news
When the Colopy Entrepreneurship Program at NCSSM-Durham debuted at the beginning of the school year, one of its intentions was to regularly host small, intimate gatherings of students and guest speakers for free-flowing discussions on anything and everything related to entrepreneurship.
Recently, the program achieved a milestone when it hosted its very first speaker: Scott Ogle, a 1993 graduate of NCSSM and the founder and CEO of the life sciences technology company founded TruLab now Tru Technologies.
“The conversation was exceptional, with students posing thoughtful questions,” said Chip Bobbert, Director of the Colopy Entrepreneurship Program. “We had 13 students engaging Scott in conversation, and there wasn’t a single moment of dead air.”
The event, Bobbert noted, came about organically; students who are being mentored in the entrepreneurship program organized the event on their own. That they took charge of their own educational experience, he added, is evidence of an entrepreneurial spirit.
Julianna Jones, a junior from Fayetteville who came to NCSSM from Cross Creek Early College, led the effort to bring Ogle to campus. The opportunity to quiz a successful CEO at such close range was a bit intimidating at first, but Ogle quickly put Julianna and her classmates at ease.
“It was an amazing opportunity for us to learn at such a young age from an accomplished entrepreneur,” she said. “Mr. Ogle was really impressive.”
“I do sessions like this at the college level, and also through entrepreneurial-type organizations, and I was thrilled to see how attentive the students were,” Ogle said. “NCSSM has a long history of producing successful entrepreneurs. Learning the value of taking a risk early in your life and learning about humility early in your life are great experiential preparations for becoming an entrepreneur. NCSSM helps students do both.”
While the entrepreneurship arena is heavily dominated by men (some studies suggest participation as high as 91% male to just 9% female), the participants at NCSSM are split evenly. And for this particular discussion, the audience was entirely female.
Being surrounded by other ambitious young women helped Julianna overcome her initial reluctance to ask engaging questions.
“NCSSM does a really good job encouraging everybody from diverse backgrounds to pursue their interests,” she said. “Being in an all-female audience made me realize I’m not alone as a female in wanting to be an entrepreneur.”
