make money. After nearly years of promoting house parties at his mother’s house, he had to move to a larger venue due to the unexpected growth of audiences attending the events. The house parties that were once just a way to earn extra money, quickly became a career. Hotel ballrooms, warehouses, small theaters, and eventually clubs that he wasn’t even old enough to get into himself would become his business venues. What started as a side hustle, quickly became his passion and priority. It became his life.

By 2011, he founded Peary Entertainment to handle provide services such as event production and management, artist tour management, logistics, talent buying , promotion, event budgeting and artist settlement. He positioned himself as an alternative to the large agencies that solely book acts. His value proposition was to facilitate, organize and execute.

What was his secret to the quick growth of his business? Him. He was always good at making $1 turn into $2 and then turning that $2 into $4. He became the master of exponential growth.  Always eager to stage the next concert, and on the lookout for the business opportunity, Peary fell in love with the concert/music industry thanks to his fascination with the idea of bootstrapping and creating something from the ground up.

By the time he came to Syracuse University as a freshman management major, he had already booked and promoted 60 shows.  He also become involved with Mixtape Magazine at SU, Syracuse’s ONLY hip-hop magazine.  And, he continued to grow his business.

Peary is always on the lookout for changing trends, market opportunities and challenges in the music industry.  He uses them to figure out innovative ways to make it easier for the masses to enjoy unique concert experiences – whether it is through ease of ticketing, pricing, and the experience itself. Peary became very good at finding sponsors to cut the price of tickets. His goal is to break even before the concert starts. And his sponsorship magic is working.  Two large-scale 2019 events he is booking and managing are in the works — one in Southern California, and one in New Zealand.

“Hold yourself accountable. I think most people don’t want success as much they want to party, or sleep, or hang out with friends,” says Peary. “ You are going to have to make sacrifices and really miss out on some things.” His idea of entrepreneurship is all about hard work and commitment throughout your life and your college career. As a senior, he feels that his years at Syracuse have been marked by other incredible startups who are part of the entrepreneurial community on campus.

After graduation, he looks forward to disrupting the industry.  The only question is which music festival will he reinvent? Will it be the next Tomorrowland? The next Firefly? Or something entirely of his own creation.  Bets are on.  But one sure bet is that it will be a wildly successful, sell-out success.

Story by Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow Quentin Rosso ‘18

Who hasn’t dreamed of traveling the world while managing a successful business? If there is one person who embodies this lifestyle, it is Chase Guttman ’18. Chase is the founder of Heightened Visions, a drone photography, videography and education company. Award-winning travel photographer, author, avid traveler and social media influencer with 50,000 followers on Instagram, Chase is the most adventurous entrepreneur you will meet in your life. Always looking for the next eccentric travel challenge, the next best photo taken by his drone or the next unique story to tell, he is the definition of what is it like to be the ultimate travel entrepreneur.

This passionate traveler started his entrepreneurial journey very early in life. Back in middle school, he was making pocket money with his massage business. Such experiences taught him his financial savvy, an invaluable skill for someone with the desire to always travel.  To his mind, Chase’s entrepreneurial ventures are ways to finance his unique lifestyle full of travel adventures.

Of course, his talent does not stop with his artistic and journalism skills. He is also a marketing genius. While a junior at SU, he was highly successful at bootstrapping a full-fledged PR campaign. Indeed, during his sophomore year and in only a few months, he successfully published one of the first ever book written on drone photography, The Handbook of Drone Photography. In order to promote his book, his plan was well crafted. He only needed one prestigious media mention and other well-known outlets would pick up the news. After trying over and over again, he finally got his first media mention. Once the first domino fell, others quickly followed, and many media outlets published dozens of content pieces about his book. Travel + Leisure, The Telegraph, Business Insider, The Daily Mail and the New York Post are among the many publications that praised his book. With this success, Chase Guttman quickly realized the untapped opportunity in the drone market: the tremendous lack of education. He then started to teach drone photography at companies and universities. This is one of the reasons he decided to start Heightened Visions.

What is even more incredible about Chase Guttman is his ability to quickly learn from adversity. It is in his DNA. “Travel experiences are about learning. You have to approach every situation, every client, every sale differently” says the young photographer. By traveling, you put yourself out of your comfort zone. You need to walk out of the beaten path. This is the same in business. Of course, travel was not the only way Chase learned the entrepreneurial mindset. Mentors were also highly valuable in his life. His parents each gave him a piece of their photography and business backgrounds. SU’s teachers were also part of this mentors’ circle. “I always try to hang out with people who are way smarter than me,” says Chase while thinking about his mentors.

Chase graduates in May and this summer, he is teaching drone photography at the New York Times.  He recently incorporated as an LLC, and is building a client base with high profile clients like Procter & Gamble, Intel, GoPro, ESPN,  and Sofitel.

He is tracking the fast-growing drone sector, and scanning the horizon for opportunities.  As he builds his business base, he is also looking for the next travel destination, while sharing his passion with others.  He has already traveled to all 50 states and in 75 countries.

He is the recipient of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Storytelling and Exploration.  Travel + Leisure Magazine hailed his work, “Stunning Drone Photography Captures Unique Perspective on the World.”  Three-time recipient and first American to win Young Travel Photographer of the Year, a prestigious international competition judged by museum curators and magazine editors, Chase was named a World’s Top Travel Photographer by Condé Nast Traveler.

Named a Three Best Travel Photography Blogger by USA Today, Chase has been published in National Geographic Publications, Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Lonely Planet, Photo District News, The Guardian, CNN, BBC, ESPN and more.

Chase was the title subject of a Hollywood television pilot about his travel adventures called the “Thrill of the Chase” at the age of 15.  He visited his 50th and final U.S. state at the age of 17 and his 50th country by the age of 18.

During his travels to five continents, he has ridden ostriches, dove with great white sharks and heli-hiked, sleeping in ice hotels and on swamp platforms and consuming everything from whale blubber to a drink garnished with a severed human toe along the way.  He has rafted tidal bores on the Bay of Fundy, rescued baby puffins beneath the cliffs of Iceland, stood atop George Washington’s granite wig on Mount Rushmore, cage dove with great white sharks in South Africa, tracked jaguars through the jungles of Belize, crossed Saharan dunes by camel in Morocco, trapped eels on the Delaware River, rode with gauchos across the Uruguayan pampas and raced astride an ostrich on the African Cape.

Magellan was the first to circumnavigate the earth, launching in 1519.  His accomplishment is honored by the Order of Magellan, as well as a galaxy in the celestial hemisphere.  2019, the 500-year anniversary of Magellan’s launch, is auspicious timing for Chase to set off full-time on his entrepreneurial adventure around the globe. Like Magellan, he will be capturing sights not yet seen by the human eye, in a way they have not yet been experienced.  He is truly the Magellan of this generation – a digital cartographer of the world.

See his work here:  http://chaseguttman.com/

Story by Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow Quentin Rosso ’18

Photo by Blackstone staff

Martín Alberto Gonzalez is a social entrepreneur in the truest sense. With perseverance and passion, he keeps working to impact his community, Oxnard, California, along with other communities alike.  As a doctoral candidate in the Cultural Foundations of Education department, his research focuses on the experiences of Students of Color, specifically Mexican American students, in higher education. His preliminary research findings coupled with collaborations  working with Mexican American undergraduates has shown importance and value, and has informed his new self-published book, 21 Miles  of Scenic Beauty… and then Oxnard: Counterstories and Testimonies.

His observations as the youngest of seven and the only one in his very talented family to attend college.  His undergraduate experience at California State University, Northridge (CSUN)) greatly informs the social entrepreneur that he is today. Growing up, he personally witnessed his parents and older siblings hustle and work with the limited resources they were given.

Still, immediately after he was admitted to CSUN, Gonzalez was placed in remedial English classes, where he was expected to learn and replicate standardized English through his writing. However, he gradually realized that standardized English not only limited how  he wanted to express himself, but also systematically excluded him and his community from pursuing a higher education.

From being placed in remedial classes to becoming a self-published author and the first in Syracuse University’s history to receive the Ford Foundational Predoctoral Fellowship, Gonzalez is a prime example of what the entrepreneurial spirit can do for you. Early on, he understood the detrimental impact of labels and the importance of navigating his endeavors strategically. He never let labels define who he is, and constantly sought out a community that recognized him as a knowledge producer, which ultimately propelled  him forward.

In his book, 21 Miles  of Scenic Beauty… and then Oxnard: Counterstories and Testimonies, Gonzalez utilizes counterstories and testimonies to combat his community’s negative reputation. Inspired by his mission to empower members of his community and others alike, he frequently presents at local schools across all grade levels, including higher education. Without a doubt, his entrepreneurial efforts have been rewarding. He has gained recognition and support for his book in and outside of his community. One of those communities is Syracuse. He recently presented his book at La  Casita, a local cultural center in Syracuse, and donated all proceeds from his book sales to the “Diversity for Reading” program.

Apart from empowering communities through his talks and presentations, Gonzalez has several initiatives related to his book project that have generated benefits for Oxnard students. One of his initiatives is titled, “Buttons for Books.” With this initiative,  Gonzalez sells Oxnard-custom buttons to raise money to donate copies of his book to Oxnard students and schools. His donations  are made in an effort to instill the importance of providing Oxnard students an opportunity to read an Oxnard author and a culturally relevant book.

Gonzalez’s  second initiative is called, “Stickers for Scholarships.” Through this initiative, he sells Oxnard-custom stickers which serves as a scholarship opportunity to help students from Oxnard who are limited financially and unable to complete their college applications to their respective/prospective universities. Eventually, he hopes to raise enough money to pay for students’ college application fees.

Without  a doubt, Gonzalez is a social entrepreneur and producer/distributor of knowledge. Undoubtedly, he creates and inspires change in his community and others alike.

You can visit his website at http://vivaoxnard.bigcartel.com for more information about his products and mission.

Story by Luz A Perez ’20, Blackstone LaunchPad Engagement Scholar

Lawrence Lin is a seasoned student entrepreneur with more business-building experience than you would expect from a 21-year-old college kid. Originating from Northern China, Lawrence attributes his impactful entrepreneurial qualities from his upbringing in Asia. In addition to pursuing a dual degree in International Relations and Political Science, Lawrence has found a way to be fully immersed in the entrepreneurship scene on campus. In conjunction to pursuing his own venture ideas, Lawrence has had the privilege of serving as a Global LaunchPad Fellow in the Blackstone LaunchPad. While being a part of the popular campus incubator, Lawrence has advised students on their start-up ideas, organized entrepreneurship events, and is constantly making efforts to expand his entrepreneurial network at SU.

Since his first year on campus, Lawrence and his venture partners have started three distinct start-up projects. The first was a student media platform, Savofair, which addressed topics relevant to student culture around the world. The project was viable and able to scale quickly, thanks to Lawrence’s inspirational work building a team of dedicated writers, photographers and filmmakers.  The team designed a beautiful, fully functional website that featured the work of more than 100 student writers from 30 different countries, producing exclusive content. Despite great audience traction and critical acclaim, the team did not monetize the platform, because of the complex barriers to entrepreneurship that face students in the United States on visas. However, it enjoyed a large global following, and was very much a passion project for all who were engaged with it solely as dedicated volunteers.

The media project evolved into experimenting with a travel platform to help young travelers connect to share insider perspectives on the best places to find unique food, local culture or shared interests.  The team developed a large volunteer local ambassador program around the globe, but again, did not monetize.  In each case, the teams took the concepts right up to the point of fully business plan development, but did not launch.  The experiences of rapid planning and iteration taught the team that they could rapidly ideate a novel business concept, develop a viable solution, create and test a MVP, develop a social media following, and pivot – literally putting the “lean startup” concept to work over a series of business concept ideas.  It was a tremendous learning experience for all.

Through the travel platform, and shared love of food, Lawrence and his team decided to explore a third concept in the restaurant business, building a local brand rather than a global venture. With that insight, Lawrence used his local resources and experiences to work on a new idea, called WeCater.  The idea was simple – to create an online platform to allow local restaurants to digitize their catering menus to make it easier for customers to place catering orders.  Again, the team took the “lean start” concept right through ideation and building an MVP to perfect the art of customer discovery, but did not launch or monetize.  The goal was the planning process to perfect the skill set needed to be an entrepreneur.

When Lawrence recruits team members for his business concepts, he looks for individuals who work well collaboratively, people who challenge his own opinions.  Most of all, the dynamic between team members “has to feel right.”  This is especially true when people are volunteering to engage in idea formation and business planning.  These are all valuable skills no what what path you take in your life or career. “Unfortunately, the road to your dream job may not look the way you anticipated.”  Lawrence emphasizes that being an entrepreneur can be risky, however if you enjoy what you are doing, “It is worth a risk even if you fail. No matter how many times you fail, there are lessons learned from those failures, and those lessons build your character.”

With student’s growing interest in entrepreneurship on campus, Lawrence has been a strong voice and organizer for the international student community.  The LaunchPad works with students from 47 different countries, collaborating on new and innovative ideas, and continuing to grow together.  It is largely because of Lawrence’s efforts that the LaunchPad is so diverse.

As one of the first international student entrepreneurs in LaunchPad, Lawrence says, “It is different being both an international student and entrepreneur.” For Lawrence, being an entrepreneur requires the ability to see hidden opportunities that most people cannot recognize. International students may have the unique ability to see the world through a different lens and notice opportunities for change more intuitively. Most international students have different backgrounds that affect the way they look at the world around us, and have different perspectives compared to US natives.  Often, they can see opportunities that no one even thought of before.

There are many difficulties that US born entrepreneurs do not even consider or sometimes take for granted, such as Visa complications, language, and other issues that have a direct impact on foreign entrepreneurs living in the US. However, Lawrence is a prime example of how international students can overcome these challenges.

Lawrence is a believer in “Teamwork makes the dream work.”  He describes finding the right team members as the most challenging, but most essential component of building a successful business. While recruiting members for his ventures, Lawrence also prioritizes gender inclusivity on his teams.  He even refers to himself as a “feminist” who supports gender and race equality in the workplace. Lawrence says that women “have a level of understanding and compassion that is unmeasured.”

Despite the fact that the pursuit of entrepreneurship is growing, there are many people who refer to up-and-coming entrepreneurs as unemployed. “It is a risky life being an entrepreneur,” Lawrence says.  “It is natural for the people around you to worry about the risk factor that surrounds entrepreneurship.     The biggest goal for college students is getting a job that assures some sense of financial security. Wanting the security blanket of a job is completely normal.”  Still, there is nothing quite like the creativity energy one feels when working on a new idea.

He graduates in May 2018, but Lawrence is currently working on his fourth venture idea since enrolling in SU.  His goal is create an Eastern Asian student entrepreneurship organization where like-minded international students can come together and explore market opportunities around the world.  He is planning on heading home overseas after graduating in May, and he has has a positive outlook on life and on entrepreneurship.

For Lawrence, being an international student presented some challenges launching a business in the states, but it gave him unprecedented opportunity to learn about business planning, ideation, team building, customer discovery, and how to follow the “lean start” model. He says he would not trade those lessons for anything.  “I might not be able to start a business here, but I can do a lot of the planning and brainstorming sessions so that I’ll be completely ready to launch when I go home.”

Story by Dong Hyeok (Justin) Lee ’20

All entrepreneurs are artists: extraordinarily creative, constantly inspired, and full of hardworking grit. Award winning animator Justina Hnatowicz ’19 is no exception. Hnatowicz studies advertising at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and animation at the College of Visual and Performing Arts. As a junior this year, Hnatowicz joined the Blackstone LaunchPad as a Global Media Fellow, combining her love for graphic design and animation to create visual content for student ventures and LaunchPad events.  Along the way, Hnatowicz discovered a deep passion for creating something that was her own. This new interest paved the way for her to become more and more engaged with fellow student entrepreneurs and to launch her own venture, 410 Pictures.

“By constantly meeting student entrepreneurs and helping their ventures develop a clear and cohesive visual message, I began falling more and more in love with becoming an entrepreneur myself,” Hnatowicz explains. “The community of student entrepreneurs here in Syracuse has really pushed me to grow and develop my skills.”

Hnatowicz spent all of the fall semester creating “Burdie,” which she describes as a passion project.  “It’s my baby.” She created the entire animation short film from beginning to end, including establishing the model, rigging, lighting, and rendering the film. The film is a semi-finalist in Los Angeles’ CineFest and has been officially selected for the Yale University International Film Festival. Hnatowicz hopes to bring “Burdie” into more festival loops in the near future.

Her outstanding talent in animation and light, friendly comedy is undeniable and exciting. She has an impressive portfolio and demo reel on Vimeo (vimeo.com/justinahnatowicz) and has won a number of advertising awards through Newhouse.  With strong skills in animation software and motion graphics, she strategically develops graphics, animations and video content for an array of media, including web, mobile, and social media applications.  She helps develop marketing strategy, visual brand identity, content development, graphic design, and outreach collateral for fellow entrepreneurs in the LaunchPad, and her graphics and animations are often seen in Bird Library.  As a LaunchPad Global Media Fellow, she also helps students start their own businesses.

And, in doing that, she started her own venture. After creating “Burdie,” Hnatowicz co-founded 410 Pictures this spring with fellow collaborators Peter Hartsock ’19 and Daniel Simoni ’19, who are both VPA film students.  410 Pictures is a microbudget independent film production company that creates short films across a variety of niche genres. As a team of designers, filmmakers and creatives, 410 Pictures is leveraging opportunities in the niche short film industry – producing works in Upstate New York that will be streamed around the globe. 410 Pictures plans on sending its films to festivals nationally and internationally, and to distribute them across a variety of video-on-demand platforms such as Hulu and Netflix.

To date, the team has produced or worked on 30 films.  Hnatowicz is the CMO of the company, and helped create a comprehensive business plan.  She researched the independent film industry, identified niche target markets, and is helping develop the marketing and business development strategy to reach audiences through festivals, brand development, self-distribution.  She helped the team refine its B2B strategy to sell through aggregation services to the growing Video-On-Demand market.  This industry is projected to be $110 billion in 2018, and is expanding exponentially.  It is looking for the next generation content creators, and 410 Pictures intends to be part of that.

Inspired by the apartment number where the three friends hang out, 410 symbolizes a place of creativity.  “At the end of the day, we’re just best friends who love to make beautiful, honest films and animations,” she says with a smile.

410 Pictures has produced an impressive library of works, and is new entering business plan competitions to commercial their inventory. The team has some films that are ready to enter the major festival loop and the video on demand market. Recently, 410 Pictures wrapped up a shoot on their new film “The House on Pumpkin Drive” which starred Hollywood actor Nicholas Tucci, and is ready to submit it to festivals come summer. Hnatowicz has also produced original art, provided technical support, and even acted in some 410 Pictures.

Hnatowicz describes herself as motivated, imaginative, detail-oriented, creative, energetic and agile.  She is also very accomplished, with a GPA of 3.9 and a great deal of design, marketing, film and animation work to her credit.

A lover of film festivals, Hnatowicz is organizing the LaunchPad’s first ‘Cuse Film Showcase in conjunction with the annual ‘Cuse Market, Friday, April 20 from 2-4 p.m. The popup ‘Cuse Film Showcase will take place in the LaunchPad from 3-4 p.m.

The event is a short showcase for students to share their work to the community. It will feature films of all genres, including dramas, comedies and animations. She is proud to be sharing her animation in the showcase, so be sure to come by and meet both Hnatowicz and “Burdie” at the ‘Cuse Film Festival.

Story by Amanda Chou ‘18, Blackstone LaunchPad Global Media Fellow

Scott Pecoriello may only be 21 years old, but don’t be fooled by his age.  He is a confident entrepreneur. Scott grew up in Westport, Connecticut and made his way to Syracuse University where he is now a sophomore. He officially launched his company, Wild about Weather, his sophomore year of high school, then changed the company name to Weatheroptics as it grew to more than 200 active clients and 25,000 active followers, and was featured on featured on News12, The Connecticut Post, CT’s 95.9 The Fox, and CNBC.

The company provides valuable data and weather insight to both businesses and consumers.

Scott describes himself as energetic, passionate, and hardworking. He carries himself with a sense of confidence necessary to manage a business even at such a young age. He admires entrepreneurs such as Evan Spiegal who had a cool idea that gained traction. Joel Myers, founder of accuweather, is someone else Scott admires for how he bootstrapped and scaled his company. Joel worked in the weather business for years before turning it into one of the biggest weather companies in the world.

But Scott’s biggest role model is his dad, a fellow entrepreneur who runs his own data company in New York City. Scott often goes to his father for inspiration, advice and problem solving, as he builds his own business.

What makes Scott an entrepreneur are his capabilities as a leader — his strong vision, and his ability to bring together good groups of people who have good synergy with one another. He says, “It takes a lot of passion and grit.  You,can’t do without those.”  The road to where he is today was not smooth, and had quite a few unforeseen bumps along the way. This is Scott’s story.

Scott started a weather blog in the 7th grade. Weather was always something he was passionate about and so he wanted to do something with his passion. The blog wasn’t initially as popular as Scott would have hoped. Throughout middle school the blog only had 12 followers. By the end of middle school he decided to expand into social media. He started using Facebook to gain more traffic. By the beginning of high school, he had thousands of people checking out the blog and Facebook page regularly. Freshman year of high school, he gained enough traction that he felt it was time to try and make money from it. He created a website that offered weather related consulting. Approximately 200 people signed up within the first year. Throughout high schoo, Scott continued to gain more followers, but found that the consulting business was no longer sustainable, and discontinued the service.

By the end of high school, the website and blog were getting tens of thousands of views regularly, but he couldn’tt figure out a way to make money. When he went to college, he interned for a data company, and his boss had a weather company of his own. After a few months, Scott’s boss agreed to partner with his weather company. Scott thought this was the turning point for his company and that things would grow from there.  “The company seemed to really be taking off.”

They partnered with another major weather company and started getting regular income. They hired four  people and the company seemed to be getting traction. These partners were in their 50’s and 60’s, much older than Scott. About 6 months into the new partnership, Scott said, “I realized that our vision wasn’t the same.” It was time to part ways, and he told the team they were disbanding, and built a new team. Since then, Scott has changed the entire vision of the company which currently has 15 part time employees. Now, they are growing faster than ever before.

Starting his weather company was the biggest entreneurial venture Scott has done. It took him years to make Weatheroptics into the company it is today.  He explained some of the lessons he learned along the way. “Don’t get too excited about people having interest in what you are doing. Due diligence is very important — doing background research, really knowing the person you’re partnering with is critical to success. I was so excited to be working with older and experienced people that I was blinded to what they were actually doing.”

After overcoming an attempted coup against him by his original partners, he grew as both a person and an entrepreneur. There have been other challenges along the way, in order to learn and grow. The original partners wanted to build an app, but when the app was launched, it didn’t serve the purpose it was meant to.  That initial misstep cost time and money, and now his team is completing a new app utiitzing artificial intelligence to run their weather algorithms, which provides an even better value proposition.

Scott built his new team through his personal network of intelligent and talented individuals. Scott chose people he knew before starting the business who he thought would help him realize his vision.

Scott is now also working on Flock, a mobile application that allows people to join a group and find bar crawls with discounted drink deals. A bar is selected each weekend for users to “flock to” with friends. Upon checkin the user can then get discounts and a winner is selected at the end of each crawl with the chance to win additional prizes. In this process Flock increases the number of people that go to bars on the app and collects data from the users that is then available for bars to see.

The way Scott sees it, entrepreneurs are both born and made. He believes there are certain traits that entrepreneurs are born with, but also crucial ones that everyone who strives to be an entrepreneur needs to learn.  “It is all about the long run, if you are in it for the short term gain you’re in the wrong field.”

Scott would not want to work for anyone else ever again. He has always wanted to do things by his own rules and feels he would not make a good employee because he simply is not a follower. Scott is a charismatic leader who rallies those around him to his cause, and it shows. He is personable, but but knows what he wants, and has the drive to make it happen.

“Grit is the number one most important thing. It is all about the long run, if you are in it for a short term gain you’re in the wrong field.” The word grit came up several times throughout the conversation, and as he explained, it is something he says any aspiring entrepreneur needs in order to be successful.

As Scott’s story proves, it takes determination to maintain resolve. People have questioned him because of his age, because he is still in school, and because he is in a field that typically consists of older and experienced individuals.

Scott recently won the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award at the recent iPrize competition, which will help him continue moving towards his vision.  He is a new kind of weatherman who is staying fixed on the long term horizon.

Story by Greg Steiger

Photo by Blackstone LaunchPad