Recently, the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy (SEA)—the very first leadership program I was ever inducted into—celebrated its 40th anniversary. I was fortunate to be not only a member of SEA’s inaugural class but also its very first candidate accepted into the program. SEA changed my life. At 22 years old, it validated something new and still undefined in me: the identity of being an entrepreneur. In my late teens, I used to throw parties in social halls. By the time I was 20, I had opened my first real nightclub. By the time I was 21, I was co-producing concerts with my business partner, Mark Freeman. I knew how to hustle and make money, but unfortunately, I also knew how to spend it just as fast. I was never taught how to manage a growing, successful business. What I didn’t have was a roadmap—or people in my corner who had already walked the road. When SEA launched at Sacramento State in partnership with McGeorge School of Law and UC Davis, none of us fully grasped what we were stepping into. We just knew it sounded different. We were right. Jim Corbett, the founder, had a bold vision: stop the exodus of Sacramento’s best and brightest by arming them with top-tier entrepreneurial training and mentorship from the region’s most successful business leaders. His theory? Access to both would save young entrepreneurs years of trial and error—and help Sacramento grow its own class of business leaders, rather than losing them to the coasts. Jim didn’t just teach us how to succeed. In a very real sense, Jim and SEA were cultivating an entrepreneurial venture capital mindset in Sacramento before it became the norm, even before Silicon Valley had really caught on. Over the years, Jim became more than a mentor to me—he became a friend and role model. The example he set inspired me to dream about how I might give back if I were to become the CEO of a successful enterprise one day. Part of the DNA of the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program (NELP), which I created over 15 years ago and has nearly 300 graduates who are now CEOs, entrepreneurs, and community leaders, comes directly from Jim. The achievements and recognition that NELP has received are rooted in the blueprint Jim laid down: a fierce devotion to excellence, an unwavering belief in paying it forward, and a contagious conviction that through grit and determination, anything is possible in this country. To Jim Corbett, his family, and to the entire SEA universe past and present, blessings to you all. For 40 years, your vision helped spark possibility and chance for young people to seize their dreams. I am living proof and grateful for the gift that Jim and SEA gave me. Thanks Jim. hashtag #entrepreneurship #SEA https://lnkd.in/gHuuUiwh
🎙️Host of The Scarlet Edit Podcast | Speaker | Investor | Advisor | Writer | Techstars ‘24 | 🌍 World Traveler 📍🇬🇷
In 1985, my Dad, Jim Corbett started the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy. Last Thursday, they held their annual showcase and celebrated the 40th anniversary of the SEA. SEA is a 360* business bootcamp for aspiring entrepreneurs. Over the last 40 years, not only have amazing humans gone through the program, but some life changing businesses have been born of those who have gone through the program as well. I am also a graduate of the class of 2011; as the daughter of the Founder, I only felt it right that I experience what he had built. The night before this year's showcase, I learned my dad was only planning to give a short acknowledgement to those involved with the reasons the Academy came to be, and save his remarks for what the Academy had meant to him over the years for private conversations. Because the Academy has been such a pivotal part of my and my family's life, I wrote out a few notes and asked if I could have two minutes. Sharing what the Academy has meant to my family over the years was a great joy, and I loved that this anniversary drew over 200 people to attend. The impact of the SEA is far and wide, and while entrepreneurs are everywhere these days changing the world as we know it, I am proud that my dad had the foresight into what entrepreneurship can do and played a role in creating a wonderful community in the greater Sacramento Area.