Alum of the Month:
Ben Trapp ‘24
For Ben Trapp ’24, entrepreneurship began at Loyola Academy.
Ben currently works as an Enterprise Sales Director at Breem (breem.com), a custom travel curation company that specializes in designing slow, intentional, and highly personalized luxury itineraries across the globe. His interest in entrepreneurship first began to take shape years earlier at Loyola, through LA Tank, Loyola’s entrepreneurship club and competition modeled after Shark Tank.
Through LA Tank, Ben discovered the energy of building something from the ground up. The experience helped set him on the path he continues to pursue today. “What I appreciated about LA Tank was that it forced action onto ideas,” Ben says. “It is easy to talk abstractly about business or entrepreneurship, but you don’t go anywhere until you actually build something, present it, receive criticism, iterate and optimize.”
That lesson stayed with him after Loyola. Ben attended Fordham University, where he studied accounting for one semester before deciding to pursue work with the startup travel platform Basis full time. While the path was not traditional, he says the decision unfolded gradually.
“Looking back, that uncertainty was probably an asset rather than a liability,” he says. “I think many students feel pressure to have a perfectly mapped-out future. However, the reality is most people are figuring things out as they go.”
Beyond LA Tank, Ben credits Loyola with preparing him in many other ways as well. At Loyola, he built meaningful relationships with teachers, coaches and mentors who left a lasting impact. Mr. Anderson first introduced him to economics and sparked his interest in the subject through a course that felt different from anything he had taken before. Fr. Stan and Mr. Miller of Campus Ministry helped him grow in his faith and taught him what it means to “see God in all things.” He is also grateful to his volleyball coaches, especially Coach Ebeling, as well as teachers Mr. Brandstrader, Mr. Devine, Ms. Parker and Mrs. Corker.
“Loyola prepared me by teaching me that things worth doing are worth taking seriously,” Ben says. “That applied to faith, academics, athletics, friendships and eventually work…In retrospect, Loyola is more than a college preparatory school,” Ben says. “It really is a life preparatory school.”
Since leaving Loyola, Ben is most proud of continuing to “live the Fourth,” allowing the Jesuit values he learned at Loyola to serve as a moral compass. Those values, he says, have helped him discern what is worth pursuing and, equally importantly, what is not.
His advice to current students and young alumni is simple: it is okay not to have everything figured out. Instead, he encourages students and young alumni to keep moving forward, even when the path ahead is not completely clear. “Clarity often comes after action, not as a precursor,” he says. “So don’t feel you are behind. Very few people are as certain as they appear to be.”
He also remembers a mantra shared by Fr. Gregg: “Whatever you do, do it well and do it good.” For Ben, the message remains a guiding principle.
“What matters is you are continually moving forward,” Ben says. “Life will challenge you in many ways, and often the easier way out is the wrong one. Continue to seek the magis.”