SIFE students help military wives

Mount Royal University business student Maeghan Smulders is part of a group of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) members teaching military wives how to “Snatch the Pebble” and pursue their business goals.

Snatch the Pebble, originally called Mommy Money, is a free six-week business skills workshop that uses innovative teaching to help participants gain the knowledge, experience and confidence necessary to start their own business.

“I want these women to feel enthusiastic and driven after taking this course and feel confident that they can in fact make a difference and be whoever they want to be,” says SIFE project lead Smulders, who is currently in her fourth year of the Bachelor of Business Administration, General Management program.

Reminiscent of an old Kung Fu movie, the premise behind the student-driven project is to groom the apprentice to become the master.

“We have that pebble — we give participants the business tools and the resources,” explains Smulders.

“When they are ready and able to snatch that pebble and run with a business idea, that’s when they become masters.”

Military connection

Vance Gough, associate professor, Bissett School of Business and faculty advisor for SIFE, suggested that the students offer their course to military wives.

Gough has served with the naval reserves for over 20 years and recognizes the importance of building a support network for families of soldiers who have been deployed.

“Many military wives want to get their minds off what their spouses are doing and they have some extra time and like the idea of developing a business to supplement their income,” says Gough.

“I’ve heard of other places where the business school on campus is known as the tower of greed — purely focused on the profit mode. This is not the case at Mount Royal.

“It’s exciting to see Mount Royal students applying their knowledge to create their own curriculum to help others progress in the business sector. You always learn best when you’re teaching others and this is giving them the opportunity to move into that role.”

Sharing the knowledge

Smulders and her team designed Snatch the Pebble and take turns teaching the course which began Feb. 23. There are currently eight military wives enrolled and plans are already in the works to expand the program to broader audiences.

Smulders recently met with representatives from Bishop Carroll High School about integrating the program into the school curriculum. By working with the Calgary Board of Education, her goal is to make Snatch the Pebble a credited course at Bishop Carroll High School by fall 2010.

There are also plans to extend the program to tradespeople, fitness trainers, massage therapists, immigrants and other individuals wanting to improve their entrepreneurial understanding and business success.

“I’m so passionate about business and I know I can make it whatever I want to,” says Smulders, who later plans to pursue a Master of Business Administration and run her own business.

“To be able to teach someone the fundamentals of business, you’re not only creating a bigger market of opportunity for people but you’re changing lives.”

SIFE team hopes to ACE the competition

Smulders and her team are reaching for gold as they compete in the annual TD SIFE Entrepreneurship Challenge.

The competition is run by Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship (ACE), a national, charitable organization that uses education to empower students.

Each year more than 50 SIFE teams from across Canada compete in regional and national competitions, showcasing their community-driven outreach projects to a panel of business executives and industry leaders.

The national champion goes on to represent Canada at the global competition — the SIFE World Cup.

Over the last few years Mount Royal has ranked in the Top 5 across the country. In 2007, Mount Royal was even ranked the second most entrepreneurial campus in Canada.

While Mount Royal’s SIFE group competed at the regional competition on March 5 and missed placing in the top three, they did gain an unexpected partnership with Wal-Mart. Smulders and her team will still move on to the nationals and continue to grow the Snatch the Pebble program.

One of the panel judges, who is also affiliated with Wal-Mart, was so impressed with the group’s idea that he offered to partner with the project and is lending his expertise and training as the team gears up for the national competition set to take place at the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre, May 10 to 12.

“Wal-Mart wants to enhance women’s empowerment and innovative thinking within the corporation and so this project really aligns with their business ideals,” says Smulders.

“With our new partnership I have high hopes that my team will make it in the top five and potentially move to the world cup.”

— Jondrea De Ruyter, March 18, 2010