For many, it’s hard to imagine how the seemingly separate spheres of the humanities and entrepreneurship could collide. But for UC Irvine (UCI) Visual Studies doctoral student Ella Turenne, the connection between these two unlikely fields is obvious.
As the Humanities and Entrepreneurship Dialogue Intern for the Wayfinder program at UCI Beall Applied Innovation, Turenne spent the summer spearheading projects that helped entrepreneurs realize the humanistic lenses and skill sets they can adopt to better succeed.
“It’s funny, because people wouldn’t necessarily see humanities scholars and entrepreneurs together,” said Turenne. “In the humanities, we are critical of what we study. But I think also in that critique is the way we can make things better and [help] entrepreneurs come up with innovative ideas and make the world a better place. That may sound a bit clichéd, but I believe entrepreneurship is about improving our quality of life.”
In collaboration with Wayfinder, Turenne hosted a virtual series that demonstrated how entrepreneurs can use storytelling to more effectively pitch and market their companies, consider the impact of pop culture on science and technology when developing a product or service and integrate their values and ethics into their businesses.
For Turenne’s storytelling panel, speakers Heather Box, CEO of the Million Person Project, a storytelling coaching company, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barry Siegel, director of the UCI Literary Journalism program and the campus’s new Center for Storytelling, discussed how companies can use the art of storytelling to connect with potential investors and markets.
“We had a great conversation about how a personal narrative can help convey what your product or service is about and bring you closer to your customer,” said Turenne.
Turenne also had Michael Dennin, Ph.D., UCI vice provost for Teaching and Learning, dean of the Division of Undergraduate Education and Professor of Physics & Astronomy, and Dr. Diana Ramos, founder of Teen MindGames, speak about how public perception of science and technology influences how consumers perceive new products.
“I wanted to explore the ways in which you can’t create a product or a service in a bubble,” said Turenne. “Popular culture – whether it be movies, television, music or the news – impacts how we understand science.”
Turenne also worked with students from UCI’s Masters of Innovation and Entrepreneurship program to add her own limited series to the “Mastering Entrepreneurship” podcast. Turenne’s three episodes focused on her guests’ journeys as entrepreneurs and their experience being a part of an entrepreneurial community.
“Entrepreneurship is not just about running a business,” said Turenne. “It’s about taking the extra step to ask ‘what am I offering to the world?’ I think if you’re going to be asking yourself those big questions, they need to be grounded in the work we do in the humanities, such as understanding history and culture, how people move and how people work. Market analysis looks at all those things – historical trends, geographical trends. It looks at how people move through the world. So they may not even realize it, but entrepreneurs are already doing [humanistic] work.”
Learn more about the Wayfinder program.
Main Graphic: Kate Wokowsky, UCI Beall Applied Innovation
Read the article on the UCI Beall Applied Innvation news blog.
Kaitlin Aquino 