Skip to content

Advocacy and Business: Gaining the Tools I Need

By Kate Folladori–Two primary conditions have defined my life since I was fourteen: epilepsy and chronic depression. They have impacted the way I interact with people, the way I think about my future, the way I see myself and my potential, and my day-to-day health and mobility. But recently, as with any other obstacle in life, having these conditions has also been quite inspiring to someone like myself who loves to create. Along with creating, I also realize that I need the tools that the Cameron School of Business can offer me.

 

Advocacy

Writing and drawing have been my fall-back for years. I go to them to ease stress, to feel accomplished, and to let out emotions that I can’t verbalize. They allow me to think clearly when my mind is cluttered and full of doubt. They are my sanctuary; and, when used correctly in times of need, my sanity. Knowing this, I decided (thanks in huge part to a school project) that I wanted to use them to try to help others like me- Others facing the same obstacles, but who don’t have the tools that I have. I essentially learned that I wanted to be an advocate for those suffering from these conditions, and I wanted to use blogging and art as my primary methods. But I was missing something very essential.

 

The Business of Art

Blogging and art require more than simple knowledge of the thing you are trying to communicate. Successful blogs and successful artists are businesses unto themselves. And building a business requires tools that I am fully aware I do not have, and requires tools that I probably do not even know exist.

Not only that, but bloggers and artists have business concepts that I have yet to even begin to understand.

  • They understand how to successfully market their products
  • They know how to utilize social media and how to appeal to their customers
  • They understand which of their products sell and why, whether they are “selling” online articles with clicks and ads or selling artwork
  • Bloggers specifically understand how to keep the attention of their readers so that they want to not only read more than one article at a time, but want to come back week after week

For these reasons and many more, I realize that if I want to become a successful advocate in the way I am hoping, I need to fill out my toolbox.

 

Cameron School of Business – Career Day 2018

I am fortunate to have the University of St. Thomas and the Cameron School of Business as providers of the missing knowledge and tools that I need. The CSB Career Day 2018 is an excellent example of this. I was able to not only attend a panel on entrepreneurship and hear other’s opinions on what makes a start-up successful, but I got to meet students who had similar goals; as well as faculty who head the McNair Center, which offers a minor in entrepreneurship.

I also learned about the Game Changers Society, a club at UST for future entrepreneurs. And, through meeting other students, I was able to meet the President of the Cameron Business Society. I plan on joining both clubs.

 

Conclusion

CSB continually emails me with many more opportunities; the key for me will be to take full advantage of all these wonderful opportunities. Thanks to the CSB and UST, when I graduate in December, I feel confident I will have what I need to start building the business I can now visualize.

 

Kate Folladori

Cameron School of Business – Candidate for B.A. in general studies

 

 

share this post

Community

Discipline

Goodness

Knowledge

Never miss an update...

Subscribe to the CSB Blog!