Last week me and my CEO class talked with Keith and Mary Dahm-Schell owners of the Edge. They both have contributed to making the Edge even better than before. They first added movie theaters in the edge a couple of years ago. Now they have go karts and other fun attractions to make the edge the perfect place to spend your money at. Me and my CEO class got the chance to ride the go carts and can I just say it was a very fun time. I could just see the smiles on everyone faces when we riding the go karts and the bonding the whole class was having with each other.

It is crazy to say that this is the last week with my CEO family and with Mrs. Siebers who has been our best facilitator. The Edge has everything you could ever want out of fun things to do in one building. Keith and Mary are both very smart people because they have made improvements towards the edge that I thought could of never happened. The Edge is just getting bigger and better year by year. The Edge is a very successful business and will keep being successful in years to come because of Keith and Mary’s hard work and dedication towards the Edge.  

Mike Dunnigan said, “you make money by buying stock from a growing company.” Mike emphasized that the market is filled by two things fear and greed. He said that great entrepreneurs have to have great people skills. If you’re an entrepreneur you want people to invest money into your business, so you have to be a people’s person.

Since this is the last journal I want to take time to reflect a little bit on the year. This year has been a year of adventures. This year has been very successful for me. I got to meet so many entrepreneurs and see what it takes to become an entrepreneur an opportunity I thought I would have never got before. I also got to meet some really great people in my CEO class. We all came in the class clueless and knowing little about entrepreneurship. We had a class business that was like an ice breaker for us to all get to talk to each other more because we had to make an idea for all us to agree on. I really want to thank Mrs. Siebers again for being the best teacher to all of us and for making us so much more knowledgeable in field of business.

05/04/2018

The trade show was a really fun experience. I never will forget it looking at all the different businesses was a cool experience. I feel like we all had great businesses.

04/20/2018

Last week I and my CEO class met with Greg Bach from Gas Light Vinyl. He is a very down to earth man whose business revolves around something he loves doing. Mr. Greg Bach came out straight forward and said I knew nothing about business when I was first getting started. He talked about how he and his brother went to different people to try to get his business started and how they kept getting turned down. These two brothers really had determination to try to keep pushing forward to get their business started. Greg really made it seem like he was one of us when he was talking about his startup of starting a business. Because I and my CEO class do not know everything about starting a business and sometimes it can get hard when you are doing all the work to try to start a business. Greg showed us how they put the stickers on the cars at Gaslight Vinyl. It is a really cool process to see it in person. I could really tell that Greg has found his passion and loves what he is doing because he has never given up on his business. Through all the struggles him and his brother went through trying to start this business, they never quit at it. Greg is the true definition of a good entrepreneur and I want to have the drive and passion for whatever business I may start in the future. Gaslight Vinyl is growing and growing each and every year, that business is going to keep succeeding every day because Gaslight Vinyl has two determined and hardworking owners behind it.

“You are the business.” Mr. Eric Schauster said this to me and my CEO class last week. But I really pondered on what he meant by this phrase, “You are the business.” I think what Mr. Schauster means by this is the person that is starting the business is the one who decides if this business fails or if this business succeeds. You are the sole person in making the business successful or not, and that is when hard work and determination come in. You have to treat your business like a baby child. When it first starting you have to watch over it a lot and take care of it. You have to give it everything it needs so it can function correctly. You might have to work for long hours and stay up on nights to make sure the baby (business) is going well. Then as the business you make sure it stays going in the right direction until it get old enough to where it can run correctly by itself.

03/23/2018

 “I was willing to take a risk in 1980.” Mike Riley said this phrase, he compared entrepreneurship to gambling. Mr. Riley said that gamblers take risk all the time. This means that if you want to be an entrepreneur you’re going to have to take a couple of risks. Mr. Riley also said that you have to have a passion for your product and knowledge of your industry. If you have those two concepts then you will be very successful in the business world. Mr. Riley proposed this question to me and my CEO class, “what are you willing to lose, whose money are you willing to lose”? That is a really tough question to think about, because when you are trying to become an entrepreneur you could lose relationships with people, friendships with people, and you can lose money. Entrepreneurs do not have guaranteed paychecks, funded retirement and a set schedule. It is a lot to take in when you’re dealing with entrepreneurship, but this goes back to Mike Riley’s comparison between entrepreneurs and gamblers, you have to be willing to take risks. That risk that you may take entrepreneur may be brighter for you in the future. You can be the boss of your business, flexibility, better benefits, and personal fulfillment.

“Do not ever let anyone tell you no” Mr. Kurt Artinger said this.” This was a very good lesson that Mr. Artinger said to me and my CEO class. You have to keep trying with whatever you are pursuing, just because someone tells you “no” does not mean you stop trying. You use that “no” as fuel for you to work harder in whatever you are doing. Mr. Artinger has a very successful business called Artigem. He said that he saw how the building he is currently in was in poor condition and he did not want to see it go to waste. So he bought the building and made it his own. Even though it took a lot to repair it from a gym to a building it is now, it looks very beautiful on the inside of the building. Inside the building it has old art still in it from the 1900’s which is really fascinating. I really applaud Mr. Artinger for seeing a future in a broken doing building. The key to success is to find your passion, help others, network, dream big, and plan for success.

Mr. Brent Emmerich said those very motivating things about becoming successful. When you look at success the way Mr. Emmerich laid it out it really makes you happy. It definitely makes me have something to look forward to. Because I know I found my passion, I love helping others, I love networking, I dream big all the time, and I constantly plan for success. Everything that Mr. Emmerich said I am doing right know and if you go by those tips you will be successful in the future.

03/16/2018

“If you have a business gets involved with your employees.” This is a very helpful tip that Kevin Richter from MM&R said to me and my CEO class. If you are not involved with your employees your business will probably not be that successful. The reason is because if you are not involved in with your employees life on a personal level then it will be a disconnect from you and your employees. Your employees should know that you as a boss should always have their back with anything that they are going through mentally and physically. MM&R was started in 1984 by Pat Mathis and Kevin Richter. These two men still enjoy what they do at a high intensity level. Their business is steadily getting better and better by each year and it will continue to be a great business. People do business with people they trust and people that they form relationships with. Those two points are very key tips in running a business. Because if a person does not trust you then they are not going to invest in your business. You have to form trust with every customer or person that you encounter. Forming relationships with people is still one of the biggest aspects of running a business. In business it is about who you know. So if you are always forming relationships with people on a business level or even on a more personal level it will better help your business proceed.

I think that my business is coming along quite well. The person the JoAnn DiMaggio-May brought with her helped me with my business plan so that it could be really good. I am still thinking of the possible prices that I want to charge for my business to better my business in general overall. I am thinking about having surveys to give to all my customers every time I get done with my job so I can see if it is anything I need to do better or work at. Because I want my business to ran on customer satisfaction. If your customers are not happy then they will not ask for your services anymore. I want all of my customers to be well satisfied with any of the work that I do. Because without customers then you will not have a business.

03/09/2018

The issues and eggs was a very fun event to attend. I got to talk and connect with different people there, that I have never met before. I also got the opportunity to represent the Belleville CEO alongside with Nick and Ian. We were answering questions that people had asked about CEO. One question that I remember that was said by someone was, what has CEO done for you. I really thought about this answer but in a quick time knowing the mic would be passed to me. I said CEO has gifted me with the skills to be good at organizing, time management, and forming relationships with people. I said that CEO helps with time management because you have to be at certain places at certain times and if your not there at that designated time that can affect your grade.  The Ted talk video was a great video. It talked about how great leaders should lead. Usually when you think of a leader you think of someone who is given everything on a silver spoon. You think a person who is controlling and bosses people around. But a leader is a person who tries to make everyone around them better. Instead of just thinking about their self a leader is a person who thinks about everyone and helps everyone. There are many traits that justify a leader, but some of the main traits that justify a leader is someone who is passionate and has courage. These are two main character traits that I think good leaders have. I want to be a great leader when I get older and I want to have those character traits and many more.

03/02/2018

“Dress for Success”, my CEO class and I talked with Josh Farmer and Treana Kerney from Men’s Wearhouse. They talked to us about certain stuff we should wear to interviews and stuff we should not wear to interviews. Mr. Farmer said that a well-tailored outfit and shoes shows that you are serious and detailed oriented. I personally love wearing formal clothes because it makes me generally good and it makes you seem more approachable by people. Mr. Farmer also talked about the different lengths a shirt and a suit jacket should be. They also said that in an interview you should bring a notepad, pen, resume, and a prepared list of questions. I actually used everything that they talked about, that we should use in interview and I think I got hired at the job I applied for. It was very useful tips that they gave to us that not only helped me but surely helped the rest of my CEO class.

“Curiosity will make you millions.” Bob Bunch said these very bright words. I really thought about what he meant about the statement that he made. I came up with a meaning that curiosity is what drives you to become better in life. If you always stay curious with certain things that you want to find out then you will never stop trying. That is what our world is made up upon is curiosity. If humans were not curious we would not know all of the things that we know right now. Because people were curious about things that’s why we discovered the stuff that has been discovered today. Mr. Bunch said; as you go through business do not go through it alone. He is saying that you always need to have relationships with people in business so try to gain enough relationships with people, so that you will be a well-rounded person.  Bob Bunch spoke of his own life of how just because he formed a relationship with one person that it lead to forming a relationships with another person. Bob Bunch is a kind of person who helps and wants to see other people succeed. Because he has YouTube channels where he talks about different business steps you can take to become successful as well.

02/16/2018

“As a CEO you have to make sure that everyone is with you.” Mr. Vince Ojeda said these words to me and my CEO class. This statement is very true, because whenever you’re the owner of your company you have to make sure that everyone on your team is on board with you. Mr. Ojeda also said when you are starting a company you just have to figure it out. He basically saying that sometimes everything will not be given to you easily, you have to go out and learn for yourself of how to have a successful business. Vince said the more challenges you get, the better you are, the tougher you get. Something that Vince said that really stuck with me was that people do not look at your long hours or your efforts. They only see you once you become successful. They did not see those late nights or stressful days that you had to go through to become successful. This is just a prime example of how you do not need anybody else to congratulate you on you becoming successful. You congratulate yourself, because you are the only one who knew what it took and how hard it was to become successful.  Another inspiring phrase that Vince said was, “always think much higher than what you think you can do.” If you never challenge yourself then how are you going to know what a challenge feels like. Always set stretch goals, these are the goals that you obtain over years of hard work.

We talked with Kelly Quinn last week and she talked about diversity. She said diversifying your workplace is very important when becoming a business owner. This is very important because people love workplaces that have diversity. Diversity is a beautiful thing it is what our country is made up on. “If you think that you are going to go through life and think you’re just going to gain knowledge, you’re going to have a long road.”

Mr. Todd Badgley said this very intelligent phrase. You cannot expect knowledge just to be given to you. You have to go get the knowledge on your own to be successful. Another thing Todd Badgley said was, “we fail every day that is just a part of business.” You have to learn not to accept failure in business. Mr. Badgley told us a time where in his business he failed but he did not let that stop him from moving forward and being successful. Now Mr. Badgley and Moto has a lot of new products and things happening in the future that are going to be very exciting. I know that Mr. Badgley business will keep being successful in the future.

02/02/2018

“One on one communication is the best form of communication.” Mark Eckert said this very true statement. Nothing can beat one on one communication because when you interact with a person face to face you can form a better relationship with a person than talking to that person over the telephone. Mayor Eckert also said the reason why he is so successful is because he surrounds himself with good people. He said the most important challenge is to build relationships. Mayor Eckert said that whatever job that you choose make sure it is a job that you can put some passion into. He said to get good results you have to work. To be good anything you have to work hard at it to get positive feedback from it. It was very nice to meet with the mayor and to know that he still loves his job. He is still achieving things in his life that is very excellent.

I am still thinking of things to do with my personal business my mentor and I are still brainstorming to come up with the best idea for my personal business

01/19/2018

 “Hard work will cover a multitude of failures.” Mark Turner the CEO of Memorial Hospital said this statement. He also said that “champions are made not born.” Which means in anything that you do your going to have to work hard to be a champion. Mark turner said that in his early life he always thought he was going to be either a NBA player or basketball coach. But later in his life he transitioned into trying to become the CEO of memorial. One of my CEO classmates asked Mr. Turner if he could do it all over again would he still try to be the CEO of memorial and he replied, "I most definitely would." That means that Mark Turner really loves what he is doing with Memorial. He started talking about the three stages of Career Development. He said the first stage was the operator phase. That phase mean you have to be good at whatever you are doing. The next phase is the management phase. Which simply means that you have to learn how to manage people. The last phase is the leadership phase. The leadership phase is inspiring people and getting people to do the job for the cause instead of the pay. Mark Turner really emphasized on the leadership phase. He said now of days it is hard to find people in the medical field that just want to do their job for the cause instead of the pay. Mark Turner also talked about how if you’re truly an entrepreneur; your life is full of risks. He said you have to be willing to take risks. He also said that you have to be able to make money to show your entrepreneur side.

Wednesday, my CEO class and I went to the St. Clair Country Club to meet with Thad Payne. Thad Payne talked to us about etiquette which is very good topic for us. He showed us the proper way to eat at a table. He talked about our first impressions when meeting people. He talked to us about our table manners. I honestly did not know which fork you should eat with when you’re in a fancy eating place .It is good to know this stuff just like Thad Payne said because you never know if your boss will ask you out to eat and if he grading you on your table manners. This conversation that we had with Mr. Payne was very helpful towards me because I know that I can get a lot better with my etiquette.

01/12/2018

Tom Farquhar is a very smart man he said the most successful people are organized. Which is very true. I can really take away from this because I try to be organized all the time. I understand why people who are organized are successful because they are people with less worry and stress about things because they have schedule for everything. Tom said to be successful you need to have an edge on the competition. So that means you want to always be better than your competitors and the people that you’re going against. He said the harder you work the better life is going to be which is very true. Because if you work your hardest in whatever you do then your whole life is going to be a breeze. Mr. Farquhar said, “Failure is not an easy thing.” If you fail at something you could be depressed about it for the rest of your life and never try to get better at it. But if you keep working hard failure would not be an option. It is so crazy the weeks and days go by so quick.

I remember my first day going into PPM and now we are going to a new location. I really want to thank Renae for letting us use her building as our meeting spot and giving us advice during our class business. It was really nice talking to her and hearing about her life story.

On Friday we went to King’s House with Geri and Doug Boyer and we did some meditation. Which I think everyone needed to help relieve stress. I am going to start meditating more because I think it can really help me whenever I am feeling stressed out. The Belleville Got Talent Show is coming around very well. We just have to keep pushing for sponsors and we all have to just keep working hard together and we will succeed.

12/17/2017

 “You need to think differently.” Andrew Barnell said these words and I really meditated on these words. How can I think differently than everyone else? The answer is still up in the clouds for me. Andrew Barnell is the CEO of Geneoscopy alongside with his sister Erica Barnell who is the CEO of their company. Andrew said, just because you are young does not mean you cannot do it. This was really another eye opener for me because I am sitting around right now waiting on myself to go to college and then start on my future when I can be starting on my future right now at this very moment. Andrew said age is a number. Which is very true because if it is something that you are really passionate about you will do it at any age young or old. Mr. Barnell said the difference between people who want to become an entrepreneur and who actually do is commitment. You have to stay committed to whatever dream that you are trying to pursue. This all ties back into what Mr. Derek Betz said you have to be “pig committed.” If you are not pig committed into your own business it will fail. You have to really put your all into what you are trying to do to succeed. Mr. Barnell also said if you are going to fail, fail fast. He said have a criteria for success. So that means to have different levels of what successful pertaining to you. Another statement Andrew said, it is about execution and not ideas. You can have a million and one ideas, but it is how you actually do them and execute them to the very best that count. Geneoscopy seems like a very successful business that have to very smart people running it and it will continue to get strive as a business. “Achieve the next platform and go to the next”, Mike Barnell said these inspiring words. He was assisted by two very smart people Alan Pulliam and Angela Willis. Mike said strive to do the best because you never know what opportunities are going to come at you. Which is a very key statement, because if you’re are always doing your best and striving for greatness opportunities will keep coming your way. Alan Pulliam said that a lot of your satisfaction is going to come from what you are passionate about.

12/03/2017

Monday me and my CEO met at Thouvenot, and talked with Roland Thouvenot. He said the reason they have been successful is because of their diversity. Me personally am a fan of diversity because  we live with diversity today in our everyday lives. The employees at the engineering firm took us outside and showed us a cool drone of how they can scan the area so they can know what to model in their job. I like how when one of my classmates asked one of the employees at Thouvenot, “ what do you do with the old technology”? One of the employees responded we give it our competitors. Which let me know that this engineering firm always likes to stay on top with their technology and they keep striving to be the best.

Jim Auffenberg a very prestigious man talked to me and my CEO class about his business Auffenberg. He said that the business was his dads at first and he took it over with little info on how to do it. But he talked about how he worked hard to learn the ins and the outs of the business till he succeeded. Which can show that he had to work very hard to get where he is right now. He told us when you find something you love you will put in the hours. Which is very true statement. Because when you find something you love you will stop at nothing to keep working at that thing until it succeeds.

11/24/2017

“Someone has to be pig-committed”, said Derek Betz owner of Fletchers Kitchen. I think the word “pig-committed” stuck with my whole CEO class, because know in our upcoming project we need everyone to be pig-committed. But what does the word pig-committed mean? It means being all into, or giving your all into whatever you are doing. Such as with my CEO class and our project we need every single person to give there all in this project or it will not succeed. Derek Betz talked about how he tried to open of his second location of Fletchers Kitchen and how it did not go well because it was no one who was pig committed but him. He emphasized that the only way you are going to have a successful business is if everyone is pig committed. Derek Betz also talked about successfulness and that everyone goal to be successful is different. He said that successfulness is investing back into your own community’s.

“Be brave” Amy Tarr talked about when you get that gut feeling go for it. So that means whatever you have a good feeling about something do not overthink it. I can really learn from this because I overthink a lot of things and I just need to be brave and go for it sometimes.

A very smart man named Jason Eding, talked about the ability to learn new things is powerful. Which is very true because that is what keeps human beings going every day of our lives. Mr. Eding said that anything is life is not easy. So you have to work for anything you are trying to achieve or get at in life. Because everything is not going to coming at you on a silver spoon.  Jason also talked about how you should prepare for an interview. He said whatever you are interviewing for you should research the company and find out all the details and what the company is about. So when the company asked you questions you have a little bit of a background of the company. He also said that you should write down a list of questions to ask the hiring manager. So the conversation can keep on flowing. Jason said you should always make eye contact and make sure they can hear when you are speaking. These interview tips that Jason talked about with us really helped me because I did not know about a lot of stuff you should do to be prepared for an interview and I will keep remembering them for the rest of my life.

11/17/2017

“It is through failure, that you learn and you will succeed.” Jeff Platt said these encouraging words in front of the CEO students. I really thought about what he meant by that, it means all failure is not bad. Failures can teach you valuable lessons and also failures can help with your path to success. Because sometimes you have to fail, but it is about pushing through and seeing the greater outcome in the end. Kevin Platt really emphasized on finding your own passion. Jeff said that you have to find your passion, pursue it, and block out all the other noise. So do not listen to people who have something negative to say about what you are doing, you need to block them out. Jeff also said nobody accomplishes anything great on their own. When pursuing business you have got to rely on others. Also you have to find like-minded people, like people who are on the same path as you. I learned so many new things at the Trep start from the young entrepreneurs.  They all gave good pieces of advice for when starting a business. The one thing that still amazes me is the young entrepreneur’s age. Their ages range from 13-18.Also to hear their stories of how they came up with their own business is amazing. The one thing I heard from all the young entrepreneur’s was that they were passionate about their business which I really liked.

Wendy Pfeil of Belleville Chamber of Commerce said that, “life will always change.” Which is agreeable because your life and the life around continue to evolve and change everyday. Wendy also said, “Not everything in life is given to you. So that means you have to work for whatever you want.

Mr. Kevin Nicol talked about the steps to building a business. The first priority you need to have is to find a unique product. Then you develop a marketing plan, and different outlets. One thing that Mr. Nicol said that stayed in my head was “is it a want or a need.” This question is very important to ask yourself in the business world or the real world. You have to separate your wants from needs. Once you find out what you really need instead of what you want you will start being very successful in the business world.

11/03/2017

Choose your direction; choose something you want to go after! A very intelligent man quoted these words name John Perles. He owns his own business called Momentum Builders. John Perles started to talk about how once you jump into something you have to put all of your effort into it, then you will eventually fall in love with it. Which is very true because whatever you put your all into is something that you going to want to do every day. John also gave a lot of useful tips of the business life. He said in business if you leave out of couple of parts it will not come together. He said you have to understand where you are at, and where you want to go in life and in business. He said you need to start working on you, make you a better you. Which I really took in consideration because I am always trying to better myself in life. I want to improve on a lot of things that I am currently doing. John also said life can be hard. He said you need to find out your abilities and use your abilities to fullest. Which is very key for every human being. Once you find out of what you are good at do your very best at that ability. He also said, Live Well and Live Long. Which is something that I will always keep in the back of my head for the rest of my life.

A very strong women name Renae Eichholz told me and my CEO class her story of how she started her own business and she completely amazed me. She told us that do not ever let anyone tell you what you cannot do. She had a lot of people in her life thinking that her business idea would never work. When I heard her say she never went to college it completely surprised me because she just seems like a person who would went to college and she is very intelligent. She said she was working on her business ever since she got out of high school. Even when she was pregnant she did not let that stop her from working on her business at home. She said every minute counts which is very true because time is valuable. She said she was the type of person who always thinks ahead. I can very much see that by the way she was talking to us. She was always talked about expanding her building and also what things needed to be done. I know that her business will continue to grow and be a steady business.

Patty Gregory started her own Art business which is very successful it is called Art On the square. 4.6 million jobs are created by non for profit businesses. The most expensive art piece sold at Art on the Square was twenty thousand dollars. Patty Gregory explained her vision for Art on the Square and she said that art is a re-builder for communities. Her business has grown over the years by size and profit and will continue to be successful.

10/27/2017

Be curious and creative.  These encouraging words were said by a successful man named, Neil Eilers. He creates shoes and T-shirts on his own. He started creating shoes when he was just in High school at Belleville East. Mr. Eilers said he used to work at Walmart and he used to get a discount on shoes so he would buy shoes that were less expensive and create them into his own. He said he always had a passion for art. So he would draw on his shoes to show his art off then he would sell them for like $30. In high school that sounds like a great investment to make for some side cash. But Mr. Eilers did not know if he wanted to keep doing it full time after High School. Mr. Eilers said if you own a business then that is your life. He is meaning that you have to stay on top of your business each and every day if you want your business to grow and continue to be successful. Mr. Eilers said even when things got tough when dealing with his business he kept trying. Mr. Eilers said one last thing key statement in our meeting with him, He said, “Do something you love that keeps drive in you to keep going and working hard.” I really admire these words because I know once I find that thing that I love doing it was surely keep me going in my life.

“Failure is not an option”, another successful businessman said these words, named Jim Rauckman. He and his wife Shirley Rauckman have been running Rauckman utilities for about 17 years. It is a successful business that continues to grow each and every year. Inside of the Rauckman warehouse they have a lot of interesting machines and gadgets that do certain things. They have a certain machine that can face scan a person and that person face can appear on the television screen. Mr. Rauckman talked about the business world and he said that, “starting your own business is about taking the risk and being able to deal with it.” Which is a very true statement because as a business person you have to deal with everything that is thrown your way. Another statement that Mr. Rauckman said was do not let people stand in the way of what you want to do. This is a great statement that I can take away from Mr. Rauckman because I have to remind myself that there are always going to be people trying to get in the way of what you want to do, you have to learn to avoid those people. The last key statement that Mr. Rauckman said, “There is never a good time to start a business.” That means that I can be starting my business right now. I really have to get on myself to look for a plan for my business and get right to it.

10/20/2017

Step one is finished. We finally are done with our badge project and we can now show off our magnificent badges. We are moving forward now as one big class which is a great accomplishment for all of us. Mrs. Siebers said that it was time for us to find a CFO, COO, and a CEO. The thought of trying to be in one of these positions crossed my mind. But instantly faded away because I thought I would not have a shot for any of the positions. When I was in class at Belleville East, Mahlik said, you should try to run for one of the positions in our CEO class. I previously talked to him about how I wanted to interact more with our group. He told me this would be my best option to get more involved with our CEO class. I thought about what he said but I kind of was undecided. So that very night I began to think about what decision I was going to make and about if I wanted to try to run for one of the positions. I contemplated back and forth with my mind and I doubted my own self because I thought that nobody would vote for me to be one of those positions because I was very quiet in our CEO class and I knew they would want somebody who interacts with the class and talks more. So finally I came up with the decision that I was going to step out of my comfort zone and try to run for COO.I really thought all night about what I was going to say to my CEO class to get them to really trust that I can be the best person for this position. The next morning I was kind of nervous because I had to step up in front of the class and give a short speech. I also was nervous to see the people who also wanted the position I wanted. So after Mrs. Siebers got done calling out the position for CFO and CEO it was the time for the people who wanted to do the COO position. I hesitated when she said, does anybody want to run for the COO position, because after hearing Nick’s and Ian speeches I knew it was no way I was getting the COO position. Then Josie raised her hand and I was thinking I definitely cannot go now because I knew that all three of them would be perfect for COO. But something in my heart told me just to try to do it, and I literally prayed to God in my seat and then I raised my hand and I walked to the center of the room. I did not know what it was but I got so nervous I could barely talk. But something told me just to speak from my heart and I did. Then when they called out the name for who was the COO my name got called. I was so surprised and happy that I could not believe it, I thanked God. I learned two lessons that day that I would never doubt myself again, and I will always take advantage of my opportunities.

10/06/2017

What things do you do that makes you lose track of time? This was a very interesting question from Geri Boyer of Kaskaskia Engineering Company. When I listened to the words she said you can tell she is a outstanding women. Her story that she told us was very good and interesting. She talked about how she was the only female working in the mining job and how other men would basically harass her because they did not want any women taking over men’s jobs. She was strong mentally and physically with having to undergo all of the negative comments from the men and her own boss. Now with all of that being said she now owns her own engineering company and that speaks a lot for itself. She said her business is a strength based organization. Geri said they concentrate on people’s strengths instead of their weaknesses. Which is very interesting because now of days you see businesses focusing more on people’s weaknesses. I loved how when you walk around to the different employees desk and they all have a plaque with their strengths on them. I have never seen any business do anything like that before. You can really tell that Geri cares about her employees because her actions shows it. Geri asked me a question, “Why do you want to own your own business.” I hesitated for a quick moment, and replied, “ Because I want to turn what I love into my career job.” I also liked how Geri said, “You have to understand your full potential.” I can really agree with that statement because I am still trying to reach my full potential.

When me and my CEO class took a field trip to have a meeting with the Nicol Foundation and to meet up with other CEO classes, it was very beneficial. We met new people and mingled with different business owners which was very fun. One of the speakers Donnie Wilson talked about how the best thing that happened to him was forming relationships. Which is a very key tool that I will take into the business world for myself. Another great speaker Pete Visintin talked about how you have to dream big. He had a great story that really woke me up about life. He was talking about how his dad got sick out of nowhere and how his whole personality changed about doing things. He started striving to do big things in his life. Instead of wasting time and taking things for granted.

I never knew what that building was across from Memorial until I went into it. The business is called Kurrus Funeral Home. It is very successful business which is being ran by Dale Kurrus. You can tell that this business is going to be owned by their own family for many generations. Dale Kurrus took us back to the rooms where they cremate people. At first I was thinking why would he take us back there and I kind of had this disgusting thought. But the thing is you can tell that Kurrus Funeral Home is a nice and clean place. It somewhere where you would want your loved ones to be taken care of when they pass away because Dale Kurrus was not afraid to show us any aspects of the funeral home.

09/24/2017

Arbitration: method of solving disputes. Donald Shoemaker told us that arbitration is a word that all entrepreneurs should know. The two men who also came and talked to me and my CEO class left us with a lot of useful knowledge that we can use in the business world. They talked about how staying organized is the key to production. Which is a very key fact for not only other people but for me. They talked about the different things that they did in their jobs as a lawyer. They said that marketing was a big part of being a lawyer. Which I really never thought about until now. They also went along and talked about how education is the key factor in getting a good job. So that means if you want the best job you have to have the best grades. They gave us some tips on what we should do when starting our own businesses. They said we should talk to a lawyer or an accountant about financial reasons. They said when dealing with clients or employees always get a contractual obligation. The last key thing that they said was someone always has to be the boss. They criticized over how when sharing a business with another person usually does not work out well.

Ed Hoering talked about we should be more involved in our community. He works in the 7th largest firm in the world, which is pretty impressive. He talked about how if you are going to start a business you have to be working on that business everyday all day. He said it was times when his business got in the way of his personal life. But in the end he overcame that hardship. Which I think should be a lesson to everyone that you are going to have some obstacles in your life at some point. It is about how you get over the obstacle rather than what the obstacle was.

Brian Mentzer is a multitasking business man. He runs a total of five family oriented businesses. Which are the most businesses that I have heard ran by one family. His businesses are very successful and he has plans in the future on making his businesses better. He talked about how in business if you are ever in a situation when you do not have enough money to pay for something; you have to find ways to cut expenses. He also talked about the different relationships that he created with other businesses to help his business. I liked how in his presentation that he went down each and every business that he created partnership with and explained how they came together. I can tell in the future when Brian Mentzer can no longer run the businesses that he will pass it on to his three sons just like his dad passed it on to him. I also can predict that those businesses will continue to be very successful down the road.

09/17/2017

Arbitration: method of solving disputes. Donald Shoemaker told us that arbitration is a word that all entrepreneurs should know. The two men who also came and talked to me and my CEO class left us with a lot of useful knowledge that we can use in the business world. They talked about how staying organized is the key to production. Which is a very key fact for not only other people but for me. They talked about the different things that they did in their jobs as a lawyer. They said that marketing was a big part of being a lawyer. Which I really never thought about until now. They also went along and talked about how education is the key factor in getting a good job. So that means if you want the best job you have to have the best grades. They gave us some tips on what we should do when starting our own businesses. They said we should talk to a lawyer or an accountant about financial reasons. They said when dealing with clients or employees always get a contractual obligation. The last key thing that they said was someone always has to be the boss. They criticized over how when sharing a business with another person usually does not work out well.

Ed Hoering talked about we should be more involved in our community. He works in the 7th largest firm in the world, which is pretty impressive. He talked about how if you are going to start a business you have to be working on that business everyday all day. He said it was times when his business got in the way of his personal life. But in the end he overcame that hardship. Which I think should be a lesson to everyone that you are going to have some obstacles in your life at some point. It is about how you get over the obstacle rather than what the obstacle was.

Brian Mentzer is a multitasking business man. He runs a total of five family oriented businesses. Which are the most businesses that I have heard ran by one family. His businesses are very successful and he has plans in the future on making his businesses better. He talked about how in business if you are ever in a situation when you do not have enough money to pay for something; you have to find ways to cut expenses. He also talked about the different relationships that he created with other businesses to help his business. I liked how in his presentation that he went down each and every business that he created partnership with and explained how they came together. I can tell in the future when Brian Mentzer can no longer run the businesses that he will pass it on to his three sons just like his dad passed it on to him. I also can predict that those businesses will continue to be very successful down the road.

09/17/2017

...Tyler Douthitt is a very successful entrepreneur; he runs his own business out of his house, which is selling earbuds to amazon and different schools. When one of my fellow classmates asked what makes his earbuds different from the other earbuds companies, he replied, the price, the selection, and the service. He talked about his journey to entrepreneurship and how he got where he is now. He said he did not even major in business in college. He majored in computer science. He talked about how the key to business was to try to spend money where it needs to be spent. One key phrase the Mr. Tyler Douthitt said was “be authentic.” I looked up the word authentic and looked at what it meant and the first word I saw was genuine. Genuine means to be truly what something is said to be.

At Althoff Catholic High School there are a lot of big things being installed inside and outside of the school. First, Althoff is getting their first new football and baseball field which is being shared by both of the sports team. Which is very exciting for Althoff staff, students, and fans. Because they all can enjoy home games for Althoff.  Althoff is also getting a new program installed in the school to where they have different areas for students who want to take a construction class or do broadcasting that deals with learning how to be a news anchor. The new stuff that Althoff have for its’ students sounds very interesting and kind of makes want to be a part of that excitement and fun. Dave Harris, the principal at Althoff, was very excited when showing us the new stuff that they are building in Althoff.   He is really looking forward to it all being done. It was very interesting to me to hear that Althoff does not get any money from the government. They have to raise all of their money from holding different events at the school and fundraisers. Then one of the speakers talked about how they recruit new students to go to their schools. They reach out to other Catholic Middle Schools and talk to the students about Althoff and try to get them to be interested in coming to the school. The speaker also said they did not want a lot of students going to their school they wanted to keep it small. It cost around 8 thousand to go Althoff which is not that bad considering other catholic schools in Chicago and different places which cost over 14 thousand dollars.

09/08/2017

I learned a new lesson in the past couple of days and that lesson is customer hospitality. I learned this lesson from a very great thriving business Holiday World. We toured Holiday World and the tour guide talked about how it takes a certain amount of people to work in each department. She emphasized on how teamwork completes the job at Holiday World. Holiday is already known for its great customer satisfaction. That is what makes people keep coming back to Holiday world because they treat you very good and act like they really care about you. As well as coming to Holiday World as a customer Holiday world takes care of its employees. If you are in a certain radius of Holiday World a bus comes and pick up its’ employees. I have never heard of any business like that, which offers employee pick-ups. That really makes Holiday World really special and sounds like a place that you would want to work at. With all of this being said the tour guide said they have fun doing their job as well. Who would not want to have to have fun doing their job? I asked the tour guide a question, “what makes you different from other theme parks”, she responded and said the guest and employees make us different.

We traveled to the district office and talked to Jeff Dosier. He gave some good words of advice he said if you are going to be a business owner you want to learn about your employees. He talked about great soft skills when interacting with other people in a social setting. He also said when approaching a person make sure he give them eye contact.

When the class went to the Egyptian Workplace the owner Brett talked about how they took the company and made it better. They also talked about how it is going to keep being a thriving business in the next ten years from now.

09/01/2017

“Be yourself, and stay humble.” These words really stuck with me when hearing Mike Marchal say this quote out his mouth. I began to think about what Mike Marchal really meant by the words he said. Then I instantly came up with a solution and broke down the words. “Be Yourself” means to not act like somebody you are not or to try to change the way you act or the person your are for anybody. Stay the person you always once was and never change. The second set of words Mike Marchal said was “stay humble.” What does stay humble really mean? Well my own terminology of “stay humble” means to stay modest and stay grateful for the opportunities that you have in life. There are a lot of people who brag on what they have or how successful they are. When we should be lifting each other up as a whole. I asked Mike a question about what would be the best piece of advice to be a good leader. He thought about it for a couple of seconds and narrowed it down to two answers. The first answer he said was that you have to take care of other people. That means treating them right and insetting confidence in them so that they can perform their job well. The last answer he gave me was to choose a positive attitude. That means try to always have an up-lifting mood when coming into a work space. Because if everyone see’s that you have a negative mood then they will most likely have that same mood. You want to try to have a positive mood each and every day so people will feed off of that positive mood.

 Dave Zura is the president of Allsup and in our conference with him he talked about how this CEO class of ours was to really teach us if we wanted to be an entrepreneur or not. I remember the story he told us of how he thought of being a doctor once. Then he went and saw what doctors really do and he knew instantly that being a doctor was not the job for him. Basically what he was saying was to experience every career and cross off the ones that you know you do not want to do in the long-run.

08/25/2017