Tyler Sherper ’17
To lock, or not to lock. That is the question. Every time we walk out the door we have two simple options: lock our door at the risk of losing our keys which could result in a call to campus safety and a hefty lost key fine, or take the gamble and leave our door unlocked – vulnerable to the common thief.
Project Wrist Key is a bracelet that allows users to store their key by wearing it. My freshman year I started out locking my door when I went out, having to lug my key everywhere. After a couple of late night calls to campo and lost key fines, I was sick of it and just kept my door unlocked. Unfortunately, I fell victim to dorm room theft and had to resume locking my door. Project Wrist Key is the simple solution to a common problem, one that I think I can help a lot of people with.
Last semester I worked closely with a couple of mentors, specifically my group leader John Nozell ’81. He’s inspired my business decisions and shown unwavering encouragement. Furthermore, I’ve gotten strong support from Mary Galvez and Wills Hapworth ’07, while Paul Pollock ’82 has helped immensely with the legalities regarding patent content and business structure. I’m extremely grateful for their
time and guidance, and I can’t thank them enough.
The biggest challenge that I’ve been facing is the whole engineering side of my venture – I’m learning my strengths quickly and weaknesses even quicker. I’ve had to become an engineer, a sourcing expert, a salesman, an accountant – all within the last couple of months (some better than others). Adapting and executing things I have no prior knowledge on how to do has been the biggest challenge I’ve had to overcome, but I can’t explain how exciting learning something new is. It puts everything into perspective, revealing how all the many puzzle pieces fall into place to build your business.
This semester I plan on nailing down production, perfecting the first product, and then distributing it to my suppliers. I see Project Wrist Key reaching various aspects of the wearables market in the very near future, so stay tuned.
Tyler Sherper ’17 is from Mercer Island, Washington. She is an attacker for the women’s lacrosse team at Colgate and is a Molecular Neuroscience major and a Sociology minor. She is a member of the Delta Tau Chapter of Gamma Phi Beta sorority and is a passionate hiker and photographer.