Recent alumnus Ke’Shaun Rogers, class of 2026, has never been the type to settle for one path. His journey at the University of Delaware has been defined by range, curiosity, and a willingness to step into unfamiliar spaces. After taking Introduction to Entrepreneurship with Dr. Laura Gasiorowski, Ke’Shaun recognized a pull toward innovation and creativity and switched his major to entrepreneurship in the fall of his sophomore year and never looked back.
Since switching his major, Ke’Shaun has deeply immersed himself in the Horn Entrepreneurship ecosystem, participating in VentureOn and earning a nomination for Hen of the Month. His collegiate experience has been shaped by leadership, creativity and a global perspective, spanning roles in logistics, education, housing, sales and fashion.
From serving as a Resident Assistant and studying abroad in Australia and New Zealand to contributing to "The New" Fashion Magazine and joining Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Ke’Shaun built a full and wide-ranging UD experience rooted in saying “yes” to opportunities that challenged him, expanded his perspective and helped him grow.
Tell us about your work at Enterprise Mobility and how you generated $30,000+ in revenue in a single summer. What sales techniques drove those results?
The primary metric at Enterprise is TAR—Total Additional Revenue. My job is to identify a customer’s needs and present our protection options in a way that makes the decision feel obvious and accessible, not pressured. If someone is heading out on a long road trip, roadside protection becomes a practical conversation. If a customer only carries liability coverage on their personal policy, I walk them through the financial risk of forgoing added protection on a rental vehicle. Fact-finding on the spot and adapting your pitch in real time is a crucial skill for this role. Every customer is different, and the moment you treat them like they’re not, you lose the sale. I focused on listening more than talking and letting their answers guide where the conversation went.
How did you move from seventh place in June to the #1 Intern ranking on the July Performance Matrix?
My proudest professional milestone to date occurred during my time at Enterprise Mobility. After ranking seventh out of sixteen interns in June, I used my competitive nature and commitment to data-driven performance to secure the #1 spot on the July Performance Matrix.
What kept me motivated was a talented fellow UD intern on my team, which pushed me to perform at a higher level, ultimately leading to us claiming two of the top five spots on the matrix.
While most interns viewed metrics as a monthly goal, I tracked every number into my daily routine. I maintained double-digit Total Additional Revenue (TAR), an insurance rate above $40, and car sale leads that nearly doubled the matrix maximum.
You interned at DHL in Auckland, New Zealand. What were the biggest challenges of adapting to a new professional culture, and how did you stay productive?
Staying productive took discipline. As the only intern stationed at the gateway, a location without a pre-existing internship program, I was tasked with defining my own value in a high-stakes logistics environment.
To be as efficient as possible, I would wake up at 4:00 a.m. to catch the earliest possible transit, commuting over two hours daily to maintain a 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. shift that aligned with the facility's most critical operations.
DHL operates several types of facilities, hubs, gateways, and neighborhood delivery centers. I was at a gateway attached to Auckland Airport. Because DHL had never hosted an intern at that location before, there was no established program. That actually gave me the freedom to design my own contribution. I used Microsoft Visio to build visual process maps for their scanning and handling workflows. They had steps documented, but no one had translated them into clear, step-by-step visuals. That became my project, and I’m proud of what we built.
You’ve held roles in Logistics (DHL), Education/Housing (UD), and Sales (Enterprise). How do these seemingly different experiences connect to the career path you are pursuing now?
The common theme is that I said “yes.” I didn’t go to New Zealand with a plan to intern; I went knowing I could stay on track with the credits I needed while seeing another part of the world.
The internship was a bonus. Paid or not, I knew it would add something critical to my resume and it would teach me something I couldn’t get in a classroom.
What drew you to stay with Enterprise Mobility after your initial internship ended?
I didn’t see a reason to leave. When my three-month internship wrapped up, I approached my manager and asked whether there was a way to continue in some capacity while balancing my class schedule, regardless of minimum hours. They said it had never been done before, I got it approved through HR, and they made me the first long-term intern at that branch. Enterprise has taken care of me, and I plan to work for them for years down the line before pivoting to new endeavors in my career.
As an entrepreneurship major, owning a business is the long-term goal. But right now, sales is building the foundation I need. It creates discipline, client relationships and networking, financial stability, and the ability to perform under pressure. That’s what I believe college is truly for.
You’ve been involved with a fashion magazine and your brother’s film projects. What’s next for you creatively and professionally?
I have always had an interest in creative spaces. My brother just released a short film, and I’m working as a stylist on his next project, which is my first formal styling experience. The integrated design minor was always about feeding that creative side, and I’m starting to see where it could take me with my passion for fashion.
Long-term, I’m drawn to producing, event curation, or working in a human resources capacity that connects people. Human connection was actually one of the first things that pulled me into VentureOn. Whatever direction I go, it’ll be rooted in people. I care about creating spaces where people feel seen and have a genuinely good time.
You’ve been an RA, a magazine intern, a fraternity member, a sales rep, and an international intern, simultaneously. How do you manage that balance?
Some of my previous roles overlapped more than others, but the honest answer is that something always gets sacrificed. For me, that’s usually been study time or the gym. I’m not proud to admit that, but I’d rather be honest about it than pretend I’ve found some perfect system, because getting everything done isn’t possible.
What I believe deeply is this: a decorated resume built through real experience will serve you better than a high GPA with an empty one. Your GPA matters, but after graduation, the things you did while you were in school are most important. I made a deliberate choice to prioritize experience, and I’m confident in that choice. The key is still showing up with confidence and goals wherever you are committed. Don’t collect opportunities and then underdeliver on all of them. Be able to juggle a balanced set of objectives.
How did your time at UD and Horn Entrepreneurship shape the way you approach your career?
The curriculum and the community both played a role. The coursework gave me a sense of direction, an understanding of the difference between entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship, how to find and create value, how to pitch and iterate, and constant networking. What stuck most was the mindset it cultivated.
What I love about how entrepreneurship is taught at UD is that it doesn’t just produce founders, but it produces people who know how to create value wherever they land. Whether someone works at a large company, a startup, or launches their own venture, every person I’ve met through the Horn program carries that. It’s hard to quantify, but it’s real. Horn builds true innovators.
What advice would you give to students who want to be entrepreneurial within an organization, or who are working toward a bigger goal?
Start networking now, not when you feel ready. Send LinkedIn invitations to people in the industries you’re curious about. Get a job as close to your target field as possible, or get a job that pays you well enough to invest in your passion on the side. That’s the strategy I have taken upon myself.
Enterprise may not open doors in the creative world directly, but it offers a strong network, financial stability, and professional discipline that will let me pursue those things when the time comes. Be strategic about the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Use every role to get closer. The process won’t take a week or even a few months, it’s a work in process.
My advice to anyone building a career: you don’t need a famous company name on your resume. You need experiences you can speak to in detail. If you created genuine value somewhere, you can articulate that to your next employer, and that’s what moves people.
For Rogers, the entrepreneurial path has never been a straight line, and that is exactly the point. Whether navigating roles at Enterprise Mobility and DHL New Zealand, or shifting into residential life, fashion, and creative production, he has learned to find value in every room he enters. His story is a reminder that saying yes can be more than a habit. When paired with purpose, reflection and follow-through, it can become a strategy for building the future.
ABOUT HORN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Horn Entrepreneurship serves as the creative engine for entrepreneurship education and advancement at the University of Delaware. Currently ranked among the best entrepreneurship programs in the U.S., Horn Entrepreneurship was built and is actively supported by successful entrepreneurs, empowering aspiring innovators as they pursue new ideas for a better world.
