Theresa Hines - Get to the bus!
Theresa Hines is a drop-in member of TechArtista, you can find her working on the third floor, head down, focused on design work. She graduated from Mizzou in 2013 after studying psychology and graphic design, and started her career with design internships at area agencies.
Her journey as an entrepreneur started in 2015 when she was laid-off from an agency working primarily for Anheuser Busch. Anheuser Busch had moved to New York. Theresa started freelance design work and didn’t know what she was doing, but was willing to try things. Then she decided to get on the StartupBus.
STARTUPBUS
The StartupBus full of like-minded strangers to conceive, create, and launch a startup in 72 hours. She was at the Nashville, TN Entrepreneurial bootcamp where six busses from six different cities set out with a group of motivated, crafty, hustling strangers. Theresa found herself on a bus filled with people she didn’t know, headed on an unknown road trip to their final destination.
BUT, ONE MUST TRUST THE BUS.
“It really takes people out of their element. You don’t know where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. You have to put a lot of trust in the bus.”
This experience found her more work. She made lifelong friends, opportunities to move to another city and mentorship. That experience taught her a great deal about being an entrepreneur.
The bus isn’t an easy experience. As Theresa says “You’re building a team, you’re building a product. You’re squeezed into a seat and you have to just make it work. That’s part of the challenge. It’s a very strong reflection of being an entrepreneur. Nothing ever goes the way you plan. It’s all about problem solving. You have to figure out how to make things happen.”
She was so inspired by the experience that she wanted to bring it to STL in 2016 Co-Conductor StartupBus. Unfortunately, this year that wasn’t able to happen but she was able to become Co-Conductor StartupBus a for Vancouver. TechArtista members BK & Theresa flew to Seattle and from there made their way across the northwest to find themselves in Colorado.
WHAT SHE’S DOING NOW:
She’s transitioned to doing UX/ UI. Theresa has moved into primarilyas attractive and functional as possible. mobile apps to make them
She’s currently working with a local startup, ConditionHub, they’re sponsored by a local company and building a vehicle reconditioning management platform.
THERESA TIPS
The thing that helped her the most was that she injected herself into a community. She took the time to sit down and talk to the people who were part of that community.
Take the chance to put yourself out there and seeing if you can make it work. You can always go back to a full time job.
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THERESA
She loves board games.
She’s really active and loves playing sports. She works out with Robbie and you can find her playing Wave Taco Sand VolleyBall.
She’s a fraternal triplet.
She’s looking for people who would want to be on the St. Louis StartupBus next year.