
Gage Keeble washes windows on Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Treetop Hideaways at Ruby Falls. Photo by Angela Foster.
Gage Keeble’s college experience is anything but conventional.
A junior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the 21-year-old is pursuing bachelor’s degrees in both marketing: professional sales and finance while juggling roles as an entrepreneur, a chief analyst for the SMILE Fund and a member of the inaugural cohort of Phillips Scholars in Free Enterprise.
Weekend downtime? He leaves that for others.
“I’ve always told myself I need to challenge myself physically and mentally every day,” said Keeble—a 2022 graduate of Grace Baptist Academy in Chattanooga. “Whether it’s in the gym training, managing my business or working on a project for school, I want to push myself to grow in all areas of my life.”
Keeble’s entrepreneurial spirit took flight in the fall of 2023 when he launched Scenic Shine Window Cleaning, a business he started with a $200 investment in supplies. What began as a one-week experiment to see if he could make money quickly became a successful enterprise.
Scenic Shine Window Cleaning even has its own motto: “Give your space that Scenic Shine!”
“I just wanted something to do,” he recalled. “I had worked at the YMCA as a lifeguard earlier that summer and I thought, ‘Man, this really is not working out for me. I really want to do more and try to challenge myself.’
“I ended up going to Home Depot and bought about $200 worth of window cleaning supplies and said, ‘You know what? Let’s give it a week. If I can’t make any money in this business, I’ll sell everything and go get some regular part-time job.”
Keeble operates the business on his own, occasionally bringing in extra hands for larger jobs.
“There’s no substitute for hard work,” he said. “When you’re cleaning windows for eight or 10 hours straight, you learn what you’re made of.”
Running Scenic Shine, he said, has taught him valuable business lessons he couldn’t learn in a classroom: marketing, customer service, time management, resilience. Every job adds to his skill set.
One of the most rewarding aspects, he said, is connecting with his clients—many of whom are older adults who appreciate both his work and his willingness to chat.
“It’s more than just cleaning windows,” he said. “I get to build relationships and hear their stories.”
He admitted that being your own boss brings about a unique set of challenges.
“Door-to-door sales is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Once you get those first couple of ‘No’s,’ you’re like, ‘I just want to go back home,’” he said.
“I remember walking around in the rain handing out flyers and thinking, ‘I want to be back in my own bed right now,’ but you can’t do that because it doesn’t help your bottom line. You have to keep going.”

“There’s no substitute for hard work,” Gage Keeble said. “When you’re cleaning windows for eight or 10 hours straight, you learn what you’re made of.”
Keeble’s entrepreneurial drive and interest in economics made him a natural fit when he applied to become a member of the inaugural cohort of the Phillips Scholars in Free Enterprise program.
The Phillips Scholars, led by Dr. Claudia Kramer—the Scott L. Probasco Jr. Distinguished Chair of Free Enterprise—is designed for students “who possess a spirit and aptitude for understanding and appreciating the free enterprise system.”
“Gage has an infectious personality,” Kramer said. “He’s genuine, driven and eager to learn. He came to the program wanting to understand not just how to run a business but why free enterprise works and what it means for society.”
Kramer noted that Keeble stands out for his humility and his ability to connect real-world experiences with academic concepts.
“When Gage speaks in our reading group meetings, it’s clear he’s internalized the material,” she said. “He relates it back to his own experiences—whether it’s running his business or analyzing market trends.”
For Keeble, being a Phillips Scholar has been an eye-opening experience. Discussions about economic theory and real-world applications have deepened his understanding of the systems that allow businesses like his to succeed.
“To simplify it, free enterprise is about the ability to do anything you want in business,” Keeble said. “If it wasn’t for free enterprise, I probably would not be able to do what I do now—owning my own business and just being able to work on whatever I want to.”
Keeble’s analytical skills and business acumen also shine in his role as a chief analyst for the SMILE (Student Managed Investment Learning Experience) Fund, which provides select UTC undergraduates the opportunity to manage real money in a real stock portfolio for an actual client—the UC Foundation.
SMILE Fund managers make real-time stock investment decisions and are expected to meet or exceed their benchmark—the S&P 500 Index.
“Working with the SMILE Fund is an incredible opportunity,” Keeble said. “It’s a chance to apply what I’m learning in finance classes to real-world scenarios.”
As a chief analyst, Keeble oversees a team of 20-plus students tasked with researching and managing investments in the consumer sector. His leadership involves mentoring younger students and ensuring the team’s recommendations are well-founded.
“It’s a collaborative effort,” he said. “We have students at all levels—from freshmen just starting to seniors with internship experience around town—and everyone contributes.”
In addition, Keeble recently was a top finisher in the fall 2024 ETF Global® Portfolio Challenge, which is described as an individual-based, simulated investment challenge designed to serve as a fun and educational tool to help educate college students about investing and exchange-traded products.
He placed 11th overall in a competition that has attracted students from 358 U.S. schools and 268 international schools spanning 48 countries.
Dr. Hunter Holzhauer, a Robert L. Maclellan and UC Foundation associate professor of finance and director of the SMILE Fund, said if he could invest real money into his students, “I would be very bullish on Gage Keeble.”
“I have known Gage for well over a year and I have been lucky enough to be his professor, supervisor, mentor, and—most notably—friend,” Holzhauer said. “We have worked closely on several research projects, including an impressive equity research report that Gage recently wrote on AutoZone.
“Gage is a fantastic analyst and has been promoted multiple times—and he has led multiple teams within the SMILE Fund. However, as great as Gage has been as an analyst, he’s an even greater young man. I’ve seen him repeatedly go out of his way to help mentor newer analysts and invite others to join him for social activities. He also has an undeniable positive and productive energy that is very contagious.”

Gage Keeble is a member of the inaugural cohort of Phillips Scholars in Free Enterprise and a chief analyst in the SMILE Fund.
With his packed schedule, Keeble has mastered the art of time management. He divides his days between classes, business operations and extracurricular commitments—often working late into the night to ensure everything gets done.
“It’s about setting priorities,” he said. “When I’m in class, I’m 100% focused on school. When I’m working on my business, that gets my full attention.”
Keeble credits his drive to a desire to make the most of his UTC undergraduate years.
“College is the perfect time to take risks and learn from mistakes,” he said. “I want to use this time to build a strong foundation for whatever comes next.”
Keeble’s long-term goal is to start an engineering company related to the automotive industry.
Scenic Shine Window Cleaning, he said, “is just a jump start to figure things out.”
“This business is a way to learn and grow,” he said. “Every challenge I face now is preparing me for the future.
“The best part of all this is seeing what I’m capable of. It’s exciting to think about what’s next.”
Learn more
Gary W. Rollins College of Business
Phillips Scholarship in Free Enterprise

Dr. Claudia Kramer leads a Phillips Scholars in Free Enterprise discussion as Gage Keeble listens.