This Sucks
My first year of college was one I’ll never forget. I started a business, I got it off the ground, and I ran it full-time. How I juggled both school and running a company, I’ll never know. But…it was, hands down, the most exciting time of my life. It even gave me the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of my entrepreneur parents.
I felt a rush when I was getting it off the ground. Staying up until 5 AM, cold emailing contacts, hoping that out of the hundred I reached out to, at least one would respond. Starting a business is one of the most grueling yet exhilarating things you can do. And I did it at 18.
Over the last two years, I’ve had support from everyone in my family, my friends, mentors, VCU’s entrepreneurship team, and even the Richmond community. It’s absolutely unbelievable that I got the support, mentorship, and just general advice I did. I’ll forever be grateful for that.
Two years later, I sit at a dead end. I’ve done absolutely everything I know how, and it just wasn’t enough. I’ve exhausted my resources in trying to break down barriers in our industry and reach our market, but all of my attempts were unsuccessful. I feel absolutely defeated and burnt out. That’s why I’ve made the ridiculously tough decision to close the doors on CampusCrate.
I’m still in awe that I even achieved the milestones I did with CampusCrate. Participating in a pre-accelerator, making brand partnerships, and meeting the people that I did. It’s unbelieveable. I’ve learned so much about the startup world and what it’s like to start a business, solely because of this experience and the memories I created.
Looking back, I made mistakes. Could CampusCrate be in a different situation if I did things differently in the beginning? Of course. Do I regret that? Not at all. If I didn’t make those mistakes, what would I have to learn from going forward? I hate the world failure. I don’t want to say I failed, or we failed, because we didn’t. As Einstein once said, “Failure is success in progress.”
I hate walking away from something I put my blood, sweat, and tears (well, maybe not the blood) in to. It’s not a decision I wanted to make, but it’s the right one. I want to focus on getting better, and using this experience on whatever crazy venture I have up my sleeve next.
With that, thank you. Sincerely. To every single person who helped me through this process, you’ve helped me become a better person. I wish I could list you all. I’m only 20, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.
A special thank you to both my amazing mom and my grandpa who helped me bootstrap this idea, and believed in me enough to get it off the ground.
As cliche as it sounds, this isn’t a goodbye, it’s a see you later.
