Chris Previlon, pursuing a BBA in Business Management at the Lubin School of Business, arrived in New York with a clear goal: to grow his business and embrace the city’s energy.

“I chose Pace because of the city life and my love for business and theater,” Chris explains. “I wanted to learn to grow my business and become my own boss, while also training, working, performing, and being in the city.”

Chris' entrepreneurial spirit sparked early, inspired by his mother’s event planning business, where he often lent a hand. As he got older, he noticed how much money went into one specific element of party décor: balloons. He had a thought. If balloon designs were in such demand, why not turn that demand into something lucrative?

I chose Pace because of the city life and my love for business and theater.

Chris began practicing balloon artistry and was soon supplying intricate balloon sculptures for family events. As his talents grew, he booked balloon jobs with his high school and other local businesses, including Anthropologie and Walmart. That’s when his business really began to blow up—pun intended.

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Since then, Chris’ business Beyond Balloons has flourished. He’s crafted everything from intricate balloon designs—including a balloon dress—to projects for high-profile clients like NFL players and popular YouTubers like The Beam Squad.

Leaving his hometown of Miami, Florida, for college in the Big Apple also meant leaving behind his roster of clients. It was a risk, but Chris was determined to succeed, navigating the challenges of starting fresh in a new market while keeping up with his studies. When he arrived at Pace, he reached out to the Center for Student Engagement to introduce himself and his business. The next day he had an email: could he do an event next week?

I wanted to learn to grow my business and become my own boss, while also training, working, performing, and being in the city.

Chris didn’t have any equipment, materials, or a car, but he agreed and decided to make it work. He met with new vendors in a new state, purchased supplies and hauled them to campus on the subway, and on the day of the event scrambled to set everything up before his first class of the morning.

His hard work paid off.

“Everybody loved it when they were passing by,” he explains. “And then, literally while I was finishing setting up, I was told they needed me for an event in two days.’” And so ironically, his investment in Pace to level up his skills led to Pace investing in him as a new vendor.

Chris’ hopes that his time at Pace will help him take his business to new heights—yes, another pun. “I just want to keep growing,” he explains. “I’ve already learned so already about marketing and business 101,” he says.

"The campus is beautiful. I like the urban city, modern feel."

His favorite part of being at Pace? “The city, honestly. The New York life,” he says. “Yeah, the train can get very tiring every day for an hour… but the campus is beautiful. I like the urban city, modern feel.”

Chris didn’t settle. He had a successful business and a thriving network, but he came to Pace so he could go even further with his career, proving that when it comes to his ambition, the sky’s the limit.

This article was outlined with the assistance of a custom GPT model using OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The author wrote, edited, and takes responsibility for the final text.

"Busy is good,” says Sunny Shenkman ’25, a Communications and Media Studies major and double minor in graphic design and art. “You’re locked in, and schoolwork becomes easier when you have so much stuff to do.”

And Sunny certainly has a lot to do.

Sunny is the president and editor-in-chief of Pace’s imprint fashion publication Fusion Magazine, as well as the leader of Fusion’s graphic design committee. They’re the director of the Test Print Pop-Up Shop, a rogue art tradition at Pace where students can buy and sell handmade items. They also work as a programming assistant for Pace’s LGBTQA+ Center and as a journalism intern for Brown Eyez Co. They’re also working on illustrations for a children’s book series! And that’s just outside of the classroom.

I feel like sometimes in New York, you have to do everything.

Sunny’s set to graduate this spring and during their time at Pace they’ve learned how to find the balance in the busy. “There are things I just won’t compromise,” they explain. “I have a really big social life and that’s really important to me. But so is getting nine hours of sleep.” They also insist upon prioritizing their health. “You hate that people say it over and over but it’s right: take your vitamins!”

When it comes to the work you want to do, Sunny says it’s about knowing what to sacrifice, and what to hold dear. “I like keeping some things sacred,” Sunny explains. “It's just a negotiation. What is the most important and what can I delegate? Learning how to give up stuff a little bit has been really big for me.”

Sometimes, Pace feels impossible because it seems like everyone has these amazing jobs.

These skills are important for Sunny, especially as they approach graduation and prepare to enter the creative industry, a field that demands adaptability. “What does being a creative even mean?” Sunny says. “I feel like sometimes in New York, you have to do everything. You have to be a photographer and a designer, a leader, an organizer. All these things. And you have to be good at every single one.”

Sunny’s also learned you can’t just stop at trying to learn everything, you also have to show it off. “Sometimes, Pace feels impossible because it seems like everyone has these amazing jobs,” says Sunny. They share how intimidating it can be to see peers sharing their successes and how they’ve learned to tackle that by sharing their own. “Don’t be afraid to be a LinkedIn warrior. One day, I had this switch where I started posting everything I do on LinkedIn because I kept seeing all these amazing things people were doing and wanted to show what I was doing too.”

I like keeping some things sacred. It's just a negotiation.

Finally, Sunny has learned to embrace support. “I really respect Pace’s administration.” Sunny explains how Pace staff—with special shout outs to Todd Smith-Bergollo, senior associate dean for students and Janice Hilbrink, director of endowed scholarships—have shaped their journey in meaningful ways and helped them get to where they are today. “They’ve really come through for me and I won’t forget that moving forward.”

Sunny has made the most of their time at Pace—and they’re just getting started. They’ve learned to balance their schedule and embrace their successes. As they prepare to graduate, their experiences at Pace have set them up to take on whatever comes next.

But first? Maybe a well-earned nap.