This fall, Colorado College launched the Innovation Institute’s Innovator-in-Residence program to advance innovative opportunities and support for students. Aaron Kahlow has been chosen as the first Innovator-in-Residence.
Kahlow has worked in the innovation field for over a decade, starting, building, and selling companies in the digital marketing space. Kahlow began with a three-man project in the back of a dental office, which he eventually built into a thriving, multi-million dollar agency, BusinessOnline. Kahlow then founded the Online Marketing Summit, one of the first—and most recognized—digital educational marketing events, which he later sold to a publicly traded company.
Kahlow has headed an impressive string of projects and holds recognized authority in the digital marketing industry. In 2006, Metropolitan Magazine heralded him in the “Top 40 Entrepreneurs Under the Age of 40.”
These days, however, Kahlow focuses more on mindfulness than millions.
“A lot of my passion is in mindful leadership and mindful entrepreneurship,” said Kahlow. “I want to give my peers advice on managing one’s self, not just ways to rake in the next million dollars in revenue.”
Mindfulness has always been an undercurrent of Kahlow’s entrepreneurship but only after selling his second company did he find the space to explore and integrate this practice. Kahlow was introduced to Zen Buddhism several years ago, which started him on the deeper search “of what’s it all about—of the ways to manage the insanity we call the modern world,” he said.
While Kahlow finds the digital marketing field very exciting, he has now found a way to tap into his deeper personal passion and build it into a business.
“I’m now interested in making less money in exchange for more time to do good,” said Kahlow. A fair number of people make the argument that lots of money can do lots of good; Kahlow, however, doesn’t quite agree. “The most successful companies aren’t worth millions of dollars,” he said, “but rather [it is] the ones grinding day in and day out that add value back to society.”
At the moment, Kahlow’s approach is unusual. People talk of entrepreneurship and talk of mindfulness but rarely in the same conversation. Mindfulness, to many, seems antithetical to the hectic and often cutthroat entrepreneurial world.
Kahlow wants to make clear, however, that not only are mindfulness and entrepreneurship compatible, but that mindfulness is necessary to entrepreneurial success and individual happiness.
“Most entrepreneurs lose sight of themselves,” said Kahlow. “They believe they are one with their company, and it becomes an excuse for not being a good person, a good listener—for not being true to themselves.”
Start-ups were not a common topic while Kahlow was in college. The world that we currently witness as college students—one bent on constant, creative innovation—is unique, and has developed largely in the past five years.
The Innovation Institute is an important resource because it focuses on where the world is right now, according to Kahlow.
The foundation of programs, like the Innovation Institute, on campuses across the country speaks to both the importance and growing popularity of young entrepreneurship.
“The lure of start-ups is big, almost legendary at this point,” said Kahlow. “Young people pay attention to the Zuckerbergs of the world who have just crushed it.”
The reality for companies that do succeed, Kahlow warns, involves a lot of hard work and very little glory.
“People need to stop pretending that lightning will strike their pan if they hold it out,” said Kahlo. “People need to be ready to do something they’re passionate about, something that’s good for the world. That’s a big surprise for a lot of people.”
Since arriving at the Institute in late September, Kahlow has talked one-on-one with many students and student groups, acting as a sounding board for ideas and giving advice on both entrepreneurship and mindfulness.
“I’ve gained a feeling that my in-betweenness is a good thing,” said Kahlow. “Students get advice from professors, parents, and one another, but there’s an authenticity and relaxed way of conversation with someone in-between these stages.”
In addition to his individual work with students, Kahlow will be giving a series of presentations and workshops for the campus at large. The first was on Monday, Oct. 26, called “Mindfulness as a Way to Live: How to incorporate mindfulness into every day life at work, home, and on campus.”
While Kahlow’s work focuses on the intersection between mindfulness and entrepreneurship, he emphasizes that mindfulness is a way of being, not simply a way to run a company.
“The world we live in won’t let you be as mindful as you want to be, and that’s a challenge,” said Kahlow. “It’s just important to go home with a smile on your face—that’s crucial.”
Kahlow will also teach a five-part ‘crash course’ series during Block 3, called “Fundamentals of Being a Mindful and Wildly Successful Entrepreneur in the Digital Age.” The series covers a range of topics, from strong entrepreneurial leadership to the ins and outs of digital marketing to mindfulness in entrepreneurship.
Although the series is free and open to CC students as well as faculty and staff, space is limited. For registration details, contact Jill Lange at jill.lange@coloradocollege.edu.
Emma Martin
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