Bethany Valente, founder of Migr-AID
My name is Bethany Valente, and I'm a senior (Class of 2023) majoring in Creative Advertising with minors in Marketing and Spanish in the School of Communication.
My business, Migr-AID, is centered around a device that makes chronic migraine tracking accessible for people who lose their vision, sensation in their limbs, and ability to speak coherently during migraine attacks.
After creating an original product idea for Professor Jessica Brown's Ad Design class, I got onto the entrepreneurial track. Over six months later, I presented my product concept at Loyola's New Venture Pitch Competition and was humbled to place first. With the competition's resources and the guidance of my mentor, Professor April Lane Schuster, I applied for and was accepted into mHUB's mPOWER cohort, an entrepreneurial community dedicated to uplifting women and people of color who are the founders of a startup business. Thanks to mHUB, I've started to file a patent for my device, build a functioning prototype, and network with industry leaders in the Medtech sector. I was inspired to make my idea a reality because, as someone who suffers from chronic migraine, I experience the gap in the migraine tracking market nearly every day. I hope that with Migr-AID, people will improve the quality of their treatment and gain the ability to live despite their diagnosis.
Loyola was critical in propelling me forward in my entrepreneurial journey. As I mentioned earlier, my product's conception was brought forth by a class assignment and the New Venture Pitch Competition. Additionally, my peers from Inigo Communications, Loyola's student-run communications agency, were a massive source of encouragement in my entrepreneurial journey.
Take advantage of resources provided by the university and public-facing programs directed toward students! Starting a business can be overwhelming, but you don't have to struggle alone. Apply for those entrepreneurial programs, pitch competitions, and accelerators—the worst response you'll get is a no.
