What did you love this week?

I really enjoyed the mini-pitches. Working with a small group to make a pitch for something that was already given to us was really fun. I especially liked making little reptiles out of pipe cleaners. I always enjoy working with my venture group as well, I think we are making good progress on our project and it is exciting to see it start to come together.

Another thing I loved this week was Halloween! It was really fun to dress up and be with friends and dance. I missed going to parties like that. Halloween parties might be my favorite kind of party. Or ones with a theme. It makes everyone feel silly and it makes for great/easy conversation starters.

What resonated with you in workshops?

The customer profile was helpful to break down. It was cool to see how you can work backwards from a product. It was also fun to use the jamboard to come up with loads of ideas for other ways a chip clip could be used and what the customer would look like for a simple item. It made me feel like I can come up with a customer profile fairly easily now and have fun with it.

How might you apply this week’s learnings to your venture?

Well, I will use what I learned from the customer profile workshop to create a customer profile. Now I know what I am looking for and how to do so. I will also try to have more fun with this project and not take it so seriously. I mean that as a good thing. I am still going to try hard and make something I can be proud of, but it might help take some of the pressure off.

What did you learn in shift and share- what did you love, what would you have loved to see?

I don’t know what this is. I think there was a problem on the calendar and this is for upper e-levels to answer.

Things are going well! My team and I decided to pivot hardcore on our vp2. I feel better about the current idea we have rather than the previous idea we had. It felt like everyone was doing mental health, and we couldn’t figure out how to make it all work and how it would be different than other mindfulness apps. We are moving on to a finance app specifically for students. We got a lot done at our last meeting and now we need to conduct interviews and redo the vpc and the bic. I am not too worried. We have a lot more to do but I think it is doable. I am anxious to see what we can do and how we will do it. But, like I said I feel better about this idea. It won’t be a lot easier but it feels more secure.

We need more interviews, or at least I want more interviews. People who aren’t my roommates for the 4th time. New faces new ideas. I will reach out to people on Monday. I have a few things I have to do on Sunday.

I want to go thrifting soon. The Goodwill bins in Everett to be exact. You can purchase clothes by the pound. The things you can find are amazing. I have found brand-name jeans in great condition and loads of other one-of-a-kind pieces I haven’t seen anywhere else. It is a pretty fun weekend activity.

My last day of work is the 31st. I am excited to have more free time for school and myself. I found my Halloween costume too. I am hoping someone can switch shifts with me so I don’t have to work on Sunday in the morning. Going to a party Saturday night and not worrying about getting up at 6 am would be nice. But it is my last day so it really won’t be that bad. Just not ideal, which is fine. But I am gonna ask anyway.

I hope everyone has/had a good weekend, and the power doesn’t go out!

How have you deepened your understanding of business research, empathy, and alignment?

My group and I are just starting to finalize our idea for our project. I don’t know a whole lot about business research but I think I am getting it so far. We are reaching out to some local meditation groups and interviewing them for our VP2. It’s exciting to talk to people I wouldn’t normally even think of talking to. I mean they are cool people of course, but they are super out of my regular circle so it’s interesting to learn from new folks!

I like to think of myself as a very empathetic person. Last Monday when we were assigned to walk around campus and interview students, I found myself matching their energy and providing as much empathy for whatever they were describing. Whether it was eating a good lunch or feeling anxious about finishing an assignment, I felt right there with them. This class is exciting because I can see the changes happening in myself already. Stepping out of my comfort zone by interviewing strangers and being forced to get to know them is something I didn’t think I would enjoy as much as I do.

As for alignment, I don’t know if that means something different in this class or not, but I feel like I am on the right track for developing VP2. My group is fun to work with and I am always excited to meet and talk about the next steps. We get along well too, I wasn’t expecting any less but ya know its still a nice thing. We have a lot more work to do and I expect things to start picking up really fast. It will be challenging but I am looking forward to it.

How does IdeaGrit and Major Definite Purpose resonate with you right now?

There’s a lot of words or phrases in this class it’s hard to keep track of ’em all lol. If I am being completely honest I’m not sure it does resonate simply because I don’t know what this means. But I will take a shot at it. I guess IdeaGrit makes me think positively and doesn’t leave any room for feeling bad about “failed” ideas/projects. Things are rarely the end of the world and you must have the grit to get through the hard things. If Major Definite Purpose means what I think it means, then I don’t think I have found mine yet. I don’t think I will find my purpose for a while if ever and that is okay with me. I will try new things anyway and see what sticks. I don’t know if I want one purpose. But if this is in terms of our VP2’s then I think we are on a good track and very close to figuring out our major purpose/narrowing it down.

How might you apply this week’s learnings to your venture?

This week was a little tough for me. My anxiety flared up a lot throughout the week and it made it difficult to focus on things outside of my own headspace. Anxiety is something I am not scared to talk about at all because it is and always will be a large factor in my life. I don’t hate it but of course, it’s annoying. Like this week I had a swollen lymph node and I immediately thought of cancer. Was it cancer? No. Silly brain. I think I learned a lot this week from myself. I learned that not everything is life-threatening so therefore I need to be able to learn to separate myself from the anxiety. It is a part of me but it is not me.

As for what I learned in class, I learned how to conduct better interviews and JTBD statements. This will come in handy when my group and I interview people who aren’t students. I am ready to jump back in after my anxious weekend. Time for a good distraction. 🙂

Also, here is a picture of Stout. One of the best service pups I ever did see. Katy (woman next to Stout) and I did a photoshoot with this fluffy boy because he is gonna represent Brigadoon at an event I believe. Plus we had to show off the new puppy room! I will be sad to leave, so good thing I have lots of photos stocked up.

How’s traction going so far?

I think this question means traction in general with the class… so that is how I will answer. I am having a great time. I can’t wait to keep working on VP2 with my group. I think we have a fun idea and it’s something we all feel passionate about which will keep things interesting. I am really liking this class so far. It is stressful for sure but not in a detrimental way. The more we get on in the quarter the more I feel like I can do this and that I am capable of more than I thought, which is always a nice thing to realize. As for the actual traction journals, I am learning more about word press so hopefully, I can clean up my site a bit more as the quarter/ year progresses.

I also gave my boss my 3 weeks notice so I will be leaving Brigadoon Service Dogs at the end of October. I am sad I have to leave because I really do like my job, all the smiley puppy dog faces are such a welcome part of my day. But I need to make school a priority right now, which is a very reasonable thing to do. I told my boss that I would love to stay on call to help cover shifts here and there but a full schedule isn’t going to work for me anymore. Plus, they deserve someone who can give 100% to the dogs and the trainers, my mind will be preoccupied with school for a while. So I think it’s for the best for both parties. I hope I can still help out and visit the pups from time to time. 🙂

What have you learned so far from Design Thinking and Creative Confidence?

I had to look these things up on the website if I am being honest. I showed up a few minutes late to the last zoom meeting so I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything. What I took away from the videos I watched by Meg was that these two things go hand in hand. Design thinking involves getting into action and prototyping and being open to the process. It also means conducting empathy interviews and connecting with your target market to ensure you get the best possible outcome. Creative confidence is needed to do those things! Thinking creatively and being confident in yourself/ your ideas will help the design thinking process go much smoother. Creative confidence is a great way to solve problems and empower yourself. Both are needed to have great success in this class and entrepreneurship in general.

 How might you apply this week’s learnings to your venture?

After the zoom meeting, I felt like I had a good idea of what my main values were. In this venture, I will try to make sure I am respecting my values and enforcing them upon myself. After learning about creative confidence and design thinking, I think I have a good idea of how to proceed with the venture. I will continue to remain open and enthusiastic about our project and try not to let the little things get in the way. I will try to solve problems creatively to the best of my ability. I will also try and come up with more prototypes than in VP1. I think having more prototypes or making them early on will help make our idea even stronger because we can conduct surveys or interviews based on said prototypes. I also won’t let failures slow us down either, it just means we get to pivot if our idea wasn’t as solid as we thought. It’s all a learning process and I am excited to keep working on things!

How are you preparing for success this quarter?

I am making sure my calendars are up to date for all of my classes and their homework assignments. I am also going into classes without any expectations. I have expectations for myself, just not the content/structure of the classes I am taking. By this I mean I am going into class with an open mind ready to learn and ready to put my best foot forward with whatever may come my way.

What do you expect for E-level  journey this quarter?

If I am being honest I don’t know what to expect. I expect some confusion and some problem solving for sure, but other than that I don’t know what’s coming. I am excited to see what this class is all about the further we get into the class content. I suppose I expect myself to grow and learn a lot about what I am capable of. This class is out of my comfort zone a little because I have never had a curriculum like this before. But I am looking forward to seeing what can I do.

How might you apply this week’s learnings to your venture?

Now I know a little bit more of how ventures are structured and what to expect so I won’t be going into the next one so blind. I will be able to have a better understanding of what is expected from me and how to go about starting a venture. I also know I can ask my vp1 group questions about things if I am feeling stuck, they are very kind and very helpful. I’m grateful I had such an amazing team and leader like Sawyer!

What did you love this week?

This week I loved the hype for the pitches in class. I loved making the first impression I did by ripping off my pants in front of 30 people I have never had the pleasure of meeting. Seeing all the different projects was so cool. It was awesome to see what everyone did in such a short time, it was incredible! It made me excited to dive further into this class.

Also this week I really loved walking home from campus taking my time, admiring all the changing leaves and the stormy sunset sky. Western is quite beautiful. I have lived down the street from WWU for years but never had the pleasure of being a student. It’s pretty lovely in the evening when there aren’t many people around and the sky is pink and stormy after the rain while the sun just starts to set. Just thought I’d share a nice moment I experienced this week.

What would you have loved to have achieved this week?

I would have loved to have given a smoother presentation. I think I did just fine for my first one but I definitely could have practiced more. I think overall it was a great experience and I think my team had a blast with the project. A little more practice and running it through one or two more times probably would have made it all run a little smoother. But in my defense, I had a lot of adrenaline from my big entrance ripping off my pants and all. I had to make sure they came off in one rip! There was a lot on the line.

 Please share your personal experiences and the lessons you learned from completing VP1 this quarter?

At first, I was pretty unsure of the class and what was going on. Wondering what I had got myself into and feeling overwhelmed. I feel like I didn’t get much of an explanation to what was going on, or what was expected of us so I was feeling pretty lost. But luckily Sawyer took on the teaching role and told me everything she could think of that was important about the class. Which was also overwhelming because it was a lot of information all at once. But once we started the project and actually started the process things started to fall into place and make more sense.

I learned that it is going to be a little overwhelming but that’s okay! I clearly showed myself that I can do this and that this class will prove to be a fun challenge for me. I am excited to see what other skills and life lessons I will learn. I also feel like I know a bit more of how venture projects are structured and sort of how to start but, further instruction would be greatly appreciated.

How may they help you have a successful and fulfilling VP2?

Now I feel like I know what is going on a little more. I can go into the next VP, full of ideas and ready to engage. I know a bit more of what to expect so I hopefully won’t feel as overwhelmed. And it seems like there may be some further instructional videos coming out that will help answer more of my questions. If I go into the next project eager and excited it will help me be more successful by making the experience and process more enjoyable. Which in turn will hopefully get rid of some of that nervousness. All of this will make the next VP go a little smoother, and I won’t feel as lost when it comes to things like BIC’s or test cards, etc.

How will you put that into action?

I will put this into action by watching the instructional videos before class and asking questions of my peers, my team, and the teaching team. I will also come to class excited to get started and learn. I will bring my positive attitude and an open mind. I am excited to make more connections in this class, not only to create a better support group for myself but to also make some friends who will make the class even more engaging and fun.

What challenges are you facing? What’s Next?

I feel that the biggest challenge I am facing is anxiety. I have general anxiety, I get help with it which is lovely, but it can make me timider than others at times. I don’t think it is very obvious to other people who don’t know what anxiety looks like, because I do a pretty good job of not letting it get the best of me. But it can make it so things that aren’t necessarily supposed to feel scary, feel really scary and intimidating. I think this class will help build confidence in myself and my skills as well as help me take charge of the anxiety I may be feeling.

For me, I think my next steps are to be ready to jump right on in VP2 and come to class excited. That way any anxiety I may feel will be more of a butterfly feeling than a pit in my stomach. I can’t wait to see what I can do on the next VP. I am excited to grow and learn more about myself as well as the entrepreneurial process.