Stepping Out of Her Comfort Zone Has Paid Off Big Time
How an Auburn Graphic Design Major Found Her Exceptional Student Experience at the NVA
We’ve all heard this advice, “You need to break out of your comfort zone to really succeed.”
Easier said than done, unless you have the backing of Auburn’s New Venture Accelerator (NVA), their extraordinary team of Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, and the comradery of fellow NVA interns to take you in, guide you and help you contribute from Day One.
So says Cheyenne Butler, an intern at Auburn’s NVA, and she is absolutely adamant in her belief that the NVA has given her purpose beyond what she could have ever imagined.
That’s her story, and she’s sticking to it.
As she should! Cheyenne’s dedication to her emerging craft has earned her more than $50,000 in scholarships so far, including a recent, extremely generous award from retired CADC professor Ray Dugas – the inaugural grant from this new initiative gives Auburn CADC students pursuing design majors the financial support they need to reach their dreams.
We caught up with Cheyenne recently to get her take on why students across Auburn’s campus are flocking to the NVA – not “just” aspiring entrepreneurs with a promising new business idea, but talented, driven individuals like her looking to apply their own skills to helping them succeed.
NVA: Let’s start with your “origin story’’ – how you came to Auburn and why.
Butler: I grew up in Auburn. My mom attended Auburn as a young mother – she had me in college. Watching her and my father go through all that it took for them to raise me while she was gaining her education really inspired me.
Perhaps even more, I came to understand and appreciate the Auburn Family’s role in my own upbringing. That has been deeply ingrained in me – essentially, from the very moment I was born!
So, you can understand that when I say “I’ve always loved Auburn, everything about Auburn. I never wanted to leave,” I really mean it. It’s the best place on earth.
NVA: Okay, it is safe to say that you were predisposed “familywise” to go to Auburn, but to study what? And how did you know Auburn was the right fit for what you wanted to study?
Butler: I always had an interest and talent in art, but I didn’t know how I could apply that interest and my budding artistic skills to a field of study in college.
Thankfully, my father signed me up for a campus tour of Auburn my senior year in high school and I fell in love with the College of Architecture, Design and Construction right then and there.
I started at Auburn at the CADC in the fall of 2022 majoring in graphic design, but I soon realized that I really enjoyed the marketing aspects of it just as much as – if not more than – the actual design component. I enjoy being hands-on with people, not just working behind the scenes. So, I added the marketing minor from the Harbert College of Business – and it changed everything.
NVA: How did you come to the NVA?
Butler: Jill Heffernan, our awesome team leader at the NVA, reached out to me in July 2024 to see if I’d be interested in applying for an internship and I just knew it was the perfect opportunity for me. And funny enough, my best friend also got one of the intern jobs, so we are able to learn and grow side-by-side!
But I think the most important thing about what it is to work at the NVA is how quickly even young students like me are brought in and allowed to contribute to extraordinarily meaningful efforts by such phenomenal fellow students!
NVA: Talk to us a bit, if you will, about some of the student entrepreneurs you’ve been working with.
Butler: I work a lot with Harrison Irby, founder of Tradition Apparel – third place winner at this year’s Tiger Cage Business Idea Pitch Competition – who just changed his company’s name to Saturday Co. That requires a whole brand identity change, which we’re working through now. I’ve also helped him with some of his designs for T-shirts and other apparel, especially with football and basketball.
I also worked with Malcolm Johnson, Jr., founder of Start a Conversation, a start-up that encourages young people like me to put down our phones and engage in meaningful conversations face-to-face to help build a community of understanding and change here and around the world, “one step at a time.” Very inspirational!
And then there’s Thomas Lester, founder of Earlybird and Heatstream Solutions, who is bringing some unique technology to the hot beverage marketplace. That’s been exciting to learn about.
NVA: You just described a wide range of industries and broadly different types of businesses – how did you come up to speed on all of them?
Butler: That’s actually one of the best things about working here at the NVA – the variety of challenges these different new businesses face is invigorating. It’s definitely helping me broaden my range of skills because I’m not just constrained to my personal design interest.
I’m experimenting and going out of my comfort zone and really learning on my feet, learning what a given entrepreneur needs in the moment and then helping them solve that problem rather than just designing something for me.
It’s really exciting to be part of something bigger than yourself. The wide range of different companies has definitely helped me improve and refine my skills by introducing me to a wide range of problems to solve. That’s how you grow, right?
NVA: Talk to me about what happened when you first walked into the New Venture Accelerator. What was that first day like? Did you have any idea about what you’re going to be doing and how that would work?
Butler: It was great! Of course, I was nervous, but as soon as I walked in, Ward really made me feel comfortable and welcome. He gave me a tour, introduced me to people, showed me where all the snacks and everything were. He just made me feel so right at home.
And then he sat me down for an “Introduction to the NVA” meeting. That was so important, because at the end of it, I felt caught up. I didn’t feel behind. And then as soon as the other interns came back from the summer, they were just as amazing. They immediately showed me how to access all the digital media and graphics files. They didn’t want me to feel behind either!
NVA: And then?
Butler: It was off to the races! I’m immediately working one-on-one with some of these aspiring entrepreneurs, trying to understand the real world they live in, full of so many different types of people and different types of personalities.
I’m not just confined to a classroom with other like-minded people. I’m with people who have a million thoughts in their head, and they’ll telling me a million things all at once and then asking me, “Okay, so where are we going with that?”
Take Harrison, who I feel I can pick on him a little bit – he’s so great! He will text us all the time and be like, “Hey, can we have a meeting?” He’s just very spontaneous, very, very enthusiastic. It’s great to work with somebody just so energetic and dedicated.
NVA: Last question – what would you say to someone such as yourself who might not be a business major? What is it about working with the NVA that makes it so worthwhile?
Butler: For aspiring entrepreneurs, it’s simple – the New Venture Accelerator is here for you, regardless of what new business idea you may have. We have the resources, the expertise, the support you need to see if you have what it takes. So don’t even think twice.
For those Auburn students looking to make a meaningful impact on these aspiring entrepreneurs but don’t know how your interests and skill sets might fit in – come talk to us.
If you are anything like me, you have so much value to offer that you might not even know you have!
An exceptional student experience, indeed!
