Christi Nonnemaker '09

Position: Director, Product Management at eSalon.com
Industry: Internet
Lesson Learned: Not every day is going to be easy, but every day does present new opportunities to create the life you want to live.

Christi Nonnemaker
Christi Nonnemaker

Immediately after graduating from LMU, I started a boutique advertising and communications company focused on group text messaging, direct-mail marketing and printing. The group text message portion of the business was a new technology at the time and the possibilities felt endless: distributing mobile coupons, sending out event reminders, keeping in touch with suppliers/wholesalers, providing instant home listing, etc. I successfully sold the company about one year after starting it.

I also had the opportunity to join an alternative energy startup as interim CFO where I worked on the company’s financial models and investment prospectus. Both endeavors were personally and professionally rewarding and were excellent opportunities for learning and growth. Next, I worked as a technology consultant at Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company.

LMU’s entrepreneurship program really prepared me for the real world by simulating situations that business leaders encounter outside of the classroom. I learned many invaluable skills from the semester-long business plan project in Professor David Choi's class and had the unique opportunity to present my ideas to a panel of esteemed business professionals and entrepreneurs. That class really taught me how to think critically and encouraged me to make my own work even stronger.