Stacy Tasman sat in her UF public relations class and pitched idea after idea about fake companies. Little did she know, she’d be doing the same thing years later when the money was real.
Despite the daunting nature of starting a business, two UF alumnae have taken the plunge to create their own startups. One launched her business this month, and another is celebrating one year running a successful website.
Joana Florez, a UF alumna, left her contract attorney job to start ShopRagHouse.com, a fashion platform that allows designers to submit fashion ideas for review and sale.
Since Florez’s site launched two weeks ago, it has drawn in 100 members, including several fashion lovers, friends and family.
Tasman, who graduated with a degree in public relations, started HowHeAsked.com, a website that posts engagement stories and photos. Since the site’s launch last year, Tasman has received hundreds of proposal stories from couples nationwide, she said.
Despite the economy, online businesses have a big advantage over storefront small businesses, said Mark Rush, UF economics professor.
“When an online company hits it big, it can hit it huge,” he said. “Local businesses aren’t the ones to make millions of dollars in three or four years. Online businesses experience that.”
Although the two women are far from drawing in millions, they said their online platform has put them on the road to success.
Florez said she attributes much of her success to the enthusiasm of The Gator Nation.
“A lot of my friends at UF had a very entrepreneurial spirit,” said Florez, 27, who graduated with a criminology degree before heading to law school at Harvard.
Some of her friends helped inspire the business’ launch and gave advice on networking.
Tasman said she felt inspired by her public relations classes that helped her develop, pitch and promote ideas.
“Creating storylines off of fake and real businesses in my classes inspired me,” said Tasman, 24. “Those skills gave me the backbone to pitch my blog idea.”
Florez’s website has had two designs submitted so far, but Florez and her business partner are looking for 10 more design pitches before they open voting for members to pick a winner.
While building her website, Tasman kept in touch her former UF instructor Adam Bornstein to ask for advice about promoting and networking.
Bornstein, 30, now the editorial director of Livestrong.com, said networking and social engine optimization are key to online startups.
“Stacy took a smart idea that appeals to everyone and carved out a special niche, where there wasn’t much competition,” Bornstein said. “She wasn’t afraid to ask for help, and she combined her feel-good storytelling elements with other business connections, aside from my advice.”
Tasman said starting her website has promoted her passion for storytelling and given her a meaningful career path.
“Many people go the route of having the typical 9-to-5 job, which can get mundane,” Tasman said. “Start finding what it is that will get you up in the morning, and run with it. You never know — that very idea could turn into the next great career.”
