Note: This is one of several stories about recent ONU grads from the ONU website. Lindsay Walden is from Dunkirk.

Growing up, family and business were one and the same to management major Lindsay Walden.

For 105 years, her family has operated Sheldon Gas Company, Inc., a natural gas distribution company based in Dunkirk, and now she will become the fifth generation to take over the reins.

Although she knew this career path was always an option, that didn’t get in the way of her bettering herself through higher education.

She knew she had a lot to learn about life, business and people before she would be ready to inherit the family business. That’s why she chose Ohio Northern University’s Dicke College of Business Administration.

ONU didn’t disappoint. Her time here has helped her perfect the art of professional interactions, from how to properly dress, shake hands and eat dinners to how to form meaningful conversations with business professionals at any level.

She traveled to Germany with students and faculty to get a new take on business, culture, history and more, and the opportunity to work as an intern for an outside company confirmed that working in the family business was the only career prospect she felt truly passionate about. ONU faculty and staff have been nothing but supportive of her journey throughout.

“ONU gave me the confidence to not be intimidated by any obstacle, professional or personal,” she says. “The Dicke College of Business has given me confidence to go into my family’s business and continue to keep it running for many more generations to come.”