{"id":234491,"date":"2025-09-04T07:30:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T11:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=234491"},"modified":"2025-09-05T13:08:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T17:08:49","slug":"getting-cozy-uconn-entrepreneur-focuses-on-mindful-productivity-as-werth-institute-program-continues-engaging-first-year-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/09\/getting-cozy-uconn-entrepreneur-focuses-on-mindful-productivity-as-werth-institute-program-continues-engaging-first-year-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Cozy: UConn Entrepreneur Focuses on Mindful Productivity as Werth Institute Program Continues Engaging First-Year Women"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a recent pink-tinted Instagram post<\/a>, over the swinging vocals of a Taylor Swift track, Maleekha Fong \u201928 (CLAS) reminds her followers that it\u2019s alright if they\u2019re not feeling like themselves today.<\/p>\n

Or if they didn\u2019t answer every message, or don\u2019t have the words to explain their feelings. Of if they didn\u2019t feel particularly confident that day.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re still worthy, she writes, and still enough. They\u2019re not behind. They\u2019re right on time, allowed to be both soft and strong, and to give themselves some grace.<\/p>\n

In another post, Fong says she\u2019s \u201cromanticizing her to-do list, because why not?\u201d A trip to the store, doing a design project, working on some writing, having dinner with family \u2013 productivity doesn\u2019t have to be intense to be meaningful, she shares.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Maleehka Fong ’28 (CLAS) (Contributed photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Be kind to your mind.<\/p>\n

Choose progress, not perfection.<\/p>\n

The presence that Fong is building through her online venture \u2013 called the Cozy Mind Club<\/a> \u2013 is riddled with affirmations and self-care tips, all aimed at young adults like herself. In addition to her pastel-hued Instagram account, she\u2019s posting digital resources and check-ins on a Ko-fi platform<\/a>, curating a cozy Pinterest board, inviting chats on Discord, and sharing a space for slowing down through a gaming-focused YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her multi-platform approach leans into this concept of cozy, focusing on slow and mindful mental health that serves Fong\u2019s goal of creating a digital community built around consistency, connection, and care, she explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I’ve always struggled with finding my own mental health community,\u201d says Fong, who is from Massachusetts and is studying psychology in UConn\u2019s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, with plans to attend medical school in the future. \u201cI felt like I’ve gone through a lot of things alone, and throughout the summer, I was thinking that this is probably how other young adults have been feeling, too. So, I just wanted to create a space that I felt like I was missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fong launched the Cozy Mind Club this summer as part of the most recent cohort of First-Year Women Werth Innovators<\/a>.<\/p>\n

First launched in 2020 by UConn\u2019s Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation<\/a>, the program was designed to engage diverse and multidisciplinary cohorts of first-year undergraduate women to provide them with mentorship, networking, and resources to develop their entrepreneurial skills.<\/p>\n

Once accepted into a cohort, participants in the program begin meeting in January to work on things like ideation and mindset as they prepare for a summer internship project, where many launch their own ventures.<\/p>\n

But the entire program, according to Katie Britt, the Werth Institute\u2019s director of leadership development who coordinates the program, starts with students who are curious.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have found that greater student outcomes begin with students noticing and embracing their curiosity,\u201d says Britt. \u201cWhen a student approaches new experiences with a positive mindset, they open themselves up to exploration, iteration, and growth. The Werth Innovators program isn\u2019t about rushing to an end result \u2013 it\u2019s about creating space for students to lean into the process, experiment with ideas, and discover how curiosity fuels creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Fong, who learned about the First-Year Women program from UConn\u2019s Daily Digest, the program sounded like a fun opportunity. Both of her parents are therapists, and she says she\u2019s always been an observant person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to know about why people act the way they act \u2013 it\u2019s kind of inherited,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

But she admits that her experience as a Werth Innovator so far has changed the way she originally thought about entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d had little small businesses that I\u2019d done over the years, but I didn’t really have a solid definition of what entrepreneurship was until this opportunity,\u201d Fong says. \u201cIt\u2019s more than just having a business and selling something. It\u2019s about having an intention about what you want to sell, and who you want to talk to, and what kind of space you want to create.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Fong, the space she wants to create is centered around tools and perspectives for students and young adults focused on being mindful and productive.<\/p>\n

For other participants in her seven-member cohort, what they want to create is centered around sustainability. Or animal welfare. Or empowered fitness for women.<\/p>\n

One of the strengths of the program, according to Britt, is the diversity of majors, interests, and life experiences that each cohort member brings to the table. In May, cohort members spent an extra week on campus at UConn Storrs together after spring move-out, giving them time to better get to know each other.<\/p>\n

During their paid remote summer internship as a part of the program, the Werth Innovators have been meeting virtually to develop their ideas through structured programming and alumni mentorship. Although they embark upon their entrepreneurial journeys individually, they collaborate, share ideas, and support each other relentlessly while developing r\u00e9sum\u00e9-building skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough they begin this experience as individuals,\u201d Britt says, \u201cstudents develop into a close-knit community \u2013 friends who challenge and champion each other\u2019s boldest ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cohort members were also paired with a near-to-peer mentor for the spring \u2013 a like-minded past participant from the previous year\u2019s cohort, which was a new aspect to the program this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Werth Innovators Women Peer-to-Peer Mentorship Program was created in direct response to what our students told us they needed,\u201d Britt explains. \u201cOne year later, sophomores of the program were eager to give back, while new participants wanted guidance from those who had walked the path before them. Pairing students early in the process provided a space for honest conversations, shared perspective, and the confidence to explore ideas more boldly. It was a natural step to strengthen both ideation and community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The addition of a peer mentor has been a really positive experience for Fong.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mentor \u2013 we\u2019re like the exact same person,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have the exact same values \u2013 we love entrepreneurship, we love mental health. I was so grateful, and so lucky, to be paired with someone who was like we were the exact same person. We\u2019re going to continue working together, even after this internship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though it\u2019s not a requirement for participants in the program to continue with their summer venture after their internship ends, Fong plans to keep building on the Cozy Mind Club as she approaches her sophomore year at UConn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a person who loves sharing my own kind of journey,\u201d she says, \u201cso I can see myself keeping up with the blog advice, posting how I deal with things, especially going into the school year \u2013 for freshmen, dealing with academics, clubs, all that stuff that I had to navigate. I think it\u2019s good to share that journey just so that people know they have someone who can relate to them, who has gone through the same things as them and can inspire them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says she would recommend the program to any incoming first-year student with either an interest in entrepreneurship or just in trying something new.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake every opportunity you\u2019re given and just make sure that you\u2019re loving what you\u2019re doing, that you want to be here, that you want to learn \u2013 that\u2019s 100% what you need to carry with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Werth Institute is <\/em>currently accepting applications<\/em><\/a> for the next First-Year Women Werth Innovators cohort \u2013 the deadline for applicants is Sept. 30 at midnight. For more information or to apply, visit <\/em>werth.institute.uconn.edu<\/em>\/wi<\/a> or email Katie Britt at <\/em>katie.britt@uconn.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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