How did attending Innovate Carolina’s Startup Meet and Greet in 2020 help shape student Justin Zhou’s major choice and career path? And what is he learning from the internship he landed after participating in the event?
On November 4 and November 10, Innovate Carolina will host Carolina Startup Connect 2021. This dual-event experiences is designed to build relationships among intern-seeking ventures and talented college students in central North Carolina. Innovate Carolina caught up with student Justin Zhou (’22) who shared his experience attending the Minority Startup Internship Meet and Greet that kicked off the Carolina Startup Connect event series in 2020.
During last year’s Startup Meet and Greet, Justin connected with – and still works for – Journey Foods, a minority-founded company launched by UNC alumna Riana Lynn. The company was named one of BuiltIn’s “50 Startups to Watch in 2020.”
Before coming to UNC-Chapel Hill, I knew I had a passion for science and biology, so I set out on my journey to become a doctor. After a couple years, I discovered I no longer wanted to pursue being a doctor, but I knew I still wanted to work with science.
As a junior, I began a process of soul searching for what I truly wanted to pursue. After taking a few entrepreneurship courses, I decided to look more into startups. The first event I attended was the minority startup meet and greet hosted by 1789, where I had the opportunity to talk with multiple startups in every field possible.
One of the companies that I connected with was Journey Foods. We had an instant connection, and I really liked their mission of bringing sustainability and productivity practices to the food field. At the time, I had no idea that this meeting would change the entire course of my professional future. A couple of months later, I got an internship offer from Journey Foods. The more I worked there, I discovered that we were at the intersection of science, technology, and sustainability.
Journey Foods has taught me so much and given me so many opportunities; it truly has been everything I could have asked for in an internship. I am excited to continue my journey at Journey Foods and the startup world, and it wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for the opportunities that I received from attending the minority startup meet and greet.
Justin Zhou (’22)
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