An Entrepreneurial Spirit | Issue 2022

BEI blends Christian values with business innovation.
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It started with a pillbox.

When Valley Christian High School launched the President’s Business Challenge (PBC) in 2014, instructors gave teams of students the task of developing a business idea, crafting a proposal, and delivering their pitches to local venture capitalists.

The winning team of that inaugural challenge – comprised of freshmen – designed an automatic pill dispenser to assist individuals with complicated medication regimens or who struggle with remembering to take their vitamins.

“They absolutely blew me away,” remembers Hannah Kim, now the VP of VCS’ Business, Entrepreneurship & Innovation (BEI). “The judges were completely floored by the design, the business plan, the pitch, everything.”

Katherine Ho (‘18), who was on that team, recalls the extent to which she and her teammates had to understand every single facet of their product.

“Knowing something deeply is an enriching experience,” explains Ho, who was valedictorian at VCHS in 2018 and is now a student at Stanford University. “It taught me to be both confident and willing to learn.”

After a few rounds of the PBC, Kim and her colleagues realized they might have found something special at the intersection of Christian education and the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial spirit. The next step in developing the BEI program was creating more business electives. As interest in the electives grew, BEI began to offer business programs, club support, and business-oriented events, like speaker series and headquarters tours.

To capture the growing ambition of these business students, the “Quest Incubator” program was born. This program allows students to take their business idea from concept to reality. Throughout the year-long program, the students receive industry expertise from mentors and learn from business and technology guest speakers. Embedded in the program are discussions on the importance of Christian business leaders identifying and maintaining integrity to their core values.

As the students became increasingly committed to the “Quest Incubator” program, Kim laughs at the memories of late-night (and early-morning) phone conversations with her enthusiastic young entrepreneurs. “The kids in those early days were already showing so much passion, so much sheer curiosity,” she says.

Now, nearly a decade after Ho and her teammates wowed the first panel of PBC judges, K-12 BEI continues to grow. A successful start-up enterprise, the BEI program currently offers extracurricular opportunities for Valley Christian elementary and junior high students, in addition to its robust slate of classes, programs, and clubs for the high school. Some students are choosing to attend Valley Christian primarily due to the opportunities available in BEI, Kim says, and many emerge from their experience with their mindset about business leadership drastically changed by the faith-driven nature of the program.

This program, at its heart, is about serving others. We are faith-driven and mission-driven; we see all our work as an opportunity to help fulfill the Great Commission. – Hannah Kim, VP/K-12 Director of BEI

As both Kim and numerous alumni can affirm, much of that transformed perspective is due to the involvement of business leaders who serve as mentors for BEI students. Rich Farrell, a judge in the early days of the PBC remains an active mentor. He stresses the need for modeling the importance of grounding compassionate entrepreneurship on a foundation of faith.

“The right way to run a business is from a place of love,” Farrell says. “Love God, our fellow businesspeople, our employees, vendors, and customers. You can be a blessing in the marketplace – if that is our posture, then everything will align perfectly.”

Farrell and Kim emphasize that a relationship with Jesus can significantly blend with and impact business innovation. Even as the educators continue to dream about the next steps for BEI – these are entrepreneurs, after all – they remain intentional about remembering their own core values.

“This program, at its heart, is about serving others,” Kim says. “We are faith-driven and mission-driven; we see all our work as an opportunity to help fulfill the Great Commission.”

Farrell recognizes that maintaining a Christian ethic can be challenging in the often brutal and cutthroat world of the entrepreneur. With the craziness of that life in mind, he encourages business leaders of any age to slow down, to remember Christ’s model of humility and gentleness, and to breathe, rest, and reflect. While these qualities are not found in an automatic pill dispenser, thankfully, they support the goals and students of Valley Christian’s BEI.

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