This school year, junior leadership scholars at Regina are learning about the intricacies of entrepreneurship. The Leadership Scholars are a group of Regina students led by Leadership Institute Director Ms. Herrington who meet weekly during advisory to learn about leadership. They work on projects related to entrepreneurship and apply it to the real world.

As sophomores last year, this year’s junior leadership scholars learned about influential women who have served as role models while generating their own entrepreneurial ideas this year.

Most recently, junior leadership scholars created elevator pitches. They created their own fidget toy ideas, pitching their ideas to both Ms. Herrington and their peers. Through this activity, the junior leadership scholars learned how to creatively make their own products and pitch their ideas to others.

When asked what entrepreneurship means to Ms. Herrington, she stated, “Throughout my career, I have pursued opportunities for innovation and creative thinking. From launching new products and companies to starting new programs at Regina, I am inspired by the potential to design and test new ideas for positive impact. I am always looking for ways to improve.”

Herrington continued, “Entrepreneurship is embedded across the Leadership Scholars curriculum. We are always discussing the need for innovative leaders and creative problem solvers who can inspire others to act and do good.”

Herrington also stated, “I recently added an exploration of entrepreneurial thinking and experimentation to the junior leadership scholars curriculum and senior leadership scholars act as entrepreneurs as they envision and implement their capstone projects.”

Junior Leadership scholars have continued to ponder the question of what makes a successful entrepreneur. Herrington stated that she believes successful entrepreneurs hold “innovation, creativity, problem solving, confidence, risk-taking, determination, and perseverance.”

The best piece of entrepreneurial advice Herrington has been given is, “Take action – do something now. A lot of times, we think that we have to wait for the perfect time to make a decision or the right opportunity to try something new. The time is now. You can always adjust and fix along the way but you’ll never know until you embrace that opportunity and go for it.”

To the future entrepreneurs of Regina, Ms. Herrington stated, “Be observant. Remember there are no bad ideas. Take a risk. Give it a go. And when you fail, start over again! Never stop imagining more creative solutions and a better world.”

When asked about the importance of learning entrepreneurship, Margaret Clancy, a junior leadership scholar stated, “As a society, we are taught to work for this idea of a nine to five job while entrepreneurship allows us to escape this societal norm”.

Clancy stated that she enjoys learning entrepreneurship because, “It gives us real world learning experiences.”

Through this inspiring education about entrepreneurship, the Regina community will soon see Regina girls take action!