As director of the Center for Entrepreneurship in Liberal Education at Beloit (CELEB), I provide one-on-one mentoring to students who are interested in self-employment as a career option and need expert advice, space, and tools, or introductions to alumni and friends.

My mission is to enable and empower students to have a great and fulfilling life through entrepreneurship skills: setting goals, building skills, and putting energy into accomplishing what they set out to do. My students are doers and learn through their experiences, such as starting ventures, building prototypes, and having great internships.

Through Belmark Associates, a student-run market research company, co-advisor Professor Laura Grube and I help lead, advise, and instruct. This dynamic market research consulting enterprise helps clients move their organizations forward. A Belmark Associates experience sharpens students’ skill sets and helps them to truly stand out from the crowd.

Students can also find me advising at CELEB’s Maker Lab, a student-led skill-building and prototyping lab, and preparing creative idea makers to compete in national competitions, like the Make48 challenge. These hands-on activities are fun and exciting ways to learn and build confidence. I also work closely with students interested in the visual arts, music, and media, to help them understand how to monetize their talents and creative abilities.

Early in my career, I built foundational skills in accounting, operations, and sales at our family business, Beloit Beverage Company, a wholesale beer distribution and logistics company. More recently, I was a founding board member and principal of City Brewery, a startup that became the nation’s largest dedicated contract manufacturing and brewing company. I continue to pursue my entrepreneurship passion as an advisor to gener8tor, a nationally recognized business accelerator, and an angel investor.

Having served as a board member and officer of the Beloit Professional Baseball Association (aka the Beloit Snappers, minor league affiliate of the Oakland A’s), a board member of the Greater Beloit Economic Development Committee, and an officer of the Greater Milwaukee Boys and Girls Clubs, I have helped communities thrive and achieve their goals.

After graduating from Beloit College in economics and management, I earned my master’s in finance and strategy at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.