PARDINGTON COLLECTIVE has been accepted to Zell Entrepreneurs at Zell Lurie Institute and we couldn't be more excited! This program offers mentorship and support for budding entrepreneurs, amazing resources to help you start your business, access to an elite network, trips to Chicago and Tel Aviv, and a $10,000 grant to put toward your business. This will be the 6th program PARDINGTON COLLECTIVE has been accepted to at Zell Lurie during our time at University of Michigan's Ross Business School and these programs are the reason this business has been able to come to life.
Claire understood the importance and value of an MBA and that applying to one of the top business schools would get her access to an established and elite network, as well as possible funding to make this business come to fruition. Upon starting her education at Ross, she immediately got in touch with people at Zell Lurie Institute (ZLI), an institute created to foster, fund, and help aspiring entrepreneurs. She started applying to programs that could help her based on the current stage of her business. It all started with Dare to Dream, a program that takes an idea and funnels it into a fully fledged business plan in three phases, each phase requiring a separate application and acceptance round. Once a business plan was established, she was then accepted into Zell Lurie's Self-Hosted Internship, a highly sought after opportunity to turn your business into your own internship for the summer. This program gave Claire weekly mentorship with some of ZLI's top facilitators, including Anne Perigo, Jim Price, and Michelle Wander, helping her understand and develop the financial models and business partnerships (lawyers, manufacturers, fabric vendors, etc) needed to truly bring this idea to life. During this time, she spent 3 weeks in New York City knocking on doors and establishing said partnerships to start pursuing the activities needed to create initial products. It is truly this program that brought PARDINGTON COLLECTIVE to life and made way for its eligibility and acceptance into our most recent accomplishment, Zell Entrepreneurs.
It has been one of the most exciting and thrilling year and a half for us. We have had so much fun laying down all the groundwork needed to start the magic we have up our sleeves and are so excited to unleash it to the world. There is no greater feeling than the moment one has the opportunity to pursue their lifelong dream and passion. It is only because of these programs at Zell Lurie Institute and the guidance, advice, and funding they offer for budding entrepreneurs that this business was able to come to life. We are so grateful to Sam Zell and Ann Lurie for starting this institute, to Anne Perigo, Jim Price, & Michelle Wander for their endless support, mentorship, and guidance with PARDINGTON COLLECTIVE, and to the entire team at ZLI that make these programs and resources possible. You have and continue to change lives and allow people like Claire to pursue burning, lifelong passions.
For more information on Zell Lurie and all of the amazing things they do or ways you can get involved, please click the link here.