“Hands-on experience will always trump classroom experience,” states CBE Alum, Nick Ventura. Nick transferred to the CBE in 2012 to study Business Administration and Marketing, and with the support of the college and the Entrepreneurial Collegiate Consulting Organization (ECCO), he started his first business at 23 years old.
“The most important thing the CBE taught me was to take risks,” he explained.
“I actually had a conversation with Dr. Young one day, where I started a business and the business was taking off and doing well and it was becoming evident that the business was taking over my life and putting school secondary. So, I asked Dr. Young what her thoughts were on me taking a break from school and focusing on the business. She said, “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to have a business that is doing well. I’d advise you to take off a quarter and come back to school once things calm down.”
And so he did. Along the way, he learned quite a few lessons that he continues to share with current CBE students.
“Just because you are a student, it does not mean that you have to think like a student. You can start a business and you can take risks while you have that time to learn,” he tells us.
“Don’t be afraid to get with the other classmates and start a business. See where it takes you. If it leads to success, that’s great. If it leads to failure, that’s even better because you get your failures out of the way and you’ll succeed later on in life.”
Not to mention, you collect lifelong friends as you go. To this day, he and the founding members of ECCO stay up to date on each others’ lives – when he’s not busy working for OneDigital Health and Benefits as their Regional Marketing Specialist for the Western Region.