A new student group of women entrepreneurs has recently emerged from the College of Textiles that is working to serve as a liaison between both women and men seeking entrepreneurship in any facet of university life with potentially helpful resources.
Katherine Annett-Hitchcock, an associate professor in the College of Textiles was the original co-founder of NC State’s Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE)’s 2015 iteration along with Rosanna Garcia, associate professor in the Poole College of Management. Annett-Hitchcock said that the past iteration was geared towards students, but that the events were held off campus.
Behnoosh Ghaani Farashahi, a third-year Ph.D. student studying textiles and entrepreneurship, is doing her dissertation on textiles and entrepreneurship. She became interested in AWE because of her academic background.
“I am interested in their values and limitations and motivations,” Ghaani Farashahi said. “I was asked to get involved in the events.”
They plan to coordinate a group of undergraduate and graduate ambassadors from each college at NC State. Ambassadors will show the entrepreneurial potential of each academic focus to fuel innovative thinking and then be a resource for that process.
“We have workshops and book clubs, [and] we are planning to have monthly events open to the public with a focus on NC State students,” Annett-Hitchcock said.
According to the duo, the monthly meetings will provide an overview of the different entrepreneurship programs at NC State. The group was formed to create a network of students and connect them to professionals.
“We are not a project based or academic group. We are a support group and networking and to get answers to questions,” Ghaani Farashahi said. “We see ourselves as a bridge between students and more formal programs at NCSU.”
Upon the group’s reiteration, the founders saw a disconnect between the potential on campus and the status of involvement; however, the club has found that students from many different colleges at NC State are interested.
“We have some really great entrepreneurship programs all across campus,” Annett-Hitchcock said. “I’ve had an amazing response from the College of Veterinary Medicine. We have entrepreneurship students everywhere.”
Ghaani Farashahi emphasized that entrepreneurship can be highlighted across campus because people from all disciplines can learn to operate a business themselves.
“The main thing that they found was that there are amazing entrepreneurial opportunities all across campus,” Ghaani Farashahi said. “It goes back to us being a connector.”
Ghaani Farashahi said that they provided her with a group that made her feel comfortable in the field of entrepreneurship.
“There was no community to talk freely without fear to ask a question, and we didn’t want there to be intimidation in finding information,” Ghaani Farashahi said. “The language gets really technical and masculine, so we are attempting to make our events where everyone is free to ask any question without fear of judgement.”
The monthly meetings will have varying themes and will occasionally feature keynote speakers. For example, an upcoming meeting on Oct. 19 will focus on “Zen and the art of the startup life” and feature a keynote speaker. November’s meeting will focus on the protection of intellectual property.
“Our first kick-off coffee mixer will provide some breakfast in the lounge at The Garage, where we will introduce all of the AWE ambassadors,” Annett-Hitchcock said.
All students who are interested in attending an AWE meeting can learn more information online, through social media and their monthly newsletter.
