When Northwestern University student Kristen Sanders was unable to find a paid summer internship, she set out on an entrepreneurial journey to forge her own path and founded a digital marketing consulting platform called People6.

“As a first generation college student there was just no way I can take an unpaid internship” Sanders told AfroTech. 

People6 was founded on the belief that when given the opportunity, college students are capable of executing innovative projects that help businesses thrive. The company matches local businesses with student workers offering services including research, social media strategy, content creation, and personal branding

“There’s this exclusive nature to work. I feel like our generation, we’re going to have multiple jobs and work in different sectors and industries,” Sanders said.  “So there’s no reason why you should be barred from doing a certain kind of work if you’re good at it.”

Since launching earlier this year, People6 has hired 30 Northwestern students to work on 13 projects, according to the company’s website.

People6 recently won third place and $2,000 in Northwestern’s Wildfire Demo Day. Now in her senior year, Sanders told American Inno the company has raised over $80,000 from Northwestern programs and plans to use funds to expand her startup.