Abby Miller '19 | Start Up
Major | IBE: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Minor | Computer Science, Data Science, and Economics Hometown | Danbury, CT
Growing up, I always loved creating. I always loved thinking of new ideas and new ways to solve problems. When I was about 7 years old, I pitched one of my many ingenious ideas to my mother. I had reasoned that if ketchup is so popular and it’s made from tomatoes, why can’t we make a new condiment from pickles since I loved pickles. Little did I know, that’s what relish is. Although some of my ideas were not unique, it was the curiosity behind them that enables me to keep being a creative problem solver to this day.
My first real encounter with entrepreneurship was in 7th grade when I started my own eco-friendly jewelry business called Green Creations. My signature accessory was the “Green Bracelet”, which was made of elastic cord and soda tabs. I sold my jewelry and accessories in-store located all around Fairfield County, as well as online. I even sold them at an Oncology Center and donated all of the proceeds to the Breast Cancer Foundation. Overall, this experience gave me the opportunity to quite literally turn trash into treasure and realize the value of something people typically throw away into something they can wear to make a fashion statement.
By being a part of LehighSiliconValley, my entrepreneurial mindset has only been made more concrete. While I am not still operating my eco-friendly jewelry business or dreaming up new condiments, each day I continue to operate as an entrepreneur. I live my life through the lens of entrepreneurship, solving small problems each and every day to continuously make things better. Ultimately, my goal in life is to be able to utilize the knowledge that I gained from LSV and my passion for streamlining and optimizing complex processes to help people spend more time focusing on the things that they are passionate about.