The 2015 NYU Entrepreneurs Festival (NYU EF) / #launchyourstory

I  spent this past week-end at my old stomping grounds - my alma mater - New York University - at the 2015 NYU Entrepreneurs Festival / NYU EF in New York City.  Wow, it felt great to be back! So much has changed since I graduated back in 1990 especially with all of the new buildings that are around Washington Square Park.

As I walked around the snowy campus, it brought back so many fond memories of my time spent at NYU and around Washington Square Park.  During that time, I often wondered what I would be doing after I left this place.  Oddly enough, I am doing exactly what I thought I would never be doing...I am an entrepreneur with 2 businesses.

I had an interesting journey at NYU.  I started at the Tisch School of the Arts in Dance and a year later I transferred to Washington Square College and University (WSUC) - now called College of Arts and Science (CAS).  I majored in Latin American Studies / Cultural Anthropology.  After I graduated, I decided to move to the west coast to San Francisco, California to continue graduate studies at Cal Berkeley.  It never happened...

I worked for an architectural and design firm and later met my husband and had 4 kids.  After my 2nd child was born, I had an idea for a baby product...and I did something about it.   I designed it, I made a prototype out of a piece of construction paper, built a website, marketed it, and launched my patented, award-winning baby product / invention called a patemm pad in 2004 within a few months.

Fast forward to 2014, I launched my 2nd business - {g}Collaborative - a boutique marketing, publicity, and launch consulting agency.

This is what I talked about during the festival and LOVED every second of it.  As a NYU mentor, I shared my ups and downs, my failures and successes, lessons learned, and the possible future of it all.  It was fun to share my knowledge and experiences with students, alum, and faculty.  They all seemed to enjoy my entrepreneurial journey especially the motherhood part of it - running 2 businesses and raising a family.  Yes, it is do-able!

The 2-day festival brought the NYU community together to connect, collaborate, and celebrate entrepreneurs from across the University.  It was organized around a series of keynote talks, panels, start-up roundtables, workshops, and a venture showcase.  They even added "The Pitch" where several NYU student start-up teams had the opportunity to present their ventures to a panel of venture capitalists. #launchyourstory

The festival was run by an organizing committee which included student volunteers, faculty, and alum.  I really enjoyed spending time with the aspiring student entrepreneurs that I had the opportunity to meet one-on-one. Many of them just chuckled when I told them that I graduated from NYU in 1990 because a majority of them were born that same year.  Ok, I am dating myself here...

I am looking forward to participating and attending next year's Festival in 2016 as well continue my involvement with NYU!  I  love the entrepreneurial spirit, drive, and mindset - to see and be around future aspiring entrepreneurs is really something special...and exciting!