Missouri State University alumna and owner of Indiana-based The 715 Company, Tennille Bernard, gave support to the Bear Pantry in 2020 with bath and body products.  Tennille’s products are featured in the Bear Pantry’s hygiene section and are available to members Monday-Friday, 10a.m.-2p.m.  We reached out to this Citizen Bear with a few questions:

What is your connection to Missouri State?

I’m a Bear Graduate (MBA, Class of 2018).  I chose Missouri State because I needed  a flexible program that met my current work-life balance, but was still accredited and affordable.  So I started looking at brick-and-mortar schools, and Missouri State fit the bill.

How has your time at Missouri State influenced you to where you are now? 

In my last year, I was able to leverage my knowledge and upcoming graduation to move from an engineering role into a project/program manager role in my organization.  Almost immediately, I saw what I learned in my coursework reflected as practical experiences in my new role.  It made the shift a lot easier to comprehend, and I was able to acclimatize easier.

What made you decide to support the Bear Pantry’s efforts to reduce food insecurity? 

The lack of access to good quality, fresh food is a problem that persists despite our society’s advancement in technology, wealth, and other ways.  While we (The 715 Company) do not provide food per se, the reality is that a lack of access to food usually translates to a lack of access to basic non-food groceries as well.  With COVID-19, we found ourselves in a position where we could not access our main market.  We thought about it, and decided that we should look for opportunities to support non-profits as we could.  About the same time, John Goodman’s message promoting Bears Care and the Bear Pantry arrived in my inbox.  I thought as a Bear myself, this was a perfect opportunity to give back to the community, so we reached out… and the rest is history.

Can you tell us about The 715 Company?

The 715 Company is a bath and body products company, specializing in solid body products.  Founded in 2019, we’re invested in selecting high-quality, sustainable ingredients to our soaps, solid body lotions and sugar scrubs.   

Learn about how you can support the Bear Pantry