Lead Organizer Spotlight: Meet Alexis Taylor from 3DS Creighton

Alexis Taylor is a senior in the Heider College of Business studying Social Entrepreneurship, Business Ethics Management, and International Cultures. She was also the founding Lead Organizer of the first inaugural 3 Day Startup Program at Creighton University. 27 students from Creighton, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln participated in the first time program, forming five different startup teams that worked on ideas ranging from a productivity app to a platform for collectors. Alexis says the most rewarding part of founding the program at Creighton was receiving positive feedback from students, mentors, and even panelists. “We’ve created a collegiate community of entrepreneurs. For students that started at square zero, they now have a framework they can use to launch future companies and we all walked away with connections to great people.” Prepping for the Program “The 3DS Organizer Kit provided materials and a roadmap to get our feet wet. Our community was also the key to helping us customize our program for Creighton,” says Alexis. She also had the opportunity to attend a 3DS Houston program hosted by the University of Houston. “I got to see all the hype and how they built their community. Everyone that I’ve met through the 3DS network has been extremely kind, was willing to help, and wanted to make a difference in the world,” she says. The Challenges Alexis says that one of the greatest challenges of organizing 3DS Creighton was that she wanted to compare their program to other 3DS programs that were already established for a few years. “I was comparing what we were trying to build at our university to other programs, but then I realized that our community is different. We had to build something to support our community and what our students needed,” she says. “There is no cookie cutter way — 3DS had a great outline, but we got to make it our own.” Advice for Future Lead Organizers Alexis says catering to college students is different than other programs. “College students are a different animal. Look, choose, and adapt. Figure out who you are serving and how you can best assist them. I think everything has been done once, but how you shape the program to meet the needs of your participants can be done differently.” After 3DS Creighton “I relaxed a lot after 3DS Creighton and after finals I traveled to Dubai. Now I’m getting back into the groove of things and helping out with sorority recruitment,” she says. After Alexis graduates she is potentially interested in working for 3 Day Startup global in their Austin headquarters, accelerator programs, or helping build entrepreneurship programs at Creighton. She is also applying to fellowships that work with developing countries like Rwanda to help their entrepreneurs with community development and securing capital.