Dreaming Big: Maverick Entrepreneurs

At UNO, Maverick Spirit is defined as exemplifying strength, resilience, curiosity, independent thinking and entrepreneurism in our everyday deeds and collective endeavors. Here’s a look at some alumni, and soon-to-be graduates, who are channeling that spirit into business ownership.

These Maverick alumni entrepreneurs are a passionate lot. They’ve weathered the uncertainties and second-guessing associated with starting a business — many of them at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak — and they’re still standing. They’ve even thriving. And they give a lot of the credit to the experiences they’ve had, mentors they’ve met and resources they’ve tapped into at UNO.


By Susan Houston Klaus

TAYLOR KORENSKY

When Taylor Korensky entered the IT Innovation Program, he already had his sights on starting a business someday. He got a head start working in the Applied Innovations Research Lab, where he learned iOS Apple app development.

The director of the lab, he said, “basically gave me a book and said, ‘Hey, I need you to build this.’ I got to cut my teeth on that and learn how that was supposed to work. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but it was a really great experience.”

As part of the IT Innovation Program, Korensky met entrepreneurs and investors who served as mentors for him and fellow students. He picked up more experience doing freelance iOS development for start-ups and other entrepreneurs. For his junior year, he designed a curriculum focused on entrepreneurship.

His senior-year capstone project, for the IT Innovation Program, was the foundation for what would become Appsky, a service-based web and app development company.

When he needed support in the early days, he looked to UNO.

“The Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) helped with projections; financial planning and development; and general customer research,” he said. Master’s students worked with the business to help refine potential market categories. A convertible note from the Maverick Venture Fund in 2019, paid off after a year, “came at a pretty critical time for us and was able to help us keep going.”

Today, Korensky leads a team of nine full-time employees and as many as 10 contractors. His company is thriving, and he’s giving back to his alma mater by sharing his entrepreneurial advice with students.

appsky.io

JOSEFINA LOZA

Early in her journalism career, Josefina Loza developed an uncanny ability to sit anywhere and talk to anyone, in any circumstance and connect on a human level.

That ability not only has made Loza a respected journalist, but also a person who can form connections between people. After earning her bachelor’s degree from UNO, she spent over 15 years at the Omaha World-Herald; she also has a freelance career.

In 2015, she was recruited to be the manager of student publications at UNO, working with students at The Gateway student newspaper.

When COVID-19 struck, she was recently separated. Home with her two daughters, bills began to stack up.

“My life was shook,” she said. “I wondered what I was going to do.”

As Loza began connecting with people on Zoom, her instincts kicked in. She recognized that many small businesses in Omaha, particularly those in the Black and Brown communities, were struggling to adapt.

“How can I make sense of things?” she wondered. “For me, that was always through writing. I started paying attention to how I can assist my community to make it better.”

After a conversation with a former colleague at The Gateway from their undergrad days, in July 2020 she helped found the Midlands African Chamber, the first black chamber of commerce of its kind in Nebraska. She donated marketing and media relations services free of charge.

“What I noticed is people would have phenomenal products and phenomenal businesses, but they just didn’t know how to get the word out,” she said.

A few months later, she launched Lozafina, her marketing and public relations firm. The business offers a range of services, including communication strategy, branding, messaging, public relations and marketing.

“I’m a firm believer that if there’s a need, you focus on what the need is, and then come with a solution,” said Loza, who will graduate with her master’s degree in communication and media studies in December 2022.

lozafina.com

ALYSSA MORRISON

Music has been part of Alyssa Morrison’s life since her grandmother enrolled her in piano lessons at age 5. In fourth grade, she started violin in the Omaha Public Schools. Along the way, she picked up guitar and singing.

Morrison also had a love for working with young people. Over the years, she’s worked in early childhood daycares and also volunteered for local nonprofits Arts for All and Omaha Girls Rock.

After earning an associate degree from Metro Community College, she took a break to raise her children. When she went to UNO for her bachelor’s degree in 2018 in her late 20s, she started in multidisciplinary studies.

Soon, Morrison discovered the music entrepreneurship degree, and she knew she’d found her calling. She dusted off her piano skills and got accepted into the program.

Along the way, her coursework also gave her practical information about running
a business.

“We learned about taxes, how to write a business plan, what qualifies as business deductions for music-related expenses.”

The track provided a path to combining her loves of music and teaching.

Morrison opened Musical Expressions Academy in April 2020. She offers piano, violin, guitar and voice instruction to clients ranging from children as young as 3 up to adults.

She recently transitioned from lessons in her home to partnering with Dietz Music in Omaha. She teaches onsite as one of their independent instructors. Morrison is set to graduate with her music entrepreneurship degree in December 2022.

While she describes herself as a nontraditional student, she said she believes in always being open to learning. And as for her students who want to learn an instrument, she said, “I want to encourage adults who think they can’t start again or do something different.”

musicalexpressionsacademy.godaddysites.com

JEAN DOUCHEY

Often, owning a business comes years after working in another field.

Jean Douchey had more than 25 years in the corporate world before she and her niece founded Alumna House, an online store that offers stylish gameday apparel for women.

Self-described “super sports fans,” the two were disappointed in the offerings found online and in stores. They wanted something that wasn’t a T-shirt, not a polo, she said.

“We interviewed over 25 women at three large universities and all of them said, ‘Look, I can get a T-shirt anywhere. But I cannot find stylish dressy apparel to wear to a donor meeting, a meeting with the president or the board, to a faculty meeting or a student event.’ They wanted something that was stylish but logoed for the university.”

Students in Dr. Dale Eesley’s Executive MBA class provided important information as the partners developed a positioning strategy.

“They helped us get information about competition in the marketplace and how we could differentiate ourselves,” Douchey said. “Having a unique selling proposition was really helpful.”

The partners launched Alumna House in November 2019. The website features logoed apparel from local high schools and from universities around the region and the country, including UNO.

COVID-19 threw the company a big curve ball. But the business survived, and this year sales are swinging up, Douchey said. The partners are adding about 30 more schools to the website, and they’re confidently looking forward.

“We want to expand beyond apparel into more accessories and other lifestyle products.”

They’ve partnered with a UNO freshman graphic design student who is creating hand drawings and sketches of iconic images at the represented universities. Plans are for them to be used on candles, 100% silk scarves and tote bags.

alumnahouse.com

GABY EARL

A native of Brazil, Gaby Earl loves the colors and textures of the country, especially displayed in its jewelry.

“A lot of times when I was wearing something from back home, people would stop me and ask, ‘Where did you get this?’”

This sparked an idea for a business — a boutique that offers 18 karat and handmade jewelry imported from Brazil.

In 2018, she went to NBDC for advice.

“I had no idea how to start,” she said. “I thought I had to have everything right away. They made me feel comfortable.” NBDC consultants showed her how to craft a business plan and the steps she’d need to take to get her business off the ground.

In 2019, she launched Brazi Lion Boutique online. Pieces are also available at four local retailers, with plans to add a fifth, and one day to have locations beyond Omaha. Customers can book private appointments to make their selections or have a jewelry party. She’s also found success spreading the word about her business through local pop-ups, especially during the busy fall season.

Earl partners with a jewelry distributor in Brazil who keeps her up to date on trends and works with the designers. Together, the pair collaborate with the group, and sometimes Earl herself comes up with her own twist on a design. One of her goals is to design her own line one day.

She continues to work full-time while devoting nights and weekends to the boutique. Juggling both “definitely is a challenge,” she said, but she is disciplined about separating her time and responsibilities of both.

Her advice for small business owners just starting out? “Do a little bit every day when you can and know that you’re building a foundation for the future.”

brazilionboutique.com

JENNIFER LEA

Jennifer (Colwell) Lea has never been afraid of a power tool.

In April 2021, she was almost done with her remodel of a fixer upper. She decided the best way to modernize the exterior was to paint the garage and front doors and update the house numbers.

Lea found herself surfing Pinterest and Etsy, trying to find a style of house numbers sign that she liked. She kept gravitating toward one with a planter’s box on it.

Knowing she had the skills and supplies, she decided to make one.

“It got real cute, real fast,” she said. “Then I said, ‘What am I going to do with the box?’”

Two weeks before Easter, she went to a local craft store and bought the supplies to outfit her creation.

“When I finished, I realized the holiday would be over soon and I’d have to do the whole thing again.” Then, she thought, “You know what? I think I’ve got a great business idea.”

The UNO alum has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and an Executive MBA. Most recently, she was in law firm management for 18 years.

“I knew how to manage a $10 million law firm, but I didn’t know how to start a business,” she said. She called a business coach she’d connected with during her EMBA program and said, ‘Hey, I think I’ve got an idea, but I need some help. Can I hire you?’”

She dug in, and between her new business and her day job — which she left in March 2022 — started working 20 hours a day. The working mom has kept up that schedule and it’s paid off.

Lea opened Entry Envy in October 2021. The online business offers custom house number signs, hand-painted signs and interior signs available singly, or as a subscription. Customers can choose a monthly or quarterly subscription to update the look of their signs by holiday or by season.

Less than nine months after starting her business, Lea received The Subscription Trade Association Cube Award for Best New Subscription of 2022.

She’s enthusiastic about sharing her platform to promote women in the trades and uses the business as a training ground and coaching space. Two young women from a nearby high school help with production.

Without her experiences at UNO, Lea said, her life and her business would not be the same.

“UNO played the part in connecting me to a lot of the people from the very beginning, when I graduated with my undergrad. All the ties come back to where it started.”

entry-envy.com

STACIE TOVAR

Ask Stacie Tovar her if she wanted to own a business, the answer is emphatic.

“No. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be doing this today,” she said.

Tovar, who earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology at UNO, has a long list of athletic accomplishments. NCAA Division II college volleyball player. Nebraska high school volleyball team state champion. Eight-time Nebraska state high school track medalist.

Her career has taken her from the office, where she worked in population health management, to the gym, where she was a trainer and coach.

After working out with some of his UNO strength and conditioning coaches, her husband, Dustin, encouraged her to try CrossFit. She was hooked.

In fall 2013, Tovar quit her corporate job to become a professional CrossFit athlete. She traveled the world, racking up eight podium finishes and becoming a three-time series champion. In 2015, she was named the 11th fittest woman on Earth.

When she decided to start a family, she retired from CrossFit competition.

Tovar and her husband bought the Omaha CrossFit affiliate from its previous owners in January 2016. Big Omaha Fitness is the flagship program that serves a 60+ population; under that is CrossFit Omaha and GoFar Lifestyles, a nutrition piece designed to help people build healthy lifestyle habits.

The business moved to a new location this past January. This year, CrossFit Omaha celebrates its 15th anniversary.

With UNO professor Dr. Mike Messerole, she helps the adaptive population and the Down Syndrome community in Omaha. Looking forward, Tovar said she’d like to continue to work with kids, athletes, corporations and schools.

Her advice to others starting a business is this: “Find a resource. Talk to someone. Have a mentor. As risky as it may seem in the grand scheme of things, think about why you’re doing it. For me, it was to serve the Omaha population. I know that I can help people.”

bigomahafitness.com

 

NBDC

A Boost for Business Owners

If you’re thinking about starting or growing, a business, you’ll find a wealth of resources through the Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC). Hosted by the UNO College of Business Administration, NBDC has been helping businesses find their footing since 1977.

Consultants help entrepreneurs develop a business plan and make financial projections, including a cash flow statement, balance sheets, loan amortization schedule and capital expenditure budget. Assistance also is available for learning how to structure administrative and operational aspects of a business, define business goals and complete a financing package.

Best of all, for fledging entrepreneurs for whom money may be tight, the price is right. Basic consulting is free and confidential.

Services are available statewide in Chadron, Kearney, Lincoln, McCook, Norfolk, North Platte, Omaha, Scottsbluff and Wayne. To find a consultant near you, visit unomaha.edu/nebraska-business-development-center.