Startup Your Career with Arat

Transcript

Sometimes students find their way and change paths after they start a college degree program. Say hello to Arat. He’s one of those students who took a bit of time. He dabbled in Engineering, Acting, and finally discovered his passion, entrepreneurship. Arat’s a senior at UTEP and loves being a Business major. Tell us all about it, Arat.

– Great intro, Alex. Like many people graduating high school, I didn’t exactly know what career path to choose for college. I started in Engineering, switched to Acting, and then dropped out for a couple of years to figure out what career I would be passionate about. In the meantime, I worked as a successful realtor and loved it. That experience led me to discover that I really liked networking, sales and entrepreneurship, so I decided to get a Business degree. I joined the UTEP chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization and had the chance to go to the CEO Global Pitch Competition in Chicago where I saw students from around the world pitch their business idea. I knew I wanted to do that someday. After the competition, I received an email from the Blackstone Launchpad at UTEP regarding a pitch competition and ideation workshop. There, I came up with an idea I really liked, a rapid test kit to measure fabric toxicity. I presented it at two pitch competitions and lost, but used the feedback to make some changes. When I competed at the next National Blackstone Launch for Idea Competition, I won the top prize of $10,000. The faculty and staff of UTEP’s Mike Loya Center for Innovation and Commerce help me find the resources and guidance to embark on this journey to become an entrepreneur. After I won the national competition, UTEP’s president invited me to discuss my future goals. Thanks to the university promoting my win, different foundations and capital ranchers approach me to discuss next steps for my business idea. This summer, I will be participating in the local accelerator program to create my product. Additionally, my business idea is one of the 360 startups chosen from a pool of 10,000 applications to compete for the $1 million whole prize. That’s my story. Back to you, Alex.

– Wow, UTEP sure has given you some really incredible opportunities, Arat. From winning the top prize at a national competition to working with a program to help you create your product, UTEP has been a great place to get a degree and to make valuable connections. Great job.