We all have dreams; dreams to improve, dreams to achieve, and dreams to be our own boss. This past October, the School of Business participated in Women’s Entrepreneurship Week (WEW). Over 240 colleges and universities nationally and internationally participated in this year’s WEW. As a part of our participation, we hosted a panel of four women entrepreneurs to speak about and share their stories on how they started their companies and who they are today as entrepreneurs.
Josephine Geraci is the founder and President of gLovies. gLovies, a company that creates and produces products that help to make children’s playtime a clean and mess-free activity. Geraci created gLovies after she took her son to a public restaurant and inevitably needed to take a trip to the restroom. Observing that her son’s curious mind led him to touch nearly everything in the bathroom, that was the origin point of her business. Soon after, she created the first prototype of gLovies, a latex-free disposable glove. Seeing her product reach so many families and schools have been very rewarding for Geraci. She has plans to release additional products into the market soon.
Prescrxptive Communications is owned and operated by its CEO Theresa Jacobellis. Jacobellis, with a rich background in medical marketing, formed her own agency in 2017. Breaking out in the competitive field that she is in, was no easy task. As she persevered and formed a team to deliver services to her many clients her dream soon became her reality.
Many of us dream to take a step further in our education. Terry Mady-Grove helps prospective students live out that dream. Terry Mady-Grove is an Independent Educational Consultant and a Certified Educational Planner. Through her work, she helps the student not only during the application process but also assesses their interests and empowers the students to expand their skill set. With her extensive experience in higher education, she is an expert in recommending schools that best fit the students’ personalities and their passions. Mady-Grove’s efforts to graduate her business from a start-up to a well-established venture has been a very rewarding journey for her.
Marina Mentzel, Founder and Chief Visionary of urSwim spoke about her unique story. She realized that most swimming lessons were held in crowded and less-than-clean swimming pools. In Mentzel’s business model she allows for her swim instructors to travel to private or independently owned pools for the comfort of the child. In the earlier years of her start-up, Mentzel expressed that she did not realize how much effort was required to fulfill her dream, but the efforts did pay off. urSwim has been in business since 2011 and she plans to broaden her reach and bring the value of comfortable swimming lessons to more children.