After a two-year hiatus, Launch Fishers brought back their Launch Fishers High School Fellowship this summer with the purpose to develop future entrepreneurs and business leaders. The internship is available for Hamilton Southeastern High School and Fishers High School students who want to learn more about entrepreneurship and gain real-world experience through Launch Fishers’ three-day bootcamp, where students sharpen their professional skills, and the 8-week internship with the student’s host company.
This fall, we’re highlighting some of the students and host companies who participated in this year’s program. Stay tuned to learn more about the impact of this unique program and some of our city’s up-and-coming community innovators!
Host company: Pierce Aerospace
Supervisor: Aaron Pierce
Tell us about Pierce Aerospace:
Pierce Aerospace develops drone identification technology to help pilots meet regulatory requirements and provides low altitude situational awareness to government and commercial air traffic management systems. Or more simply – we build the hardware and software for digital license plates.
What inspired you to get involved with the program?
Many kind people invested some of their time in me to help me learn how to become an entrepreneur during the early years of Pierce Aerospace. I saw this program as a way for me to help further pass those lessons onto the next wave of Indiana entrepreneurs by giving them an opportunity to learn by doing.
Tell us about the projects that the fellows worked on with your company. How did they impact your business?
Day one I told all the fellows that my goal was to push their limits and get them doing things they’ve never done before. I told them to prepare to feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable, which is a good thing, and to speak up when they hit that place so we could then talk about it. Entrepreneurship is all about doing new things that are outside of the comfort zone. The best way to prepare for traveling beyond the comfort zone is through the inoculation of repeated and constructive stress of new things. So, we did that all summer by throwing various projects their way that covered financial modeling, project management, customer discovery, strategic planning, interviewing stakeholders and stakeholder mapping, as well as the occasional mundane task and taking out the trash activity that every business must accomplish to support the exciting things.
We gave them full access to the business and they got to see and work in a survey of raw entrepreneurship. Gary and I started the summer with the intent of providing this survey level entrepreneurship 101 experience to not just have them work with us on projects, but to train the fellows and help them determine if entrepreneurship was right for them. We came into the program from our side looking at it from a bigger picture perspective. And that’s why we’re happy to share that later this fall we’re going to be sending offers to all of our fellows to continue their internships part time while they’re still in school. This summer was just a starting point.
What’s one piece of advice you would give students looking to pursue a career in your field?
Dive in early. I started Pierce Aerospace with limited business experience and learned along the way. I’m still learning everyday and the learning never stops. Don’t hesitate – there are many people willing to help you succeed.
Why is this program important for the community?
Indiana’s entrepreneurship ecosystem is young and not nearly as mature as Silicon Valley, Boston, Austin, etc. I’ve worked in those cities. We’ve got a lot of work to do, which I find exciting! The best way for Indiana to grow is to invest in our people, the companies they start, and build a sense of community around risk and entrepreneurship. If we invest more in our people, especially those willing to embrace risk, then we all grow.
Fellow: Krishna Patel
What inspired you to join the Launch Fishers Fellowship Program?
I was inspired to join Launch Fishers through a club I am participating in called DECA. After reading the invitation, I was motivated to join after noticing how great the program is and how much I could potentially learn in the fields I wanted to pursue.
What was your favorite part of the summer fellowship?
My favorite part of the fellowship was the ability to work in any category that I wanted in-depth as well as being able to communicate with my employer in person. I think that the direct experience that I encountered really enhanced my ability to learn as much as I possibly could throughout the internship.
How do you think the fellowship program will launch your future career?
This program will launch my future career from all that I learned through the internship and the bootcamp. The bootcamp gave me great advice for the future and present by learning others’ stories and how their experiences affect their field(s) of interest. The internship taught me how to be successful in a work environment and in the different fields in which I do not necessarily feel comfortable. It also taught me to go outside of my box and communicate with people that I normally would not even know where to begin speaking with.
What’s one piece of advice you would give future Launch Fishers fellows?
I would advise future interns to get to know their employer since they can mentor them through their years of experience. Also, I would suggest helping improve the work environment to make it more enjoyable by communicating with the people around while making new connections to grow and evolve.
What are your plans after graduation?
After graduating high school, I plan to go to college at the IU Kelley School of Business and progress my knowledge in the business field. Also, I plan to work as an intern to obtain as much as I possibly can about the field that I love. I believe that college is the next step in my path to achieve the job that I desire.
Fellow: Saanvi Ibrahimpatnam
What inspired you to join the Launch Fishers Fellowship Program?
The Launch Fishers Fellowship Program was not a program many people knew about at Fishers High School. In fact, I only acknowledged the program’s existence when Rachel and David came in and talked to my entrepreneurship class. And when learning that I could get a paid internship that could give me a head start in the industry, it was hard for me to say no. I was already looking for a summer job and this unique opportunity was just what I was looking for. I thought it would be beneficial to at least learn more entrepreneurial skills and gain connections by attending the summer bootcamp and possibly getting an internship than working any regular summer job. Overall, I would say the want to learn more and build connections is what truly inspired me to join the Launch Fishers Fellowship Program.
What was your favorite part of the summer fellowship?
My favorite part of the summer fellowship was the mentorship and connections I have made. This is because with this internship I was able to learn things that you can’t learn in the classroom. I was able to not only attend meetings but lead initiatives, learn negotiating skills, apply communication skills, learn marketing skills, project management skills, and more by just participating and working with the team. In addition, I have learned what the interworking of a small business really looks like which has been eye-opening to my understanding on how to start a business through the mentorship I have received.
How do you think the fellowship program will launch your future career?
I believe the fellowship program will launch my future career by giving me that head start of being able to build good connections and learn how to work in a team from a younger age. I have a greater understanding of entrepreneurial skills and what the interworking of a business can truly look like, which gives me an advantage when starting a business or even attain those managerial roles.
What’s one piece of advice you would give future Launch Fishers fellows?
One piece of advice I would give future launch fisher fellows is to BE CONFIDENT! Take the opportunity to introduce yourself to the companies that come in during Boot Camp! Making a good first impression can go a long way!
What are your plans after graduation?
After graduation, I plan on attending college and majoring in business and computer science. I want to not only focus on getting a master’s in computer science and an MBA, but also want to have time to build more connections in the industry I choose to work in.
Fellow: Ananya Pendela
What inspired you to join the Launch Fishers Fellowship Program?
I was inspired to join the Launch Fishers Fellowship because of the opportunity to implement entrepreneurship in the real world. I’ve always learned about entrepreneurship in my classes, but this Fellowship gave me an opportunity to actually practice how it works!
What was your favorite part of the summer fellowship?
My favorite part of the summer fellowship was interacting with individuals from all different parts of the company. This provided me the opportunity to learn about each facet of what makes a company, a company.
How do you think the fellowship program will launch your future career?
I think this fellowship equipped me with the essential skills to tackle any professional workplace. I learned important skills such as project management, maintaining professional workplace connections, and how a business fits within the marketplace.
What’s one piece of advice you would give future Launch Fishers fellows?
One piece of advice I would give to future Launch Fishers Fellows is to come with curiosity. Always ask questions about everything, that’s how you learn the most out of this experience!
What are your plans after graduation?
After graduation, I plan on going to IUPUI to study biomedical informatics. Afterwards, I aim to go to medical school.
To learn more about the Launch Fishers High School Fellowship program, visit the Launch Fishers website for more information.
Grace Gerig has lived in Fishers her entire life and graduated from Hamilton Southeastern High School in 2020. At Purdue University, Grace is studying Public Relations and Strategic Communication, minoring in Political Science and Human Resource Management, and pursuing a Collaborative Leadership Certificate. Grace is involved with Boiler Communication, a student-run Public Relations agency, and serves as an Account Executive on their leadership team. Grace was a 2-year member of the nationally recognized Purdue Dance Team and enjoys teaching dance and choreographing routines. She is also involved with her sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, and manages her chapter’s Instagram. On weekends, Grace likes to work out in the morning at the F45 Fishers/Geist location, grab a Dunkin iced coffee, and sit with her family on their back porch. Follow her on Instagram and LinkedIn.