From Spark to New Venture

About From Spark to New Venture

From Spark to New Venture is a student-driven podcast from the University of Mary Washington (UMW), where undergraduates share the stories of entrepreneurs and their journeys from idea to venture. Each episode uncovers the sparks of inspiration, the challenges they faced, and the mindsets that helped them overcome obstacles in their journey. The goal of this podcast is to inspire students to learn entrepreneurial mindsets and bring them into everyday lives, taking action and learning from every step along the way.

Publisher

UMW Entrepreneurship Class

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

15 Sept 2025

Latest episode

24 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

107 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Oct 2026

   Carmen Mercado: A Success Story from Year One

   In this podcast, Alaina Gibson sits down with Carmen Mercado, a franchise business co-owner of a local Allstate. Throughout the episode, they talk about Carmen's early interest in becoming a business owner, the setbacks that came along the way, and advice that she has for others interested in pursuing entrepreneurship. Carmen and her partner have been in this industry for over 6 years now and have 2 locations under their belt. To say this is another inspiring story doesn't do it justice. Carm...

2. 

   23 Oct 2026

   Beth Sperlazza-- From UMW student to Successful entrepreneur

3. 

   23 Oct 2026

   Abbas Haider – From a UMW dorm to the Pentagon

   In this podcast episode, we spoke to Abbas Haider, the founder and CEO of Aspetto. Abbas has made Forbes 30 Under 30, Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies Private Company (5x), a TedX speaker, and was the 2018 commencement speaker. Starting his business during his freshman year at UMW, he made the first bullet resistant suit, and received his first government contract his junior year. Since starting his business in 2008, Aspetto has expanded into defense technology, serving federal...

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Contact From Spark to New Venture

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.