Sarah Schupp (Bus'04)
Entrepreneur educates parents on college life
Growing up in Dallas, Sarah Schupp (Bus’04) says she always wanted to be an entrepreneur.
“I used to get in trouble in elementary school for selling candy to the other kids on the bus, but the detention was worth it,” she says.
Worth it indeed. Today Sarah has parlayed that early desire and experience into her own business, the idea for which started right at the outset of her time at CU-Boulder.
“I remember when my parents visited campus they kept talking about wanting to know where to stay and eat and shop in Boulder,” she says. “They wanted to know what they could do, where they could go while I was in class.”
Sarah says that while CU offered plenty of information for visiting parents, she realized it wasn’t compiled into one, all-inclusive resource that would make it easy and convenient to use. And that’s when the seed for her venture, University Parent Media (www.universityparent.com) found fertile ground — Sarah’s mind.
The idea germinated during her first three years at CU. And then, when she entered her senior project in the entrepreneurship program at the Leeds School of Business, she began putting it all down on paper.
The highlight, Sarah says, was a business plan competition. She and her team won with the plan for University Parent.
The company grew quickly and produces print and online guides for parents in partnership with more than 200 universities across the country. For the online version, each school basically has its own website with everything from parking, events, maps and even how to manage finances.
Evidently Sarah and company are doing something right.
“We continue to grow exponentially each year,” she says.
Earlier this year she was named one of 10 finalists for the 2010 young entrepreneur of the year award from Alister & Paine, a digital business magazine.
Sarah credits CU and its offerings in business for much of her success. When she entered CU she joined the President’s Leadership Class, a four-year experiential leadership training program and took part in an entrepreneurship certificate program through the Deming Center. Another course that stoked her entrepreneurial fires was “Profiles in American Enterprise” where CEOs regularly spoke to students about their businesses.
“CU was a huge part in helping me start the business,” she says.
Sarah’s advice to today’s CU students?
“Make sure you take advantage of everything CU has to offer,” she says. “There are so many incredible programs. If you’re thinking about starting a business, don’t graduate without taking the entrepreneurship program. It’s truly one of the top programs in the country.”
— Doug McPherson
