E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P

T H R O U G H M Y E Y E S

What is an entrepreneur? One might

think of super tech geniuses like Elon

Musk, Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg. At

my school, Babson College, the idea of

entrepreneurship has many definitions

but the overarching thought is creating

social and economic value through the

optimal blend of the correct leadership

and resources. And most of all- failing.

Trying an idea, failing, and moving

forward. If one looks at the pathways of

most successful entrepreneurs, they

would see many failed business ideas

before the right opportunity materialized

in front of them. My name is Krystal

Leonardo von Seyfried and this is my

(incomplete) entrepreneurship story.

First, a little bit about me. I am a half

Filipina, half German American from the

Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Like most Filipino-Americans, I've gone to

private Catholic schools my whole life.

Photography by Hydee

Abrahan of studio1003

Manila Up! | 8

BY KRYSTAL VON SEYFRIED

Let's go back half a decade to 2011. I was a sophomore inhigh school attending Immaculate Heart High School,one of the most prestigious all girls schools in the LosAngeles area. Pretty good, right? On the surface yes, butcrack a little bit underneath and it wasn't so pretty. Aftergetting expelled I was a mess. It took a lot to get out ofthe mess, and a change of pace definitely helped. I wenton to attend Pilgrim School, a co-educational highschool with an attached middle and elementary school.The start was rocky, but the right mix of helpful studentsand great teachers got me slowly back on my feet. By theend of my first year there, I had won the election forAssociated Student Body president as a new student. Iwas also crowned homecoming queen and got onto theheadmaster's list, but the real crowning achievement ofmy time at that school was getting admitted to BabsonCollege. After all this, my expulsion actually worked outin my favor.

I knew that it would be extremely hard to get anywheredecent in terms of college. My GPA at Pilgrim was skyhigh but my GPA from Immaculate Heart made mycumulative drop like a stone. Not to mention gettingexpelled from high school. It was a long shot and I wastold by many to not even try at my dream school, but Iwent for it. I didn't know this at the time, butentrepreneurs are known to attempt projects even ifthere is a huge risk of failure. Many of my peers drop outof school halfway through to pursue their entrepreneurialgoals. I guess Babson noticed this in me because it paidoff, and obviously I got in.

I knew that it would be extremely hard to get anywheredecent in terms of college. My GPA at Pilgrim was skyhigh but my GPA from Immaculate Heart made mycumulative drop like a stone. Not to mention gettingexpelled from high school. It was a long shot and I wastold by many to not even try at my dream school, but Iwent for it. I didn't know this at the time, butentrepreneurs are known to attempt projects even ifthere is a huge risk of failure. Many of my peers drop outof school halfway through to pursue their entrepreneurialgoals.

I guess Babson noticed this in me because it paid off,and obviously I got in.

Babson was grueling. I wasn't ready. For the first time inmy life, I got a D. When I had my first summer to go backhome to LA, I took it with open arms. I was so burned outfrom taking summer classes one year and essentially nothaving a summer between freshman and sophomoreyear. I wanted to do something that didn't involveincome statements or Microsoft Excel. So while my peerswere working their dream internships on Wall Street, Idecided to join a pageant. Going to a business school, it isa pretty strange choice to spend my summer enteringjunior year joining a pageant rather than taking a hugeinternship. But I didn't care about what my peers weresaying and just followed my heart.

I didn't win. I wasn't expecting to win, because I wasofficially barred me from placing into the top ten as wellas Best in Evening Gown and Swimsuit. But I didn't care. Itook the opportunity to get healthy and build on myself.And I did. The pageant was tough and grueling butthanks to my personal trainer, mentor and family, I wasstronger than I ever was, ready to tackle the next phase ofmy life. I came out of the pageant a loser in the eyes ofmost but to me, I won everything I needed and more.

Here I am now. I was named one of the top ten mostbeautiful Filipinas of 2015 and I've finished my firstsemester back at Babson stronger than ever. I've startedsending autographs out to fans, and I have severalmodeling jobs under my belt, not including myupcoming job with Flaunt Magazine and this cover story. What's next for me? More winning, but definitely morelosses. More expulsions, more disparaging comments,and more controversy. But also more big photoshoots,more self improvement and more opportunities. This isthe heart of the entrepreneurial experience and I'm gladthat I got a taste of it through my life already. Hopefully,I'll be prepared when I'm ready to launch the project I'vebeen brainstorming for the past month. But even if not,I'll take a failure with open arms, knowing somethingeven brighter is coming in my future.

Manila Up! | 9