Katelynn Flowers stands on the precipice of graduation from Hampton University with more than just a degree in entrepreneurship, she carries with her a profound legacy of leadership, service, and innovation. As the 2025 INROADS scholar prepares to walk across the stage in just days, Rolling Out had the opportunity to sit down with this remarkable young visionary who has already made significant impacts both on campus and beyond.
The founder of Hyper Vision, LLC, a groundbreaking company that leverages artificial intelligence and virtual reality to address mental health conditions, Flowers has secured a license agreement with NASA technologies while simultaneously leading three campus organizations and maintaining membership in four honor societies. Her recent internship at the CDC resulted in her creation of a new policy for metadata and AI, demonstrating her capacity to innovate in professional settings.
In this exclusive interview, Flowers shares how INROADS shaped her professional development, the impact of mentorship on her journey, and her vision for the future.
How were you introduced to INROADS?
I was actually introduced to INROADS through my mom, who actually was introduced through my cousin, but we were formally introduced to INROADS at a career fair at a college and my mom went up to the table, asked about it, and they told her information. And then I went on a week-long trip to Morgan, which is right down the street, basically, and it was professional development week. I learned a lot, it was a very soft introduction to my favorite mentor, Pierre. I learned a lot about myself, I made a lot of friends and I kind of just kept going back every weekend.
I didn’t really want to at first, I didn’t know the impact that they would leave on me, but as I kept going, I guess I made more friends and I became more aware of what I should be doing or how I should be acting and treating myself in a professional environment.
Could you talk about how INROADS has built up your character?
INROADS is, I love to say, they’re my second family. I say that because they truly do bother you until you handle what you need to handle, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s really not. My connect with INROADS, Ms. Gwen Hodge, she is amazing. She’ll call me on whatever day, whatever time, just to ask me about what I’m doing with my future, how I can better myself. Just ask me about how I am. I think that they have really poured into me and I would recommend them for another student because they’re really amazing. They really do develop your personality as a person and as a young adult. They really do help me.
What type of networking have you used through INROADS?
So networking, they introduce you to a lot of people. So when you go or when you have, when you sign up for INROADS, you’re automatically in the pool for a job opportunity or for opportunity for an internship. And so that’s how I feel like they do most of the networking, except when we have events and conferences, that’s actually where the most networking happens.
So you can introduce yourself to anybody in the room. They’ll teach you how, they’ll let you know what you’re doing wrong, they also do mock interviews. That’s very helpful as well. They have a lot of conferences, but I think the most important thing they do is share job opportunities because it’s very important for us Black people and minorities to have opportunities that are specifically for us, and so they very much open the door into rooms that you wouldn’t even believe that we are in. So I think that that’s a very good thing they do.
Could you talk about your favorite opportunity through INROADS?
I was actually an intern at the CDC 2024 summer and I loved it. I loved it because I was in an office of women and that’s not anything against men, but I loved it because I’ve never seen that before.
Especially in the CDC, I’ve never seen that before. I loved it because I was in an office full of women, that’s one. Two, my boss was extremely caring, she was the best boss I could ever ask for. She poured into me so much, she loved me like I was, I wouldn’t say her own child, but maybe a mentee. She put me into meetings with her bosses.
I got to meet so many people through her. So I love that. I also love the fact that I got to read. I usually don’t read, I hate reading, but I had to read because I was reviewing policies and going through and I ended up creating my own new policy for metadata and AI because they did not have that. So at the end of my internship, she ended up writing me a letter.
I did not ask her for it, but she ended up writing me a letter so that I could provide it to my next employer, basically saying that I created a policy for the CDC that they will use and that I did very good work there. I really liked them, they were very comforting and everyone I met pretty much wanted to help me. I really did like that internship.
Could you share some advice that was instilled in you?
She told me to keep being me and I say that when I’m feeling bad about myself because I truly should keep being me. I mean, me has gotten me this far and I think that that’s the main piece of advice that she told me, was to keep shining, because if I don’t no one else is going to do it for me.
I think that’s the main takeaway from what she’s taught me is that I need to continue to push and be myself and be authentic, because that’s what it gets you somewhere.
What did you want to do before you got to Hampton University?
In high school I was very involved with sports. I was on the track team, field hockey, rowing team, it’s just a lot of different sports. I’ve always taken academics seriously, but my grades, I guess it was a 3.8 when I ended but before it was like 3.1. That’s fine, nothing’s wrong with that, but I did not take my academics as seriously as I should have. What I’m trying to say is, I did not have an academic background. I would spend all my time doing sports and before college, I actually did not know what I wanted to do. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a nursing major. I didn’t know if I wanted to do business. I didn’t know what I really wanted to do, but I guess I got introduced to Hampton from my sister, Selena. She actually introduced me to Hampton and she was an entrepreneurship major too. She’s also in the same chapter, I basically followed my sister’s footsteps.
I chose entrepreneurship because of her and then after that I guess I kind of just do whatever until my junior year, and then I started developing my business, Hyper Vision, LLC. Where I work with artificial intelligence and virtual reality to combat mental health conditions. I actually have a license agreement with NASA technologies.
She introduced me to entrepreneurship and that’s exactly what I want to do. I want to be an entrepreneur. I do not want to work for anybody, I will, but I don’t want to. She introduced me to that and ever since then I guess I’ve kind of just built upon being a leader.
What experiences at Hampton shaped you into who you are today?
Becoming president of The W.I.S.E. Org and M.O.S.A.I.C. I think those two things have shaped me. Number one, because M.O.S.A.I.C. is the first LGBTQ+ organization on campus, and so becoming the president of that, you have to lead, you have to be able to get past people who do not believe in what you believe in. It’s really hard at Hampton, because Hampton’s a traditional school, not saying anything’s wrong with that, but a lot of people are older, they’re used to their ways. So being a M.O.S.A.I.C. president has really taught me that I needed to push past people who don’t exactly believe that I should be there, that’s one thing.
The W.I.S.E. Org is my community service mental wellness organization. We primarily focus on self-care and that’s really big to us and self-care also includes giving back to the community. I would say that The W.I.S.E. Org has really taught me a lot in terms of being a leader. We actually got a proclamation from the Hampton City Council recognizing us for our outstanding community service. We were invited to sit in front of the council and receive the proclamation alongside my sororal Dr. Gwen Lomax, she is the leader of the community Education in Rich program, which I’m also a member of, but we formed a connection and we ended up volunteering for her and doing work for her. She actually made me realize that I really do like community service, and I really do like giving back to the people, because it’s like why wouldn’t I? Those two experiences really shaped me, because I have met so many people through service. I have so many friends in the Hampton Roads community now. Friends with churches, barn and nobles, libraries, all types of people I’ve met through service, and I think that that’s extremely important.
Could you tell us more about the organizations closest to you?
The W.I.S.E. Org is my baby. It’s because my sister actually chartered it on Hampton’s campus and then I became the president, so it hasn’t been here for that long. I think that it honestly became a big part of my personality because of the service aspect. So I guess The W.I.S.E. Org made me realize that I love to do service. A.K.A. does that too, I love my sororal and my sorority, but before A.K.A. there was The W.I.S.E. Org and I did service all the time through them. So that’s a part of my personality I got from that.
M.O.S.A.I.C., I already said becoming a leader. I chartered Defenders on Hampton University’s campus. Defenders is an Organization where we fight for people who can’t speak for themselves. An advocacy, activism. We just got started, my big sister actually wanted the organization on campus, so we got through that and she helped me put it on the campus. We went through the process and now it’s an organization on campus. So I guess that taught me how to take initiative because I did start this, so I have to do everything to start it. I had to do a constitution. I had to do bylaws, I had to get a list of members together. It’s just a lot of stuff that goes into founding an organization on campus, but that kind of taught me to take initiative and make sure that I stay on top of everything and make sure I am hitting every checkbox because it’s important.
What do you do for fun outside of school?
I love to cook. I really wish I could be a chef, if it made enough money, but I love to cook. Cooking is my passion, I learned from my grandmother. She taught me how to cook and then I love to play The Sims. I love The Sims, I’m obsessed with it. I do a lot of service in my spare time, I don’t really have spare time, but if I do I probably am doing something important, which is service. I go read every weekend to kids at Barnes and Nobles with my sororal, Dr. Quinn and my W.I.S.E. Org. I guess I would probably say hanging out with my friends is also important. My friend group is my rock. I really truly believe that I would not be where I am today without my friends.
What song would you have on repeat right now?
Well, my current song is Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton and it was in the 1970s. I say that’s my favorite song on repeat right now, because I was actually sad like three days ago, I was crying and I was talking to my grandma.
She passed away, I love my grandma, but she passed away before I could meet her. I always ask her to send me signs and when I was in the bathroom crying, I asked her. I said grandma I literally need you, please send me a sign, and so she sent that song. It’s not on my playlist. It’s literally just, I don’t even know, I think I was listening to Ariana Grande, but I don’t really know how it was in the loop. Anyway, that song came on and I’m like wait a minute, this is kind of old and so that song came on and the words literally said something like you’re like a flower, you bloom to spread love and joy and I was like, my last name is Flowers. Then I looked up the meaning of the song and what the name means and the name is literally The Flowers. The meaning of the song is to spread love and be self-aware of what you can do for yourself and make things happen. You can actually be comfortable in your own skin. I’m like wait a minute, not my grandma sending me an actual sign. It’s kind of scary but it’s okay. She’s telling me that, and I have been listening to that song on repeat because I’m trying to get through graduating and it’s just so much, so I put that song on repeat.
What is next for you after graduation?
What I want to do is, I want to get a corporate job. I want to be able to get a job, anywhere really, in the corporate business area. I’ve been applying, I’ve been doing interviews. I just had an interview with 7-Eleven corporate, but I’m just interviewing and hopefully this gala opens up new doors for me. I know there’s gonna be a lot of notable CEOs there, as well as connections that I can network with, so I will have my business card.
