Leandra Roche was able to hone in on her passion for total hair care by opening High Definition Hair Design Salon and Academy in Merrillville.
Noah Miller used the program to establish Mr. Miller’s Mobile Detailing, a car detailing business that operates in Northwest Indiana.
Kayla Oberholtzer, an Indiana University Northwest student, was able to establish a photography business.
Recently, 10 entrepreneurs completed Indiana University Northwest’s Supporting and Empowering Entrepreneurial Development program. The SEED program, which is a partnership with Notre Dame’s Urban Poverty and Business Initiative, is an 11-month program that teaches business principles and offers mentorship, said Indiana University Northwest Business Academy Director Jana Szostek.
Roche and Miller completed the program along with Naté Billingsley, Jetaun Carr, Christal Jackson, Rob Seals, Tequeya Spann, Elijah Steele, Amanda Tomczak and Deanna Ware.
Another eight entrepreneurs recently completed the IU Innovates program, a semester-long program modeled after the SEED program, that aims to support students, faculty and staff who would like to start companies.
Oberholtzer completed the IU Innovates program along with Julysa Alamo, Chloe Echols-Taylor, Michael Gaines, Olivia Johnson, Michael Ludwig, Veronica Mora and Amethyst Rios.
Roche, 49, said she’s been a hair stylist for 30 years and she previously owned a salon called A Joyous Look. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Roche said she closed the salon and took a year off from the salon to fine-tune the kind of hair stylist she wanted to be.
After reflecting on and attending various programs, Roche said she found she wanted to be “laser focused” on high definition hair care for naturally curly hair. At first, Roche said she had stylists working from her house so she decided to open a salon.
High Definition Hair Design Salon and Academy focuses on hair care, including scalp and hair treatments, and styling, including extensions, braids, silk pressing, lock and twist, Roche said.
Roche said she has found she enjoys personalized hair care for her clients because everyone’s hair is unique to them. Some clients come in every few weeks for treatments, while other clients come in more frequently to repair their hair, she said.
“Your haircare could not just be like anyone else,” Roche said. “If you can’t care for it at home, it’s best to just bring it to the professional.”
Miller, 21, said he started Mr. Miller’s Mobile Detailing in February 2025 and registered the business with the state in July 2025. The business has its own work vehicle, with a water tank, generator and power, and offers professional car detailing services at a customer’s house or work, he said.
Mr. Miller’s Mobile Detailing offers services ranging from a car wash to ceramic coating and polishing out scratches, as well as interior detailing, Miller said.
“All we need is your car keys and place to work at and we can do everything,” Miller said.
Before establishing his business, Miller said he worked at Wal-Mart and wanted to increase his income. Miller said he came up with the idea to open a detailing business because he had experience working on vehicles and starting a detailing business had low start up costs.
“From there, I pretty much started practicing on my own car, friends’ cars and family members’ cars. Once I felt confident in my abilities, I went ahead and made up my logos and everything and started posting,” Miller said.
Oberholtzer, 20, an IUN senior studying business administration with concentrations in digital marketing and graphic design, said she established Kaymae Photos LLC in October and specializes in portrait photography.
When a client reaches out to her, Oberholtzer said she communicates with them what type of photos they are looking for, where to take the photos and then she edits the photos before sending them to the client.
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“I try to make sure that each person gets their own personalized experience so that they can go home feeling proud of what their photos look like and keep for years to come,” Oberholtzer said.
Oberholtzer said she has wanted to open a photography business since her sophomore year at Lake Central High School, which was the year she took photographs for her high school yearbook and received many compliments on her work.
“Photography to me is a way to show individuals in their own light,” Oberholtzer said. “I enjoy being able to show people’s individual characteristics and just being able to tell their stories through photos.”
After completing the SEED program, Roche said she learned about managing business growth and management skills.
“It took me out of survival mode and helped me understand how to get into systems and what systems were going to work best for me,” Roche said.
In the future, Roche said she’d like to expand her business to include cosmetology. Through the SEED program, Roche said learned about the steps required to expand her business in that direction.
Miller said his biggest takeaway from the SEED program was to network as much as possible so people know about your business. Miller said he liked that the program was segmented into different elements of running a business.
“To me, it was like a business 101 (class) on how to run a successful business,” Miller said.
Currently, Miller said he and one or two other guys clean the cars, but he’d like to expand the business to a couple of work vans with crews independent of him so he could manage the business.
Oberholtzer said she learned more about marketing her business, pricing strategies and structuring her business plan.
“In this space, I was able to be with like minded individuals who shared the same entrepreneurial route as me, so we were able to bounce ideas off of each other and have an environment that wanted to see us succeed,” Oberholtzer said.