Centers at Beloit College are about converting ideas into action and they intersect with all degrees and areas of study. CELEB has found new opportunities to work with the college’s Schools, for example collaborating with the School of Health Sciences to explore healthcare entrepreneurship.

Practically speaking, CELEB’s role is to coach students so that they achieve their goals, whatever they might be — whether they’re developing media projects in the TV & Media Lab, rehearsing at Maple Tree Studio, recording a podcast, connecting with a community of creators in the Maker Lab, or need a physical space for a meeting or an exhibit space like the Entrepreneurship Lab and Gallery ABBA.

Many institutions silo resources in a business school. CELEB is open to all students and their interests. Situated in a historic downtown building, away from campus distractions, students follow their passions across domains, disciplines, and interests.

Your last great watch, listen, or read?

I’m reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. The main character is a boy who is thrown into foster care and makes his own way living on the margins. He’s lucky and not lucky. He’s resilient. He is very entrepreneurial.

He demonstrates exceptional agency, what to do and not do when things don’t go your way, how to hustle, how to make things happen. He’s finding his place the hard way. The story shows how fragile life is. It’s a gut wrenching book and I have great empathy for the main character who reminds me to be grateful for all the good luck I’ve had along the way.

Our signature unconventional entrepreneurship book at CELEB is the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. The main character chooses to go into a mental health facility because he thinks it will be easier than a prison sentence. He is an unlikely, but consummate, entrepreneur who sets his own goals, creates his own fun, and doesn’t let his circumstances dictate his internal mind or his life.

You learn more about what entrepreneurship is when it’s not a heroic journey. All students can benefit from CELEB by learning to be an agent for their own life.

Your favorite food or meal?

I’m a huge foodie. I was a member of the Milwaukee chapter of the Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a global gastronomic society. We dressed in black tie, brought wine from our wine cellars to pair with the courses, and talked about whatever was interesting in the world at the time. We would produce seven events a year, each time dining at a venue where the chef would make a multi-course tasting menu made up of the dishes they were proudest of. I developed personal friendships with the best chefs around Milwaukee, but my favorite meal… is Big Mac, fries, and Coke.

Your favorite place on campus or in the Beloit area?

Other than CELEB…? Eaton Chapel, where celebrations of beginnings and endings happen. I’ve heard many engaging luminaries over the years speak there.

Your favorite place in the world outside Beloit?

Marfa, (points to his hat) in far west Texas, Brewster County, an immense, unpopulated area half the size of New England. Funky hotels, hangout spots, and coffee shops in the middle of nowhere.

I visited Marfa after reading a New York Times article about a chef and his wife who run Cibolo Creek Ranch, a boutique resort that an investment banker converted from an old munitions fort. It’s built on 40,000 acres. Unexpected, beautiful meals and no ambient light so you can see the stars at night.

Marfa is on a migration path famous for birders and near Big Bend National Park. It’s an artist enclave and was the adopted second home of Donald Judd who created art installations in the high desert of southwest Texas.

How do you spend your free time?

When I turned a certain age, I wanted to drive and ride stuff. I own several electric bikes, a modern 300-CC Sei Giorni Vespa scooter, a 1965 2-stroke vintage All-State scooter sold by Sears, Roebuck and Company that’s as old as me, and a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van to take epic road trips (e.g. 11,000 miles to Alaska).

What three things would you want if you were shipwrecked on an island?

I wouldn’t survive more than 72 hours. I’m not built for that.

Who would you like to share a meal with, real or imagined?

I was thinking about that the other day… I would love to share a meal with Julia Child. She was a bon vivant, not pretentious or fussy, and definitely entrepreneurial. She had to come up with something to do living in France with her diplomat husband, and she learned French cooking. She would be awesome to cook with and have dinner with.

Winston Churchill would be fun to have there, too. Big appetite. Loves champagne. Great storyteller. A character. And Julia would keep him in his place. That would be a fun dinner party of three.

A favorite quote or words to live by?

“Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.” — Andy Warhol

This moment in your own words?

I love this moment because liberal arts is about critical thinking and problem solving. If you can embrace that here as a student, you can do incredible things and make a difference in a way that wasn’t possible in previous years, decades, generations. We’re in a moment where information is ubiquitous and the ability to get things done and follow your own path has been democratized. More connection. More resources. The tools are all there and they’re in CELEB.

Why Beloit?

This is my encore career, and as it turns out, Beloit College has been a centerpiece in my life. My grandparents moved to Beloit in the 1960s. I visited my family here. I went to college here. I started my business career here. Then, 20 years later the college invited me back to teach. That was 15 years ago.

No other small town has all these pieces coming together — 90 minutes or less from Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, and business networks like ABC Supply and Kerry Ingredients. The college has so many resources and opportunities in an environment where individuals can make a positive impact without a pedigree. I was a part of creating a $40 million stadium for a semiprofessional baseball team, because this is a place where you can get a seat at the table. Our students get a seat at the table. They have access to resources worth accessing. If you’re an anthropology major and want a television show, you can come down to CELEB and make one.

Beloit College is important because it’s a place that encourages faculty, staff, and students to take risks, and it supports them when a venture doesn’t succeed. You don’t have to be perfect to be successful. You need to be curious. A liberal arts education, and Beloit College specifically, is about trying new things, finding your interests, and realizing you don’t need to have it all figured out. This place prepares students for uncertainty so that they can be competitive in the twenty-first century and its many and new iterations.