My Coleman Center Story

I wasn’t familiar with the Coleman Center when I began the MBA program at DePaul in September 2007 and to be honest, I’m not interested in owning my own business, at least not right now. But I am incredibly passionate about marketing small businesses, so when I heard that the Coleman Center was looking for a Marketing Intern, I applied. I interviewed with Raman Chadha, Executive Director and Stephanie Furlan, Marketing & Outreach Manager, and as luck would have it, I got the job.

I began working at the Coleman Center in August 2008 and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the work and the people. The culture of the Center encompasses excellence, pride, passion and sincerity and it didn’t take long for me to feel like I was truly part of the Coleman Center family. I worked closely with Stephanie on the website, email communications, planning the annual e-Motion fundraiser and systemizing our social media activities. I felt challenged, learned a lot and had it not been for that experience, I may not have landed my current job.  Thanks Coleman Center!

I worked at the Center for one year, through August 2009, and in that short time, the Center, its mission, its clients and its staff made a huge impact on me. I loved working in a place where helping others was a core objective; where sharp, strategic people drove that objective forward; and where brainstorming, creativity and ideation was not only encouraged but practiced in earnest. I also had the opportunity to meet many Coleman Center clients and Advisory Board Members; what a great group of people!  Interning at the Coleman Center helped me expand my network with kind, helpful, successful business owners.

I now serve on the Coleman Center eMerge Alumni Council, a group of ten recent DePaul graduates (both undergrad and grad students), who have committed to helping the Coleman Center raise funds, increase its membership and promote the Peer Roundtable and Business Owner Academy programs. These “fee-based” activities help subsidize the Blueprint program, a free consulting program for DePaul students who are interested in starting their own businesses. The Blueprint program provides entrepreneurial students with structure, education, networking and fund-raising opportunities (via Launch DePaul and other business plan/pitch competitions) in order to make their dreams of business ownership a reality. By providing solutions for both established businesses and students, the Coleman Center supports and sustains the practice of entrepreneurship at DePaul and around Chicago.

So, that’s my story. I’m a huge advocate of the Coleman Center and am proud to refer both new and established business owners to them for help. If you’re interested in learning more about the Coleman Center, visit their website, cec.depaul.edu or give them a call at 312-862-8625 and mention this blog post or ‘eMerge Alumni Council.’

What Has the Coleman Center Meant to You?

Originally appeared on Coleman Center blog on 7.28.09

What has the Coleman Center meant to you?

This was the question posed in an exploratory meeting last evening with a group of Coleman Center advocates, (more to come on what that meeting was all about- stay tuned!) and I thought it was a great question to pose to all of you.  How has the Coleman Center changed/affected you, either personally or professionally?   Has the Center given you the confidence to launch your own venture?  Have our consulting services enabled you to grow strategically?  Has a staff member functioned as a mentor for you?  Anything is fair game… 

For me, the Coleman Center opened a door to a wider, more diverse network of business owners.  As a new grad, the larger my network, and the more decision making power the members of that network have, the greater my chances of meeting someone who can help me find a full-time marketing position.  And in this job market, introducing you to people who can say YES is a meaningful gift.  

Working for the Coleman Center has also helped me expand my skill set and improve my writing.  Before working here, I never had the courage to blog or provide small business owners with largely unsolicited marketing advice.  Now, I find myself blogging about everything, tweeting about my blogs, and sending them to potential employers as examples of my writing style.  Blogging, writing web and email copy and brainstorming campaigns with my colleagues has helped me improve as a writer and given me increased confidence as a marketer. 

My experience at the Coleman Center also enabled me to clearly define my career goals: I want to help entrepreneurs and small businesses build their brands.  (Now, I understand a lot goes into this statement, but in a nutshell, that’s what I want to do.  You’ll have to interview me in order to find out how I do it!)  Before joining the Coleman Center, I knew I wanted to “do marketing,” but I couldn’t clearly communicate what that meant given my past experience and uncertain future.  As I’ve mentioned a few times before, I’ve never worked for a large corporation and I always thought that put me at a disadvantage as a brand builder, but now I know that my strengths lie in wearing many hats, doing a lot with a little and not being afraid to make mistakes.  These are traits that have hopefully proven valuable to the businesses I’ve worked with to date. 

I began working for the Coleman Center in August of 2008, so I’m coming up on a year with them.  I consider this past year time well spent and appreciate the positive effects this position and the people close to the Center have had on my personal and professional development.  Tell me how the Center has affected you by commenting below, posting a story on our Facebook page, or tweeting a short message about us (@colemancenter) and linking to your own blog.

Help Me Help the Center

Originally appeared on Coleman Center blog on 5.20.09

As many of you may have noticed, the Coleman Center is currently seeking a Marketing Intern.  As it turns out, that person will be taking my position at the Center.  And while I’m deeply saddened to be leaving, I want to share some of the things I’ve learned and enjoyed while interning here.  Hopefully it will help prepare you for success and will ultimately benefit the Center as well.

1.  Embrace entrepreneurship.  The passion of an entrepreneur is contagious, so I don’t see anyone struggling to get this one right.  But, the fact is, you can’t be successful here or help the Center be successful if you don’t believe in the role entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship play in our nation’s economy.  Now, I’m not saying you have to go out and immediately start your own business, or constantly be bad-mouthing corporate America, but supporting the Center’s clients, understanding their offerings and marketing them whenever possible are all great ways to embrace entrepreneurship.

2.  Take charge.  The Coleman Center is a small shop and there’s a lot to do.  If you’re someone who needs hand-holding, or waits for direction before jumping in, this isn’t the place for you.  The full-time staff here at the Center is expert at ‘gettin ‘er done’ and that skill doesn’t come from waiting in the wings for direction.  Of course, there’s a thin line here as well; don’t impose your way of doing things, be open to suggestion and critique as the ultimate goal of everything they do here at the Center is to serve students and business owners the best they can.

3.  Be ethical.  I think we’ve all seen how large corporate giants can conveniently forget about business ethics; that doesn’t fly here.  The Coleman Center operates under the DePaul University brand umbrella and therefore understands the Vincentian goals of service, supporting social justice and providing opportunities.  If you’re a “get ahead at any cost” kind of person, keep looking, because you won’t find a home here.

4.  Be flexible.  For those of you who haven’t worked with or for entrepreneurs, they’re a different breed.  Their wheels are constantly turning and new ideas are always being created and assessed.  If you’ve previously learned that are “certain” or “right” ways to do things, you better un-learn that quickly if you want to enjoy your experience here.  I find working in an ever-changing environment exciting and challenging, and what makes the Coleman Center so special, is their ability to adhere to their strategic vision while still encouraging new ideas.

5.  Be fun.  The Coleman Center staff is passionate about what they do and they make a point to do it well, but they all have personal lives and families and other interests too.  The Center periodically schedules happy hours, networking events, holiday and summer outings so staff, clients and members can get to know one another outside of the office.  So, brush up on your conversation skills, have a drink (soda is ok) and have fun with your colleagues.  Don’t get drunk and make a ‘you-know-what’ out of yourself, after all, this is still work, be professional, but also know how to interact socially.

So, if you plan to apply for the internship, best of luck and try to remember the above rules.  They’ve served me well thus far and are sure to help you help the Center.