The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/65892
Wπ rescue It's A Dog's Life Turning T-shirts into donations SOMETIMES, LOVE CHANGES everything. Take WKH FDVH RI (ODLQH :DUQHU 6DQƂOLSSR Œ 6KH was feeling a bit stressed from her job at a Bos- ton start-up when a four-legged beauty named Daisy trotted into her life and opened up a whole new world for her. It wasn't long before she found herself leaving her career in data DQDO\WLFV WR GHVLJQ DQG VHOO 7 VKLUWV WR EHQHƂW animal rescue organizations. 6DQƂOLSSR ZKR JUDGXDWHG ZLWK D GHJUHH LQ biomedical engineering and earned an MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management, says her business, AdopTee's, was inspired by Daisy's story. As are so many rescued dogs, the basset hound/golden retriever mix was transported from a high-kill shelter in the southern United States to the northeast, where demand to DGRSW SHWV LV KLJKHU 6DQƂOLSSR ZDQWHG WR KHOS the cause, so she left her job and applied her business expertise to the task of fundraising. She launched AdopTee's (adopteesonline.com) in August 2011, designing dog-themed T-shirts and donating 50 percent of net proceeds to shelters. When 31 service members, including 17 Navy SEALs and a military dog named Bart, were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan WKDW PRQWK 6DQƂOLSSR FUHDWHG WKUHH PRUH GH- signs under the name Project: Bart. Proceeds from sales of those shirts go to the Navy SEAL Foundation, which supports families of fallen 6($/V ,Q MXVW WZR PRQWKV 6DQƂOLSSR UDLVHG $1,000 for the foundation. Though the new venture hasn't given her opportunity to use her biomedical engineer- LQJ WDOHQWV \HW 6DQƂOLSSR VD\V WKH HGXFDWLRQ she received at WPI has proven invaluable. "A WPI degree gives you a great background in critical thinking, problem solving, and work- LQJ ORJLFDOO\ WR ƂQG VROXWLRQV ŕ VKH VD\V "Those are the skills I use every day." Spring 2012 17