OXFORD, Ohio — A dangerous skin illness has one recent graduate taking action. She started a business to help and now an area university is hoping more students follow her lead.

When VaLandria Smith-Lash’s mom was diagnosed with Lupus, an auto-immune disease that causes dry skin and hair loss, she started mixing.

“I went home, ordered everything, and put it in a bowl,” said Smith-Lash. 

She was adding in any doctor-recommended ingredients she could find to help until one day it did. Her mixture of shea butter and oils.

“It was from there I knew I had something a lot bigger than the love I had for my mom. It was about the community.”

She says she soon found herself running a business when she was just 14 using a kitchen mixer to make it. 

By the time she graduated college at Miami University in Oxford last year, her side business became her career business, which she named ‘Coarse Culture.’

It’s the university’s first start-up in its new innovation college. The university president said Smith-Lash is the first of many more to come.

“Many of our students, independent of what they study here at Miami, they go on and start companies and we thought it would be fantastic both for economic development for our community and for the state of Ohio if we could capture and keep some of those students here in our area,” said Miami University President Gregory Crawford. 

He said they’re looking to add about ten more start-up companies in the building within the next year. The university is also helping with providing interns and investment opportunities.

“Surreal isn’t even the word, I feel blessed,” said Smith-Lash.