Welcome to my blog! I’ve been wanting to write a blog for some time to keep up with all the events, programs, and ideas I have that help bring an entrepreneurial mindset to kids around the world.
If you aren’t familiar with me or my work, let me introduce myself. My name is Lowey Bundy Sichol and I write entrepreneurship books for kids, give inspiring author visits across the United States, and create programs for educators and kids. Everything I do is to help kids dream big and believe in their ideas. So how did I get here? Here’s a quick insight into my journey…
I attended Hamilton College and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College with a plan to enter the world of business. After a few years working in corporate and getting my MBA, life took a left turn. I got married, had twin daughters, and my husband decided he wanted to get his MBA at Tuck. So, we quit our jobs and moved back up to Hanover, New Hampshire where I found myself back on the campus of Dartmouth College but this time without a job or clear goal. What was I going to do with all of this work experience and education?
After talking to some Dartmouth professors, I quickly learned there was a need amongst the faculty for a writer who could write and create MBA case studies that they would use to teach in the classroom. An MBA case study usually ranges from about 5-20 pages and includes the background, strategy, success, failures, and analytical data of a company. I’ll do this for a couple years, I thought, then get back into the business world.
I started a company called Case Marketing in 2005, which composed Marketing and Strategy MBA case studies for business school programs around the country. Little did I know that this two year side gig would turn into a 10+ year writing and entrepreneurial career. I would go on to write about hundreds of companies, help publish academic text books, and have my case studies be read all over the world by business school students.
During those 10+ years three important things happened:
- One, I had another child, and my three kids entered elementary school.
- Two, I really enjoyed sharing business and entrepreneurial fun facts with my kids, friends, and family members. (e.g. Do you know where your Nike shoes came from? Do you know how the NFL was started? Do you know who created Target? Do you know where that Hershey bar came from?).
- Three, a thought would not leave my head. It was this: “Someone should create a book series about how these companies I write about came to be – but for kids.”
Finally, one day in Fall, 2016 it dawned on me. That person was me. After my revelation, I hurried over to the local bookstore and asked the woman in the children’s section, “Do you sell any children’s books about how Nike came to be or how Google came to be?” She looked at me, thought for a second and responded, “No, but that’s a great idea. You should write it.”
That day, I left the bookstore, headed to the library, and started drafting my first From an Idea to… book. Three months later, I got an agent. Two months after that, I got a book deal with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (now HarperCollins). My book series From an Idea to… launched in 2019 and went on to win numerous literary accolades.
(Me at my first book photoshoot. I took this in the local library.)
(I remember thinking, “I’m so glad no one is here! This is kind of embarrassing.”)
When Covid hit, I had another goal in mind – write books with female entrepreneurs as the subject. Idea Makers: 15 Fearless Female Entrepreneurs (Chicago Review Press) launched in 2022, and Cookie Queen: How One Girl Started Tate’s Bake Shop (Random House) launched in 2023. More on those in another post!
(My Idea Makers book launch was during Covid so I had to do a social distancing book launch party.)
Today, I am the proud author of six entrepreneurship books for kids with more on the way! I spend much of the school year travelling to schools and giving one heck of an inspiring author visit talk – both in-person and virtually.
(In Akron, Ohio for an author visit)
I invite you to explore my blog to learn more about my books, my programs, my author visits, my mission, some fun media highlights, where I’ve been and where I’ll be, and much more! Thanks for being here!
