A sudden, tragic loss shook the Emerson College community this fall. Karl Baehr, founder of the school's Emerson Experience in Entrepreneurship program, died unexpectedly, leaving behind a legacy his colleagues are working to foster and a spirit the students have kept alive.
"Karl was a true pioneer," said Boston Media Group Founder Lu Ann Reeb, the new director of Emerson's business studies and entrepreneurship program. "He was such a wonderful guy; smart and differentiated in his interests from some of the other faculty here. Everybody had such great respect for him."
Baehr forged an unheard of path at Emerson, where the focus is on communication and the performing arts. "We're not growing MBAs here," Reeb acknowledged, but Baehr saw the opportunity to harness the creativity rooted in the school's foundation.
"I really see an opportunity here to focus on the creative entrepreneur," said adjunct professor Ja-Naé Duane, who stepped in to take over E3 for the spring semester following Baehr's passing. "Whether or not a person is becoming a standup comedian or freelance designer, they need to find ways to build up those entrepreneurial skills to go into any industry, wear many hats and be agile."
The goal of the year-long, immersive E3 program is to equip students with the entrepreneurial skills necessary to compete in today's workforce. And if students start a company they want to pursue outside of the classroom in the process, all the better.
As part of E3, students are required to brainstorm ideas and then build the beginnings of a business around them. More than 150 ventures have sprung out of E3 since the program's launch nine years ago and, of those, 30 percent have been realized into full-fledged companies, such as Roxy's Gourmet Grilled Cheese, Second Glass and DJour Entertainment.
Emerson's overarching business studies and entrepreneurship program is, as Reeb described it, "in a growing phase." Or rather, jokingly, in "a second round of funding phase." Discussions have been had about creating a business major at Emerson, one that would give students the freedom to explore their ideas.
"What I hope to be able to do … is really cultivate an environment where students can come the first semester and discover whether they're an entrepreneur," Reeb said.
To Reeb, entrepreneurship is best represented by those who solve a problem or create an opportunity to make an end user's experience better. "It's all about telling a story," she added, reiterating that that's where the college's strength already lies. "We know who are population is. … We're not the MIT entrepreneur. They have their own niche — more technology-, and often, product-oriented."
This year's E3 winners, however, which were awarded on Saturday, April 19, spotlighted a new product-centric niche budding at Emerson.
Senior Elizabeth Nash walked away with the first-place prize of $5,000 at the Ninth Annual E3 Conference for her company Crčme de Liqueur, a decadent line of alcohol-infused ice cream. As described by Duane, "The perfect combination of dessert and an after dinner drink, Crčme de Liqueur combines homemade ice cream made from the freshest ingredients with top shelf spirits."
Winning second place was Sam Fishman's Stede Threads, a headwear company that utilizes pieces of recycled wood skate decks to create one-of-a-kind, three-dimensional labels. Third then went to Nisreen Galloway's Simmer Magazine, an online publication focused on connecting college students to great food.
Baehr's spirit was also represented at E3. Student James Johnston, the founder of Rex Ragnarock Apparel, was named the inaugural recipient of the Karl Baehr Scholarship Award.
Duane, a friend of Baehr's, acknowledged how hard losing him was on the students, as well as on herself. "To lose a friend is one thing, but then to try and fill shoes that are so big in a program that … everyone cares so much about is so challenging," Duane said. Yet, she is proud to have been asked to take on the challenge. "It's really nice to be able to, [at the E3 Conference], pay tribute to a man who built something from nothing and celebrate in his honor."
Also in attendance Saturday was Helena Fruscio, the creative economy industry director for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She delivered a keynote, speaking alongside Emerson alumni James DiSabatino of Roxy's, Evy Chen of Evy Tea and Jon Allen of Temple Twist. The group dished out advice to the room of budding student entrepreneurs.
And Reeb shared some advice of her own. "I always tell students, 'Don't be afraid of failure. It's almost a requirement of being an entrepreneur.'"
The advice sounded like it came from Baehr himself — a man who wasn't afraid of taking risks and venturing into unchartered territory, particularly at Emerson.
As Baehr boldly, bluntly said in a previous interview, “Our outcomes are on par with the top programs in the country — we actually surpass most of them. The truth of it is, we’re doing some really cool shit here.”
