Katy Arons, G’24, was dead-set on becoming a doctor when she entered Syracuse University as a freshman. Though she shifted gears and wound up earning a Bachelor of Science in Technology and Information Management, she still managed to infuse her interest in health into a mobile app.
Arons, the CEO and founder of Continual Consent—an app that fosters safe discussions around consent and intimacy for young adults—was the focus of much of her time as an undergraduate, she said on the April 15 episode of Infoversity.
What really sparked the Continual Consent idea was starting the minor in IT Innovation, Design, and Startups (IDS) during the fall of her junior year. Courses taught her how to identify problems, devise solutions, and create businesses out of those solutions. When a professor pointed her to the Blackstone LaunchPad, the concept for the app became a reality.
“I really got to build out the company while in the IDS courses,” recalls Arons, a Manhattan native who still lives in the city.
Putting together the app flowed with what she was learning in her undergraduate classes, even when it was basics like learning how to form a company.
“It [creating Continual Consent] was really a supported experience by my education through the iSchool,” she said.
In February 2024, Continual Consent placed first in the Health and Life Sciences category in the on-campus qualifier for Blackstone Charitable Foundation’s IDEAS Competition. The app also advanced to the final round of the Impact Prize competition, hosted by the Blackstone LaunchPad at SU Libraries.
She still recalls all that the iSchool gave her, especially the IDS minor. It centered on creativity, from forming an idea to making that idea into a viable business.
“I really just brought that into everyday life as well,” said Arons.
Today, she works in the wealth management division on marketing in digital sales at JP Morgan Chase. Arons studies data for the public website, secure websites, and mobile apps. One of her tasks is data testing to optimize how users flow through the digital banking products.
Sometimes the work is tedious, Arons admitted. But it’s been powerful to see how using data analysis skills can have a huge contribution when it comes to the company’s success—and hers.
Bruce Kingma, professor of Entrepreneurship; Peggy M. Takach, director of Faculty Initiatives; and Traci Geisler, director of the Blackstone LaunchPad were instrumental in educating—and inspiring—Arons, she said. To have these professors cheering her on as she progressed through the program was inspiring.
In addition to the professors, fellow students were always ready to offer advice, as everyone in the program has different skill sets that are valuable.
“I genuinely do not believe my company or any of the companies or ideas I’ve had would have gone to the extent that they did without the iSchool,” said Arons.
While she hasn’t forgotten about Continual Consent, Arons is enjoying where she is now, adding that she wants to continue to learn and grow as a person.
A big secret to her success: Starting each day with a positive thought.
Every day, Arons says to herself, “Today is the best day of my life, I just don’t know why yet.”