Schoeniger lecture "Redefining Entrepreneurship" caps a full day

Left: (l-r) Toriano Parker, Deuces Live, Inc.; Mike Jalazo, Pinellas Ex-Offender Reentry Coalition; Kelly Sims, St. Pete Greenhouse; and Gary Schoeniger, Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative, participate in ASPEC's Panel on Entrepreneurial Initiatives in Community Development. Mr. Sims describes the Ice House Entrepreneurship training he leads through the St. Pete Greenhouse. Participants receive training, mentoring and advisory services, and start-up funds for new ventures.

by Amanda Hagood
photos by Donna Littell

On November 2nd, 2016, Gary Schoeniger, founder of the Kauffman Foundation's Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative, paid an action-packed visit to Eckerd. To a day that already included conversations with faculty, students, alumni, ASPEC members, and community leaders from around St. Petersburg, Schoeniger added a keynote address, "Redefining Entrepreneurship," and book signing attended by 120 campus and community members.

Right: Gary Schoeniger, center, chats with ASPEC Director Ken Wolfe, left, and Eckerd alumnus Fred Wells.

Schoeniger is an internationally recognized thought leader in the field of entrepreneurial mindset education, which seeks to understand not just how entrepreneurs create and sustain new ventures, but also what outlooks and habits of thought encourage entrepreneurial behavior, and how and under what conditions entrepreneurial learning occurs. Schoeniger lamented the prominence of what he calls the "Silicon Valley" narrative in our cultural perceptions about entrepreneurship.

"While elite Silicon Valley success stories may capture headlines, they do not accurately reflect the process that most entrepreneurs undertake," Schoeniger said.

In reality, Schoeniger noted, most entrepreneurs are ordinary people who learn to see transformative potential in very ordinary circumstances.

Schoeniger with Eckerd College Waterfront guide Madison "Madi" Taylor '18

One such person is Madison "Madi" Taylor '18, one of the College's student Waterfront guides who took Schoeniger on a boat tour of Frenchman's Creek and the shoreline. During the boat ride, the conversation turned toward having a creative entrepreneurial mindset, as Madi described how her dream of playing college hockey was thwarted by multiple concussions she received during high school games. Now her dream has transformed into a Biology / Pre-Med major. Madi said she hopes to study traumatic head injuries in military personnel and find ways of better supporting veterans with long-term injuries and their families.

Highlights from Schoeniger's agenda included:

• A coffee hour visit with students and Eckerd's Service Learning staff in the Office of Service Learning;

• Lunch discussion with Dean of Faculty Suzan Harrison and faculty members from Management, International Business, Philosophy, Theatre, East Asian Studies, and Marine Sciences;

At the reception before the lecture

• A tour of Frenchman's Creek and Eckerd's shoreline, guided by students from Eckerd's Waterfront;

• A panel on entrepreneurship and community development sponsored by the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC), featuring Toriano Parker, Board Member, Deuces Live, Inc., Mike Jalazo, Executive Director, Pinellas Ex-Offender Re-Entry Coalition; Kelly Sims, St. Pete Greenhouse; and Schoeniger.

• A reception with PEL and residential students and alumni, faculty, ASPEC members, and several prominent community members, including Dr. Kevin Gordon, Downtown/Midtown Campus Provost, St. Petersburg College; George Baxter, former President, Community Foundation of Tampa Bay; Dr. Peter Betzer, President, St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership; Bevan Gray-Rogel, President and Founder of  Encore Tampa Bay, and others.  

• A public lecture attended by students, faculty, staff, alumni, ASPEC members, and community members from Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Sarasota.

Schoeniger's evening lecture, "Redefining Entrepreneurship," was part of the Fall College Program Series and was sponsored by the Program for Experienced Learners (PEL), the Office of the Dean of Students, and the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC).

More than a hundred people gathered in Fox Hall to hear Schoeniger speak.

OLLI offering non-credit Ice House training course this spring

A non-credit Ice House Entrepreneurial Mindset Training program, based on Schoeniger's book Who Owns The Ice House? Eight Life Lessons from an Unlikely Entrepreneur (co-authored with Clifton Taulbert) will be offered this spring through Eckerd's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. The course will be taught by PEL's own Chrissy Jackson '16, and registration opens November 14. Click here to learn more.

PEL Executive Director Amanda Hagood is co-editor of The PEL Connector.