One thing is certain: The center will serve business owners with a wide range of goals. Running her own business allowed Katie Bates to travel and gave her plenty of flexibility, room for creativity, and field-tested skills she can take anywhere. Hoopla supported her for several years during the recession. “Being able to survive and support myself is a pretty good feat,” she says. Starting her own business also gave Bates a close-up view of the changing business landscape. “It’s hard to believe,” she says, “but social marketing was new just three years ago.” Companies now run their websites and social media in-house. She recently scaled back her Hoopla clients to take a full-time job as a marketing manager for a bank in Boston. No surprise, she’ll be pioneering social media in the banking industry. Nearly two decades after she started Financial Focus, Susan John continues to meet her original goals for the business, starting with finding purpose in her work. In financial planning, she says, “We see where the pressure points are in society.” She helps families trying to pay for college and people wondering if they can retire. Nor is she bored: “I’m still passionate about the work I do,” she says. “I have no interest in retiring anytime soon.”—Kristen Laine Kristen Laine is an awardwinning journalist who lives and works in Grafton County, New Hampshire.
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Tips for aspiring entrepreneurs from ...
Your classmates want to know what you’ve been up to. Send us your personal and professional accomplishments so that we can share your news. Visit http://go.plymouth.edu/class-notes to submit your update today.
Katie Bates ’07: Students — make sure you’re wellrounded. Get involved in clubs and organizations on campus. I did not get straight As at Plymouth State, but I was a CA in my residence hall. I always had another job, and I started a student-run advertising agency my junior year.
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Don’t rush into it, but don’t sit on a good idea, either. Ask yourself what’s the worst that can happen if you fail. Susan MacMichael John ’70: Find something that you can be passionate about and that utilizes your unique skills and talents.
alumni • news & Notes 1960s
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Richard Wylie ’63 celebrated his 25th year as president of Endicott College in Beverly, MA.
Bernard “Bernie” McCarthy ’71, ’74G was elected president of the 180-member Rotary Club of Springfield, MO. Louise (Samaha) McCormack ’72 received the Meritorious Achievement Award from the New Hampshire Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance at the 2012 NH “ED”ies Award Ceremony. Louise is a professor in Plymouth State’s Department of Health and Human Performance.
Don’t be afraid to get some help; for example, consult with a CPA to help you pick the right form of business. Susan Losapio ’83: Is your idea grounded in a sustainable passion? If you’re going to go into business for yourself, do it because you really want to. You have to be able to hear No and keep going. If you can’t risk hearing No, don’t go into business for yourself. Amy Bassett ’90: Do your homework. No one is going to care as much as you do whether your business succeeds or fails. You need to understand all aspects of the business. Often we see business owners who know the operations of their business but not their financials. Or they don’t have a business plan. Are you an alumna/us who owns a business? We invite you to share your experiences with us at http:// go.plymouth.edu/alumni-business.
Bernard “Bernie” Crowley ’64 (above) is retired and living in Ohio. Bernie is a volunteer guardian ad litem with the Ohio Family Court, a volunteer educational surrogate parent, and a member of the Cleveland Drum Circle. Barbara (Cartier) Shaw ’64 is a city alderwoman for Ward 9 in Manchester, NH. She has been a member of the NH House of Representatives for 12 years and serves on the Hillsborough County Executive Board. Barbara (Kimball) LaPlume ’65 has retired from Baker & Taylor’s YBP Library Services in 2011. She now lives in Shelburne, NH, where she can see all the mountains she has climbed (all the 4,000-footers in NH and the Appalachian Trail in Maine). Bruce Bean-Connery ’69 is the editor of the Connecticut Music Educators News Magazine and teaches music lessons in Connecticut.
Cathy Crane ’73, ’92G, ’02CAGS (below) retired after almost four decades as an educator and administrator. Cathy began her career in 1973 at Bristol (NH) Elementary School as a 6th-grade teacher, was a founding member of Plymouth State’s Child Development and Family Center, and taught for PSU’s College of Graduate Studies.
Kaleb Hart ’11 photo.
those that have an Internet-based component. The same reasons they’re working from home may make it hard for those entrepreneurs to take advantage of a traditional campusbased resource. Boggess believes that the new center’s virtual online programs will help serve the needs of these small business owners.
So you want to start a business?
Michael Chadwick ’74, ’82G is in his ninth year as principal of the Passamaquoddy Indian School on the coast of Downeast Maine.
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