Downingtown resident Emma Wagner, who graduated from West Chester University last month and was one of the student speakers at winter commencement, is on her way to becoming a serial entrepreneur.

Wagner, who was the spring 2021 entrepreneurship fellow at WCU’s Cottrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Center, knew she wanted to help other women stay connected as the pandemic shutdown began. With friends in such disparate places as Australia, Denmark, Japan, Morocco, Thailand, and Spain, she created the Women Supporting Women Global Empowerment Group for mutual emotional support and open discussion. She has led weekly Zoom sessions since March 2020 that connect women around the world along issues like mental health, sexual assault/harassment, goals/ambitions, life’s purpose, self-awareness, relationships, communication, school, self-esteem, and more.

Currently, she is working to launch a website and create brand partnerships.

“I continued to run it because people felt like it was a safe space to share all their troubles and challenges,” she said.

In August 2020, Wagner created the online business Live Better For Yourself, which she continues to manage. She established it during the pandemic to educate, inform, and support women around the world, developing and designing products to improve their lives.

She was also a finalist in this year’s State System Startup Challenge with her business idea for Wear To Go, a clothing service that provides information on what to wear when traveling (fourth place, five-minute pitch presentation), and a semifinalist with Ever Décor, a rental service for home accessories and seasonal decorations (third place, one-minute fast pitch presentation).

“In the past four years, West Chester has helped build up who I am today by tearing down the walls of my comfort zone and insecurities,” she said.

Wagner stepped out of her comfort zone first when she took a gap year after graduating high school and joined a program to do service work in Guatemala. She recalls how the isolation of knowing no one else on the trip helped her cultivate a sense of self-preservation. She opted to cut her trip short after encountering several dangerous situations, saying, “I learned more about myself in those few difficult months than I ever had before — until I came to West Chester University and learned even more.”

Despite the COVID-19-imposed seclusion of the last two years, Wagner found ways to stay connected by using her entrepreneurial skills for her Zoom and online ventures. It’s not difficult to make a positive impact on the world, she said.

“It takes one conversation, one outstretched hand, one moment of inclusion to change someone’s world,” said Wagner. “And from there, your small act of kindness can touch the lives of countless people.”

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