For me, being a Carson Coug means coming full circle

Though I was the first in my family to attend the Carson College, my great grandmother, Halcyon Delight Maughan, served for years as chairwoman of the Department of Foods and Nutrition at Washington State College, now known as Washington State University.

I often enjoyed sitting on the bench given in her honor in front of the Honors College on the WSU Pullman campus. This special connection brought it all back home for me since I became an entrepreneur in the food industry here, in the place where my great grandmother also spent her career.

One of the most important things I’ve heard repeatedly about starting a business is that the founder and owner must truly believe in their product—a lesson I took to heart.

I grew up watching my dad make his secret family recipe for ginger sauce, and I saw the smiles on faces after tasting his sauce.

Marie Mayes’s Entrepreneurship 486 class made a huge impact on my success. I learned how to create a realistic business plan incorporating marketing, finances, public speaking, and presenting. A large part of the class was meeting the requirements for the Business Plan Competition. This experience introduced me to networking opportunities and connected me with people who want to help me grow and succeed.

Last year, my roommate, Cole Hensley, and I entered and won the WSU 2021 Business Plan Competition by creating a business plan based around Unkle Drew’z, my dad’s ginger sauce.

Becoming an entrepreneur during these trying times would not have been possible without the help we received. My dad and I have used the prize money to fund this real-life business. We bottled our ginger sauce and started selling it shortly after winning the competition!

In the future, I hope to give back by helping younger entrepreneurs, either through classroom presentations or one-on-one meetings, to offer advice about building a business plan on paper and bringing it to life. We Cougs help Cougs!

You help make all this possible for me and fellow Carson Cougs across all our campuses. We are appreciative of your support! Thank you!