The Catapult Greater Pittsburgh "Lily Pod" Kidpreneur Podcast aired on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, and featured some incredible young entrepreneurs from PHCSE! Taylor, Owner of Boss Girl Collection LLC and PHCSE Alumna, and Destiny, Owner of Rising Artists, are both graduates of the Catapult Kidpreneur program. Taylor won the grand prize of $1,500 in 2021, becoming the FIRST Kidpreneur to do it! She just opened up her storefront this year and attributes much of her success to developing an entrepreneurial mindset at a young age! Destiny won 2nd place with a prize of $500 in 2022. She remembers the highlight of her Kidpreneur experience as being able to pitch every week which helped to build her communication skills. Destiny is also a finalist for this year's Soaring Shark Tank Pitch Competition! Way to go Taylor and Destiny! Please check out the podcast below to hear about their entrepreneurial journey.  

Earlier this month venture, agency and nonprofit owners met to discuss the importance of having a growth mindset as VAN owner. We spoke about the highs and lows that some owners have come across this year, and how they've addressed these obstacles. We were reminded in this conversation that sometimes your VAN may struggle, but how important it is to see the bigger picture. Each VAN was then asked to complete a business and employee evaluation.

VAN owners will complete Employee Performance Evaluations in order to connect with each of their employees and ensure that they are identifying their good work and any areas they feel need improvement. We spoke about the importance of providing positive reinforcement for carrying out tasks properly. Owners were reminded that positive reinforcement is crucial for boosting workplace morale and the good performance of the employees. Owners will conduct VAN and employee evaluations at the end of the year as well in hopes that they will see growth in areas that may need improvement. 

Pitt University

Big Idea Center

Pitt University's Big Idea Center Outreach & Engagement Coordinator, Tiffany Bicek, and Big Idea Center Director, Rhonda Schuldt, put on our very first Ideation Lab! The employees of Soarmania's Big Idea Center participated in an ideation lab where they learned about the importance of opening up their minds in order to come up with new ideas or ways to solve problems. For example, the employees of the Big Idea Center were given a paperclip and were asked identity a new way that they could use or create something using that paperclip. Once they had thought about this idea they were asked to join a small group and jot down these ideas one employee at a time, quickly realizing that their fellow employees came up with ideas that didn't come to their minds originally. This lead to the discussion of how important it is to lean into your team when solving problems and creating new ideas. The Big Idea Center ended their session reviewing United Nations 17 sustainable energy goals and coming up with ideas to help solve some of these global issues. 

A BIG Thank you Big Idea Center for sharing their time and knowledge with our miniature Big Idea Center!