Luke Gilligan is a former Grove City College entrepreneurship student who has founded three different companies. It seems that Luke has always had a mind for entrepreneurship, as he started his first company, a nonprofit called Huggable Happiness Corp., when he was just 15 years old. He graduated high school a year early, took a gap year, and then enrolled here at Grove City, graduating in 2024 with a degree in entrepreneurship. The startup he began while in college is a company called Resense, the goal of which is to engage and encourage individuals with dementia in a way that does not diminish their dignity. Resense started as a memory box of sorts that targeted the five senses, but it has gone through multiple iterations and is now a newspaper that provides reminiscent articles, puzzles, and games to the reader to stimulate their mind, encourage social interaction, and evoke memories.
When it came to the idea for Resense, Luke took personal experience and ran with it, developing a unique solution to a problem that he witnessed firsthand. Throughout high school, Luke worked as a respite caregiver, and he saw the effects of dementia firsthand. So, when it came to the idea for Resense, Luke took personal experience and ran with it, developing a unique solution to the real-world problem.
Luke demonstrates multiple entrepreneurial traits, the most prevalent of which I believe are drive, empathy, and persistence. He is clearly very driven to impact, inspire, and give back to the community, and he also has the empathy to feel the pain in the problem he is trying to solve. In the process of trying to solve the problem, Luke went through iterations and experienced some failure, but his persistence and drive kept him moving forward towards a better solution. In talking to Luke, he said “you can’t be afraid of getting told no, and you can’t give up when you are.”
Overall, Luke Gilligan is an amazing example of a young entrepreneur who is using the entrepreneurial traits that God his gifted him with to have a real redemptive impact on the community.
To find his site, visit here.
It’s incredible what Luke has been able to accomplish through our Grove City programs. As someone who has dementia in their family, I think his business is great and could help a lot of people. Just like you mentioned, one of the worst problems facing dementia patients is the constant loss of their dignity. Whether they don’t know the time, of where they are, or even their name, Resense is a great resource to help restore these people.
Hey Sarah, great job on your post! You made all your points very clear, and it was so interesting to learn about Luke Gilligan and his life. You organized your post very well, starting with an introduction and conclusion, helping readers refresh their memory on what was being said at the beginning. It is so cool to see the entrepreneurial traits in Luke, the drive, the inspiration, and the empathy. I am now so interested in Luke and his ideas; I want to learn more! Amazing job!