Sean Simone, Sheila de Guzman, Rip Rittell and Janae Bourgeois visit at Coffee Call in Baton Rouge, one of de Guzman’s favorite local businesses.
Go for Opportunity, Stay for Sweet Tea “Every time I travel, I realize I have a love affair with Baton Rouge. The sweet tea alone ... ” laughs Sheila de Guzman, explaining the magnetism of her hometown. One of the first 13 graduates of the LSU Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute’s Entrepreneurship Fellows Program, she capped her December graduation with a six-week Italian journey of self-discovery. Speaking nary a word of Italian, de Guzman spent time in an eco-village, working on an organic farm in exchange for room and board. The budding entrepreneur returned to the E. J. Ourso College of Business with ideas on how “agritourism” could help farmers and promote the state. Such vision is quite a leap from day one as a fellow, when a tentative de Guzman thought, “I couldn’t sell gift
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wrap or chocolate.” Last year, the first class of SEI fellows met weekly to learn how to grow and develop high impact organizations. They held discussions with local business and community leaders, participated in site visits, and tackled skills-based challenges centered on entrepreneurship. de Guzman contends that the SEI Fellows, which grew to 31 students this year, are a valuable investment of time and money. “This program can only run if people support us,” de Guzman says. “We rely on them. We want to be the next ‘them.’” Her take matches the program’s goal to empower students to make an immediate impact. She asserts, “I see a problem. I want to solve it. I know how to do it.
Cornerstone | Summer 2011 | LSU Foundation
Sure, I’m just 22, but age has nothing to do with that.” de Guzman’s passion for developing Baton Rouge grew so much last year that she even shifted her career path from academia to business. She is pursuing an MBA while working as a marketing communications intern at Albemarle and a freelance writer and photographer for 225 magazine. As for the future, de Guzman is eager to help her beloved home state advance by collaborating with other local entrepreneurs. “I’m a philanthropreneur,” she says, describing her interest in forprofit business ventures that generate community support. A new spin on service? That is just de Guzman’s most recent idea. www.sei.lsu.edu