A day in the life of a student business owner

Senior+Lauren+Stevens+beside+Inside+Gymnastics+%26+Tumbl+Trak+staff+members%2C+2008+Olympic+medalist+Alicia+Sacramone%2C+and+2-time+junior+national+champion+Maile+OKeefe

Courtesy of Lauren Stevens '18

Senior Lauren Stevens beside Inside Gymnastics & Tumbl Trak staff members, 2008 Olympic medalist Alicia Sacramone, and 2-time junior national champion Maile O’Keefe

In March of junior year, I began my own business: Chalk Warrior. Chalk Warrior is a gymnastics information and social media platform. I also create profiles for the gymnasts – kind of like mini websites – that the gymnasts can share with friends and family and college coaches with the hopes of obtaining an athletic scholarship to a university.

I had no idea that Chalk Warrior would grow to be where it is today. Since last March, I have begun partnerships with other companies, and almost always have a backlog of 10-15 profiles to complete. Obviously, this hasn’t always been easy to balance with school – and it’s quite comical sometimes. So check out a day in the life of a Xavier business owner!

6:19 AM (it should be 6:20 but I accidentally set it to 6:19 and am too lazy to change it back!): My alarm goes off and I regret staying up late working

6:30 AM: I eat breakfast and scroll through emails and social media messages. I usually wait until break or lunch to reply to these, but I check in the morning to see if anyone needs an immediate response.

9:30 AM: I try to explain to my teacher what exactly I do and why I forgot to do the homework last night. I then have to remind myself that school comes first.

Break & Lunch: I post on Chalk Warrior social media and answer emails and messages. If I finish with time to spare, I get started on my homework.

3:00 PM: I eat a quick snack and then begin homework right away. Usually it’s not too much. I try to get as much as I can done in between classes and at random times throughout the day.

4:00-6:00 PM: More checking emails, posting on social media, and sometimes a business call. Have to end the business call early and tell the gymnastics executive that I have to do my math homework. How embarrassing.

6:10 PM: “Wow! I’m getting work done fast! Maybe I could go to bed around 9:00 tonight!”

6:30 PM: I eat dinner as fast as I can, waiting to get back to my headquarters. AKA: My couch with “Friends” playing in the background as I work.

7:00 PM: Dinner took longer than expected. Had impromptu chasing the laser pointer session (My dog.. Not me…) I work on an article or gymnast profiles.

10:00 PM: Well.. Guess it’s too late for the 9:00 bedtime.

11:00 PM: Maybe I’ll go to bed at 9:00 tomorrow…?