Alumnus Bryan DeLuca (’04, music business) will appear on ABC’s “Shark Tank” this Friday, October 9 at 8 p.m. CST. DeLuca is one of four founders of Dallas-based e-commerce site, Foot Cardigan, a monthly subscription service that sends uniquely designed socks directly to subscribers’ mailboxes. The company offers one pair of socks per month for $9, and sales are expected to exceed $1.5 million this year. Subscribers do not get to choose the socks they will receive, but the company ensures customers will love the fun prints and designs.
The company, which currently boast 8,000 subscribers, wants to expand, and “Shark Tank” provided a perfect opportunity for the entrepreneurs to pitch their product to the potential investors Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Lori Greiner and Kevin O’Leary. According to a recent story in The Tennessean, a trip overseas inspired DeLuca to launch the company.
“We were in London, and I picked up this six pack of fun colors and patterns, and I was like ‘I haven’t seen much of this in the states,’” DeLuca told Tennessean reporter Lizzy Alfs. “When I got back to the states, it kind of just became part of my wardrobe… I was like the sock guy.”
Experts argue improving citizens’ health is pivotal to entrepreneurial climate
Belmont University’s Massey College of Business will partner Wed., Oct. 28 with nonprofit organization Healthy Tennessee to host a free, four-hour symposium focused on the impact of healthcare and citizens’ health on the state’s entrepreneurial climate. Healthcare and education leaders will join executives from locally-based corporations and government officials to discuss why healthcare issues matter to the community and how all of these entities can best work together.
Dr. Manny Sethi, orthopedic and trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the founder of Healthy Tennessee, said, “There is no issue more important to the future of Tennessee and the development of a thriving business community than the health of our citizens. Companies seek environments in which employees are not only educated, but also healthy. Currently, Tennessee ranks 45th nationally in terms of healthcare with rates of diabetes, heart disease and obesity at all-time highs. Unhealthy employees cost companies billions in healthcare dollars on an annual basis and discourage major corporations from moving to our state. That cannot continue.”
Sethi founded Healthy Tennessee to seek to improve access to preventative healthcare across the state since Tennessee has consistently found itself in the bottom third of all states in terms of its citizens’ health. Recent statistics show that 11 percent of adult Tennesseans have diabetes, almost 32 percent are obese and 33 percent suffer from high blood pressure. With healthcare consuming more and more state resources, the issues have become critical to the business community and economic development.
Dr. Mark Phillips, associate professor of entrepreneurship at Belmont University and symposium chair, added, “There’s no question that the health of employees translates into the health of a business. This may be especially true for entrepreneurs because they often rely heavily upon a lean workforce to launch and build their ventures, and therefore the health and well-being of each team member takes on greater importance.”
The symposium will provide attendees a deeper sense of the importance of healthy citizens to the business and healthcare industries around the state. The agenda will feature Commissioner of Economic and Community Development for the State of Tennessee Randy Boyd and Nashville Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ralph Schulz. Other highlights include presenters from Healthy Tennessee, Nissan, Volkswagen, Dollar General, Asurion, Aspire, United Healthcare and Blue Cross, among others.
Standing alone on stage with just a guitar, singer/songwriter Amy Grant made a powerful impression Monday morning during a convocation in MPAC. The native Nashvillian has sold more than 30 million albums, won six GRAMMY® Awards and 25 Dove Awards during her career, but her talk focused on finding ways to cut through the chatter that life can bring, even a life filled with career successes.
Opening with the title track from her second album, Father’s Eyes, Grant then began a series of stories that detailed wisdom garnered over the years from friends and family members, including her mother’s admonition to her as a teenager to listen for the voice of God. Admittedly, at the time, she wasn’t sure what exactly that meant but recounted stories of how, in recent years, those words have come to her in specific moments and led to astonishing results. “I’ve always felt the infinite possibilities of what the journey of faith means.”
After a performance of her 2013 song “Not Giving Up,” Grant noted, “I wish somebody had told me this long ago, but I was in my 50s before it came to me. You know that chatter that’s in your head? It’s really not a trustworthy voice because it can be for you or against you. And when you’re listening to that chatter you miss a lot of other stuff. Last year I had to ask myself, ‘Do you even know what it’s like to be still?'”
Grant explained that “the chatter” is really an individual’s ego caught up in comparing the self to its own aspirations as well as to others. And the chatter it creates seems to only get louder when trying to pray or connect with God.
She remarked that reading The Wisdom Way of Knowing by Cynthia Bourgeault recently proved to be a “game changer” as it introduced her to an ancient, orthodox practice of full prostrations before God. “You have to be willing to risk something different if you want the trajectory of your life to change.”
Grant then invited three students to join her on stage to experience how prostrations could help empty the soul of noise and distractions and assist them in hearing God’s voice. “Hush. Just be in the moment. It made life feel a little more peaceful to tell my ego to shut up… We live broken, fractured lives, but who we are is loved, we are loved loved loved.”
“Savannah, I am already taking care of you,” said Idda, a Form 1 student at the Women’s Institute for Secondary Education and Research (WISER) in Kenya. Savannah Johnson, a recent Belmont graduate and current Lumos Traveler, has been living with Idda and WISER secondary-school girls since June for her Lumos Travel Award project, a grant given to Belmont students or recent graduates who are interested in embarking on a self-designed, international ‘working adventure.’
This summer, the Lumos Travel Award celebrated its 5th anniversary, and with six travelers going all over the world, the program has funded experiences for 32 participants in more than 15 countries. Designed by the students, Lumos empowers travelers to explore, engage and immerse themselves in local communities to deepen their understanding of an issue, project or idea that impassions them. Seeking to define travelers’ world views and engage them as global citizens, the grant supports projects that allow participants to travel for a minimum of eight weeks.
Savannah Johnson at WISER
Since her arrival in Kenya, Johnson has been studying the psychosocial support provided by WISER staff and will end with a research project comparing outcomes between students at local schools. Johnson said she first learned about Lumos when she was a freshman and immediately knew the experience was for her. Committed to spending extended time working at an all-girls school in Africa, Johnson was drawn to WISER’s model for education and created her proposal. On June 16, Johnson arrived in Muhuru Bay – and so began her 5 months as a Lumos Traveler.
Belmont alumna and Board of Trust Member Cynthia Leu created the Travel Award to provide a working gap year experience for Belmont students and recent graduates. After spending several years abroad herself, Leu said she was interested in facilitating a meaningful opportunity for students. By developing individualized travel proposals that directly impact a global community, students are able to learn through immersion, rather than simply by a book.
“It is profound to say ‘yes’ to someone’s dream, and then watch them go out and have that experience. They change and grow, struggle and learn, and come to realize that sometimes the big lessons come in small moments,” Leu said. “Often schooling is mostly focused on theoretical learning. A Lumos grant allows for a ‘working adventure’ – which enables learning through experience in an international location.”
Selden reads to her students
Lumos’s first traveler, Abby Selden, spent three months working in Ghana, at the
Mt. Zion Orphanage School, because it combined her interest in Africa with her love of working with children. While there, Selden organized summer school and was asked to teach English, natural and computer science. For Selden, the opportunity to live and work in Ghana was life-changing – particularly around building global perspective and a deep cultural appreciation.
“Living in Ghana for three months gave me the biggest dose of perspective of my life,” Selden said. “I realized that becoming a ‘global citizen’ doesn’t mean realizing your own importance, it means discovering your relative unimportance. I am just one person, from one of nearly 200 countries and countless cultures. Five years later, I’ve been to 10 more countries, learned French and now live in England. I’m not confident that my life would have changed so drastically if not for that first experience in Ghana.”
No matter the country or project design, Lumos travelers often point to the relationships they formed while traveling as the most meaningful aspect of their time abroad. For Johnson, her time in Kenya is still developing, but she already notes the relational part of her time at WISER as the most formative. “I think building relationships often brings the most meaning in life – no matter where you are. Getting to know the students and faculty at WISER has been so important to me. Over the course of my stay, I am excited to see how these relationships develop and grow.”
Selden teaches technology classes to her students
Selden would agree. Though her fondest memories of Ghana include climbing waterfalls in the Volta region, watching a soccer match between Ghana and Sudan’s national teams and visiting historical sites in Cape Coast, building relationships with her students and fellow volunteers tops out her list.
On the blog where Selden updated her family and friends back home while traveling, a requirement of receiving Lumos funds, she described her days at Mt. Zion and the lessons she learned. A few weeks into her trip, Selden’s relationships were strengthening and the children she worked with became more accustomed and welcoming to her presence.
“The kids have now started saying, ‘You are invited’ when I sit with them – which essentially means that they welcome me to their table and invite me to try their food. I have had so many amazing experiences in Ghana, but somehow I am more content sitting with the kids while they eat everyday than almost anything else I have experienced while here,” Selden said. “I love knowing that I am invited to their table and that they genuinely enjoy me sitting with them.”
For more information on Lumos awards and the application process, visit the website.
In rankings recently released by TFE Times, Belmont University’s Master of Accountancy placed among the top 30 percent of such programs nationwide, landing at No. 60 on a list of more than 190 graduate schools offering accounting degrees. TFE Times is an online media site that seeks to be “the leading source of information for all things Wall Street.”
Associate Dean of Belmont’s Massey College of Business Dr. Joe Alexander said, “We are delighted that TFE is now confirming what so many of our public accounting employers tell us about the high quality of our accounting programs. Certainly, our graduates are prepared to pass their CPA exams, but with our additional programming in areas such as ethics, global leadership and entrepreneurial thinking, Massey accounting grads are ready to add value to their employers at the time of hire.”
TFE Times’ comprehensive rankings use a variety of components to determine each institution’s final score, including GMAT scores, undergraduate GPA, acceptance rate, employment rates after graduation and graduates’ starting salaries. Other southeastern-based programs near Belmont’s ranking included Auburn (56), Kentucky (67) and LSU (68). Click here to view the complete rankings.
The Massey School’s Master of Accountancy (MACC) degree was created in 1992. The Belmont MACC helps to prepare qualified students with non-accounting undergraduate degrees to sit for the CPA exam in as little as 15 months. The program is AACSB accredited, and the Massey Graduate School of Business has been lauded by U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review as one of the top business schools in the country.
Dr. Sybril Brown, professor of media studies, received the Cynthia Williams Impact Award for Excellence in Education and Journalism during the Trailblazer Awards show on Sunday, October 4 at The Agenda Events Venue.
The awards show honored those in the Middle Tennessee community who are trailblazers and pioneers in their fields. Primarily focusing on the education, journalism, entertainment, gospel and broadcasting industries, The Trailblazers Awards are the first of its kind within the state. Brown was one of several community leaders recognized including international gospel icon Dr. Bobby Jones, Publisher of the Tennessee Tribune Mrs. Rosetta Miller-Perry and 92Q Radio Personality Conny Denell.
The Center for Entrepreneurship and ENACTUS, with help from Massey College of Business, Center for Social Entrepreneurship and Religion and Arts, hosted the GoodMarket for the first time on campus to kick off the organization’s university tour.
Following a morning lecture at 10 a.m. featuring founders of social enterprises including Patrick Woodyard from Nisolo, Will Anderson of Salemtown Board Co. and Belmont alumni Taylor Allen from Henri Rose and Isaac Ezell of HOPE International, students were invited to visit the market and shop among featured products.
Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship Elizabeth Gortmaker explained that this stop on the GoodMarket’s 10-campus tour was different from the rest as the Belmont market included exclusive, local businesses to personalize the experience for students. “I do hope to continue this event in the future. I wanted to bring in alums and other founders in the city who are doing work that interests our student body. We’ll be able to connect those founders with some of our student entrepreneurs for mentoring opportunities.”
Belmont’s Student Society of Health System Pharmacy recently conducted the annual American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Clinical Skills Competition. In this competition, student participants entered as pairs and utilized their knowledge and clinical abilities to create a detailed, patient-centered care plan. Eight teams competed in the written competition and five teams were selected to present the care plan to faculty judges. Drs. Montgomery Williams, Kristy Wahaib and Ashton Beggs, faculty in the College of Pharmacy, served as judges for the competition.
Fourth-year pharmacy students Candace Beam and Haley Willett were selected as winners of the local competition. Beam and Willett will compete at the National Clinical Skills Competition at the annual American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting in New Orleans this December.
On September 26, five Belmont undergraduate students and Professor of Chemistry Dr. Kimberlee Daus participated in the Dickson County Drug Take Back, held on National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.
Coordinated by Vanderbilt University and the Dickson Police Department, the team worked alongside faculty and students from Vanderbilt, Lipscomb and Belmont pharmaceutical studies to catalog and count more than 50 pounds of medication. Students participating included Mack Ogle, Teaghan Chen, Mackenzie Watson, Unique Ellis and Allison Lane.
The National Drug Take-Back Day, set by the Drug Enforcement Agency, provides a service to the community through safe and responsible disposal of unused medication. Additionally, these events help to educate the public about the potential drug abuse associated with these medications.
Participating students included Alex Jeffers, Walter Burn, Lindsay Millward, Lindsey Dennis and Katlin Stodard. Panvini, Stodard and Millward gave a presentation titled “Leaf Litter Decomposition Studies for Middle School, High School, and College Students” that discussed their senior research project. Drs. Panvini, Fox and Smith Whitehouse gave a presentation titled “Compost Happens,” which modeled an interdisciplinary lesson integrating science, mathematics and language arts.
The group was also joined by environmental science alumni Erin Pitts and Sylvia Alsup, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Education Dr. Ryan Fox and Professor of English Dr. Bonnie Smith Whitehouse.
Dr. Sybril Brown, professor of media studies, received the Cynthia Williams Impact Award for Excellence in Education and Journalism during the Trailblazer Awards show on Sunday, October 4 at The Agenda Events Venue. 
Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship Elizabeth Gortmaker explained that this stop on the GoodMarket’s 10-campus tour was different from the rest as the Belmont market included exclusive, local businesses to personalize the experience for students. “I do hope to continue this event in the future. I wanted to bring in alums and other founders in the city who are doing work that interests our student body. We’ll be able to connect those founders with some of our student entrepreneurs for mentoring opportunities.”
Belmont’s Student Society of Health System Pharmacy recently conducted the annual American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Clinical Skills Competition. In this competition, student participants entered as pairs and utilized their knowledge and clinical abilities to create a detailed, patient-centered care plan. Eight teams competed in the written competition and five teams were selected to present the care plan to faculty judges. Drs. Montgomery Williams, Kristy Wahaib and Ashton Beggs, faculty in the College of Pharmacy, served as judges for the competition.
