College Entrepreneurs
Night Life and Knoxville Business

Everyone knows the story of college entrepreneurs taking their passion and know-how to the people. The benefits are obvious: they get to make their spending money their own way, instead of working for "the man", it's a learning adventure of epic proportions, and...you never know if you just might hit it big.

During the summer of '08, Maryville College students Earl Coleman and Blake Chasteen -- both Juniors in International Business -- decided to take their love of Knoxville's night life scene to create NightLifeKnoxville.com, a community portal for club and band promotions, VIP ticket sales, galleries of media from entertainment events, web and media services, UT game ticket give-a-ways, and more.

Of course, nothing says, "join us!" in East Tennessee language quite like "free tickets to UT Football"! So these college entrepreneurs have already developed a good bit of buzz and business through their early promotional efforts.

When asked how they juggle entrepreneurship with the rigors of preparing for senior thesis and their other academics at Maryville College, Earl offered an easy smile and said, "We work hard, and just make sure none of the balls hit the ground."

While nothing is a given in the world of young entrepreneurs -- or in any other time of entrepreneurship for that matter -- Earl and Chasteen have seriously discussed expanding their business blueprint into other regions after graduation. Possibilities include taking their night life promotions into other local entertainment markets first, and perhaps even other countries or even other continents, using their Maryville education in international business to drive innovation and understanding.

For now, Earl and Chasteen are focusing on getting NightLifeKnoxville.com firmly off the ground, and keeping their grades up at MC. KnoxvilleBusiness.com wishes them well, and we look forward to following their progress!

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