Originally from Stone Mountain, Tyler Holloway recently graduated from Savannah State University with her Master’s in Business Administration. A double Tiger, Holloway also completed her undergraduate at SSU receiving a bachelor’s degree in Marketing in Fall of 2020. Since completing her graduate degree, Holloway has big plans for the future. She is currently completing a 12-month Mary S. Peake fellowship, which helps equip recent graduates, veterans, and military spouses with leadership skills to help small and local businesses thrive.
“I’m learning all these different skills that will prepare me to be a better candidate when I’m ready to transition into the workforce,” she explained. Once she completes her fellowship next February, Holloway has plans to eventually start a few businesses of her own. “I want so many. I don’t know which one I want to start first,” she laughed. One of the ideas she’s set on is a natural skin care line. “I know I’m not the only person with [skin] problems, so being able to provide what I need for other people in my situation will help me be more relatable to my market,” she said.
Holloway got her first taste of entrepreneurship while pursuing her undergraduate at SSU. She and another classmate launched TigerCo Marketing, an online platform where SSU students can sell original products. The proceeds generated by TIgerCo Marketing are then used to fund microloans to help student entrepreneurs launch their businesses. She got the idea while completing an internship with Savannah Sauce Company.
“[Owner] Mike Roberson actually developed a sauce for Savannah State University. It didn’t have a label or a real name yet, so my classmate and I put together a campus-wide competition . . . to design a label for the sauce,” Holloway recounted. “We had a homeland security student who designed this amazing label . . . and [it] said Tiger Awesome Sauce. It had this great picture of a tiger on it and the sauce itself is this mustard-based, bright orange sauce. It just popped because the SSU colors are orange and blue,” she explained.
Roberson was impressed by Holloway and her classmate’s marketing skills, putting together the competition together. He decided to let them sell Tiger Awesome Sauce on their own, independent of his company. “So my classmate and I decided to set up [an] ecommerce platform, TigerCo Marketing, to give other students on our campus who may have a product . . . a platform to sell it,” she continued.
Holloway and her classmate were the pioneers for the ecommerce platform. They aren’t involved currently, but they are glad to have had the opportunity to help other students: “It’s going to be a great way for SSU students to boost engagement with their market even if they don’t have the platform. It was something exciting to be a part of, and it definitely gave me some entrepreneurial skills that [will help me] be a business owner later on,” she said.
For Holloway, higher education is a means to freedom, and she is enjoying a sense of accomplishment and liberation: “I really do understand more and I can be a more productive citizen. . . I applaud anybody who is going to school . . . it all makes a difference and bettering yourself . . . makes you valuable member of society and gives you that self-accomplishment.”
In all, Holloway is grateful to SSU for equipping her with the education and skills she will need to be successful in her career. “I want to thank SSU because the faculty members are amazing. It makes such a difference having that professor who actually cares about your mental well-being, not just academics,” she expressed.
Holloway is excited for future Tigers completing their education at SSU now, and hopes they have great experiences like she did to set them up for success.
