Initially, Gordon felt a bit intimidated taking her first-ever School of Business course. But she said the support she felt from Entrepreneurship faculty and her budding interest in entrepreneurship provided her a sense of belonging.

“It has shaped my college experience. It’s shaped my future,” she said. “After taking that initial class, it was like, ‘ok, I’ve found where I’m supposed to be.’”

Gordon also has found the entrepreneurship minor complements her psychology major nicely. She had the chance use skills she’s learned through both programs when she completed a reverse internship over the summer with a neuroscience-based market research firm in Overland Park, Kansas. She learned about the opportunity, which involves being employed by the university but doing work for an outside company, from entrepreneurship lecturer Dan Smith after taking his ENTR 450 course.

Gordon says her entrepreneurship courses have shifted her perspective and given her more confidence in herself and her abilities.

“It’s shaped my way of thinking,” she said. “I notice myself going through day-to-day tasks and stopping at any pain points and thinking ‘is there a solution to this? If not, how can I come up with a solution?’ It’s really switched my mindset from complaining about an issue to finding a solution.”

Cultivating that way of thinking is exactly what the KU School of Business aims to accomplish through its entrepreneurship academic and co-curricular programs.

“We want students in our programs to be able to solve meaningful problems in meaningful ways by teaching them and helping them to build an entrepreneurial competency,” said Brian Anderson, executive director of entrepreneurship initiatives. “No matter where their professional journey takes them, being able to recognize and solve problems creates economic value in any business or organization.”

Each of the school’s entrepreneurship programs are open to KU students of every major. The programs are designed to meet students wherever they are on their entrepreneurial journeys, whether they want to launch a venture, already have one, or just have an interest in entrepreneurship.

Sofia Bowman, a senior finance major, sought out entrepreneurial programs at KU after attending a meeting for Douglas County CORE (Connections, Opportunities, and Resources for Entrepreneurs) with a friend.

While attending an Entrepreneurship Lunch and Learn, she spotted information about a program called The Catalyst. The School of Business program employs KU students and gives them opportunities to work out ideas and venture plans with resources like industry mentors and peer guides. At the time, she was pursuing a marketing major, and some local small businesses had employed her to help with their digital marketing.

Bowman applied and joined the program in spring 2023. As she explored the possibility of establishing an LLC for her digital marketing business through The Catalyst, she began to build her own community of entrepreneurial-focused peers and mentors.

“I really fell in love with the archetype of people I was surrounded by. That just drew me in more,” she said.

Bowman, who also is pursuing a minor in psychology and certificates in entrepreneurship and professional selling, is now in her fourth semester with The Catalyst and serves as a student guide to a cohort. In that role, she provides insights about her own experience and leads group discussions. In addition to The Catalyst, Bowman has participated in Boundless Creativity programming, led by the business school’s Innovator-in-Residence Josh Wexler and designed to foster problem-solving and innovative thinking. She also has served on the Entrepreneurship Club executive board. Each of these touchpoints have instilled a mindset and formed connections she’ll carry with her beyond graduation.

“The community I’ve gained is unmatched, but I think one of the most valuable things has been the thought process that these programs implement in students,” Bowman said. “That’s the thing that will keep me from feeling stuck in whatever career path I take.”

Like Bowman, senior Sean Anderson has immersed himself in the school’s entrepreneurship programs. His path into entrepreneurship began when he decided to enroll in the first course of the minor in spring 2023.

Since then, he has spent two semesters in The Catalyst; participated in both years of Startup Jayhawk, the business school’s annual celebration of the student

entrepreneurial ecosystem at KU; and he says he has been to every Entrepreneurship Lunch and Learn.

“The academic program and the co-curriculars fit really nicely together,” he said. “There have been a lot of times in one of my entrepreneurship classes when we’d be learning about something and I’d think ‘wait, I’ve already had some exposure to this through The Catalyst.’”

Anderson is a double-major in accounting and finance who, in addition to his entrepreneurship minor, is also pursuing a minor in human resource management. He says his entrepreneurship classes have allowed him to better connect his “left brain” and “right brain,” which has helped distinguish him in the internship and career search. Over the summer, Anderson completed an internship with H&R Block in Kansas City.

“My entrepreneurship courses have definitely given me a competitive advantage out in the workforce,” he said. “It’s something companies are looking for with today’s constantly changing and fast-based business environment.”

Recent KU Business graduate Dane Christensen’s introduction to entrepreneurship programs developed from a motivation to help others.

Shortly after arriving to KU from Omaha, Nebraska, Christensen noticed a need on campus for better connection among students. With that in mind, he enrolled in an entrepreneurship class and eventually opted to minor in entrepreneurship.

“I fell in love with trying to solve the problem of student engagement on campus, and then worked backward,” he said. As a student, Christensen developed FRESHLINK, a social networking platform that connects KU students and organizations. He continued evolving the platform through The Catalyst, regularly meeting one-on-one with industry mentors and with Ryan Rains, director of entrepreneurship co-curricular programs.

Christensen received a $25,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce during his junior year to further develop the platform. He also worked with the school’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence David Morris to better understand industry best practices and to evaluate the feasibility of his venture.

Christensen, who graduated in May 2024, now works as the manager of operations and business development at Continuum Educational Technologies, a startup company established in partnership with KU Innovation Park. He says his involvement with the business school’s entrepreneurship programs and his experience creating FRESHLINK has taught him how to embrace change.

“Entrepreneurship goes beyond ventures and businesses. It’s being open to change and new ideas, and it’s learning to become comfortable with being told ‘no,’” he said. “It’s a neat way to look at life — to always hold ideas with a loose hand.”

Enriching the student experience through career-focused programming is one of the School of Businesses’ priorities in the current campus fundraising campaign with KU Endowment. For information on how you can help support the School of Business, please contact David Byrd-Stadler, Team Lead Business Development, at KU Endowment (785 832-7308).