I knew from a young age that my mind was wired toward entrepreneurship. I was drawn towards the creativity that comes with building something from the ground up. Watching my dad’s entrepreneurial drive as a small business owner shaped that for me early on. He showed me what it looked like to create something of your own, and I was immediately drawn to the intention and ownership behind it. I still remember sitting next to him at a young age as he helped me build a website for my “bakery”. Although a small idea at the time, it sparked something much bigger in me.
That early spark evolved over time, eventually leading me to start a nonprofit of my own, Nevaeh’s Rae of Hope. Through that experience, I began to see the intersection between business and mission-driven work. At the same time, I found myself drawn into the world of events and the passion of creating intentional environments and experiences.
This ultimately led me to the Wisconsin School of Business to pursue my undergraduate degree in business management and entrepreneurship. While I gained a strong business foundation, I found myself wanting to explore how those principles could be more intentionally applied within nonprofit and experience-driven spaces.
Graduate school was not originally part of my plan. However, discovering the Bolz Center and the MA in Arts & Creative Enterprise Leadership program shifted my perspective. The program offered a unique opportunity to bridge my business background with my passion for mission-driven and experience-based work. It quickly became clear that the program was exactly what I was looking for, even before I knew I needed it.
Through this program, along with my Applied Learning Placement with the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association, I’ve had the opportunity to put these ideas into practice. Working on a team focused on building meaningful relationships and strengthening community affinity has strengthened my understanding of what it means to engage people in authentic ways.
As I look forward to graduation from this MA program, I can confidently say that the knowledge and skills gained have expanded how I think about organizations and the role they play. It has pushed me to grow not only as a student, but as a leader. What originally started as a small spark has grown into a passion for building and leading organizations while creating intentional experiences. I am excited to bring together my background in business with my education in arts administration and nonprofit management to continue building people-centered organizations and experiences. The Bolz Center has given me the tools and perspective to do that, and I am excited to continue building on this foundation in this next chapter.
Categories: