Almost every college fashionista has had a dream of opening her own boutique. This week’s Campus Celebrity did just that. Beth Carroll, now a Lecturer of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Purdue University, graduated from Purdue in 1983 with a Bachelors of Science in Retail Management.
As an entrepreneur, she has successfully opened three separate businesses. In 1989, at the age of 27, Beth opened a self-titled ladies clothing store, b.caryl, a clever use of her first initial and her middle name Caryl. Six years later she opened b.kids, a sister store to b.caryl, a children’s boutique.
In 2005, she shared a joint venture with her husband. They opened a kiosk in the middle of the Tippecanoe mall called, Sport Stop, where they sold licensed sports gifts during the holiday season.
Because of her B.S. degree in Retail Management and her successful retail business ventures, Purdue University’s Retail Management Department approached her to teach retail classes. Beth, who found it difficult to speak in public, was apprehensive to take the teaching job.
It was not until she sat back and looked at the bigger picture that she accepted the offer. Beth realized that she had a lot of relatable experience to give to hopeful retail students and she hoped to one day be a mentor to future business owners.
It was not until after she “took the plunge” into teaching at Purdue, she heard about the Certificate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program that Purdue offers. Beth expressed her interest in teaching an ENTR (Entrepreneurship) class and in the fall of 2007 a position opened up and she was given the opportunity to teach the 200 level classes.
As an entrepreneur herself, Beth is able to easily relate to her ENTR 200 students who are interested in creating their own business concepts and turning them into reality. She is a wealth of valuable information (I would know, I am taking one of her divisions of ENTR 200).
Beth’s finds that “thinking up a concept and making it a reality is very exciting, especially when it becomes a success.” If you are interested in opening your own store or even starting your own business, I strongly urge you to take ENTR 200 with Beth Carroll.
For those collegiettes™ who do not have the room in their class schedule to take an ENTR class, Beth strongly urges you to “learn as much as you can about the field that you want to go into… seek out people who have done or are doing what you want to do and learn from them. Then follow your dream, be tenacious and go for it!”
If that is not some of the most motivating advice from a Purdue professor I have ever heard, I do not know what is. Be tenacious.
Beth, who now owns an Etcetera Agency (www.etcetera.com), is the representative for the clothing line in the area. Four times a year, for a week at a time, she will set up the line to show in her home. This allows her to still dabble in the fashion business without having the great responsibilities of owning a store.
Collegiettes™, I hope Beth’s story has inspired you to work hard and to tenaciously go after your dreams. Beth is highly interested in mentoring those students who want to start their own businesses and is always on the lookout for new and exciting opportunities.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Purdue chapter.