A couple weeks ago, Katherine Hague came to town to speak at the Blueprint to Success for Entrepreneurship at both the Lakehead University and Confederation College campuses, to help spur on entrepreneurship in both institutions.
She shared her story of how as a university graduate she started Shoplocket, an ecommerce company that allowed businesses to easily sell their products online. She then sold her company to PCH and now works with them as Vice President of The Blueprint; a site that provides educational resources for the hardware innovation industry. I am not sure if Katherine even sleeps regularly, because on top of starting a successful company she is also listed as one of Canada’s top 7 tech stars and one of the 5 women to watch in wearable technology.
Katherine didn’t sugar coat her journey, she didn’t pretend to go directly from point A to point B. In fact it was anything but direct, there was pit stops and detours the entire way. She talked about her successful company, Shoplocket, but not before she talked about all her previous endeavors’; handmade cards, career counseling for her classmates, a handbag company, a dating site, an event company, etc. Katherine presentation was very refreshing; she told it like it is in a very encouraging way with a go do it attitude.
There was a lot of take always from her presentation and in case you missed out we were kind enough to put the top 10 together for you, and here they are (in no particular order).
- Get comfortable being uncomfortable
- Get on a plane, and go somewhere (With purpose of course!)
- Don’t burn bridges
- It’s okay to let yourself go off the path
- Build your network before you need it
- Turn your disadvantages into advantages
- The best ideas are not forced
- The crowd is a very powerful thing
- Entrepreneurship is not glamorous- you’ll be the janitor, the book-keeper, the complaints department and the night shift
- Remember: it’s a marathon, not a sprint
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The Blueprint to Success for Entrepreneurship event was part of a bigger initiative by both Lakehead University and Confederation College focusing on entrepreneurship activities. This initiative aims to expose students to the opportunities to start their own business, develop an entrepreneurial culture on campus, and allow students to learn firsthand what it is all about.
Posted by: Kendall Kerbashian