Spring 2020 ChooseWhat Scholarship: And the Winner Is…

Self-employment teaches people lessons of independence and accountability that can’t be learned any other way. Combine these lessons with a solid education, and you’ve got everything you need to start a successful small business. At ChooseWhat, we believe in small business experience combined with the power of education. That is why we created a scholarship specifically designed for students with self-employment experience and aspirations. We are thrilled to announce the winner of the seventh biannual ChooseWhat Scholarship for Students with Self-Employment Experience: Schneid Chery.As a young boy, Schneid’s parents brought him along to help move friends’ and families’ precious possessions into new homes. While these experiences initially seemed like a burden to a boy who was more interested in spending time with friends, he started asking himself why these people wanted to avoid moving companies."At the time it did not occur to me how much more valuable I was to them compared to the other companies. I did not realize how much I cared and showed compassion compared to the other bigger guys. I also did not realize how personable and careful I was when it came to the services I provided. I realized that the only reason why I did not realize all of this was because I thought everyone was already doing it."Once he understood his true value, it was an easy decision to start a business that followed his passion of helping people by providing superior, caring service. With his core values at the forefront, Schneid carefully mapped out plans for his new business and started serving customers in the community."I began my self-employment journey, but before I knew it, I ran out of customers to serve. I thought that I would survive and thrive off referrals. I really believed that this is what business was all about. Like some businesses I tried to figure it out on my own and go around the community to let people know I existed. That did not help much either."After analyzing what his competitor was doing, Schneid recognized that marketing is a key component of success in business. This was when he enrolled at Kennesaw State University to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. As a Junior, he already understands the fundamentals of marketing and the psychology that integrates with those fundamentals. He has learned powerful methods that will help him create brand awareness for his company’s future — and how to expand that business.Here at ChooseWhat, we applaud young entrepreneurs who pursue their own businesses based on passion, particularly when they recognize the things that they need to learn and take action on to pursue the knowledge that they need. Schneid is taking the right path to develop a business that can outshine its competitors, and we are proud that our Spring 2020 Scholarship award will help him pursue his dreams.