#WeAreEntrepreneurs: The Next Generation of Entrepreneurship

By Alisha Slye

Alisha Slye is the Global Director of Blackstone LaunchPad, an initiative of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation designed to support campus entrepreneurs. In this piece, Alisha highlights some female founders who are breaking new ground and changing the face of entrepreneurship.

As leaders in the entrepreneurial space, we have a duty to help shape the landscape, and to us, it’s vital that we do soin a way that drives inclusion across communities. To increase women’s participation in entrepreneurial activity, it is important to understand and address women’s lower participation beginning at the earliest stages.

A 2016 report published by the Blackstone LaunchPad at University of Montana and the Kauffman Foundation found that women in a university community are less likely than men to participate in pre-entrepreneurial activities and to engage with a low-stakes resource for nascent entrepreneurs, like the Blackstone LaunchPad. According to the findings, women were also less likely to believe that they will be an entrepreneur at some point in their life. However, knowing a female entrepreneur was associated with even greater willingness to engage in entrepreneurial activity for both women and men.

Female participants studied consistently cited potential time costs, emotional risks, lack of know-how, and lack of skills as reasons why they would not pursue a new idea or venture. Yet, research also found thatknowing a female entrepreneur mattered, and was associated with even greater willingness to engage in entrepreneurial activity for women and men.

That’s why representation matters. Exposure to other entrepreneurs informs an individual’s willingness to engage in entrepreneurial activity. At the college and university level, Blackstone LaunchPad works to provide the community and support necessary to pursue those activities.

I want to introduce you to some of the female entrepreneurs who have emerged from our LaunchPad programs. They are each pursuing ventures to lift others up, inspire change, or shape future generations. I hope you’ll find their stories as inspiring as I do.

Camille Bell, Founder of Pound Cake Cosmetics (Temple University)

Camille was intrigued by makeup from an early age, but she wasn’t allowed to wear it until she went to college. Now, she’s blazing new trails for black women in the beauty industry. Her makeup company, Pound Cake Cosmetics, is a self-proclaimed “pro-black, pro-fat, and pro-trans feminist company” that creates flattering products for a range of skin and lip tones.

Pound Cake’s Indiegogo campaign has far exceeded its $20,000 goal, thanks to a $10,000 donation from Quickbooks. They’ll also be featured in an upcoming Quickbooks commercial. The Hot Cakes Collection — a line of vegan, matte red lipsticks made for a black women’s lip tones — will launch in May 2018. Camille’s line of cosmetics is challenging mainstream beauty industry standards and catering to underserved communities.

McCalley Cunningham, Co-Founder of End Hunger Snacks (Texas A&M University)

McCalley Cunningham has always wanted to make an impact, and now through her company, End Hunger Snacks, she’s giving everyday consumers that opportunity as well. Through a one-for-one model, Cunningham and her co-founder Juan Zermeño strive to provide a meal for a malnourished child every time someone buys one of their healthy snacks.

Zermeño, originally from Mexico, has watched hunger’s effect on his community. He joined forces with Cunningham who brought pitching and presentation skills to the table to help amplify Zermeño’s experience. Together, he and Cunningham use their company’s platform to raise awareness and take direct action to address one of the world’s most persistent crises.

Jennifer Sheets, Storysquares App (University of Montana)

Jennifer Sheets is working toward a Master’s degree in creative writing at the University of Montana. Her passion for writing is what drives her startup, the Storysquares App. Concerned with research that shows three out of four U.S. children can’t adequately write at their grade level, Sheets set out to create a solution.

Storysquares is a digital writing tool that uses storyboarding as a method to help students write their stories one square at a time — much like a comic book’s structure. It features a “lunchbox” where students can also store ideas for later, encouraging their creativity.

Sheets says, “Everyone has a story to tell. They just need the tools to do it.” With Storysquares, she is providing those tools and inspiring the next generation of talented writers.

To see more stories of student entrepreneurs from across the globe, we invite you to visit www.bxcfideas.com or follow along with #WeAreEntrepreneurs