Archive for September, 2016

Sep 27 2016

Whitewater alum and senior to start two new businesses

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Alumnus Richard Guidry, 25, and current Whitewater senior, Leigh Olszewski, 21, have broken the status quo to fulfill their dream of opening two businesses: a donut shop and a farm.

Guidry, an integrated science and business major, quit work and Olszewski, an entrepreneurship and business management major, dropped out of school to put all their time and money into opening Go Nutz Donuts and Future Tech Farms.

Go Nutz Donuts is a consumer inspired donut making food truck. A consumer can ask for a specific flavor of donut and Go Nutz Donuts will make it. Guidry and Olszewski were inspired when traveling in North Carolina and decided to take the idea back to Whitewater.

Go Nutz Donuts is a partnered franchise wanting to expand throughout the whole Midwest.

The company will start in Whitewater to test and expand as it grows and figures out processes.

Guidry and Olszewski are optimistic to add in a mobile app and delivery service via bike peddlers after a high return on investment.

Their other business is more complex. Future Tech Farms is an aquaponics and hydroponics farming business. “We grow contra seasonal fruits and vegetables so things that cannot be grown in the winter can be,” said Olszewski.

The company will create systems that will grow produce and sell these systems to grocery stores and consumers and also use the systems for their regional distribution network set to start in the Chicago-land area. The types of produce grown will be based off of local demand.

Being a part of the campus organization Enactus lead Guidry and Olszewski to the creation of Future Tech. “We were helping some students in Honduras who came up with the idea of hydroponics and we helped them find the funding and gathered the materials,” said Olszewski.

“We started to research more into our markets and essentially found out that it is a feasible idea here,” said Olszewski.  “We added in a couple more steps because me have more access to technology here and other resources that we weren’t able to teach them down in Honduras.”

Similar to Go Nutz, production will begin in Whitewater and branch out as the company grows.

Typical when starting a new business, Guidry and Olszewski are facing funding issues. The business partners are looking for investors to get Future Tech in motion. Small business development center, SBDC, is working alongside the pair with funding for Go Nutz Donuts. Once Go Nutz Donuts brings in more profit, some money will be sent to fund Future Tech.

“Future Tech is a huge amount of money whereas Go Nutz is something where we are trying to get it started and get it moving so we can use some of that money to fund Future Tech,” said Olszewski.

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Sep 15 2016

Travel is always an option

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Fear is probably the number one factor that prevents people from traveling. The fear of a foreign language. The fear of cultural differences. The fear of getting lost or hurt. The fear of going alone. The fear of not knowing.

When I was considering studying abroad, I faced all of those fears. I was nervous. I have never traveled outside the country (a little in the U.S.), but my dream was to venture my way outside, in particular, to Ireland. When I saw that my school was offering a study abroad trip to Ireland, I knew I had to jump at the opportunity! For as long as I could remember, I have always had this strong connection with Ireland and the culture, food, and people. Plus, my father’s whole side of the family is  either England, Scotland, or Ireland, with most from Ireland. This way, I will be able to see where my ancestors came from, what they did, and the things they have seen.

Now, I knew I needed to be a big girl and overcome my fears. All of them. I applied for the class. Next thing I knew, it was five months later and I was on a plane to Ireland. This was a big step for me. I usually never go places alone, let alone to another country.

I stayed in Ireland and Northern Ireland for just under a month. Let me tell you, it was the most magical time of my life. I went to places I had only ever dreamed of. I was taught slang by Irishmen in pubs. I ate absolutely the most amazing food ever. The whole trip was unbelievable! We started in Dublin, Ireland, and worked our way around counterclockwise. We visited Belfast, Derry, Sligo, Galway, the Aran Islands, and Cork among some other tiny towns.

This is me kissing the Blarney Stone in Blarney, Ireland.

This is me kissing the Blarney Stone in Blarney, Ireland.

The biggest fear I had was not knowing anyone, but by the end of the trip, I made so many terrific friends. The study abroad program I went through was called a travel-study. Basically, a travel-study is where you take a class that has a trip connected to it. You participate in a class that will teach you something related to where you’re going and at the end of the semester, you will go to that place. For example, my class was a communications class discussing cross culture communication. We talked about the advantages and disadvantages when trying to communicate cross-culturally and we gave speeches on certain popular culture activities, foods, books, legends, etc. There will be more, obviously, but it was fun and interesting to learn about a culture you do not know much about. To make a long story short, I went into this class knowing no one, scared I would not make any friends, to coming out with 20 plus new friends. Most of the people on my trip I still keep in touch with or spend time with. Even though we only spent a month together abroad, the people on my trip easily became some of my closest friends ever.

Here are some of my friends at Dunluce Castle, in Bushmills, Northern Ireland.

Here are some of my friends at Dunluce Castle, in Bushmills, Northern Ireland.

My other fear was not knowing. I was not sure where I was all the time because of being in a foreign land with a foreign language all around. I am not going to lie, I felt lost a few times. But luckily, with a travel-study, you are never alone. There is always someone there for you, whether a professor or classmate. Sometimes, I was not sure wheat we were doing that day or where we were going. I am so use to structure and scheduling that when it came to this trip there was a lot of improvising. We would have made plans but for some reason they would fall through, maybe because of traffic, time, or other conflicts. By being on this trip, I learned that somethings you need to not know. You need to just wonder and come up with something new and go with the flow. I am usually never like that, but I learned that sometimes you have to go off the path. I did end up learning a lot about myself, who I am, and what I want out of life.

This trip was the perfect stepping stone. If you are afraid, and it is totally okay to be, try taking a travel-study. Most travel-studies are about three weeks long. If you can handle that, you should be able to handle a semester abroad! That’s what I did. Even if you have the slightest inkling, do it! Overcome your fears because this is the most gratifying and rewarding thing you can ever do.

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Sep 15 2016

A little about me!

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Hello everyone!

My name is Hannah Jewell. I was born and raised in Clearwater, Florida, up until I turned 15-years-old. Unfortunately, my father’s job uprooted and relocated my family, but luckily we moved to the Windy City, Chicago. Even though I am a down home country girl at heart, there is a sweet little home in my heart for the city (alongside deep dish pizza!).

During high school, I found my passion for newspaper and magazine journalism. I was the Editor-in-Chief for Lakes Community High School’s literary magazine, Mosaic, and the center spread editor for the high school newspaper, the Talon Times. After high school, I decided to study for two years at a community college and obtain my associates degree then transfer to a four-year university. I am currently a senior at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater majoring in communications with an emphasis in print, broadcast, web journalism as well as minoring in marketing.

Outside school, I have several passions that have shaped my life. I love crafts and all things DIY! I actually have a personal blog where I get tutorials on the projects I create and share how to create them and also make the cost effective. Alongside blogging, I love traveling, whether in the United States or internationally, and being outdoors.

My dream job would be to work for a company as their social media marketer and/or write for a magazine. I would like to combine my knowledge of journalism and marketing and marry it with my love of crafts, travel, the outdoors, possibly becoming a writer for a travel magazine taking pictures and posting about my adventures.

A girl can dream, right?

Here I am in Northern Ireland at Giant's Causeway.

Here I am in Northern Ireland at Giant’s Causeway.

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