Emily Bingham ’23 felt a pull toward innovation from a young age. From working with Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship, forming her own entrepreneurship organization, and now running her own consumer goods startup, Emily’s entrepreneurial experiences show that innovation can be applied just about anywhere.
I like to say that I was a child business prodigy, but of course that’s not entirely true. What is more accurate is that I like to experience new things and do cool stuff, so when I see opportunities come my way, I almost always say yes. I was really lucky to have a couple of those opportunities presented to me when I was fairly young.
In the summer of 2016 after my freshman year of high-school, I was asked to travel to Manila, Philippines to film a documentary in conjunction with the SAGE (Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship) World Cup. I had never filmed a documentary; I hadn’t even done anything close. I had minimal print journalism experience that led me there, but it sounded like something that would be fun and that I probably wouldn’t ever get to do again, so I went. We had full creative control over the documentary, and after a week of talking to teens from all over the world running small businesses that were literally changing lives, we knew what it had to be about: the power of youth entrepreneurship.
I was so inspired by the incredible, motivated young people that we were around, I decided I had to do it for myself. The next year, I formed a group and created a small business, Business Buzz, which was in essence a small marketing firm that specialized in community activation: a form of audience activation that focused on community-based projects and charitable causes. For about eight or nine months, we worked on a few projects, built a pitch, and decided to compete with our business nationally. At 16 years old after less than a year of entering the entrepreneurship world in any capacity, we placed first in the country. We were then able to attend the 2017 World Cup in Odessa, Ukraine where this time I would be competing with my peers instead of watching from afar. We finished fourth internationally. I learned I loved being my own boss, I loved building things from scratch, and I loved public speaking.
After we got back from Ukraine, I felt like I still had so much more to do, if not with Business Buzz, then for myself. I applied to give a Tedx talk in Buffalo (I was unsuccessful though that did not deter me from applying two more times after, neither of which worked out in the end). I attended a two-week intensive entrepreneurship conference in Toronto (which is not as far and exotic as it seems when you’re a Western New York native). There, I dipped my toes into technical entrepreneurship by working on a MedTech based project with a handful of Canadian teens. I attended angel investor pitches at country clubs to see the behind the scenes. I spoke on stage as a 16-year-old to business executives at the 43N Million Dollar Pitch Competition. I loved the new world I had discovered and couldn’t get enough of it, but as Business Buzz died down and college applications piled up, I found myself slowly having less of a foot in the door.
Once I came to college, I forgot about that part of my life altogether. Instead, it was just a fun fact I could share with my new friends and something that lingered on my resume. That was until my sister gifted me a Cricut machine for Christmas in 2020 with the thought, “maybe you could monetize this?” “Yeah,” I thought, “I probably could.” And so, I did. As someone who has always loved crafts, making things was right up my alley and as a college kid, I could use some extra money. So I threw a couple listings up on Etsy and there ShopEmilyEvelyne was born (fun fact: the name was supposed to just be a place holder while I set up the page but I couldn’t figure out how to change it, so it stuck!).
I began getting a handful of orders in February 2021, and then a couple more in March and April, and then quite a few in May, and it continued on. I never thought of it as the type of entrepreneurship I was accustomed to. Consumer goods were completely different, and making things out of my dorm room wasn’t exactly the customer validation and revenue projections I had spent my high school years learning about. Even after I developed a line for the Op Shop in downtown Rochester and started selling at markets like the Lucky Flea, I hadn’t quite thought of it as an entrepreneurial venture. It wasn’t until very recently that I started to pitch the products as a brand instead of an Etsy shop that I realized I was able to funnel my passion for entrepreneurship into this small business, and that I had been using those skills all along.
Now as I venture into selling my products wholesale and in retail spaces, I am thankful for the resources I had as a teen and the ones I continue to find, like the Ain Center, now. Entrepreneurship isn’t reserved for startups or fancy tech, simply having an entrepreneurial spirit can lend itself to any endeavor, and I’m excited to keep finding out what those look like for me.
Emily Bingham ’23 is a junior at the University of Rochester. She is pursuing a BA in political science and is taking full advantage of the ability to explore classes and interests across many disciplines. She is originally from Buffalo, New York, where she lives with her mom, sister Sara, and two dogs Buster and Moose. She is the owner and founder of ShopEmilyEvelyne, an apparel and accessories brand designed to inspire joy. You can find out more about the brand on Instagram @ShopEmilyEvelyne or on the website, ShopEmilyEvelyne.com.
During summer 2021, Abbey Kampel ’23 participated in the 2021 GCSP Entrepreneurial Experience at Arizona State University to explore the theme of health from the perspective of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program. New to entrepreneurship, Abbey made discoveries that ignited a new passion for innovation.
In summer 2021, Arizona State University (ASU) hosted forty students from across the nation to participate in the 2021 GCSP Entrepreneurial Experience to explore the theme of health from the perspective of the grand challenges scholars program. Fifteen institutions were awarded spots for undergraduate engineering students participating in the GCSP program. As a biomedical engineering and GCSP student, I was honored to be offered a spot in the summer program.
I had little experience in the fields of business and entrepreneurship before this summer. During this program, I collaborated with students from several other institutions to research and design a novel solution and a business plan for a company in need of a prototype. The unique entrepreneurial experience focused on applications in the healthcare field and allowed for project-based learning. I was able to delve into the world of entrepreneurship starting from the very basics of understanding the problem, to the final stretch of designing a prototype solution for our client.
One aspect of the program that stood out to me was the collaborative nature. I worked on a team with two other undergraduate engineering students and we worked closely with our engineering mentor, business mentor, and client (Allstate) to develop a product/service to address the problem. The program encouraged us to look at the problem through various lenses, including an economical, an environmental, and a social perspective. I liked the emphasis on viewing the problem from different perspectives, which is something I plan to apply to problems I encounter in the future, whether those be during my time as an undergraduate or throughout my future career.
Another impactful aspect of the program were the connections I made with fellow students as well as mentors in the GCSP community. The program allowed for open discussion and the opportunity for ideas to flow without immediate judgement. The teamwork skills I gained this summer will stay with me through the years to come.
Abbey Kampel ’23 double majors in Biomedical Engineering and Psychology. Her entrepreneurship component for the Grand Challenges Scholars Program focuses on designing and developing a prototype to address a work-life balance problem for the company Allstate, alongside a team of mentors and fellow engineering students.
The Ain Center is excited to announce our new Executive Director, Annette Durnack! Annette brings years of industry and innovative experience to the Ain Center, where she will oversee all offerings and the MS in TEAM graduate program.
We are thrilled to welcome Annette Durnack, the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship’s new Executive Director. As Executive Director, Annette will lead Ain Center programs and initiatives, as well as oversee the MS in TEAM Program.
Annette Durnack has joined the University of Rochester in the newly-created position of Executive Director of the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship. Annette will oversee all programs and initiatives at the Ain Center, as well as the master of science in Technical Entrepreneurship and Management (TEAM) program. She assumed the position on April 30, 2021.
Annette has over 25 years of experience building and leading successful sales and marketing businesses across various segments of the energy industry. She has worked for several Fortune 500 energy companies during the early stages of energy deregulation where she was responsible for developing and launching the business plan and strategy for bringing energy supply products and services to businesses and consumers across the northeast. She has also worked in the software industry where she led a team focused on providing energy management solutions to large commercial real estate owners to assist them in achieving their operational and sustainability objectives.
After an extensive career in the energy industry, she decided to transition to a role where she could assist others in building their plans to launch successful and scalable businesses. Most recently, she was the director of the Penn State Lehigh Valley LaunchBox, a business accelerator and economic development initiative, where she was responsible for developing programs to support the needs of early-stage entrepreneurs and strengthening the capabilities of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the region.
Over the course of Annette’s career, she has been involved in and served on the board of directors for various philanthropic organizations such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Girls on the Run, and the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. Annette has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Read the next interview in a series by one of the Ain Center’s student Program Assistants, Fernanda Sesto ’23. Her work highlights student entrepreneurs to learn about their experiences and hear their perspectives. In this feature, Fernanda talks with Hector Castillo Carvajal, a UR student who used coursework to launch his own coffee startup.
One of the Ain Center’s student Program Assistants, Fernanda Sesto ’23, has begun to interview student entrepreneurs to learn about their experiences and hear their perspectives. In this feature, Fernanda talks with recent UR alum Shelley Chen ’19, ’20 (e5) about her venture, Yolo Shadow and how she got into entrepreneurship.
© 2017 University of Rochester Ain Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
