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Hector Gutierrez became an overnight campus celebrity at the University of Alabama earlier this year after an embarrassing email faux pas put him in the spotlight.
While applying for the school’s honor society, he mistakenly sent his business school professor’s recommendation letter to a college listserv with thousands of recipients.
“I started getting phone calls and messages saying, ‘Why did you email me? Why did you email me?’” Gutierrez told Fortune. “My Outlook started blowing up.”
While he initially found himself cringing at the mistake, the exposure turned out to be a boon for his small business. It made him a social media star, earning him a meeting with the university’s president, and landed him a feature in the school newspaper—all of which shone a spotlight on his small business.
Gutierrez, 18, started Hec’s Pet Sitting nearly three years ago. Instead of taking a traditional teen job at his local Publix supermarket, he wanted to start something of his own. The business he started as a high school student in South Florida, has grown into a registered LLC, with 10 part-time employees, and bringing in over $10,000 a year.
“I started simply by going around my neighborhood posting flyers, saying, local pet sitter,” he said. “I was fortunate by having one person trust me, and I did a great job taking care of their dog, and then it started expanding, and then there was a point where I needed to hire people.”
Now in his first year studying business management in Alabama, Gutierrez’s accidental fame is opening new doors—including potential clients in his college town. The business income also helps offset the more than $50,000 annual cost of attendance he faces as an out of state student. But balancing a growing company with a full course load is no small feat—and he’s far from the only one trying.
Gen Z isn’t waiting for a job offer—it’s building its own
As traditional job pathways grow less reliable, a growing number of young workers are redefining what work looks like—and starting earlier than ever.
A 2023 Samsung and Morning Consult survey of U.S. students ages 16 to 25 found that 50% of respondents have aspirations to start their own business. Similarly, a survey from Intuit found that nearly two-thirds of young people aged 18 to 35 have started—or plan to start—a side gig.
The job market isn’t offering much reassurance in the meantime. Three in five college seniors feel pessimistic about their career prospects, according to a Handshake survey.
Jacob Stone Humphries, the University of Alabama business instructor who wrote Gutierrez’s letter of recommendation, said it comes down to a generation confronting deep uncertainty.
“Gen Z can see the writing on the wall. When you’re not sure what the future holds, you start building things yourself. Entrepreneurship becomes less about ambition and more about survival,” he told Fortune. “The students we work with every day understand that instinct; they just need guidance on how to channel it well.”
AI is both a driver of that uncertainty and, increasingly, a tool to work around it. What once cost hundreds of dollars to build—a business plan, website, or marketing materials—can now be generated in minutes. Chatbots can also serve as a de facto business partner, offering guidance on everything from payroll basics to deciphering complex tax language.
Elijah Khasabo is another example of what’s possible. Still completing his senior year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he built Vidovo, a user-generated content platform startup on track to bring in seven figures in revenue.
“I truly believe it’s just a generational thing,” he previously told Fortune. “I think we have the digital advantage.”
Business mistakes are a rite of passage—learning from them could be what leads to success
While in the moment, something like an accidental email can seem disastrous—but learning from mistakes is often what drives success. It’s a mantra that even top business leaders have embraced.
For example, Linda Tong, CEO of Webflow, a $4 billion tech firm, said it has been integral to her career.
“Looking back on my experiences, from being put into roles far ahead of when I was ready, failing to be a great teammate, and letting my ego get the better of me, I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything,” she wrote for Fortune last year. “They shaped the leader I am today. They were painful in the moment, but lifelong lessons that ground me.”
The late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs admitted that his fear of death ultimately drove his decisions in life, and allowed him to overcome that fear of failure.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,” he told Stanford’s 2005 graduating class. “Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”
It’s advice Gutierrez has already internalized—acidentally emailing thousands of strangers notwithstanding: “Always remain patient, trust in God, and never give up.”
