From Farmlands to RevRoads

PROVO, Utah – Jul 09, 2021 – While growing up on a farm in Leeton, Missouri, Amy Caldwell woke up each morning and bounded off to play with the horses, milk the cows, and retrieve eggs from the chickens. Her upbringing taught her the value of hard work. Now as a mentor for the Rollins Center of Entrepreneurship and Technology at the BYU Marriott School of Business, Caldwell focuses on establishing connections with student entrepreneurs and teaching them the value hard work.

Working hard was essential to Caldwell when she co-founded RevRoad, a company that focuses on helping startup businesses obtain the resources necessary for success. “A typical startup business usually fails because the founders don't have enough capital. Companies also don't have the connections to help with manufacturing, building an app, or industry-specific needs,” explains Caldwell. “When my co-founders and I came together, we asked ourselves, ‘What are companies missing?’ The answer was business resources.”

Caldwell is the chief business development officer at RevRoad and has many responsibilities including supporting portfolio companies, building investor engagement, and cultivating relationships with the local community. Her position gives her opportunities to engage with entrepreneurs and learn about their innovations and the vision for their businesses.

RevRoad is not the only place where Caldwell interacts with entrepreneurs. As a mentor for the Rollins Center and the Women in Entrepreneurship (WE) club, she coaches women student entrepreneurs at BYU. “Watching women entrepreneurs at BYU break molds is so neat,” she says. “At the WE events, I talk to women about their businesses and ideas, and I see how these students don’t let anything in life stop their progress. Their backgrounds include being students, wives, and mothers who support their families on top of everything else. I love their mentality: I have a dream, and I'm going to live that dream. I can be successful. I don't have any limits to put on myself.

“I also see the humility that comes with the students’ inner drive,” Caldwell continues. “These women are confident and come to the Rollins Center to be mentored, make connections, and learn. Ultimately, success comes from cultivating an inner mix of courage, confidence, and humility.”

She adds that the center gives students tools that allow their companies to excel. While working for the Rollins Center, Caldwell has witnessed tremendous support among the mentors and students. “The center gives students confidence to go out and create change in the world,” she says.

In addition to a combination of humility and confidence, Caldwell believes connection and empathy are important attributes that enhance business and life in general. “A personal connection comes from knowing what a person is going through. We can't truly help someone if we don’t try to understand the best way to relate to them,” she says. “Connection comes from listening to and learning from one another.”

At the end of the day, Caldwell hopes that others view her as someone who values connection and hard work. “Many of us are busy—we want to provide support, but sometimes we don’t actually stop and listen. Being open and eager to connect is the best way we can help one another,” she says. “If someone ever talks about me, I hope that person will say, Amy understood me. She gave me the time I needed. She listened to me.’ I want people to remember that, above all else, I gave them my time.”