Lyla Andrick started Happy Dinosaur in March 2020 as a COVID relief fundraiser and continued as a side hustle through college. During the entrepreneurial journey, Lyla studied Entrepreneurship in Animal Science Technology at University of Connecticut and advanced Happy Dinosaur. Lyla's three most valued programs at UConn were the Werth Institute, Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the equine independent study where she worked with a young mare named Ember. Lyla spent an experiential semester at fashion school, improving sewing skills and product design for her stuffed animal, that to today, have all been made by hand. Outside of work, Lyla still works, and has been accepted into the 2024 CCEI Summer Fellowship cohort to scale Happy Dinosaur to be the next big children's pop culture icon.