On Friday, Oct. 10, SOBE Dean Bryan McCannon led an alumni panel titled “Entrepreneurship in the Arts” in the Hansen Student Center.
The panel consisted of 4 Illinois Wesleyan alumni who graduated with degrees in the fine arts and have gone on to become business leaders.
Kelli Risse was a dance major at IWU and is the founder of Rise Up and Live Wellness, a stress management service for entrepreneurs.
Todd French graduated with a performance degree in cello. He founded and serves as President of StringWorks, a handcrafted string instrument store.
Casey Erin Clark, a former musical theatre student, is the co-founder of Vital Voice Training, a consultation company that provides public speaking and communication coaching for business professionals.
Justin Ahrens graduated with an art degree and is now the CCO of Rule29, a strategic design agency.
The panellists discussed their journey from pursuing arts degrees at IWU to leading companies. “I married my love of fine arts and education when I started speaking. Whether you’re doing a keynote speech or you’re teaching, you are sharing your message and you are performing,” Risse said.
The IWU alums also made connections with how their training in fine arts at Illinois Wesleyan translated into creative problem solving in their professional lives.
“Theatre people are scrappy. We have to be because we are chronically under-resourced. I watched first hand as we figured it out. It became what I call the ‘Everything is figureout-able’ mindset. I didn’t know anything when I started my business. I knew how to find community, I knew how to ask for help and I knew how to be scrappy,” Clark said.
All four entrepreneurs faced obstacles in their early days of building their businesses. “A few years into the business, I figured out I didn’t know how to run a business. Suddenly I was looking at things that were beyond me, like loans and finances. Something great about my experience here was that a friend I met at IWU was working in the banking industry. I was able to call him and he helped me get through it,” Ahrens said.
Wrapping up the panel, the panelists shared their advice for students ahead of graduation.
“Explore. There are so many opportunities here. There’re things that seem to have no relation to what your planned career is, but being in this small, intimate environment you have these opportunities that will never again be as easily accessible,” French said.
