Lynn University recently hosted its annual Be Your Own Boss (BYOB) event at the Mohammed Indimi International Business Center. The two-day event provided students with a series of workshops presented by the College of Business and Management—empowering and educating students to become successful entrepreneurs.
Day one
The event opened with keynote speaker Enrique Tasende, senior vice president of active investments at Dart Enterprises. Tasende shared his experience becoming a worldwide businessman and leading the company's hospitality investments, including the Kimpton Seafire Resort & Spa and The Ritz-Carlton in the Cayman Islands. Hospitality marketing veteran Bruce Himelstein moderated the session.
Following the presentation, Tasende joined students from Lynn's Hospitality Club in the Snyder Idea Lab for a more personalized discussion. He answered questions and provided advice for how the students could achieve their goals.
After the speaking engagement, students had a unique opportunity to display their businesses at the Entrepreneurship Showcase—sharing their success stories, products, services and brands to other students.
In the evening, two panels took place. The first panel brought in Lynn graduates to share business insights and best practices to reach success. The second was the "F'ed up" panel, offering entrepreneurs a venue to candidly share how they overcame challenges and failures as they structured their businesses. The first evening concluded with a networking reception at the Mohammed Indimi International Business Center.
Day two
The morning got off to a fast start with "Breakfast with Bosses," giving students the opportunity to enjoy a morning meal while networking with business leaders in attendance. After breakfast, the "Social Entrepreneurship" presentation allowed owners of socially focused businesses to discuss the inner workings of nonprofit businesses and how students can embrace it and make it their future career.
Attendees then had the option to choose from four short mentoring sessions:
- business models
- marketing
- finance and funding
- pitching
As the day progressed, a select number of students attended a package design workshop—teaching innovative ways, particularly through digital media, for students to represent their brand through packaging.
Afterwards, minority guest speakers from various backgrounds held a panel on diversity, equity and inclusion, sharing their unique experiences in the workplace.
A networking lunch provided a short break before the day closed off with a panel discussing different perspectives on NFTs, Crypto and Web3.
