While perusing some career-related articles online, I came across an article on the Wall Street Journal small business site entitled “Rising to the Occasion with a Bakery Chain.” The article focused on Ron Schiach who is one of the founders of the bakery chains Au Bon Pain and Panera. (If you want read the story for yourself, I invite you to check it out by clicking here.) How is this related to Career Services? Why did I choose to write about an entrepreneur? Well, Schiach’s journey to entrepreneurship was very interesting. While he was an undergraduate at Clark University, he helped start a university convenience store because the local store would not allow crowds of college students on its premises. Schiach used his skills as undergraduate treasurer to help finance the start-up and was very involved in managing and running the store. This made me think about how important it is to constantly find an avenue for fine-tuning one’s skills. Schiach used his skills as treasurer to have an impact in another area of student life. It also served as the springboard to his entrepreneurial career. It sparked his interest in starting businesses, which influenced his future career direction.

Oftentimes, as students, we don’t realize how much our extracurricular activities may influence our future experiences. Sometimes, participating in a venture, such as starting a campus business can be compared to a “creative process”. Schiach says of this, “The best metaphor is that it’s like sculpture. You have a vision, and you see that vision in a three-dimensional sense. How do you sculpt it? It’s a dance of creativity to deliver against that vision.” I think enjoying the creative process is the key component of the entrepreneurial mindset and you can start cultivating your creativity in a variety of ways while in school through the types of extracurricular experiences you choose.

Having a entrepreneurial mindset doesn’t necessarily mean that you are destined to become an entrepreneur. It can have even broader applications. Schiach states, “{Entrepreneurship] is not about starting a business. It’s about solving problems….Find a problem that there’s a better way to solve. Get a vision of how it could work better, and stick with it.” I believe this advice touches many aspects of student life, from how you approach problems in any of the organizations you belong to, at the internships or part-time jobs you work at, or at other activities you participate in. Think of the questions “What is the problem?”; “How can I solve it?”; and “How can I set myself apart from others who have attempted to solve this problem in the past?” Successfully distinguishing oneself as a problem solver and creative thinker can open doors to a variety of opportunities. As seen with the case of Ron Schiach, having an entrepreneurial mindset served as a springboard to his starting two of America’s favorite bakery chains!