Heidi Rasmussen BS’91, a former JCPenney retail executive, and her husband, Reid Rasmussen, a former employee benefits company manager, knew healthcare was expensive and complicated for everyone. Their idea about how to simplify the process evolved into freshbenies, which they started several years ago to help employers offset increasing health insurance costs and help consumers save time, money and frustration on their healthcare. Services include the ability to call a doctor 24/7 and get a prescription written, if medically necessary (at no additional cost); email specialists for advice; access experts who help navigate “the system” including medical billing issues and price transparency; and save on prescriptions.
Q. What motivated you to establish the endowed freshbenies Scholarship for Entrepreneurship?
A. When we started our company, we decided to give a percentage of profits to charity. While I graduated from UT Dallas, I wasn’t involved at all. Jindal School staff reached out to us early on after we started freshbenies. We were able to plug into a number of different activities. In one case, we presented our marketing plan to the undergrad and graduate marketing students. They gave us some great feedback that we implemented. Later, we helped judge some JSOM contests. We were also a sponsor at two scholarship breakfasts and really enjoyed getting to meet the scholarship recipients. Because we’ve been so thankful for the opportunities to engage students, learn from them and help them, we loved the idea of establishing our own freshbenies scholarship.
Q. Why does this scholarship target entrepreneurship students?
A. Reid and I both got started in corporate America. We were in our 40s when we started our company. We have a lot of respect for people who have an entrepreneurship calling from a young age. It’s now one of our favorite topics and we love that UT Dallas has a program devoted to helping entrepreneurs reach their dream. We want to be a small part of helping someone succeed.
Q. Where have you seen donations make a difference and what was the impact of the donation?
A. We give to multiple organizations and we love to hear the stories of how resources impact people. That’s not why we give, but it’s a great bonus when it happens! One of the things that inspired us to create the scholarship was the personal follow-up after the Scholarship Breakfast. The breakfast was a great “gateway” for us to experience being part of giving a scholarship to a student. Afterwards, we received a beautiful thank you package explaining how our scholarship money was used and who the recipient was. We were able to connect with her on LinkedIn. Later we had coffee with her and she told us her story. How cool is that? Why wouldn’t you want to do more when you have the ability to sit down and talk to the actual people who needed help?
Q. What do you hope is the future impact of this scholarship?
A. Based on the low success rate for entrepreneurs in America, our hope is that more people go through this program to get the tools needed to beat those odds. Reid and I have been through multiple entrepreneur learning groups and coaching. We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we would not have succeeded without the learning and mentorship we received.
Q. What characteristics of UT Dallas students impress you?
A: At every event we’ve attended, the UT Dallas students have been engaging, respectful, curious and they asked multiple questions about our business and thoughts on success. We’ve had quite a few reach out afterward with follow-up questions or requests for advice. During the contest evaluations, our co-judges look at each other and say, “WOW! These students are really impressive. Do you think they’ll give us a job someday?”
