Next Generation Entrepreneurs Plan Ahead

Tech entrepreneurs Tye and Courtney ’00 Caldwell move at a lightning pace. The dynamic couple propelled ShearShare, their mobile app that connects salon and barbershop owners to individual stylists looking to lease professional space by the day, into an international platform in a matter of months. So it’s no surprise that they have already included SMU in their wills.

Courtney graduated cum laude with a B.B.A. in marketing from the Cox School of Business. Thanks to the strong ties she maintains to her alma mater through membership on the SMU Alumni Board and other activities, Tye has become an enthusiastic Hilltop supporter, too. Their future gifts to the University reflect their commitment to service and leadership for a higher purpose.

As an SMU student, Courtney took a full schedule of classes, worked two campus jobs and competed in the long jump with the SMU track and field team. Courtney so enjoyed her experience as a Hunt Leadership Scholar that she now volunteers to interview final-round applicants. Today’s high-caliber students are impressive, she notes.

The importance of sharing good fortune with others was ingrained in Tye from childhood. While growing up, when he and his seven siblings earned money from odd jobs, they pooled their resources. At the end of the week, his mother would parcel out a measure to each of them. “You have to learn to divide” was her rule, a lesson he lives by. Tye went on to forge a successful career in cosmetology and has owned and operated Salon74 by Tye in Plano since 2002. A chance appointment at the salon brought the two together over 10 years ago, and they’re the proud parents of a young son.

Their combined talents—his success as a beauty industry entrepreneur and her experience in the marketing arena—made ShearShare an instant hit. Currently, salon station rental inventory in more than 250 cities in 10 countries is available via the platform. Despite the demands of their growing business, they always make time for what matters most: family, faith and their volunteer work in the community with disadvantaged youth and the homeless. SMU is high on their list, too, which is why they encourage other young couples to follow their lead.

“We truly believe that it’s important to leave people, places and things better off than when we found them,” Courtney explains, and establishing a planned gift at this stage in their lives helps ensure a bright future for SMU.

Tye adds, “When you think of the impact your planned gift can have, why wait?”