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Course: Entrepreneurship > Unit 1
Lesson 13: Linda Jeschofnig - Co-founder of Hands-On LabsA Passion for Science Education
A passion for science education led Linda Jeschognig from her life in accounting to a second act as an entrepreneur. She talks about the inspiration behind Hands-on Labs and overcoming the obstacles with a company created to send kits containing hydrochloric acid, cobalt nitrate and other hazardous elements to college chemistry students. Along the way, Jeschofnig has gained support and reached out to guide other women on the entrepreneurial path. Created by Kauffman Foundation.
Want to join the conversation?
I am not clear on how Hands-on-Labs work. Do schools order them and give them to their chemistry majors or do the students order them themselves?(14 votes)
See Hands On Labs FAQ, they interface and sell to schools for their programs, they do not sell to individual students.
http://www.holscience.com/faqs(10 votes)
- i know hands on lab works because i have it and i get to do it at home on science days and it is really interesting that they do it the way hey do(2 votes)
I would like to see how they take care of the chemical waste. From the all the kits combined the sum of potential hazardous waste could be quite tremendous, I would imagine. Comments?(2 votes)
I have though about this and unfortunately they do not seem to want to tell us what they do with these things.(1 vote)
It will be great if she could go deepen on how the company grew in the USA market. How do they did it?(1 vote)
Video transcript
- My name is Linda Jeschofnig. My company is Hands-On Labs. My husband and I are
both retired educators. Peter was a science professor and I was an accounting
and business professor. Years ago when we were living
in Leadville, Colorado, Peter had a lot of students that just couldn't get
across the mountain passes to be in labs. We developed this science kit
that really does replicate the exact kind of experiments, utilizing the exact same
chemicals and supplies that students would do on campus. The only difference is that
they utilize small quantities that are safe, that can be shipped even
though they are potentially hazardous chemicals
like hydrochloric acid, cobalt-nitrate, things of that nature. When I started this it was me and I wasn't really out
to make a big profit. We were just trying to cover our costs. Now I've got like 50 people
whose lives and families depend on us running this company well. Plus hundreds of colleges and
universities across the US whose students really need what we do. So there's an obligation, there's a responsibility. But we feel good about what we do. Today my role is more one of
promoting science education and helping the people who work for us to do their jobs well and continue to make our
products even more effective. I feel like Andre Previn directing now rather than my being in the orchestra and playing an instrument. Another advantage of
being an entrepreneur is it gives you the opportunity
to live your values. And our legacy is that
we are serving quality science education. We're helping to reduce science illiteracy in the world. Not only am I doing something
that I feel proud of, but it's given me the
opportunity to make friends with other women entrepreneurs
that share my issues and we can talk openly about them. I think a lot of girls
especially my generation, are brought up thinking
men have some kind of secret knowledge we don't know about and sorry guys, I've learned that's not true! (laughing) If you're surrounded by
bright women who understand, they've been there, they have the same problems, having that support of
other female entrepreneurs has been invaluable to me.