Safety First

Lilly Meshesha has been passionate about healthcare for almost as long as she can remember. In April, with the current pandemic occurring and her inability to find masks in any stores, she figured she’d make her own. “I realized, I have this skill,” she says. “Why not make a better mask?”

Now, thanks to a pair of classes at Columbia College-Kansas City – unrelated to the degree in healthcare management she’s currently seeking – Meshesha is potentially going down a different path, one whose landmark is a new business.

Lily Meshesha, Columbia College-Kansas City student

At the moment, profit is far down the list of her business’ priorities. “I want to help people. We’re all having difficult times right now.” She also has enjoyed the realworld lessons from Dee Mathison’s business communication class. “We’ve talked about, ‘If I were a CEO, how would I approach this? How do I interact with my customers?’ I’ve taken it seriously,” she says.

Within three days, she opened up Lilly Hop Shop on Etsy, a popular online marketplace, where shoppers can order masks in adult or child sizes in several colors and patterns. “I’ve always wanted to make something of my own, but I’ve never had someone say, ‘Hey, this is worth money!’ Dee’s the one that gave me that push.” –KF

Read the full story at connected.ccis.edu.