How Do You Find ‘Your’ Problem to Solve?
July 19, 2021
Albert Edward Foreman, a humble clergyman who cannot read or write, has spent 16 years in a comfortable position at his local church when we meet him in the opening lines of the short story The Verger by W. Somerset Maugham. But there’s a shakeup in his peaceful world. The parish comes under new management, and Foreman is fired from his job because of his illiteracy. On his walk home, the disheartened former verger accidentally…
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Ryann Halo: How A High School Dropout Became A Successful Entrepreneur
July 15, 2021
Ryann Halo joins us to talk about her entrepreneurial journey. Hear her dig into surviving tragedy and trauma, overcoming it all to become a successful business owner of two award-winning salons. — Listen to the podcast here: Or, download and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts! iTunes Spotify Stitcher iHeart Radio Read the transcript below. Ryann Halo: How A High School Dropout Became A Successful Entrepreneur I’m speaking with Ryann DiBenedetto. What…
Read moreApplying an Entrepreneurial Approach in Our Daily Lives
June 28, 2021
The Ice House program takes its name from an everyday problem facing the residents of Mississippi: summer heat. Today, getting ice is as easy as walking over to the dispenser in our kitchens. In the early 1900s though, customers made frequent trips to their local ice houses to buy ice in 25- or 50-pound blocks. Solving the problem of keeping food cold during sweltering Southern summers didn’t take a degree in rocket science—or much formal…
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Elias Ruiz: How A 6th Grade Science Teacher Became An Unlikely Entrepreneur
June 24, 2021
Middle school teacher Elias Ruiz joined the podcast to talk about his journey from garage inventor to a successful business owner. Starting in his garage with a piece of plywood and empty 2-liter bottles, Elias has gone on to invent the Feather-Raft, a lightweight raft perfectly suited for a variety of outdoor water sports. The patented design was an iterative process to craft, and Elias shares an array of hurdles he had to…
Read moreSummertime Lessons in Early Entrepreneurship
June 23, 2021
Driving through residential streets at the height of summer, you’ll often see the hallmarks of youth entrepreneurship. These could be a lemonade stand, a lawn mowing crew, a babysitter at a playground. For tweens and teens looking to earn extra money over the summer, these classic pursuits may not seem like anything special. But all it takes is a little reframing for them to start to realize that they’re engaged in the form of…
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What Is Self-Directed Learning (and Why Do We Need It)?
June 16, 2021
Children are innately curious—sometimes to the point where they overwhelm the adults around them with their constant questions. One can easily imagine that the old expression “Curiosity killed the cat” was first spoken by a parent who was tired of being asked “Why?” for the millionth time by a curious preschooler. This curiosity implies a drive towards self-directed learning. The desire to learn and explore is the driving force behind human development. It manifests…
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Launching Tarrant County College Students on a Path Toward Entrepreneurship
June 4, 2021
Lourdes Ramboa is the Faculty and Chair for the Business and Entrepreneurship Programs at Tarrant County College, with 60,000 students at campuses across the Fort Worth area in Texas. With nearly 250 students this year, the college’s Entrepreneurship Program is one of the largest of its kind in the United States—and Ramboa is justifiably proud of its success. But if she could slip away from the “Business” connection, she would do it in a…
Read moreELI’s Top of Mind – May 2021
May 27, 2021
Top of Mind is ELI’s favorite entrepreneurial mindset studies, articles, papers, books, and talks. Now, check out this month’s selection! Read Here
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Lessons in Economic Recovery from Small-Town America
Around 100,000 businesses shut their doors in 2020. Two-thirds of small business owners say it was their most difficult year in business. Now that the worst of the COVID pandemic is behind us, organizations like the bipartisan Economic Innovation Group are watching closely for signs of how the recovery will play out. In their recent analysis of U.S. Census Small Business Pulse Survey data, EIG found that more than a third of businesses anticipate…
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