Jake Stover "Just One More" Memorial Scholarship

The idea of “Just One More” intrigues me. I have always been driven, motivated, and purposeful, but I have not labeled these characteristics as “Just One More. “ My soul feels the connection. I see possibilities in the world. I ask the question “why” instead of “why not,” and choose to see through the lens of “I can.” I want my days to be full and those around me to be better because they know me. As I reflect on Jake’s life and legacy, I love the characteristics he modeled - the outdoors - art - creativity - entrepreneurship. He made an incredible impact on others, and I am inspired to continue the “Just One More” legacy. Without knowing, I have actively engaged in “Just One More” footprint including academics, sports, outdoors, gathering people, and entrepreneurship. I would like to focus on three: running, gathering others, and entrepreneurship. First, I am always game for one more run. I have been running since second grade starting for fun with my family, then becoming more disciplined in eighth grade joining the high school track team. Since then, I have improved my 5k time from a 21:20 to a 16:39, placed second in the state in the 4x800 and won the Louisville 10k. Most importantly, I have found a sport that I love, gained lifelong friendships, discipline, perseverance, and passion. Not only has running been a “Just One More” experience, but gathering people has become a passion. Our modest home has been a hub for multiple communities - college kids my mom has mentored, family gatherings, and bible studies, And my parents have taught me to continue this legacy. Beyond our home this passion continues whether through gathering teams for pickleball matches, inviting others to my local church youth group or connecting teammates for mutual encouragement. I know what it feels like to want community, so I intentionally bring it wherever I go. How we treat others may be one of the most important legacies we leave. Finally, I understand “Just One More” in entrepreneurship. I want to own my own business one day. I started small with owning my own dog sitting business but have bigger dreams. I love the opportunity to create. I want to go into engineering - not for the field of engineering itself but for problem solving and lifelong creativity. In my current engineering class we are creating a product that could revolutionize relay timing and it brings me joy to innovate in the running world I love. Life is a gift. Day by day, friend by friend, opportunity by opportunity is meant to be experienced and valued. I recognize the moments in front of me and want to value each one of them whether it be a daily run, gathering of those around me or by creating in an area I am passionate about. I love the idea of “Just One More.” It gives me a mindset to make the most of the experiences in front of me daily and face them with love, excitement and excellence.

I want to start by saying reading about Jake's interests and personality created a moment of shock for myself. I grew up with a fascination of the wilderness and the means to survive off the land, spending many hours in hammocks and kayaks in Kentucky's wilderness. Furthermore, I also have had a fascination of entrepreneurship and fiscal self-reliance - and sneakers. I grew up in the back of my fathers restaurant, my grandmothers hair salon and my mom's art studio. My family of small business entrepreneurs passed along their philosophy of working for themselves and creating something bigger to me, which I have practiced before I knew what entrepreneurship was. During my time at Meyzeek Middle School, my interest into streetwear fashion and memorabilia outgrew the financial capabilities of me or my family. It was then I practiced what I saw my family do my entire life; hustle and create opportunities to afford my interests. I started slow and small, often times losing money, but slowly learning the game of sneaker reselling and entrepreneurship. Over the three years of middle school, I sold as many sneakers, t-shirts, and stickers as I could and often times did sneaker cleanings and restorations. At the end of my 8th grade year, Covid-19 shut down America, leaving me with infinite time to grow and perfect my business. I went from maybe a couple hundred dollars in sales over a few month period, to growing to six figures in revenue over the course of the shutdown. The entrepreneurship journey taught me more than anything else in my life, and it came with plenty of ups and downs that matured me and gave me a level of wisdom that many of my peers do not have. Looking back, this entrepreneurial endeavor was the single most important thing I have done, and has benefited me in a complex and multifaceted way. Not only did it teach me about business and finances, but it honed and defined much of my philosophical ideas, especially surrounding money and what it means to be a good and honest person. Due to my fascination and small business venture, I ended up being accepted into the Governor's School for Entrepreneurs (GSE), where I stayed on NKU's campus for three weeks learning how to be a better entrepreneur and building a business to present to a group of judges. This was also a defining moment in my life, as the hard work and success was being recognized for the first time outside of my family. It was an incredibly validating experience, filled with once in a life time learning moments, most importantly being comfortable with "failing without fear." The most important philosophical idea defined by my entrepreneurship was the need to help others. I plan graduating college with a nursing degree, then sometime in my future becoming a Nurse Practitioner. Becoming an NP would allow me to open my own practice and run my own healthcare business, something that I am very interested in doing. I believe through the route of nursing I can fulfill my need to help others while simultaneously practicing entrepreneurship. I have no doubt in my mind Jake and I would've been friends, and maybe we have even crossed paths at a sneaker event or over our instagram businesses. I will keep him in my thoughts, and I want to thank you for reading my submitted application.

I will be going to school for fashion design to create a sustainable clothing brand that is affordable and inclusive to all body types, races, and genders. I am pursuing higher education because I want to be the change that the fashion industry needs. My brand will be good for the environment, and my clothes won't follow trends, so customers can wear them for a long time without going out of style. The fast fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, and 92 million tonnes of garments end up in landfills each year. With my brand, I plan to be zero waste, meaning that every fabric piece will be used, and nothing will be thrown away. There needs to be a change in the fast fashion industry; my brand will work to educate the consumers on all of the untold stories about the fast fashion industry, such as the mistreatment of the people working in the garment factories, the dyes used to dye the clothing polluting all of the water in the surrounding areas, and enlighten people on the harms the industry is doing on the people and the environment surrounding the factories the clothes are made in. Creating this brand is incredibly important to me because I believe that nature is one of the purest things on earth. With ecosystems dying and some of my favorite animals becoming endangered, I know I need to do what I can to help nature before everything beautiful is gone. Without nature, we would not be able to survive, so the fact that it is dying because of what humans have done breaks my heart. I want to allow people to buy clothes that are good for the earth while fitting the changing trends, so they don't have to give up style for sustainability. Sustainable fashion is my favorite way to express my creativity; for as long as I can remember, I have loved making things. Every time I finish the project I am working on, I immediately start another one. I will look at a clothing item in the store and then try to make it myself. the earth is our home and we are not getting another one and i think it is so important to do my part in help save it. Fashion is my passion and my art, I belive in finding ways to use new mediums to make clothes. I have attached the outfit i made for my senior photos, I created this using traditional fabric and created the pattern for the skirt. The outfit is made from scracth and it is zero-waste, meaning I used every single part of the material and nothing went to waste. The next picture I attched is a bag that I crochet out of plastic bags. After every grocery trip, my family comes back with a multitude of single use plasic bags and I decided that I wanted to find a better use for them instead of having them end up in a landfill. While I made bags into another bag, the bag that i made will keep 30 plastic bags out of the landfill and will last much longer. With my continued education in fashion design with an emphasis on sustainability, I plan to find different ways to use items that would normally end up in a landfill and give it a new life.

I started my auto detailing business in July of 2021 at the age of 17. Previously, I had worked as a Clicklist Clerk at Kroger and an assistant in a hardscaping business. While I enjoyed my time at both of these jobs, I also learned the importance of thinking outside of the box. I thought of these jobs as a starting point but I wanted to invest my money in something bigger and better. I wanted something different for myself. Covid taught me a lot about needs so in reflecting on starting a business, I took into consideration what people needed AND wanted. I decided that people's cars are very important to them from both perspectives. After some research, I decided to launch a mobile auto detailing business. It immediately took off. My only source of advertising at that point was the NextDoor app. As I began to get swarmed with business, I needed help. I reached out to a close friend, Peyton Coffey, and offered the opportunity to form a partnership. Peyton had his own pressure washing business at the time which I thought might be useful for the business. The pressure washing made us much more efficient. At this point, S&P Mobile Detailing was born. While this cut down on my own profit, I knew that in the long run, it would serve us better. After Peyton and I gained headway in the east end of Louisville with are business, we began to expand. I purchased a truck with a large bed and topper to hold our existing gear. With the extra space in mind, we invested in a sandwich board sign with our newly created logo, pictures, and phone number. We researched SEO and worked to establish a website, QR code, online scheduling and a social media presence. We met with an attorney who helped us understand some basic rules of business, including liabilities and various financial pieces. Our business continues to grow and we have recently started taking on boats. This is an area that we hope to advance. I greatly enjoy our business. I like seeing the end result when we work on a filthy car or boat. Working with people and talking to them is a bonus. I look forward to their stories. I think about that this was a thought a year ago and now we have a successful business. I am hopeful that as we move onto college, we will be able to continue our business on weekends and in the summers. I plan on majoring in Business and Accounting to assist in our current business as well as my future entrepreneurial endeavors.