Three Local Entrepreneurs Visit Upper Schoolers

Three local entrepreneurs with sports backgrounds shared their wisdom and tips with Upper School juniors and seniors in Kristina O’Connor’s entrepreneurship class.  

Courtney Tucker, founder of Lemon Milk Digital; Chelsea Carter, co-founder of Vertiq Marketing; and Keandre Jones, CEO of Everyday A Episode, told students about their journeys from working in sports and personal fitness to starting their own digital marketing and mentorship companies.  

“Entrepreneurship is about taking on a financial risk and hoping you are going to make an impact. You don’t really know when you start if it will be successful, and it is the same for all business from Nike to Apple,” said Carter, who worked in the MLB and NBA before starting her own business. “When you think of all these large corporations, they started as a small business with someone who had an idea.” 

Carter stressed the importance of having an entrepreneurial spirit in all career fields. Tucker asked the students their thoughts on the positives of entrepreneurship. Multiple said freedom and flexibility.

“Being your own boss is my favorite part,” said Tucker, who worked as a personal trainer and health and wellness director before starting her business three years ago. “And the opportunities are limitless. You can start you own business, start another business, and there is no cap for what you can do and what you will do.”

After going through positives and challenges of being an entrepreneur, Jones asked the students their thoughts on if success or failure is scarier. 

“Success can be scary because of what it does to the people around you. With the status and attention, you never really know who is truly on your side. So, you have to be careful with how you define success,” said Jones, who played in the NFL, including for the Cincinnati Bengals, before turning his focus to mentorship.

After the discussion, the entrepreneurs challenged the class to a “Shark Tank” exercise. 

Given only 15 minutes, groups of students wrote business pitches, outlined a social media strategy, and identified an influencer they would work with. The students prepared a presentation for the panel of judges, who decided if they would invest in their business or not.  

The panel included the three entrepreneurs and Seven Hills Director of Safety and Security Cassandra Tucker, Courtney Tucker’s mother.