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By Ashley Zahabian

On October 15th, 2014, as part of Women Entrepreneurship Week in NJ, I had the opportunity to meet several women entrepreneurs; what an incredible experience! I can talk about each and every woman I met, as they were all incredibly helpful and inspiring, but I’m going to focus on just one: Kim Guadagno.

As Lieutenant Governor of NJ, I’m sure she has an incredibly busy schedule, however, she made the time to come to ¾«Æ·³ÉÈ˸£ÀûÔÚÏß to speak with students and entrepreneurs, such as myself, about her experiences. As a 19-year-old entrepreneur, I held so many unanswered questions.

As I am currently working on opening a business myself, it was such an inspiration to hear Kim talk about her busy schedule while being a family oriented woman. I always felt pressured because I didn’t want my work ethic to interrupt my family life, as I know the vision I hold for myself entails many hours of consistent work. She specifically emphasized that there is always time for what you make a priority, and if family is your priority, then there should never be a worry about not having time.

Students and entrepreneurs were honored to listen to Kim speak; however, to add to this great experience, being at the event gave me the opportunity to get her personal phone number and reach out whenever I needed to. Her passion to help others was incredibly evident when I left her a voicemail and she called me back, willing to help me with my business.

As she kindly led me to the right people to help me in what I needed, I couldn’t help but feel so thankful for the opportunity ¾«Æ·³ÉÈ˸£ÀûÔÚÏß University opened for me. I wanted to thank both the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship and Kim Guadagno for the wonderful experience!

Ashley Zahabian is a sophomore Economics major in the School of Business, and is taking two ENTR entrepreneurship courses this semester.