UNCG Student Entrepreneurs Change The World One Business At A Time

Lauren Segers, April 14, 2025

The UNCG Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization (CEO) club, a student-led organization, accommodates students by facilitating educational opportunities that push them to tap into their creativity and network with other like-minded individuals. 

The club informs, supports, and motivates students to be more entrepreneurial and to start or continue promoting a business. Jules Belfi, president of CEO, Vice President Meaghan Dohnert and Marketplace Director Carrie Holcombe have worked to make CEO as interactive as possible for students by hosting various events and workshops that support innovative thinking. 

From Idea To Reality

Belfi was inspired to start the CEO student marketplace after seeing a need for her peers to expand their audience and combine both business and design. The student marketplace provides a platform for students to sell and market their goods and services to other students on campus. Typically, the marketplace happens every fall and spring semester on College Avenue. 

The most recent marketplace took place on October 1, 2024. Seventy-three vendors collectively made over $27,500 in sales, with an average of $475.55 per vendor. 59% of vendors made more than $200 each.  

The next marketplace is on Tuesday, April 15 on Stone Lawn and will include a slate of musical performances as well as apparel, jewelry, artisanal crafts, and more.

Got To Start Somewhere

Ayla Thompson, an entrepreneurship and marketing student and director of media for CEO, sold 87 items from her business called “Finds & Reminds.” She says, “I wanted to start my business at fourteen, but I didn’t prioritize it until the first student marketplace last fall. Since then, I have promoted my business at over ten markets outside of the CEO club. The student marketplace gave me the push I needed to get started and keep going.” Thompson’s business upcycles and resells clothes to help reduce textile waste. 

Read the full article