SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah's undergraduate program for entrepreneurship has ranked among the top ten nationally and students are backing that ranking with their unique businesses.
In brand new rankings from US News and World Report, the undergraduate program for entrepreneurship ranked number seven nationally and number four among public schools for 2024.
Sadie and Abby Bowler, two students and co-founders of SadieB Personal Care, have proved that big ideas can happen anywhere at any time.
“We use the phrase; personal care plus mental hygiene," explained Sadie. "Our product lines focus on girls' accomplishments and lifestyles rather than the look they’re trying to achieve.”
The siblings ended their wilderness adventure believing their vision of eco-friendly shampoos and personal care products would make a viable business and help the mental health of Gen Z women.
“That idea kind of snowballed into this concept of having personal care products that are built around girls' lifestyle and interests rather than specific beauty outcomes,” Abby explained.
But turning an idea into a viable business can be overwhelming in terms of time and money, especially when you’re still a college student.
Troy D’Ambrosio, the Executive Director of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, said that’s why the university started the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute.
“We just set tables for them and they have to take the initiative and they have to drive it themselves," he explained.
Adrian Sucahyo and Vivek Ananth, best friends since middle school, are witness to how much help the program gives.
The duo invented a kit that allows people to test the water in their homes to see if it's safe.
“The original idea was to help address inequity in our communities," Sucahyo explained. "Through some research, we found there is possible, widespread contamination across the United States that people just don’t have access to testers to know that their water is contaminated.”
“They basically took the financial aspect of raising money completely off our minds," Ananth reflected.
D'Ambrosio said on average, the program has about 100 student businesses starting each year. In addition, there's roughly 400 ideas that are in various stages of the planning process.
He also said that while the university helps lift students to achieve their business dreams, the hard work done by the students is "pretty remarkable."
