Jared Manzella

What Makes Me an Entrepreneur?

To be an entrepreneur has always been my dream. I have known since I was in elementary school that one day I wanted to own my own business. People have always considered me to be an extremely creative person. I am always am trying to be unique and find new ways to do things.

            A few years ago I set out on an ambitious project, one that many of my friends and family doubted I could complete. My goal was to build an Iron Man suit. It took a long time and I  made countless errors but in the end I was able to accomplish my goal.

Here is the final product.

            I have also attempted many other projects as well. I have even began working on my own business. Hockey has always been my passion, I am even playing hockey at the University of Utah next year. Hockey players have the option of wearing a cage or a clear plastic shield to protect their face. However goalies only have the option of wearing a cage. As a goaltender I know it is essential that you have good visibility to stop pucks. A cage can get in the way sometimes and make it hard to see, so my idea was to create the first goalie mask with a plastic shield to protect the face instead of a cage. So I built a prototype plastic shield.  The first image is a goalie mask with a cage and then the rest are the prototype plastic shield that I made for the mask.

My goal is to one day make this prototype into a business and sell it to goalies all over the world.

            One of my biggest ideas is actually a restaurant. However, this is no ordinary restaurant. This restaurant would be in Las Vegas and would serve fish. The difference with this restaurant though is you don’t order what you want.  Instead you catch your meal, that’s right, catch your meal. Inside the restaurant there are large pools filled will all kinds of fish. You are given a fishing rod and then proceed to catch your dinner. After you have caught your dinner a chef comes and cooks it for you and then you enjoy a fresh seafood meal.

            These are just some of the many ideas that I have. To be honest I don’t know what the future holds for me, all I know is that I am going to own a business, and I believe that I would be a perfect fit at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute and that attending Lassonde will help me to achieve this goal.