Kaylee Brestle believes success is defined by how you lift others up.
At Ohio Northern University, she’s studying marketing and entrepreneurship to prepare for a dream close to her heart. She hopes to one day establish and operate a day center for adults with intellectual disabilities.
Kaylee initially considered becoming a special education teacher. But after consulting with the Union County Board of Developmental Disabilities, near her home in Richwood, Ohio, she came up with the idea of a pairing her passion for hobby farming with adult care.
“It would be a program focused on life skills,” she explains. “Participants would raise chickens for eggs and grow crops to sell.”
Her dream stems from her early life experiences. Throughout her K-12 schooling, Kaylee regularly assisted a family friend with autism. Her teachers relied on her to help him with daily tasks and partner on projects—which she did happily. In high school, she gained early business experience with her own produce enterprise, growing sweetcorn and tomatoes to sell at farmers markets.
Now at ONU, she is combining that hands-on spirit with the marketing expertise she’ll need to become a nonprofit entrepreneur.
“My marketing professors’ willingness to mentor me and provide real-life experiences has a huge impact,” she says. Her senior capstone project is especially relevant. She’s collaborating with peers to develop a marketing plan for Heartland Feed Services to expand their reach with hobby farmers.
On campus, she’s also refining her leadership skills. She serves as a peer mentor in the Dicke College of Business, helping first-year students through their college transition. As a member of the Panhellenic Council (Panhel) and Kappa Alpha Theta, she has organized community service projects. And this year, as the president of Panhel, she is the contact point for all campus sororities.
Though Kaylee admits she’s far more comfortable offering help than asking for it, learning to accept support from her ONU friends has made her a stronger, more resilient leader.
After graduating this May, she hopes to find a marketing position in the agricultural industry. But every experience at ONU has been a stepping stone toward the farm-based community she hopes to one day create.