You know those people who instantly make you feel like you belong in the room, even if you’re still figuring out your direction? Kristin Toth is one of them. As a lecturer for ENTR 411: Entrepreneurship Practicum and Chair of the CFE Advisory Board, she lives and breathes entrepreneurship, inviting students to jump in alongside her. She’s got stories, wisdom, and creative energy that’ll rub off on you if you let it.
Early Beginnings
Kristin’s entrepreneurial kick started way before LinkedIn profiles or fancy pitch decks. In middle school, she formed a musical group, where she found herself hustling for gigs, managing contracts, and figuring out team dynamics. This experience taught her how to apply problem-solving and creativity in action. “I didn’t even know what entrepreneurship was back then,” Kristin says. “I just liked building things.”
That restlessness to create and experiment stayed with her. After she graduated from Michigan, she gravitated to roles where she could fix what was broken, launch new teams, and chase new opportunities. Eventually, that meant ditching the “training wheels” and diving into startups. One grew so fast it IPO’d, while others were snapped up by bigger players (Fun fact: one got bought by IKEA!).
In the Classroom
If you catch Kristin in ENTR 411 Practicum, you’ll notice she’s always connecting dots between the classroom and the wild, weird world of entrepreneurship. She’s been an operator, founder, advisor, and board member, so she knows what helps startups thrive and what trips them up. “Scaling a company is messy,” she says. “I bring all of that—the wins and the bruises—into teaching.”
She’s not just teaching business models and scaling metrics. She’s here to help students wrestle with ambiguity and try things out, with plenty of room to stumble, learn, and build real skills. “You don’t have to have a perfect plan to start,” she says. “Entrepreneurship is something you learn by doing.”
Why CFE and Michigan?
Kristin’s roots here run deep. Years back, she joined the MPowered Entrepreneurship Executive Advisory Board, soaking in U-M’s startup buzz and meeting the team who built CFE. From board chair to classroom mentor, she’s found joy in connecting with students and helping them bridge theory and reality.
ENTR 411 isn’t your typical entrepreneurship class. It’s designed to get hands-on, bust myths about startup life, and give students space to practice, test, and iterate. “I want students to feel the energy, the challenge, and the joy of building something that matters,” Kristin says.
Kristin’s Inspiration
Kristin gets as much from teaching as she gives. Her favorite moments are the unexpected ones: creative questions, hungry curiosity, big ambition, and wild ideas that spark lively debates. “I always walk away learning something new,” she admits. The collaboration is real, and it goes both ways.
Advice You’ll Actually Use
Kristin’s go-to advice for students? “Start before you feel ready.” Don’t wait for the perfect idea, or the moment when you magically become an “entrepreneur.” Dive in, take a class, join a CFE program, talk to a mentor, or just put your hand up and ask questions. You’ll learn by experimenting and reflecting, not by reading about it.
She’s quick to bust stereotypes: “Entrepreneurship isn’t one-size-fits-all. Anyone who wants to build, invent, create, or change things is already thinking like an entrepreneur.”
Beyond Business
Outside work, Kristin keeps the creative juices flowing. She enjoys music (she plays, writes, and goes to live shows), water sports, lots of time with her golden retriever Maizey, cooking and baking, reading everything from nonfiction to cookbooks, and lately, diving into the world of crochet and crafts. Plus, she’s got a knack for home design: “I like making spaces feel welcoming and joyful.”
Ready to Build?
CFE’s ENTR courses are open to all majors. You get the chance to try, fail, succeed, grow, and maybe discover your inner entrepreneur. Growth happens when you take risks, build community, and stay curious. Kristin is proof!