As a solo entrepreneur, Linden Terpstra sought refuge from what seemed to be a daily game of business Whac-A-Mole.

“You dive into this and things are happening all the time,” Terpstra said. “I’m going to whack that mole and another one pops up. It is hard to be strategic and focused on what you are doing.”

A native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Terpstra was living in Reno, Nevada, when she decided to get her business EHS Support Source off the ground. To do that more effectively, she returned to the Cedar Valley, where she — insert a big smile — “is in my 30s and hanging out with my parents.”

From a business perspective, Terpstra didn’t know where to turn. She wasn’t sure if she was addressing the proper areas to move her environmental health and safety business forward. As a founder, she was unsettled, but willing to invest whatever time it took to make EHS Support Source successful.

“I preferred a program that was more intensive so I could dive in for a shorter amount of time,” Terpstra said.

The seven-week Venture School sponsored by the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center was exactly what she was looking for.

“I tried to go in with a blank slate,” Terpstra said. “It’s easy as an entrepreneur to have this super strong ownership of what you’re doing. I wanted to open this up to whatever my path needs to be — take my ego away from the equation — and be open to what this will look like.”

EHS Support Source is a risk-management outsourcing brokerage with a focus on environmental health and safety. Her business helps companies find and hire EHS resources.

Terpstra attended the Iowa City cohort of Venture School in the Fall of 2023. She absorbed everything the mentors presented and leaned on a network of people who were invested in her success. Every Tuesday evening, she felt comfort asking critical questions.

“I don’t know where else on the planet where you can have access to people so willing to contribute to something without expecting anything,” Terpstra said of her Venture School mentors.

Terpstra had read books about customer discovery, but it was at Venture School where she understood the questions that needed asked and the information that needed compiled. It was a strategic push in the right direction.

Currently, Terpstra is working fulltime on EHS Support Source and supplementing additional work to make ends meet. She likes to say she is in the infancy stage of a 10-year journey.

“My mission is to help companies find and hire the best EHS resources,” Terpstra said. “I’m building a network of independent contractors, freelancers, and small firms that are out there. My long-term plan is to ramp up the matching to provide more opportunities.”

Terpstra is grateful to Iowa JPEC for its willingness to assist entrepreneurs. 

“Being an entrepreneur is a vulnerable space to be in, it’s scary, and you’re not sure if you’re ever doing the right thing,” Terpstra said. “Without Iowa JPEC, it would be a lot harder.”

To sign up for Venture School classes in Spring 2024, click HERE. Classes begin the week of Feb. 18.