Two distinguished faculty members from Clemson University’s Wilbur O. Ann Powers College of Business took center stage at TEDxClemsonU. The event was held at the Strom Thurmond Institute auditorium on August 24, 2024. The event’s theme, “Innovate to Elevate,” showcased ideas through live speakers and recorded TED Talks. Elliot Davis associate professor Kathryn Kisska-Schulze and assistant professor of management Lori Tribble-Trudell delivered inspiring presentations on the importance of joy and community, respectively.
Everyday Joy After a Tragedy
On January 28th, 2017, Kisska-Schulze experienced a profound loss that changed her life forever. On her birthday, she lost her younger brother, Kevin. It’s an event that plunged her into a prolonged depression. She found herself unable to experience joy while balancing her grief with other life challenges.
Her turning point came 10 months later while Christmas shopping with her daughter, Ivy. She handed her a journal and explained it might help her cope. “Never underestimate the observance of the youth,” Kisska-Schulze reflected. “I realized at that very moment that I had hit rock bottom. My child had been a true witness to my suffering and my pain, and in the only way she knew how, she was trying to help me.”
Initially reluctant, she made a New Year’s resolution to record one joyful moment each day for a year. No matter how difficult her day was, she documented these moments. By the end of 2018, she had recorded 365 little joys ranging from a morning cup of coffee to a heartfelt “I love you” from her daughter.
Kisska-Schulze loved journaling so much that she continued the practice. As of August 2024, she had documented 2,424 moments of joy. Through this process, she discovered two profound lessons:
- Everyday joy exists: In any 24-hour period, you can find at least one joyful moment.
- Perspective matters: Reflecting on joy doesn’t erase life’s challenges. However, it helps shift perspective and allows you to empathize with yourself and others.
The Influence of Community Building
Lori Tribble Trudell understands the significance of community. She grew up as a first-generation college student in a rural Georgia town of about 1,000 people, “Where I lived, people generally supported each other. They had to be entrepreneurial self-starters to survive,” she explained.
Her father exemplified this entrepreneurial spirit. He taught himself to raise and sell catfish without formal education. His efforts earned him a reputation as the “Fish Man” in their community. “My dad gave back to the community—he would help anyone who asked him,” Trudell shared. “It takes community to build community.”
Now a professor of entrepreneurship at Clemson, Trudell studies entrepreneurial ecosystems and has found that successful systems rely on community building. Strong leadership, collaboration, communication, and experimentation are critical. According to Trudell, creating a thriving community benefits everyone and serves three purposes:
- Encouraging Innovation: Collaboration and shared resources drive creativity and bold-problem solving that can lead to breakthroughs like robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).
- Driving Economic Growth: Community-building sustains small businesses, generates jobs, and attracts major corporations.
- Building Resilience: Entrepreneurs thrive with access to networks of mentorship, support, and share knowledge just as her father’s community supported one another.
Trudell concluded her talk with a powerful call to action. “Let’s come together and be the creative, collaborative, and innovative community that builds success. Let’s build an entrepreneurial ecosystem that elevates everyone. Let’s be the community that builds community.”
Ideas Worth Spreading
Kisska-Schulze and Trudell’s presentations at TEDxClemsonU exemplified the event’s theme of “Innovate to Elevate. They highlighted the power of joy and community through personal stories and actionable insights. Their talks reminded the audience that individual and collective innovation can elevate lives, businesses, and communities.
