Students in Laurie Russo’s entrepreneurship 2 class at Westfield High School learned important business and life lessons from a successful local woman Angela Alney, owner of Air-Tan, last Wednesday.
“I didn’t know what to expect. It was fun to get back into high school and learn what they are thinking about,” Alney said. “They know more than I did when I was in high school. I was impressed to know they already had a goal or something they were thinking of doing,”
Alney provided her experience as an entrepreneur and asked students about their business goals later in life.
“I was very impressed with the kids. I talked with everybody about business ideas and at least 85 percent of them had something they were already thinking about,” she said.
Air-Tan is celebrating 10 years of business in the Broad Ripple area and recently opened a second location in Fishers. Alney started the business with the intent to provide a healthy alternative to tanning beds and sun tanning – and the trend continues to move forward.
“People love to be tan – and Air-Tan offers them a safe, healthy, instant alternative to UV rays” she said. “Air-Tan is a member of the community – with happy customers, long term employees and a thriving business.”
Russo said Alney’s presentation provided her students real world experience and healthy alternatives to tanning.
“She talked about how she focused on one profit and nothing else – to do one thing really well. She also talked about how important it was to train employees. She’s not just a business owner but an educator,” Russo said. “She knew a lot about skin diseases and skin cancer.”
The entrepreneurship class is offered to sophomores, juniors and seniors.
“I bring in many guest speakers who are highly intelligent and entertaining or have a very interesting business. There’s never a dull day in entrepreneurship,” Russo said. “I want them to have passion for whatever they do in the future – to look forward to going to work every day. To have a dream and follow it.”