Month: April 2022

A Quick Overview

After having the initial idea for the venture that would become CA’Buddy, Carson reached out to the Hurt Hub@Davidson to get to work. She received an initial grant which propelled her into life at the Hurt Hub. After connecting with Liz Brigham, Carson gained even more mentors, to help with web design, financial modeling, and more. 

The big question on everyone’s mind: where’s that $25,000 going? Carson has big plans for her winnings. Part of the funds will be going towards product development and the research and design process behind her product. Carson is also in the process of developing a picture book to go along with a buddy. Carson hopes to create a book to explain the diagnosis of cancer through the eyes of a naked mole rat, making a difficult process easier for younger cancer patients. Carson also plans on adding more people to her team, getting storage space for her current products (that’s not her dorm room), and focusing some efforts on marketing and audience research.  

Although Carson would love to dive into CA’Buddy full time after graduation, that’s not immediately possible. Eventually, Carson wants to return to school to get a dual degree – a Masters in Divinity and an MBA to continue with CA’Buddy. While CA’Buddy is currently for-profit, the goal, eventually, will be to transition to a non-profit organization. The Hurt Hub is incredibly proud of Carson and all her hard work, and we can’t wait to see where she and CA’Buddy go from here!  

Be sure to check out cabuddyclub.org and follow CA’Buddy on Instagram @cabuddyclub.

A Quick Overview

Frank Myers ’82 graduated from Davidson with a degree in Philosophy and a focus in language and logic (two of the L’s). An important note, Frank’s degrees weren’t in tech, but he’s worked for Red Hat, Osprey, and is currently working at Splunk – all tech and cybersecurity start-ups. Moving from language and logic, Frank realized that code was nothing more than just that – a special kind of language and some logic.  

Frank is currently a strategic advisor for clients at Splunk, an American software company based in San Francisco. Frank spends a lot of his time thinking about the construct of innovation. Innovation is baked into the core of Splunk’s values and, for Frank, innovation comes down to how you recognize and address change. Can you take advantage of the changes being made or how can you address the challenges the changes create? 

Like many Davidson grads, the liberal arts education Davidson provides, prepared Frank to be a continual learner (the final L!) throughout his career. For students and soon-to-be graduates, Frank recommends taking advantage of the opportunity to learn and fostering this time into an effort for continual learning. “The people who are serial learners and are constantly learning are the ones who are going to be able to see opportunities and take advantage of them,” he says. 

A Quick Overview

Four years ago, Cynthia Beiler started her own consulting firm, Leveraged Mind Consulting. Cynthia’s area of expertise lies in revenue. Whether that’s helping drive revenue, advising sales operations, or helping clients find investors, Cynthia focuses on positioning her clients to always have interested buyers.  

Behind the scenes, Cynthia is focused on the mental aspects of sales and innovation for her company. Cynthia points to the power our minds have over our behaviors to influence how she tackles problems. Personally, Cynthia wanted to fix the world’s problems, but she quickly realized it had to start internally before she could hope to affect others. Using this line of thinking, Cynthia took a deep dive into understanding the minds of salespeople to guide and lead effectively. 

Similarly, Cynthia’s definition of innovation comes from the point of view of tackling problems mentally. Cynthia approaches every problem with a blank slate. This, she says, allows for innovation. Not getting stuck in the past or the old ways of solving problems, allows clients to innovate new solutions and new situations.  

Finally, Cynthia advises seeking joy in the workplace, whether that’s the culture, the people, or what you’re doing. Ideally, it’s a combination of all three!