A new initiative out of the Leavey School of Business brings together alumni and current students to dis- cuss the intersection of passion projects, the entrepreneurial mindset, and self-actualization.
The first sessions of Broncos, Actually, hosted by the Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, featured Jason Khalipa ’08—a management major and CrossFit Games champion who founded the global fitness company NCFIT—and Aleisha Nelson ’17 M.S. ’19, a computer science alumna who turned her love for art into Art by Aleisha, selling customized, hand-painted maps.
“Entrepreneurship isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, it has a lot of challenges,” Khalipa told participants before leading them in “an open, transparent conversation on what it’s like to open a business, grow that business, and the challenges I’ve had to overcome.”
Nelson, meanwhile, discussed the importance of patience when starting a new company; she started Art by Aleisha while a junior at SCU and grew it through social media. “I reminded the students that it’s taken me four years—and a lot of late nights and weekends—to get my brand to where it is today.”