We were lucky to catch up with Rebecca White recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rebecca, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

As an educator and entrepreneur, I have been studying the skills and competencies of successful entrepreneurship all of my life. My mother was my first entrepreneurial role model. So it is important to me to share the message of the power of an entrepreneurial mindset for virtually everyone, regardless of whether a person is a business owner or not. While I am one of many who have pioneered this discipline, where I have differed is in choosing to focus my research on identifying the competencies of an entrepreneurial mindset. Moreover, I share this message beyond the classroom via a podcast, books and my latest work -“ Podagogy.” This word combines podcasts with pedagogy (the art and science of teaching and learning) and offers a unique learning opportunity which is the art and science of teaching and learning through podcasts.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am an educator, entrepreneur, book author, podcaster and corporate board member. I found my way to this work because I value education and I learned an entrepreneurial mindset from my mother. Over the past 35 years I have started several companies, including a tech company called RiskAware (I was co-founder) which was a risk mitigation company for higher education. I currently have a consulting company called Whiteboard Advising and I provide training and educational programming for corporations and government entities. I have been an educator for more than 35 years and started and developed several academic programs in entrepreneurship including the Fifth Third Bank Entrepreneurship Institute at Northern Kentucky University, the Women’s Entrepreneurship Institute with the New York Times and the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center at the University of Tampa (where I am currently working). I have also served on numerous boards and am currently a director at Marine Max (HZO) and serve on the boards of three not for profit organizations – Embarc Collective, The Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers and Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization. I have also served on a numerous boards for startups over the years and am currently an advisor for Menniti (high end fashion company). In addition to teaching at several universities throughout my career, I have been a visiting professor at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hilll and I this spring, am a visiting lecturer at the University of Salerno (Italy). My book (See, Do, Repeat: The Practice of Entrepreneurship) summarizes what I have learned about entrepreneurial mindset over 30+ years of practice and study and my podcast, The En Factor, is a platform to share the interviews and conversations I have with entrepreneurs of all ventures stages and industries. I am very grateful for the opportunity to do this work and to have an impact on the lives of others.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

A very wise entrepreneur once told me that the key to success in business is always delivering on your promises. In the early years of my career I liked to tell people what they wanted to hear. I quickly learned that it is very hard, if not impossible to deliver on every commitment if you do that. So I have worked to build my reputation on being informed and carefully considering what can actually be accomplished and then doing everything i can to deliver on my promises.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

While I was teaching at Northern Kentucky University I met a colleague in my department who had formerly been an operative in the CIA. We had lunch together frequently and she told me some very cool stories about her time working for the government. One day we were talking about her former university and a scandal there. We talked and over time, we identified a market challenge with keeping campuses safe. The business concept pivoted significantly over time but in the end, we started a company together which offered background checks and a technology platform for reporting suspicious behavior anonymously.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://drrebeccawhite.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enfactorpodcast/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drrebeccawhite/
• Other: Enfactorpodcast.com