Students enter college hoping to graduate with, at the very least, a plan for their futures. However, few things actually turn out as planned.

This was the case for Stacie Francombe, a 1996 Ohio State graduate who had no idea her passion for sports broadcasting would lead her to founding a media company for all things bridal.

“Sports were huge (for me). I didn’t miss a single basketball or football game in college,” Francombe said. “Later, I worked at NBC and did an internship with them in sports. I wanted to go into sports journalism and be a broadcaster.”

Francombe, a communications major with a focus in broadcast journalism, founded the bridal company Get Married, which utilizes three media outlets: magazine, website and television.

Her family describes her as a go-getter. After only one interview, she received a job as a production assistant at CNN Sports Illustrated.

Though immersed in the industry of her dreams, Francombe still felt a pull toward something greater.

“My parents owned their own business and had that entrepreneurial spirit,” she said. “I realized I wanted to open my own company.”

Francombe developed a production company, which produced commercials and videos for CNN.

Years later, after marrying her husband and becoming a mother of three boys, Francombe again was dissatisfied and desired more out of her career.

In 2006, Francombe and her husband created a television program within an industry they could trust.

“Weddings were something that were recession-proof, always happening,” Francombe said.

And the company that began with only 10 employees set the precedent as the first bridal company to have a website, television show and magazine.

However, Get Married still seeks a way to reach a broader audience.

“I’ve gone through a zillion bridal magazines and did a lot of web-surfing on the Internet,” said Catie Luna, a recently-engaged student at OSU’s Moritz College of Law.

But Luna had never heard of Get Married.

To alleviate this problem, Get Married developed a contest for engaged couples. The prize is a trip to New York to be married on live television on New Year’s Eve in the middle of Times Square.

“First thing you should know about us is, when we come up with an idea, we execute it,” Francombe said.

Submissions closed Friday and more than 1,800 contestants entered, she said.

Results will be revealed Oct. 16.

Francombe’s father, Larry Ivers, 60, has no doubts about his daughter’s future success in Get Married.

Stacie “gets what she wants, let’s put it that way,” Ivers said with a laugh. “She always gets what she wants, and she works hard for it.”

Though the 36-year-old mother has accomplished much in her life already, Francombe credits OSU for her success.

“People always say, ‘I never used what I learned in college,’ but there was a class I took in college, and this teacher taught how to program a network,” Francombe said. “And when I go pitch ideas to networks, I remember that teacher and that class.”

But most of all, Francombe said she carries with her the spirit of OSU traditions in all she does.

“I live, breathe, eat and sleep my business,” Francombe said. “And same for OSU football.”