Kean entrepreneurs start own businesses

Published by May 9, 2018 | By Michelle Rodriguez

Kean student Joe Keasted loves cologne, but he didn’t love the prices.

Then one morning as he got ready for school, he looked at all of his colognes lined up, and he thought how nice it would be to change up his colognes without breaking the bank. A light bulb went off, and The Fragrance Club was born.

The Fragrance Club is an online subscription company that sells mini-sized colognes and perfumes for all genders. The brands range from Givenchy and Versace Eros to YSL and Jimmy Choo.

“I found something I was passionate for and I knew I needed to be my own boss,” Keastead said.

Keastead said he followed his passion for cologne, but also noticed that online subscription companies are taking off and he wanted to get in front of the competition. He observed little competition in subscription fragrances.

“One of my biggest fears is working for someone else for the rest of my life,” said Keastead. “That’s the main reason I started my business.

Keastead is just one of many student entrepreneurs starting a business at a young age, and in the heat of their college career. Ranging in age from 18-22, some are even supporting themselves through school while running successful companies.

Shows like ABC’s Shark Tank represent just a small percentage of people who want to live the “American Dream.” According to Inc.com, a magazine about small business, 14 percent of Americans own their own business, a record high. Some students at Kean are becoming part of that daring percentage and succeeding in the process.

Imani Cortez, owner of Ivy Push Agency, is another Kean student who a dreamed of owning her own business. She majors in Marketing, following in the footsteps of her godparents, who studied marketing as well and have worked with some impressive names like Nike and Adidas.

The mission for Ivy Push Agency is to assist entrepreneurs with successful marketing tools. It especially caters to women, minorities, and millennials since they are at a disadvantage with entrepreneurship.

Ivy Push Agency understands the stress college can take on a student, so it offers a scholarship to help student pay for their textbooks.

Both entrepreneurs found it difficult to manage their time between their business and coursework.  They both admitted that they found themselves prioritizing one over the other.

On the other hand, if they could go back and make the decision again to start their business when they did or wait until they finished college, they adamantly stood by their decisions to start their business while they are young and in college.

Kean University supports the experience with entrepreneur classes, as well as courses that will help young entrepreneurs one day start their own business. Marketing, finance, business, and communication are all majors that Kean offers that can very much benefit business-minded students.

Marketing professor, Dr. Shweta Singh, finds it incredible that students start their own businesses in college and focus on their passion.

Dr. Singh is passionate about helping her students and understands following your passion to find success. She also knows much about business and start-up companies.

She also gave helpful tips about what classes young student entrepreneurs should take at their time at Kean.

“I would recommend basic marketing, accounting, finance, and entrepreneur classes,” she said.  “The focus of any business is customers. You must manage and understand your customers to sell to them.”

Success is different to everyone but Dr. Singh summarized it by focusing on all aspect of someone’s life.

“Success is finding a balance between personal life and career,” she said. “You can’t have one without the other.”

For Keastead, success is no longer fearing a life under a boss. He is living the American Dream of owning his own business.

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