Jack Lyons ’22 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications), is launching a new podcast season this week. He has always been a deep thinker. Why did he do that? Why is this widely accepted? How did people become the way that they are? He has always had a strong fascination with people and how they work. It’s no surprise then that he is a senior dual majoring in marketing and advertising, fields that blend psychological concepts with the business world.
“I’ve always tried to be creative and get as many people as involved in the creative process as possible,” Lyons says. “Growing up I was very into creating stories whether comics or short stories, or even a sports podcast. I’ve always had an imaginative mind.”
Coming into Syracuse in 2018, Lyons knew he wanted to do something combining his love of people and creativity on campus. “I really tried to get involved as much as possible to truly soak up my time here.” He joined a lot of clubs initially, but didn’t find the Blackstone LaunchPad until January of 2020 in a little bit of an unorthodox way.
“I was at a Pulp marketing club meeting and this guy gave a pitch about how his company, FSCL, was looking for someone to help with the marketing side of his organization. I knew from his presentation skills that this was a smart guy that I wanted to get to know.” Lyons eventually befriended the founder of FSCL, Sam Hollander, who was later named Program Manager at the LaunchPad.
Lyons says, “Sam was a great introduction into the wonderful community that is the LaunchPad.”
Lyons is a Global Media Fellow at the LaunchPad, writing weekly profiles for entrepreneurs for the past two semesters. However, he’s now taking on a new project that he feels really passionate about. “Last year I interviewed Patrick Linehan, the original host of the Commute to Class podcast, and was enamored by the hard work he put into it. I just wanted to continue the legacy.”
Lyons is honoring Linehan’s legacy by now hosting Season 2 of the Commute to Class podcast where he sits down with LaunchPad entrepreneurs, both past and present, to discuss some of the overlooked sides of entrepreneurship in an effort to really challenge what it means to be entrepreneurial and successful.
“I feel like a lot of people get intimidated by the LaunchPad and the practice of entrepreneurship in general, “ Lyons says, “ I hope people take out of this that being entrepreneurial and successful all have different definitions for different people, it doesn’t have to be something that holds a lot of pressure.”
This season he is excited to be talking with great and interesting people and learn how they tick.
You can check out the Commute to Class wherever you listen to your podcasts. The first episode featuring Jackson Ensley and Paul Hultgren, co-founders of Patchwork, was released Sunday October 10th and a new episode will drop each Sunday after that.
Story by Jack Lyons ‘22, LaunchPad Global Fellow; graphic supplied by Jackson Siporin ‘22