Love the idea of being your own boss? We interviewed entrepreneurship student Lucy Smith to learn more about entrepreneurship and the evolving program at Florida State.
Name: Lucy Smith
Year: Junior
Hometown: Boca Raton, FL
Major: Entrepreneurship and Marketing
Relationship Status: Single
Photo By: Annie Grafe
Her Campus (HC): What kind of opportunities in entrepreneurship have you had in the College of Business?
Lucy Smith (LS): How the entrepreneurship program works is you propose to your teacher how much money you want to start up your company, and you can do anything you want as long as he approves it and sees that there’s some hope in you making an actual profit. Our startup was $500; it comes out of his pocket and you can do with it whatever you want. If you’re able to successfully make the money back, you can repay him or keep reinvesting it in your company. Last year, we ended up making back all the money we needed to and we got to repay him and have a little leftover for ourselves too. It was a year-long idea and the concept was like flash tats (tattoos), but we called it Tribe Tats to be more like an FSU version; everyone bought them during football season.
HC: What made you want to get into entrepreneurship?
LS: To be completely honest, I’ve always been non-traditional about the ways I like to earn money. I don’t like the idea of working for someone and having to take taxes out; all of that stuff was just frustrating, so I liked finding ways to earn money myself. I was working my own hours and doing what I want, and I felt like I was making more money in the timespan that I’d be earning minimum wage anyway. I’ve always wanted to open my own restaurant, which is kind of entrepreneurial too. The program here is really awesome!
HC: Speaking of the program, FSU just received a huge donation to open a new College of Entrepreneurship. How is this going to change the program?
LS: There are only 40 kids in the whole program now, and it’s through the College of Business. They’re creating the new entrepreneurship school with the grant. Although I’ll be graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship, they’re making it into a Bachelor of Entrepreneurship, so it’s like its own degree. It’s going to be run by the people who run my program now, but it opens the semester after I graduate. That’s a little frustrating for me personally, but it’s still cool because FSU is one of the leading places to get an entrepreneurship degree in the country regardless. It’s awesome to see how this program is going to grow. Even if I’m not a part of the new school, we are still part of the core foundation that made the school even exist! They’re trying to bring in new students to the program to bring it from 40 students per year to 150 students per year to graduate with the degree.
HC: What are the most important aspects of entrepreneurship to you?
LS: I like that it’s all in your own hands; I like the idea that you can be as creative as you want. Constantly throughout my day, I see people doing things, hosting events or making products. And I think that’s so cool because there are so many small things you can do to make a difference and to make that product or business so much better. I like that I can make a change and see that change as opposed to just listening to other people. As long as you’re willing to work for it, you can get there; it’s scary and exciting but I love it.