Gaining a Sense of Usefulness and Ending the Cycle of Poverty Thanks to a Cincinnati Nonprofit
April 7, 2022
When the nonprofit Greater Cincinnati Microenterprise Initiative noticed that the individuals it serves needed an extra push beyond the typical business courses to get their ideas off the ground, it introduced the Ice House model to develop their entrepreneurial mindsets. That addition started a series of shifts within the organization. A community development financial institution or CDFI could help would-be small-business founders access capital and gain skills. Ultimately, it changed how Executive Director Willie…
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How the City of Albuquerque Grows Entrepreneurial Thinking From the Inside Out
January 25, 2022
Many cities have worked to attract entrepreneurs over the past decade. Albuquerque, New Mexico, is among them—but in an innovative twist, the fast-growing Southwestern city also worked to foster an entrepreneurial mindset from the inside out. City leaders aren’t looking for municipal employees to start their own businesses. Instead, they’re following the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative’s definition of entrepreneurship as the self-director pursuit of opportunities to create value for others. Here’s the story of how…
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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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…
Read moreDeveloping an Entrepreneurial Mindset on the Path to Recovery
May 14, 2021
Judy Raper never saw herself as someone whose entrepreneurial mindset would make an impact on her community. She might have pointed to her younger sister, a CEO, as the mover and shaker in the family. Then Raper learned a new definition of entrepreneurship as the self-directed pursuit of opportunities to create value for others. She realized that by creating value for others, we empower ourselves. She realized that the Ice House training she…
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Five Ways an Entrepreneurial Mindset Addresses Interrupted Learning
April 28, 2021
Students who disengage from school tend to feel discouraged about their futures. They begin to lack hope. And without hope, they disengage further. This spiral impacts their academic performance, their learning, and their sense of self-direction. At The Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative, we’ve been concerned about this pattern for years—it’s one of the reasons that we’re so passionate about offering the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program to middle, high school, and college students. We believe that…
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Are You an Employee or an Entrepreneur?
January 14, 2021
If you’re like most, you probably think of an entrepreneur as someone who organizes and operates a business. Meanwhile, the rest of us think of ourselves as employees. And yet the world has changed in ways that now require everyone to think like an entrepreneur. As such, the distinction between employee and entrepreneur is rapidly becoming obsolete. A brief history It’s worth noting that the term “entrepreneur” emerged at the dawn of the industrial…
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Gary’s Top Ten Resources for Understanding the Entrepreneurial Mindset
August 11, 2020
My interest in entrepreneurship comes from a behavioral perspective. I see the entrepreneurial mindset as a way of thinking that optimizes engagement in ways that extend beyond those who endeavor to start and grow new businesses. My goal is to understand the controllable cognitive, motivational, and situational factors that give rise to the development of entrepreneurial attitudes, behaviors, and skills. I believe that if we can understand these underlying causes, we can create more…
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Fortune Favors the Reliable
November 8, 2019
Learn How to Think (and Act) Like an Entrepreneur Part 6/8 Many famous entrepreneurs appear to have struck gold in their endeavors. Even if we hear the origin story of their success, something is missing from the retelling. In fact, they often took years filled with difficulty and multiple failures to get where they are. At a glance, it looks like luck, a chance encounter with the right person, or stumbling upon a solution…
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