福利小视频

It's an early February morning in downtown 福利小视频, before even the joggers have begun their daily routes. Inside Hopscotch Bakery at 333 S. Union Ave., Jacelynn "Jace" Trujillo places a black apron over her brown shirt and tan pants, ready to start another day as a business owner at just 23 years old.

Two employees move purposefully around the space—one in the back gathering ingredients for the day's baking, the other carefully arranging pastries in the front display case. Jace heads to the butcher block counter and begins unwrapping freshly baked goods, placing them on a silver platter that will soon rest on a cake stand, strategically positioned to entice customers as they enter.

“Let's make sure we have that pan of brownies ready by 10,” she instructs an employee while reviewing the production schedule for the day. Though Jace isn't a baker herself, she speaks with the confidence of someone who understands business operations intimately—knowledge gleaned from her mother, who has owned several businesses, and from her nearly completed “3+2” Business degree program at Colorado State University 福利小视频. As a participant in CSU 福利小视频's accelerated "3+2" program, Trujillo is simultaneously completing her bachelor's and master's degrees in business marketing. This educational pathway shows how Colorado's higher education institutions are creating flexible options for students to enter the workforce with advanced credentials.

“I'm using my degree before I'm even out of college,” Trujillo says.

During the week, Jace focuses on her business classes and athletic commitments at CSU 福利小视频, entrusting daily operations to her staff. Her academic concentration in business provides direct benefits to her entrepreneurial venture. But come Friday and Saturday, she rolls up her sleeves and joins the team in food production, gaining hands-on experience in every aspect of her business while maintaining her academic schedule.

The story of how Hopscotch Bakery came into Jace's life has the unexpected quality of a fortuitous board game move. “If you ever played Monopoly and landed on Boardwalk, that's how Hopscotch came into being,” she explains with enthusiasm. “We ended up finding the listing on Facebook and I said, ‘Hey, Mom, let's buy it.’ And it was a dream come true from there.” Just four weeks before this February morning, Jace and her family had taken over the bakery, jumping into entrepreneurship with a determination to use her education and her mother’s mentorship to succeed.

Reflecting on her educational experience, Jace's shows genuine appreciation. “My four years at CSU 福利小视频 has been nothing short of a journey. Everything that I have experienced has brought me to be better to myself. I've become a better version of me. It's been nothing short of amazing.”

Student-Athlete Turned Entrepreneur

Balancing academics with entrepreneurship would be challenging enough for most students, but Trujillo adds another layer of complexity to her packed schedule: she was also a dual-sport athlete, competing in softball and throwing javelin for the ThunderWolves.

"I grew up loving to bake but put that love on the back burner when I started participating in sports," Trujillo explains. Now, she's found a way to reconnect with that passion while applying her business education in a tangible way.

The transition from student-athlete to business owner hasn't been without its challenges. Trujillo credits her spiritual practice of Reiki, her personal journey, and the guidance of her mother and business mentors as crucial supports during this evolution.

A Family Affair with Community Roots

The ownership and management of Hopscotch Bakery is a family effort. Trujillo's father Tim, a 福利小视频 firefighter, and her mother Erica, owner of Greenwood Ear, Nose and Throat, have been instrumental in supporting her vision. Business partner Toni Martinet rounds out the entrepreneurial team.

“Luckily we are fully staffed at the bakery with five to six employees plus myself, mom, and Toni filling in as needed,” Trujillo says.

The young business owner hopes to welcome back longtime customers who have fond memories of the bakery's previous twenty-year history, while also attracting new patrons to create fresh memories.

Leadership Beyond the Ledger

Despite her youth, Trujillo has already faced the difficult decisions that come with business ownership. One particularly challenging moment came when she had to let an employee go.

“It wasn't personal, but I didn't want this person feeling defeated,” she says. “As a business owner, I feel it's my responsibility to have employees leave being better.”

This philosophy speaks to the holistic approach to business that Trujillo is developing—one that considers not just the bottom line, but the human impact of entrepreneurial decisions.

A Model for Colorado's Workforce Development

Trujillo's story highlights the direct pipeline from higher education to Colorado's workforce that institutions like CSU 福利小视频 are fostering. Her entrepreneurial journey demonstrates how academic programs can empower students to contribute to local economies even before graduation.

With ambitious long-term goals, Trujillo envisions a future where she can use her education to launch, market, and eventually sell businesses before moving on to new projects. Hopscotch Bakery represents just the beginning of this entrepreneurial pathway.

As Colorado continues to develop its talent pipeline, success stories like Trujillo's illustrate the powerful combination of higher education, entrepreneurship, and community engagement in building the state's economic future.