Hurst alums take the plunge to become business owners
turning passions unrelated to their previous jobs into proftable enterprises. They’ve all been successful, but still dream of growing their businesses even further. Perhaps the “Carpe Diem” spirit they experienced on campus inspired them.
In this issue we profle a few Mercyhurst alumni who’ve actually done it – pursued their entrepreneurial dreams and created their own businesses. They followed diferent paths. Most worked for others frst – until they discovered the niche they were meant to fll and struck out on their own. Others changed felds completely,
“Entrepreneurship is at the core of the American dream. It’s about blazing new trails, about believing in yourself, your mission, and inspiring others to join you in the journey. What sets [entrepreneurs] apart is the will, courage and sometimes recklessness to actually do it.” – Derek Hutson, president and CEO of Datical
Sara Andriacchi Brennan ’07 ’09 Sara Andriacchi Brennan earned a biology degree at Mercyhurst in 2007 and a master’s in secondary education in 2009, but today she owns one of the most prominent interior design frms in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sara’s married to Mitch Brennan, a native of promote her business, a one-stop shop that can take spaces from bare bones to that “HGTV moment” at the end. Sara coined the term “romantic transitional” to describe her style. “I love soft, feminine elements
in a space, but mixed with the timeless and clean lines of transitional style,” she explained. She’s built a business that works well while she’s raising children, but that she’ll be able to scale as life allows. And, make no mistake, she plans to scale it big. “I want it all – a TV show, a magazine column, the furniture line, the accessory line. I want to be one of the greats in the design industry. I want romantic transitional to be the next big thing.”You can cross one item of that wish list: she recently began writing for Cottages and Bungalows magazine. And she hopes her story will inspire people who don’t have a linear path to follow their dreams. Be really clear on what you want to do, she advised, and that you have a passion for it. “If you have that fre and passion, you can sustain it.” Learn more about her work at saralynnbrennan.com . Follow her on Instagram @saralynnbrennan .
Australia who played basketball for Mercyhurst. When their son, Mason, arrived, she stopped teaching. “I was not the stay-at-home mom I thought I was going to be,” she laughed, and she was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. Her WIRL Project (What It’s Really Like), a social sharing platform that allowed users to create profles and house their blogs on her website, was attracting investors, but a difcult second pregnancy put the project on hold. She never went back. Instead, after daughter Shae was born, the Brennans moved into their dream home and Sara began to decorate it. Soon, the home she was creating for her young family started attracting attention – and job ofers. About a year ago, she decided to get serious and turn her avocation into a business. Her ofce is in her home and she has just one full- time employee, but she’s developed exclusive partnerships with contractors and kitchen and bath specialists who help turn her ideas into reality. She relies heavily on Instagram to
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