{"id":26710,"date":"2020-04-24T16:39:35","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T20:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T09:49:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:49:03","slug":"necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/","title":{"rendered":"NECC Supports Serial Entrepreneur"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_22581\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/media-old\/2020\/04\/Jeurys.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22581\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-22581\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/media-old\/2020\/04\/Jeurys-300x225.png\" alt=\"Jeurys standing in fron of brick NECC building\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22581\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeurys Santiago is the founder of Minds with Purpose.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In his first semester at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.necc.mass.edu\">Northern Essex<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.necc.mass.edu\/learn\/credit-programs\/business\/business-transfer\/\">business transfer<\/a> major Jeurys Santiago attended a \u201cLunch and Learn\u201d event, part of a series put on by the Center for Business and Accounting.<\/p>\n<p>It changed everything for the 2017 Lawrence High School graduate.<\/p>\n<p>He was inspired by fellow student Daniel Keating\u2019s presentation. Keating sparked a flame in Santiago when he presented the idea that two major companies: Uber and Airbnb, had become extremely successful without owning their own vehicles or properties. Santiago, who considers himself an entrepreneur, thought about how he could replicate that business model to suit him and his goals. That\u2019s how the idea for Minds With Purpose (MWP), Santiago\u2019s self-made networking platform, came to be.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I like doing is helping people and connecting people with others who can help them achieve their goals,\u201d said Santiago. He decided to create a networking platform where he could do that and also create a profitable business at the same time. The profits aren\u2019t the bottom line for Santiago. In MWP\u2019s first year, his plan is to focus on visibility and getting the word out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t chase money, I chase genuine connections, money isn\u2019t everything,\u201d said Santiago.<\/p>\n<p>MWP launched with an introduction video posted to Instagram on an account with less than 500 followers; the video was viewed over 2,000 times and shared 100 times in followers\u2019 stories, said Santiago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI live in Lawrence and that\u2019s a city that has a lot of violence and drug use, so when we put that video out we made a powerful statement, \u2018we\u2019re going to be the change we want to see,\u2019\u201d said Santiago.<\/p>\n<p>The first MWP event, which premiered in December 2019, was a \u201cgiveback challenge,\u201d reminiscent of the viral \u201cice bucket challenge\u201d which promoted awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. MWP\u2019s \u201cgiveback challenge\u201d encouraged followers to perform a good deed and repost it, tagging others to encourage them to do another good deed, and so on. It\u2019s an ongoing challenge so Santiago\u2019s hope is that people continue to share the message of giving back. MWP\u2019s next event, \u201cA Merry Christmas Giveaway,\u201d held at the end of December 2019, supplied 60-70 people in need with all types of winter clothing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started MWP to show people that the support you need is right in front of you, in your own community,\u201d said Santiago. Santiago\u2019s community is Lawrence and he noticed how many people around him were musicians, so he created \u201cMusic Mondays,\u201d hosted by MWP, with the intent of giving local artists exposure in a sober setting to brighten up the first day of the week. The first event went very well, according to Santiago, and they were able to give the winner a substantial prize. Santiago\u2019s goal is to have \u201cMusic Mondays\u201d be a more regular event, and to expand it to other music scenes in nearby cities, they\u2019re currently working on one for Haverhill. Eventually they plan to incorporate fashion shows and work with local, upcoming brands, models and designers, according to Santiago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing here at NECC helped me,\u201d said Santiago. He said he\u2019s always had a business\/entrepreneur mindset but that NECC provided him with resources he couldn\u2019t get elsewhere and helped him learn how to network and use LinkedIn properly. \u201cSheila Muller helped me with a lot of connections. When I needed a venue, she connected me with someone she knew who operated a loft space in Lawrence,\u201d said Santiago.<\/p>\n<p>Santiago isn\u2019t a new entrepreneur though, in his past he\u2019s sold bracelets and hats out of his dad\u2019s barber shop in New York City, and he sold Yu-Gi-Oh cards as a kid. Santiago runs MWP while also juggling five classes, but he attributes NECC with teaching him things like different marketing techniques. Economics class taught him about profits, and Intro to Business with Chuck Phair, explained entrepreneurship, solopreneurship, corporations, and nonprofits. Santiago says he\u2019ll use the skills learned in Intro to Public Speaking in his business from now on.<\/p>\n<p>Santiago\u2019s ability to connect with people is what helps him be successful, he says. \u201cThere\u2019s no losing in helping people in your community and I know that I can make a change in the cities around me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eventually Santiago would like to create an app for MWP, and even further down the line, a paid membership model with one flat rate to attend all events.<\/p>\n<p>MWP has been hit hard by the spread of Coronavirus and the ongoing closures of event spaces and social distancing since MWP is all about bringing people together said Santiago. Along with changing his business model, Santiago now has the added challenge of completing his degree online. Still, he\u2019s keeping MWP alive with a new podcast called \u201cTalks With Purpose\u201d which will continue to give local artists and businesses exposure.<\/p>\n<p>For additional information contact <a href=\"mailto:mindswithpurposes@gmail.com\">mindswithpurposes@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jeurys Santiago is founder of Minds with Purpose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":26712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NECC Supports Serial Entrepreneur - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NECC Supports Serial Entrepreneur - NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jeurys Santiago is founder of Minds with Purpose.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NECC News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-24T20:39:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-07T13:49:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Jeurys.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Patricia Gosselin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Patricia Gosselin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/\",\"name\":\"NECC Supports Serial Entrepreneur - NECC News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Jeurys.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-24T20:39:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T13:49:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/935635fbf48422ff301b7b722027952a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Jeurys.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Jeurys.png\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NECC Supports Serial Entrepreneur\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"NECC News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/935635fbf48422ff301b7b722027952a\",\"name\":\"Patricia Gosselin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d3ffb22d7ca78b60dcb6d73d15a14ef689b56aaf130bc57d43def5a182ff1b5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d3ffb22d7ca78b60dcb6d73d15a14ef689b56aaf130bc57d43def5a182ff1b5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Patricia Gosselin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/pgosselin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NECC Supports Serial Entrepreneur - NECC News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NECC Supports Serial Entrepreneur - NECC News","og_description":"Jeurys Santiago is founder of Minds with Purpose.","og_url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/","og_site_name":"NECC News","article_published_time":"2020-04-24T20:39:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-07T13:49:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Jeurys.png","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Patricia Gosselin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Patricia Gosselin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/","name":"NECC Supports Serial Entrepreneur - NECC News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Jeurys.png","datePublished":"2020-04-24T20:39:35+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-07T13:49:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/935635fbf48422ff301b7b722027952a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Jeurys.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/03\/Jeurys.png","width":1600,"height":1200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/04\/24\/necc-supports-serial-entrepreneur\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NECC Supports Serial Entrepreneur"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"NECC News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/935635fbf48422ff301b7b722027952a","name":"Patricia Gosselin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d3ffb22d7ca78b60dcb6d73d15a14ef689b56aaf130bc57d43def5a182ff1b5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d3ffb22d7ca78b60dcb6d73d15a14ef689b56aaf130bc57d43def5a182ff1b5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Patricia Gosselin"},"url":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/pgosselin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26711,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26710\/revisions\/26711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}