What started as a side-hustle for one college student has grown into a statewide business.

  • UCF alum turns moving business into statewide business
  • Julian Correa created 'Knightspeed Moving' when he was 19
  • Correa won Governor's Young Entrepreneur Award

While many college students find themselves strapped for cash and trying to figure things out, UCF alum Julian Correa figured out quickly that he was born an entrepreneur.

"Since I was little, I had always been doing little service business in the neighborhood, at school," Correa said, which never changed for him.

Raised in Colombia, Correa grew up seizing opportunities. When Correa was a 19-year-old UCF sophomore, he found himself needing to make some extra cash.

So he decided to start his own business from his dorm room.

"I knew I wanted to start my business, but I wanted to start with something practical," he said.

That’s when Correa started a moving company called ‘Knightspeed Moving.’

"All the reactions were really similar, it's like ‘ok, that's cute, that's fine, do that, but still make sure you get good grades.’" Correa said.

He created something that turned big, with 30 employees serving Central and South Florida.

"I'd literally call my buddies and said ‘hey, do you want to make 20 bucks an hour, you know, to come help me move this person ... and they said yeah sure why not?" he recalled.

It's why he was awarded with the Governor's Young Entrepreneur Award.

"It's good to start getting rewarded for a lot of the early efforts that you put in, a lot of early businesses don't get that recognition," Correa said.

He also added, “The beautiful part about being an entrepreneur is that you have no limitation on what you can create"

Especially when you start so small and young.

"But it's really not giving up, it’s not giving up and pushing through those hard times," he explained.

 The next step for Correa's moving company is to expand to other states.