Today’s “Alumni Spotlight” beams onto 2007 Communication Studies graduate Heather Scott. Heather has earned the distinction of being the first entrepreneur we have profiled on the blog! That’s right, Heather recently founded her own company, Purple Plant Smoothies. Let’s catch up with her!
COMS grad and Purple Plant Smoothie Company founder Heather Scott
Purple Plant Smoothies is a smoothie company that only uses 100% organic, local (when possible), fresh produce. They have five smoothie blends that change based on the season (since the produce they use is local). Their current smoothie flavors are: Dating Kale, Minty Fresh, Bittersweet Berry, Beets Me, and Nutty Honey. How great are those names?! Purple Plant Smoothies is starting out as a smoothie cart at the Civic Center Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays and Sundays, and the plan is to expand from there.
I asked Heather if and how her Communication Studies degree has helped her start her own business (you knew this question was coming!). According to Heather, “My COMS degree helped provide me with a number of skill sets that have helped me start my business.” She said that the Research Methods course she took “taught me how to think about results and research in a way that could be measured and applied. This was very important during my market research phase.” Also, “the Communications Law class I took has been helpful in helping me to make sure I have the correct copyright protection for my smoothie cart and branding.” (Heather is referring to our current Public Relations Law and Ethics course. I know from my personal conversations with Professor Vannice that he covers copyright law in this class. Our conversation resulted in a frantic phone call by me to the Athletics Department to make sure it was okay for me to use their pictures on the blog. It was. Phew.).
After graduation and before starting her own company, Heather became a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer.
Since Heather is the first business founder to be featured on the blog I asked her to tell us what it was like to start her own business. “Starting a business is very, very challenging and also very exciting. To start a business, one must be extremely comfortable with change and uncertainty. At the same time, it’s important to be open-minded and willing to learn from anyone and everyone. Also, it’s necessary to have a solid support system and a great network of people who value the same things. Mostly importantly, as hard as it gets, you can’t give up!”
You can learn more about Heather and Purple Plant Smoothies on her website: http://www.purpleplantsmoothies.com/ or facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/purpleplantsmoothies. You can also follow her on twitter @ppsmoothies.
Congratulations, Heather, and best wishes for great success with your company! I could sure go for a smoothie right about now… anyone else? Hopefully you will see some COMS majors and alums at your smoothie stand soon! Remember you can find Heather at the Civic Center Farmer’s Market… YUM.
I am always on the lookout for alums to feature on the blog. Contact me at edoohan@usfca.edu and let me know what you are up to!
Congrats Heather! I think I’ve seen your smoothie stand at the Farmer’s Market! Must definitely stop by and try those great sounding flavors. Hope the business keeps booming! It really is exciting to see what all our grads are up to!