It can take some time to get your pitch right. You'll likely go through several versions before finding one that is compelling, and that sounds natural in conversation. This week in CEO we worked hard to complete our elevator pitch while we also visited Dave Padgett from Padgett Construction.

 On Monday we visited David Padgett where he talked to us about Padgett Building & Remodeling Co. Inc. which was founded in February 1992.  Peggy, Don and Ron Padgett are three of six children of Tom and Marie Padgett.  The Padgetts were raised in Fairview Heights, IL and attended Althoff Catholic High School.  Tom Padgett, while working for the Norfolk and Western Railroad ran his own heating and refrigeration business.  During the summer and on Saturdays, Don and Ron worked with their father installing new heating and cooling units.  The Padgetts gained their first new home construction experience in the summer of 1979 while building a home for the family. Don and Ron continued to work construction to help defray college costs. Graduating with degrees in Business Administration in May of 1983, Don and Ron established Padgett Brothers Construction.  They closed the company in the fall of 1988 and went to work for others within the construction industry.   Padgett Building & Remodeling took on a new direction during 2006.  The company was contracted by Hunt Building Company, Ltd. to renovate historic housing at Scott Air Force Base located in Mascoutah, IL.  With that project being a success, in 2009 the company entered in a second contract with Hunt Building Company, Ltd. at Langley Air Force Base located in Hampton, VA.  David Padgett relocated to Virginia to run that project and returned in 2011 to work in the company as General Manager. Everyone in Padgett construction has some sort philanthropy.   Mr. Padgett volunteers at the Humane Society. In 2014, David Padgett bought 100 shares of stock in his family company.

 The next day Kurt Artinger came in to listen to our elevator pitch. That was my first time I actually pitched about my business. I wasn't nervous at all but I didn't know exactly what to talk about.   Mr. Artinger told me to get comfortable with my pitch. You don’t want to sound like a pre-recorded program. Have passion, yet show some restraint. Most of all, relax! If you stumble that is totally fine, smile and start over. Practice as much as I can eventually I will find the perfect pitch for me. The day after that we actually pitched for real. I walked in to Shark Tank music and pitched my company to the judges. The day after we found the winners and I found out that I didn't win which was not a surprise to me at all but I tried which makes it okay.

04/07/2017

 This week we got visit Sips n Splatters and we also got to visit Lindenwood University. We learned a lot about public speaking and knowing what to say it and when to say it.

On Monday we went to Lindenwood University and learned about the importance of public speaking. It's much easier to be convincing if you care about your topic. Figure out what's important to you about your message and speak from the heart. We did an exercise where we had to pretend to be the CEO of Uber after all the scrutiny Uber is dealing with and we had to do an on camera interview and we were given a scenario to speak on.   If you're not comfortable with public speaking - and nobody starts out comfortable; you have to learn how to be comfortable - practice. I cannot overstate the importance of practicing. Get some close friends or family members to help evaluate you, or somebody at work that you trust. I have been always a clown..I'm no good at public speaking, but if I can assume a role and speak as that person, then I'm fine. When I had to give a book report, I always did it in character. Public speaking is scary, I think. I've gotten way better at it. If I have to do a speech then that's easy, but if I have to get up there and pretend I know something in front of adults, it's never fine. In front of adults, it's like, they're going to judge me.

The day after that we visited Sips n Splatters with David and Chris Brandt. They told us about their story and how they went to shark tank to pitch their idea. They basically told us about how there was a point that they were completely out of money and that David had a box of money that he saved behind his bed he counted up and they had close to 10,000 dollars. David told us that with that money he used it to buy a building in downtown Belleville and start their business and live their dream Stay true to yourself, yet always be open to learn. Work hard, and never give up on your dreams, even when nobody else believes they can come true but you. These are not cliches, but real tools you need, no matter what you do in life to stay focused on your path.

Next week we will be pitching for potential “business investors” and the trade show is also coming up soon.

03/31/2017

Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art. This week in CEO we learned about the importance of financials as we visited Mike and Verna Dunnigan at Trinity Financial services and we met with Mike Wenzel from Wenzel and Associates.   This week was mainly about the importance of being financially responsible.

The week started at Trinity Financial Group as we met with Mike and Verna Dunnigan. As we all found a seat in the cozy room, eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts as fast as they put them on the table, Mr. Dunnigan told us about why he named his business Trinity. Mike Dunnigan is very religious and believes in the way of the Lord which is also what I agree with as well. He also told us about how when he was not in a good point in his life he wrote down everything that they spent to save money and he taught us about the Rule of 72. The Rule of 72 is a way to estimate the number of years it takes for a certain variable to double. To estimate the number of years for a variable to double, take the number 72 and divide it by the growth rate of the variable. This rule is commonly used with an annual compound interest rate to quickly determine how long it takes to double your money.

The next day we met with Mike Wenzel.  He was mainly concerned about our cash flow. Cash flow is defined as the difference between the available cash at the beginning of an accounting period and that at the end of the period. Cash comes in from sales, loan proceeds, investments and the sale of assets and goes out to pay for operating and direct expenses, principal debt service, and the purchase of asset. Cash comes in from sales, loan proceeds, investments and the sale of assets and goes out to pay for operating and direct expenses, principal debt service, and the purchase of assets. Mr Wenzel told us, your cash flow projections are based on the past performance of your business. To project your cash flow, start by breaking down projected sales over the next year, according to the percentage of business volume generated each month. Divide each month's sales, according to cash sales and credit sales. Cash sales can be logged into the cash flow statement in the same month they're generated. Credit sales aren't credit card sales, which are treated as cash, but rather invoiced sales with agreed-upon terms. Refer to your accounts receivable records and determine your average collection period. If it's 30 days, then sales made by credit can't be logged into cash until 35 to 40 days after they're made.

As CEO continues to wind down the business in CEO continues to pick up as Banker Day and the elevator pitch is right around the corner.

03/24/2017

 Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It's about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire teammates and customers. This week we met with Joe Wiley and Patrick McKeehan.

First we met with Joe Wiley, who was recognized in February 2009 by the St. Louis Business Journal as One of the Most Influential St. Louisans. In September 2009 he received the Inclusive Leadership Award, which recognizes St. Louis’ most influential minority business leaders. In September 2011 he received St. Louis University’s College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Merit Award. He serves as a basketball TV sports analyst for the St. Louis. Mr. Wiley is the owner of Quest Management. Founded in 2003, Quest Management Consultants is a Human Resources Consulting Company with expertise in Career Transition, Leadership Development, Organizational Effectiveness and Talent Acquisition. With Joe Wiley’s background that includes a 30 year Human Resources career with Pfizer, General Dynamics and Monsanto.  Quest is a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certified by the State of Missouri and the Minority Business Council. He taught us about his background and the importance of networking, It's all about people. It's about networking and being nice to people and not burning any bridges. Your book is going to impress, but in the end it is people that are going to hire you

The next day Patrick McKeehan who is the Economic Development Director of the city of O’fallon came in to talk to us about our pitches  and knowing our customer, quoting “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, they are not dependent on us. We are dependent on them. They are not an interruption in our work. They are the purpose of it. They are not outsiders in our business. They are part of it. We are not doing them a favor by serving them. They are doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so”. Alayna went up to give her 2 minute pitch about her company on the spot and everything flowed smoothly but she missed some points as Mr. McKeehan said.

CEO is still slowing down even though we still have much to do.

03/17/2017

The dinner table is the center for the teaching and practicing not just of table manners, but of conversation, consideration, tolerance, family feeling, and just about all the other accomplishments of polite society except the minute. We learned about the importance of table etiquette and manners while visiting Thad Payne at St. Clair Country Club, also we learned about the importance of keeping culture and a positive environment with Kurt Artinger at Artigem Replacement Services.

The week started at the new home base of Artigem Replacement Services. Mr Artinger talked to us about the importance of fighting for what you want and never backing down from a challenge. Mr. Artinger bought a historic but run down old YMCA building in downtown Belleville. Many of his friends and associates said that It was a lost cause, but he saw the good he could bring to his city while also creating jobs. He told us that when you invest your time, you make a goal and a decision about something that you want to accomplish. Whether it's making good grades in school, be a good athlete, be a good person, go down and do some community service and help somebody who's in need, whatever it is you choose to do, you're investing your time in that, don't underestimate the power of your vision to change the world. Whether that world is your office, your community, an industry or a global movement, you need to have a core belief that what you contribute can fundamentally change the paradigm or way of thinking about problems. This really stuck out to me because when we saw all he has done just for the community on its own, he saved the city a plethora amount of dollars just for them to demolish it and I really respect him for that. We also took a tour of the building and saw all of the renovations he did and we even saw the gym and the old stage which is now the break room. They found a historic picture that used to be used as a backdrop and they hung it up on the wall to show more culture in the break room. Mr. Artinger was quoted saying “People should be excited to go to work every day. Whether it's adding fun gadgets to your office, organizing staff lunches or simply joining a shared workspace being surrounded by engaging activities and productive people will make hard and busy days easier to deal with.”  He also encourages people to make mistakes, he believes mistakes are learning experiences and he hates when his staff will hide it from him because it will become a bigger issue. He personally believes that if they have to hide their mistakes from him, he is not doing his job correctly.

The next day we met with former Air Force Officer, Thad Payne at St. Clair Country Club. He taught us about the importance of table etiquette, good manners show respect for others. There are cultural differences of course, but there is a broad agreement across the world. Some people use a knife and fork one way, Americans who cut their food and use their fork another, and Africans and Arabs who use their fingers. All traditional but perhaps not acceptable to use your own method when in another country. Table manners are really important because you will eat in a fashion that doesn't offend. Table manners doesn't just mean how to hold a knife or fork, but how to converse and with whom, thank serving staff verbally, when you can leave the table, what to do during speeches and much more. Your level of knowledge necessary for good table manners also varies depending on your status. Most people will enjoy a 3 or 4 course meals, but if you are attending functions, dinners and banquets then you need to know about a whole raft of cutlery. I was actually lucky enough to be the guinea pig in this situation and learn table etiquette for the first time. He told me something that surprised me at first he said “People notice everything. This is particularly true in business relationships. In addition to great job performance, having good dining etiquette helps to establish your credibility and reputation. It also helps to make you an accepted member of the business group. And if you think about it, it helps build your self-confidence. It’s another skill to add to your professional repertoire.” I honestly did not believe people cared about the way I ate, but he proved me wrong that day.

The Storm of CEO activities is starting again and it is sadly almost coming to an end, I hope that i can make my time worthwhile.

03/10/2017

At the end of the day, both men and women who become CEOs have shown tenacity and hard work to succeed in their careers. It takes not just skills, but also extreme dedication and commitment. And regardless of gender, CEOs are measured by the same criteria, the growth and success of the business. This week on CEO we worked very close with Joann DiMaggio May while also having our last day at Precision Practice Management .

The week started with Jo-Ann DiMaggio May who came in to help us with our personal business plans. My business plan was already done do with me starting it the first time she came in to talk to us. A snippet of my business plan is Iconic Live Entertainment Company, LLC is focused, at this time, on providing Event Planning and Stage/Live Music Equipment distribution. Our focus is the St. Louis market; however, we expect to operate in cities throughout Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, and Kentucky. Our focus will serve the following client needs: DJ Services, Stage Equipment Rental, Event Planning, Video Distribution, Live Streaming Events Video Production,Live Music Managers. We Intend to be used in the following places: Concerts, Weddings, Birthday Parties, Parties, College Parties, Bat Mitzvahs, City Get Togethers, Professional Wrestling Events, MMA Events, Boxing Events, etc.  Email me at iconicliveentertainment@gmail.com or call me at (618) 531-0089 for more information, just to let you guys know.

The last day at Precision Practice Management was bittersweet. I love going to new places and being in new places, but at the same time Renae was so nice to us and basically treated us like family and it will be hard to see her go but I know that she will always be a supporter of Belleville CEO.

As our week comes to a close we have new jobs and a new home base this is our last home base so I know the clock is ticking for us.

03/03/2017

This week in CEO we got to meet with Mike Riley and Sal Akbani from Gateway Classic Cars.  The main lesson we learned this week is that your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.   Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.

 On Tuesday we met with Mike Riley. He is a 1975 graduate of SLU University; he serves as president of Physical Therapy Association and was member on the Belleville Commerce and Althoff Catholic High School board. After he graduated from Belleville East, he went straight to SWIC.   He started his company while getting an education. His company rehabilitates for all St Elizabeth's Hospital.   Even though he has not seen a patient in 8 years, he services about 25 nursing homes as his company started in Illinois. Now they are in Indiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Texas. He knew a lot of people in the business and  it's important to network.  He encouraged us to read The 4 Disciplines of Execution. Every other month in his son’s doctorate program, they read a book and discuss it.   Wildly important goal (WIG), it is important to do. He also told us it is very important to be an engaged employee.  An engaged employee is someone that enjoys what they do. Concluding, he will be president of the Illinois State Physical Therapy Association soon, and he has a website called indeed.com.

 On Thursday we met at Gateway Classic Cars where we met Sal Akbani. Sal’s story was very intriguing to me because he was originally from Pakistan and migrated to Chicago to start his own business. Most of his businesses failed at first and then he decided that he wanted to go into selling classic cars. Many people said that he could not do it because the industry just is not there but one thing Sal told us was, nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space. Sal really shows me that the American dream is real.  Anyone can be successful here no matter who you are.   If you have the drive and compassion, you can achieve anything you put your mind to.

 My week in CEO was cut short due to me failing ill on Friday so I hope that the meeting with Jason Eding went well. As CEO slowly comes to a close with weeks until graduation we are all reminded of the memories that we have built and the ones that we will continue to build.

02/24/2017

This week was fully compacted of workdays and one business visit and also a guest speaker. On Wednesday we had a full workday where Austin and I partnered- up to visit businesses and on Tuesday we met with, Mathis Marifian & Richter. Following Ms. Erica Barnell from Geneoscopy to come in to talk to us.

Our week started on Tuesday when we met in Downtown Belleville to meet with Mathis, Marifian, & Richter.  The business started in 1984 as a boutique firm. Expanding in corporate situations because of the giant business it is then they picked up a case with bankruptcy.  They have 22 lawyers now.  They don’t do divorces and they also don’t represent unions.   To be a successful business person you have to spot the problem and solve the problem. One thing that I learned is that not all investors are bad some investors that invest money in your company just want stake in your company only.   They invested money in your company so why would they not be involved about where their money is going. One thing that Pat Mathis told us was “At times, you will have to step out of your comfort zone to realize significant gains. Know the boundaries of your comfort zone and practice stepping out of it in small doses. As much as you need to know the market, you need to know yourself too. Can you handle staying in when everyone else is jumping ship? Or getting out during the biggest rally of the century? There's no room for pride in this kind of self-analysis. The best investment strategy can turn into the worst if you don't have the stomach to see it through.   We all want wealth, but how do we achieve it? It starts with a successful career which relies on your skills and talents. Invest in yourself through school, books, or a quality job where you can acquire a quality skill set. Identify your talents and find a way to turn them into an income-generating vehicle. In doing so, you can truly leverage your career into an "engine of your wealth."”.

On Wednesday we had an all day work day where Austin and I went around businesses in Fairview Heights to talk to businesses about donating and potentially having a sponsorship. Usually I do not like asking for money but my mentor, Mr Adam Hill told me a quote,  “Sponsorship provides a great means of broadening your competitive edge by improving your company's image, prestige and credibility by supporting events that your target market finds attractive.” In recent years, corporate sponsorship has become the fastest growing type of marketing in the United States.

On Friday Ms. Erica Barnell came in to talk to us about Colonoscopies and colon cancer and what she does to help that. After researching colon cancer and colonoscopies, I have found out that a colonoscopy is a test that allows your doctor to look at the inner lining of your large intestine (rectum and colon). He or she uses a thin, flexible tube called a colonoscopy to look at the colon. A colonoscopy helps find ulcers, colon polyps, tumors, and areas of inflammation or bleeding. During a colonoscopy, tissue samples can be collected (biopsy) and abnormal growths can be taken out. Colonoscopy can also be used as a screening test to check for cancer or precancerous growths in the colon or rectum (polyps). What Ms. Barnell does is she does not want her patients to go through that uncomfortable situation so she basically, takes a sample of feces and see if it has a cancerous DNA in it that she can accurately diagnose instead of going through a very uncomfortable operation.

The CEO Around The Fountain event is right around the corner and things are really starting to pick up. Everyone is starting to do their jobs and it is becoming to look like a great event.

01/27/2017

The most successful businessman on the planet in my opinion is Mr. Warren Buffett He has a net worth of close to 71.9 Billion dollars by trading in the stock markets and growing companies. Undoubtedly the most successful investor of the 20th century recognized the value of reinvesting early on!  He quoted saying, “Reinvesting is the best way to build wealth. If you’re a business owner, reinvesting is crucial to your company’s continued growth and success. It’s worth keeping in mind that investing isn’t just about a sudden influx of cash -- your time and experience are also extremely valuable.” This is what this week was all about reinvestments in your company.

The week started on Tuesday because of Martin Luther King Jr Day, the week was totaled for two workdays, and and two visits. It basically began when Jo-Ann Dimaggio May came in to speak with us about our class business, and our personal businesses. I had the fortune to speak with one of her associates one on one. I was told that I needed to make my decisions fast, because as soon as i release my ideas there are going to be tons of people that will try to steal it, we are talking about patents and copyrights. I did not know what a copyright was so I had to do some research. It turns out that copyright protection extends to existing products and contents, and new material too. According to a study by Price Waterhouse Cooper, copyright laws play key roles in supporting economic growth. Copyright protection extends to over 770,000 content creators in the United Kingdom. These creators produce significant volumes of unique work, sold as software, books and other mediums. Through the copyright system, they receive legal title to their works, which ensures they receive income produced from those works. In turn, that revenue helps them stay in business. Business operation, in turn, contributes to national economic stability and even growth. Copyright laws protect goods considered tangible items. Legal protection takes effect upon release of materials and products into the public domain. Copyright protection, like warranties and insurance, protects items for certain periods of time. Most afford protection for long periods of time, such as 70 to more than 100 years after creation. (United States Government Website). Thus I liked the idea of having a copyright I had the idea in the back of my mind that I did not even have a company yet, therefore l do not need a copyright.

On Thursday we visited The Edge and learned about reinvesting in your company as well as how the theater business works. I thought that movie theaters were rich and made a lot of money from tickets and from the studio but as I found out that is not the case, as Keith and Mary Dahm-Schell the owners of The edge said, “Theaters get to keep between 10% and 50% of the ticket price they sell. The better the film does, the more the studio will often take. This is one of the few businesses where the terms are determined after the product is used we, know how much we pay after the film has closed. Many films are firm terms, which mean we set a percentage before the movie plays. But, most are negotiated after the run. There is only so much money people are willing to pay to see a movie so the price for a ticket doesn’t change much, no matter how much it cost to make a movie. Granted, The Edge will generally have a price increase (if one is due) just before a major release and there are premiums added for events such as 3D movies. But, generally movies cost the end consumer about the same. Much of that multimillion-dollar budget goes to marketing to make sure people come to see the film. It works very well. Most cinemas like The Edge who do not have major grant right from the studios, make their money in the snack bar. The ticket revenue covers film rent, some payroll, building rent, etc. But the snack bar profits are what make the enterprise successful. People do not generally get into the film exhibition business to get rich. We do it because we love film and bringing it to people. We like being the tender of the cultural bonfire where many people in many cultures gather. In exchange for that we are willing to live with less income. But, since a lot of what we do with our spare time has to do with movies anyway, it's okay.” After Mr. Dahm said that I gained a lot of respect for the theater industry.

I learned a lot this week in CEO from reinvestments to just knowing how things are done i'm so excited to see how the class business and personal businesses will turn out, we just need to make sure we reinvest!

01/20/2017

This week in CEO we had a lot of visits with people such as Renae Eichholz from Precision Practice Management, The Mayor of Belleville Mayor Eckert, and Joe Riley from Joe Riley Irrigation.

Our week started on Tuesday, Renae Eichholz came in to talk to us about how she started her business. This first thing she said that she was adopted and her mom had a child a couple months after she was adopted that made her feel special. She was in advanced classes throughout school and her high school years. But she said that she was more as a social person. She tried out for the cheerleading team and didn’t make it. Because of her lack of interest in school, she scored fair on her SAT but did not apply herself to do better. Her first job after graduation was in real estate in Brentwood. She worked for them for three years and got her real estate license and she believed that's what she wanted to do. As she went through the job she was not receiving commission so she quit and got a job at an eye doctor’s office. After she rose through the ranks of the office she started doing everything in the office. When she was hired at her new job, she fibbed and said she was familiar with the new software Medical Manager. She was so committed that she would work a shift from 4am - midnight. She became very very dissatisfied with her position in life so she went out with her dad. Her dad told her someday you will find something you want to do and you will love it.  Three months after that she decided to start her own business borrowing 40,000 dollars from the bank. Her first employee was Shelly Paule. ... started off small but then grew their business servicing hospitals. After Renae needed help from others, she merged with three other partners and became Precision Practice Management. Renae reminds me of myself because I do not exactly know what I want to do and I’m just letting my life come to me like she did. Her business has been up and going for 24 years.   Today they are 15 times larger than they ever have been.

On Wednesday we met with Mayor Eckert.  The first thing that he said to us is his history of as being mayor. He also told us that he is going up for reelection. He also said the main key to his success is working as a team. He has done a lot with the city but he could've not done it without the city alderman. Belleville is 203 years old and has rich culture. Art on the Square was voted the #1 ranked art show in the nation for the past two years and when it wasn’t number one it was in the top ten. The mayor said that his top priorities for Belleville were downtown Belleville and Belleville Lindenwood. He was also the executive director for the Franklin Neighborhood Association.   No matter if you're in business or in politics, it's about building relationships and surrounding yourself with good people which is the same thing Renae said a day ago.

01/13/2017

 CEO class has picked up with a bang. Already starting a new, at a new place called Precision Practice Management. While having the tour of the building we also had Belleville CEO Class of 2016 Alumni come in to talk to us as well as Jo-Ann DiMaggio May come in to speak with us

Our week was short this week, it started on Wednesday at Precision Practice Management. Mother Nature was not too kind to us that morning, as the snow was falling hard in the morning. Even though many of my classmates’ journals would be the same for this day, I’m pretty sure Cole, \Tim and I would have the same journal. Our morning started with us being locked out of the building for ten minutes and when we were let in they had lost the CEO class or did not know where exactly they were. The time that the CEO class was found the presentation was merely over but we arrived just in time for the tour. As I walked around I noticed that it is a mostly female dominated workplace, but everyone and I mean everyone seemed to be on one team with one job to do it did not look like a normal workplace with a boss telling them what to do. It looked like a team working together to do one job.

 The next day we had former students come in to talk to us about the class business and they’re personal businesses from last year.  All while having a little morning breakfast to eat. It seems like all of their stories were the same as they could not keep their personal businesses going because of the fact that they were going to college. My mentor actually told me that this could be a good thing for me because the business that I am thinking about doing I can stop it whenever I want and just use it for extra cash flow. One former student that I can relate to is Heather Gosebrink she has a business in which she can stop it when she wants but whenever she needs a little extra cash she can pick it up exactly where she left off.

The day after Jo-Ann DiMaggio May came in to talk to us about our class business plan, Around The Fountain, there were a lot of flaws in our business plan.   We did not have a lot of detail and we did not have a lot of things planned out. We needed a backup plan, it was not available until Mrs. May came in to save the day.

The Second Semester kicked off with a bang it’s hard to believe we only have 90 days of it left, I best not take it for granted.

01/06/2017

This week in CEO was important to me as I learned about meditation and stress mainly. We also had a meeting at The Abbey and we had Tom Farquhar come in to talk to us about what he does.

On Tuesday we went to the King’s House with Geri Boyer and her husband Deacon Doug Boyer to learn about the importance of meditation and stress. Meditating helps us to control “our mind and thoughts and turn off our mind when we do not need it anymore. Mrs. Boyer said Meditation reduces stress better than anything else I know of. Not only does the practice of meditation give you some down time to rest physically and mentally, it also has a very direct effect on your entire nervous system by reducing your body’s production of stress related chemicals like cortisol, and increasing the production of mood enhancing chemicals like serotonin.” Mr. Boyer also said that stress is not always a bad thing. Stress with consume the type of work you do good or bad and that’s not being a good leader. He told us a quote that "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it, the components of anxiety, stress, fear, and anger do not exist independently of you in the world. They simply do not exist in the physical world, even though we talk about them as if they do and stress happens when your mind resists what is...The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.” This quote basically is saying no matter how hard life is and how dark your days may be you can never let the stress get over you and, you will overcome it all.

On Monday when Tom Farquhar came in he told us “Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it.” which is a quote that I know I have heard before but a quote that really stuck with me.

 The last days were workdays as we worked on our class businesses and got to meet at the Abbey on Friday. We got to switch our jobs and we will meet at Precision Practice Management for the beginning of the second semester I can’t wait to get started.

12/16/2016

This week of CEO was filled with workdays to try to get our CEO class business to its solid product. We have a lot planned for everyone so I personally hope it will be extravagant and opportunistic to see your ideas come to life.

 The week started at the Governor's French Academy. Governor’s French is a small private school in Belleville Illinois when I first walked in I originally thought there's no way they have a school out of this small building. I walked into a room full of beautiful art and a gallery room it reminded me of going to the Peabody Opera House how when you walk in and you have all art in the front and then a beautiful chandelier to top it all off. Governors French is totally different from the public schools as the day starts everyone gathers in the stage room and says the pledge together and says announcements together which are really cool to me. One thing that I have noticed that makes governors French completely different from any other school is that you are in control of your progress you can advance grades at your own pace which really helps you actually learn and make sure you know what you're doing mostly in part that you are learning at your own pace. In many school you will have a teacher just go in front of the class and lecture you for 45 minutes then give you 4 sheets of homework and then not really care if you do it or not either way they are getting paid. That's not what Governors French is about as a matter of fact Governors French teachers payrolls are increased by each student’s success and care about their children I really liked my experience.

 The next day we met with Rollie Thouvenot with Thouvenot, Wade & Moerchen Inc. when we walked in were greeted by wonderful funny people who are probably one of the funniest business people I have met so far. We took a tour of the building and learned about what exactly they do which is kind of like graphic designing and engineering. When we walked into the snug room we all were happy to get doughnuts so happy the that it was the first thing we saw when I sat down I noticed a giant map behind me and saw how actually separated we are from different cities who I thought we were close to. Besides that we were introduced to this device that scanned the room we were in 360 3-D and it actually got all of us sitting there. It kind of looked like it was taking a picture and scanning us with lasers the whole time when we saw the final product of the power of the software that is capable of making a sale with measurements makes it 10 times easier to construct and design a certain building or object. When he began talking about expenses I thought of quote told to me a while ago I was told, "We can do things the cheap way, the simple way, for the short-term and without regard for the future.” Or, "we can make the extra effort, do the hard work, absorb the criticism and make decisions that will cause a better future." And that will always stick with me

 Next week we will not have a CEO Journal due to thanksgiving break so I hope everyone reading this has a Happy Thanksgiving with your families and remember thing that you are thankful for Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are.

11/18/2016

This week in CEO was quite adventurous when we got to meet with Cheryl Mitchell from the Midland Institute, and Derek Betz from Fletcher’s Kitchen. Even though the week was cut down short our learning was not.

The week started at Fletchers we got to meet the owner Mr. Derek Betz. He was telling us about the financials of owning a business and opening up your own business. I remembered that he was asking us how invested are we actually in our companies. He used the analogy pig invested or chicken invested.   For instance, in breakfast a chicken lays an egg and then walks away expecting it to be a marvelous thing like a company.  If you are chicken invested, you help here and there and want it to grow but it's not you're all in commitment. Then you can be pig committed, pigs no matter what have to sacrifice their lives for our breakfast. If you are pig committed in your company you will die for your company and do whatever it takes to see your company grow and thrive. I am definitely going to be pig committed in my personal business.

The day following Mrs. Cheryl Mitchell came in to talk to us about the Midland Institute and the growth of CEO. She also gave us a book written by Craig Lindvahl who is currently battling cancer. I am already halfway done with the book by the way. The way Mrs. Mitchell explained to us I am very Intrigued to see how CEO grow in the future.   It seems like Illinois is being swarmed with new CEO classes all over the state and also Minnesota and Colorado is getting a CEO class which I am very excited about. She told us that she wants us as alumni to always stay in touch with CEO and recommended that we join the CEO personal social media so we can always stay in touch. We all joined in a heartbeat!

This week in CEO was short due to Veteran's Day and certain personal activities but we have all taken progress in our class business.  We even had Mr. Crotty come in to talk to us on Monday about decorations and how he would think everything would look.   I would like to thank him for that.

 I would also like to thank my business mentor Mr. Adam Hill, for taking some time out on Friday and getting some financials down and looking around the city for some affordable equipment for my personal business. I cannot wait to show everyone what I have in store because it’s just a matter of time until it happens. With the accelerated pace it seems the first semester of CEO is almost over and it has been absolutely amazing I cannot wait to see what second semester has in store because if it is anything like the first or better this class will undoubtedly be the best class in Belleville West Business classes history or actually the best business class in Illinois.

11/11/2016

This week for me was a big week to think about financials. We had Kevin Nicol from, Nicol Financial Services come in and also I got to have a one on one meeting with my mentor Adam Hill, along with two workdays.

 The week started at Barcom when Kevin Nicol came in to talk to us about the fundamentals for financial freedom. At first I must be honest I did not think I was going to understand it at all, I am not really good at numbers and don't really care for math, but Mr. Nicol found a way to make it interesting, understanding, and fun. Mr. Nicol continued to explain to us to be an owner not a loaner, at first I misunderstood because at the moment I was thinking of the type of loaner that doesn't talk to anyone, but that's not what he was saying. Mr. Nicol was saying that everything that you finance in in your company you want to own,  because that in your personal asset and that is going to count towards your net worth which is a good thing. Your net worth is a combination between assets, income, and your company. With all of those things you will have a great income. If you want better behavior from bankers, then make their financial incentives more like those in the hedge-fund world, where managers have 'skin in the game,' and their net worth is tied to their long-term performance (Steve Jobs)

 The days following we continued to discuss our class businesses and assign responsibility for them. We had a tough time thinking about what we should make our fountain out of for around the fountain. I suggested a chocolate fountain most in part that I was hungry at the moment and I was thinking about chocolate doughnuts. Who knew my hunger would become in great use, everyone thought it was a great Idea and I think we are going to take off with it.

 The following day I met with my Mentor Adam Hill to discuss my personal business. I will admit at first I was really nervous to tell him what I was thinking. He told me that I was prepared for every question he had about what I wanted to do and how I wanted to approach it. He loved my ideas I could see his eyes just light up as I kept talking. We looked over my business plans and financials. And he said one thing I need from you is to not be afraid to fail if things don't work, it will just make you better. I completely understood I knew my business was going to be a very expensive start up and I need someone who can help me get through that enormous obstacle. I think I got the right person. This week since we do not have school on Friday we are both going out to look for some gear that will work for me and that will work with our budgets. For me I already have projects lined up so we are taking off and I cannot wait.

 As another week concludes in CEO I see us not growing as a class but as a group of entrepreneurs and that is about the greatest progress you could ask for. Also Happy Birthday Mrs. Siebers, Stephen, and Me!

11/04/2016

Do what you love to do and give it your very best. Whether it's business or baseball, or the theater, or any field. If you don't love what you're doing and you can't give it your best, get out of it. Life is too short. You'll be an old man before you know it. (Steve Jobs). This week in CEO was not really about working on your businesses, it was about finding out what you want to do and do it with your best ability. We met Jim and Shirley Rauckman, from Rauckman Utility Products, and Neal Eilers from Super Bit Kicks.

 The week started out at Rauckman Utility Products. It was a massive warehouse full of wonderful toys and great people. I got to get my face 3D scanned and they are going to 3D print it onto a gnome, which I find super cool. Mr. Rauckman told me two really good quotes. He told me to always have a brand no matter what it is you do. Most people in our society buy name brand things just because it looks better than the non-name brand when it is the same exact product or service. He also told us to Believe, yes it's very cheesy but true. Miracles do happen sometimes; you may get a lucky break and have someone invest in your product to the point where you not only grow as a company, but a franchise, and then a franchise to a dynasty. Mrs. Rauckman also told us that “For most of life, nothing wonderful happens. If you don’t enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are you’re not going to be very happy. If someone bases his/her happiness on major events like a great job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn’t going to be happy much of the time. If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness.” which is a quote she was told when she did believe her husband's passion for engineering was not the job he was doing behind a desk.

 The next day we got to talk to Neal Eilers who took our CEO Pictures for the website. Mr. Eilers gave us some really good tips on how to run your business if it is mainly going to be an internet business. Mr. Eilers runs Super Bit Kicks. Super Bit Kicks is an online store on Etsy where you can have a shoe customized by Mr. Eilers himself. Mr. Eilers uses mainly vans that he usually buys in bulk. Mr. Eilers told us that advertisement may not be as good as you think. He was telling us that sometimes paying to get your word out will not always work because people will not always pay attention to what you are writing. If you're product is good enough the company will advertise itself. People will spread the word about your company and more people will be wondering what your company is and what you guys do.

 This week of CEO was short and sweet but it had tons of good life lessons and tips. Plus I got my face 3D printed which is wicked awesome. CEO is just flying away hopefully we can slow down a little and catch our breaths.

10/28/2016

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand, Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek. (Vince Lombardi). This week in CEO we met a veteran of war and former CBS correspondent Peter Maer at CEO Empowerment Day, who told us about dedication and success. We also met with Charles Fike, from Rafeedie & Associates who taught us about how to be a good leader of a company.

The week started when Charles Fike from Charles H Fike LLC, came in to talk to us about being a good leader of your company and what you're true passions are. Mr. Fike said the most intelligent thing i have heard so far when saying “Even if you are the owner you are at the bottom of the totem pole.” This made sense because when you are the owner of a company you are the last to get paid. You have to pay all of the bills for your company, you have to pay all of your employees. You are the last to get paid. Mr.Fike also said that everyone is your boss, you work for your people, your employees are your bosses when they are not you are not doing your job correctly. Mr.Fike also said what I wrote down word for word a superb quote. He told us“Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it.”

Later that week we met with Hamilton Callison from Wirtz Beverages, who taught us about the numbers in our company and how we should run a budget and stick to it. He gave us an exercise to do where he gave us papers with different scenarios on it. He gave us some numbers on which scenario that would work best for our company. All the different scenarios had different budget plans that we personally had to pick from that would best fit suit our company. He told us to always use the plan that costs the less expense to the company so your profit will always be over your costs.

The next day the Belleville CEO class took a field trip to gateway convention center for the CEO empowerment day. It was a great vibe when we first walked in and saw our fellow CEO classes such as Granite City and Alton. When we sat down we got to hear from a great person in Peter Maer. Peter Maer was a presidential cbs journalist that got to meet and speak with dozens of presidents. Mr. Maer is from Granite City who always wanted to be in journalism. He got to achieve his dream with persistence and integrity. Mr. Maer told us“If you can’t believe in miracles, then believe in yourself. When you want something bad enough, let that drive push you to make it happen. Sometimes you’ll run into brick walls that are put there to test you. Find a way around them and stay focused on your dream. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

The CEO class is just blowing by and we have just received our mentors and we are getting ready to put our class project into ignition we are going to blow Belleville away just wait and see.

10/21/2016

Although my week was short I still learned a lot this week about how to work as a team, and made some serious progress on our class project.

Because of the holiday on monday, we re-met as a class on tuesday to talk to Mr. Brain Mentzer, the assistant superintendent for district 201. He came in to talk to us about his family business and how his family worked around the community.  Mr. Mentzer’s family owns and operates tons of businesses, from a motorsport company, to owning barges, to owning carwashes.  The way that his family operates, every member of his family has a certain department of the Mentzer Family Company.  Mr. Mentzer seems very intrigued about how our businesses are going, one thing he told us was,“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do”.

Due to family reasons I was also unable to meet on Wednesday, so I met with the class again on Thursday at Peer 151 where we met Kurt Artinger, and Chris Oswald. They taught us about the Internet Office, and coworking companies. The internet is the biggest business area on the market and it’s like a island. To get to the island you need to find a bridge and there is usually a toll on the bridge. If you can create a bridge that will give people easy access to the internet you will make a lot of money. Mr. Oswald told us that you always need to be good at dealing with rejection. Your Ideas will not always work or they will not always be accepted, but if you can adapt you will be a great business leader.

Although the week was very short for me we still learned a lot about building a business we also picked our potential mentors. Next week we will find out our business mentor who will help us build our personal business. We also had our final meeting at Allsup this week and will meet at Barcom Security for the second quarter of the CEO Class.  

10/14/2016

There are many quotes and good sayings in this world. In life you will meet some amazing people. You will meet people that do things out of this world, but this week in CEO really puts that to meaning. This week the CEO class went to the Trepstart field, where we met some young entrepreneurs and very intelligent young men and women. We also met Maxine Clark who is the founder of Build A Bear workshop. After the visit to Trep-Start we got to meet with more mentors to help us start our personal business, and got to meet with Jo Ann Dimaggio May from SIUE to help us make a business plan. Overall it was a great week.

 The week started out at the Trep-Start field trip, when I first walked in there was already a business feel to it. We walked into the main room and saw a giant room full of seats and booths that the young entrepreneurs set up to show off their businesses. I have to admit I was taken by surprise to see how young these kids were. I actually got to talk with a lot of them one on one, and actually got some of their contact information to keep in touch with them because they were my peers, and it would be nice to touch base with people my age to see if they would agree on any business ideas i’m tossing through my head. The actual presentation was very upbeat. We all played games and got to move around and dance. Our own Michael Lassman got to get on stage and bust some moves and show the world what Belleville CEO is all about. After the fun and games, we actually got to sit and listen to Maxine Clark who built The Build A Bear Workshop Company. Maxine was a very intelligent woman she told us some things that I would personally use in my Personal Business, such as, always learn from your failures, don’t be afraid to try; to leave your own legacy, build a legacy of character and do what you love to do. After Mrs.Clark was done speaking, I felt like a sponge that had just soaked up so much water I could not even take it anymore, but i will alway have space to learn.

 The next day was really a work day for our class business. We also had some role changes in our class … I took the role of being the chair of thank you notes. Thank you notes is what our class does to send out to business that have been gracious enough to let us come in and see how their business works, or someone that has come in to speak with us as a class. …Mrs. Siebers approached me and told me that I had to promise her that I would get thank you notes out and delivered at least 3 days after the visits that took place. …I took it upon myself as the new chair to get those delivered as fast as possible. As of this moment, all of the thank you notes are done and delivered and they will keep it that way as I took on a huge responsibility that I will not fail at.

 The day after that Jo-Ann Dimaggio May from SIUE came in to speak with us about the importance of a business plan and how to build one. I had already built a business plan, and I thought I had everything I needed until she came in to talk to us, I am glad she did, as I was missing a lot of valuable information for my plan. As she was speaking, I was customizing my plan, and getting my numbers right. That really came in good when the day after we met with more potential mentors. All the mentors I spoke with were very impressed that I had all my information printed out and ready to go, and I had all my numbers calculated down to the single cent. I think almost every mentor there was interested in working with me because I had my plan ready to go, but that's just from my perspective.

 The seventh week of CEO has come to a close, I can not believe how fast the time is flying. Soon, I will have everything in place for my personal business and I absolutely can not wait to get started. The only question I have is which mentor is ready to take this journey with me.

10/07/2016

This week in CEO it was more about learning about ourselves and how we work as a team than rather go to businesses. We successfully completed our badge project, and we elected class CEO’s and got to meet with some interested mentors. We also got to sign up for dual credits for SWIC and got to meet Jaime Auffenberg at Auffenberg auto mall. Overall it’s been an eventful week.

 The week started off when we had class elections for the class CEO, and CFO. I personally ran to be the class CEO because I think I have a unique skill in keeping people together, and working as a team. I also think that I am very good at taking on leadership roles that could be very beneficial to the class. Unfortunately I lost by a close vote, but I have learned that you can’t always win to be a leader, you don’t always have to be the one up front to be the person that leads your group. I also remembered that I kind of took control of our badge project, working really close to Carson to make sure all of our finances were in order and we could effectively and properly design and order the badges.

 On Tuesday, we met with Jaime Auffenberg, from Auffenburg Auto Mall. Mr. Auffenberg taught me a lot about how the automotive industry works and how you treat your employees to have a really high employment satisfaction rate. I was really surprised to learn about how much work and money and time it actually takes to be in the automotive retail business. One thing that Mr. Auffenberg really taught me about running a business, is to “Train People so that they are good enough to leave, but treat them well enough so they don't want too.” That is a really inspirational quote because to grow as a business, you are going to need support and loyal employees without those things; you cannot become a global empire.

On Thursday, Amanda Guinn came in to sign us up for dual credits and told us the benefits of having dual credits and being a student at SWIC. College students will get a lot of student discounts in the city, and we get free metro link passes to move around the city without spending so much money. Overall the experience with Ms. Guinn was short and to the point and I appreciate everything that she has done for us.

On Friday, we got to meet with some interested mentors. It was a wonderful experience as we got to walk around and talk with different mentors, and drink orange juice, eat doughnuts and socialize. I got to talk a lot about who I am as a person and what I want to do for a personal business. There were a lot of great people I got to meet with and I can’t wait to see who Mrs. Siebers pairs me with. I also can’t wait to get started on my personal business.

I can’t wait until the next week of CEO begins, we get to take a little field trip to SLU to meet with some kids that are doing great things and having their own businesses. I also can’t wait to meet with more possible mentors and get down to business. Let’s see what opportunities come to me this week.

09/30/2016

It’s amazing how much you learn about yourself when you are put in situations that make you feel a certain emotion. This week I had a mixed feeling of emotions, from the pits of sorrow to the rise of joy. I have learned this week what kind of person I want to be in my life, to what it takes to lead a team to how special and intelligent the children of today are.

The week started off at Kurrus Funeral Home and Services.  The funeral director here is the 5th generation in his family. His name is Dale Kurrus. I have to admit that when I first walked into the funeral home I did not like the feeling, it was very depressing to me and all I wanted to do was just stay in my car. However I’m a very curious person and my mind was just flashing with questions to ask with, why in the world are you a funeral director at the top of my list. My question was answered rather quickly. He told me that you have to have a passion for what you're doing, yet it is a very hard job someone has to do it, and all he wants to do is help people. He told us that the funeral industry is rather large; it's an important job to prepare the body for the final goodbye to his or her loved ones. After a while Mr. Kurrus wanted to give us a tour of the place and wanted to show us where cremation took place. I definitely did not want to do that at all but I followed the group anyways. As we walked deeper into the home, I could smell the burnt smell almost smelled like a burnt turkey on thanksgiving. The temperature also rose as it was increasingly getting hot. We entered a room full of caskets, urns and display vaults. It was depressing for me because I started to think of someone who recently died who I had a personal connection with. I didn’t want to cry in front of the group I’m almost 250 pound and 6’2 I should not be crying. When the rest of the group went to the cremation room I stayed behind. Memories of that person were flowing through my head and all the caskets surrounding me did not help. I started to tear up and I could not stop, it got so bad that I could not bring myself together enough to take the group picture. It was hard I was hurt and I was missing that person but when I brought myself together and I walked outside and looked up I knew they were right there watching over me.

Our next visit was at Memorial Hospital. I got to meet the president of Memorial Mark Turner, Chief Operating Officer Mike McManus, and Director Anne Thomure. Walking in I thought it was going to be shades of the day before where my emotions get the best of me but it wasn't. As we first walked in we were treated to an awesome buffet breakfast, and we got to sit down and learn the aspects of how to run a hospital. One thing that he said that stuck with me was champions are not born they are made. At first I did not understand this quote because I was basically thinking everyone is born a hero, to change the world for the better, I was taught that everyone was put on earth for a purpose. Then I realized what he was saying Mr. Turner was saying champions are made from something they have deep inside them a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. (Muhammad Ali). Most of the visit was a Q&A basically and then we took a tour of the building and got to see the different stations of the hospital and where CT scans are done and the people that perform the procedure.

 Originally we had planned to meet Mr. Brian Mentzer assistant superintendent of Belleville District 201, at Allsup but he had something else in mind he decided to have us meet a Union Elementary School, my former school. When I first walked in I felt like I was a kid again walking through those doors and seeing how big I’ve become. I could not even walk through the halls without a memory coming up or a teacher not recognizing me. And as soon as we walked into the main foyer of the building I remembered my name on the plaque for the young author's award. When we walked into the classroom he gave us a little rundown on how the district budgets there money and how they got turf for the schools spending nothing out of pocket. After the brief conversation Mr. Mentzer told us we were at Union to walk with some kids and talk with them. As he was talking he said that children these days need a person like me a well-respected and responsible African American male that they could look up too. I never personally thought I worked well with children so I did not look forward to this I thought I was going to be just walking with another CEO student. As we stepped outside I started to walk in this square walk pathway and was approached by a young gentleman that was in the 2nd grade who started talking to me about Pokémon, then another young man comes up to me to talk about basketball, then I had a young girl approach me and say that I was cute. I eventually had a whole line of kids walking with me just wanting to get my attention. That was when I realized how special children are to want to be intrigued and ask questions and how intelligent they all were. I loved every single moment being there.

 CEO has finally taken off we have come together as a team and we have completed our badge project and we are now working on our class business, but if you ask me, I can’t wait to get my mentor next Friday and start my personal business.

    

       

09/23/2016

It’s amazing what you can achieve when no one wants the credit. An amazing quote from a amazing person, Mike Marchal, from Holland Construction. All the people we met this week were amazing from Dr Dosier, Mike Marchal, and Kevin Pesko. They were all simply amazing at their jobs.

Mike Marchal is the president of Holland Construction. He was an amazing person to meet and also his building was amazing to be in too. When i first stepped in Holland Construction, I was amazed how how enormous it was on the inside. When he gave us the tour it seemed like it was not going to end, just hallway after hallway. As I walked in the tour I mostly stayed behind everyone else because I was intrigued by all the photos of buildings on the wall. I just assumed that they liked the architecture of the buildings. I was wrong, each photo on the wall was a project by Holland Construction. I was in disbelief, I did not realize how many buildings Holland Construction had built nor have I ever heard of them until now, I bet I will not ever forget them. Mr. Marchal said some amazing things that i will use not only in the business field, but the football field as well. He told us “Let people fail, but not be failures.” I love this quote because in my eyes failing is not a bad thing, it is a learning opportunity to see what you did wrong so you can correct your mistakes and be a better person. Another great quote he told us was “It’s amazing what you can achieve when no one wants the credit.” I can connect to this personally, On the football field you want to play your heart out and be a stand out player, and have your name called, and people cheering for you, but you end up playing for yourself and not you're team. When the football team comes together as one and want credit as a team, we are a force to be played with. The same goes for business, I know that everyone want to be the person that gets credit for all the work, but what if something bad happens, then you want none of the credit. But if you stay together as a team you will fall together, but you will also rise together.

Dr. Jeff Dosier is the Superintendent of Belleville Township High Schools and the second person we met with this week. I was super excited to go in, mostly because Dr. Dosier really wanted me in this program and I wanted to show him I was in it. Dr. Dosier is a huge impact on the things I do in my life. He always showed me some sort of guidance. When he visits Belleville West he always goes to my football coach, Cameron Pettus, and asks him how I am doing. When we first walked in I dashed for Dr. Dosier to shake his hand and tell him how I was doing. As I was walking in he was stacking a tower of yearbooks from years past on his spot on the board table. Well I guess no one is allowed to sit at Dr. Dosier’s seat. So, instead I sat right next to him. The first thing he said to me was “You going to beat Collinsville.” I replied “yes sir”. As we sat down and began to eat my bagels, Dr. Dosier started explaining to us the way that the board meetings traditionally take place. It all started with me banging the gavel on the table to start the meeting. Most of what we talked about was about the History of Belleville Township.   We looked at yearbooks dating all the way back to 1917. I was in awe of the mint condition it was in. One thing that Dr. Dosier told us that stuck with me the most was to look at the back of the yearbooks, and see the businesses that sponsored the yearbooks back then and look at the ones that are still in existence. He told us to reach out to those businesses in the community because they are the ones that knows what it takes to fail and get back up and be stronger.

Kevin Pesko is the founder of Bank Of Belleville. He is another person that has a building that looks small on the inside but just does not end on the inside. He basically opened up his own bank with everyone telling him he could not do it or why would you even want to do it. I can really connect with this because, I have always wanted to be a professional wrestler, and my mom tells me almost everytime to get my education first because it's hard to get in. I know she just wants the best for me but I also know she thinks I will fail, but that's okay. Just like Mr. Pesko said I will fail, but it depends on if I fail hard and stay down, or fail hard and get back up. Another word of advice Mr. Pesko gave us was, be on time, call people back quickly, and when you say you're going to do something do it. This is a great piece of advice because if you genuinely want to open up a legitimate business you have to show your customers and you're investors that you will always be holding your business high, and you are proud of it.

The weeks seem to be on a forward motion now my classmates and I have finally got the finishing touches on our badge project and we are also in route to meet our mentors. I love what Belleville CEO has done for me so far, I can’t wait to see what else is in store.

09/16/2016

How well do I actually know the business field? How do I know if this is a life for me? I have always asked myself those questions ever since I decided to study business in college. This week was a huge week for Belleville CEO, we are in the final stages of our badge project and we had three business visits. We met Nick Bauer, from Empire Comfort Systems. Cherie Macdonald and her associates from Greensfelder attorney of law, and Dave Harris the Principal of Althoff High School.       

Nick Bauer is the president and CEO of Empire Comfort Systems. He is a 4th Generation businessman in his family. Mr. Bauer is a very influential person, he is also very young and running a multimillion dollar company. He taught me that you always want to be involved with your business and all aspects of the business. If you do not know that certain area of the business, hire someone that you can trust to do the job that needs to be done. That is another thing Mr. Bauer taught me was that no matter how good your idea is, you cannot grow on your own so you need to be able to trust everyone that is in your business.

Cherie Macdonald is a lawyer from Greensfelder Attorney of Law; she also taught me a lot this week in the law aspect of business. The main job for the lawyer of business is to clean up a law legality. Meaning, representing a business no matter the good or bad you will fight for that business, and will represent the business. Ms. Macdonald told us that laws change all the time, so you have to adapt to those laws on the state and the federal level. You have to make sure that your business is legally able to operate business.

Dave Harris is the Principal of Althoff High School. Mr. Harris really taught me that one a job as a principal is way more complex than I thought and two you need to find you're calling on what you want to do in. Because Althoff is a private school funding from the state is very scarce, but Althoff has a four million dollar budget. One of Mr. Harris’s jobs is to make sure the budget is being used wisely, and being spread between sports, and academics. Mr. Harris also mentioned that no matter how much failing may suck and not be fun, he prays for all of us to fail at least once at something that we do, because we will grow as better people and become a new version of who we are.    

I can’t believe how fast the CEO program is going so fast. It is so rewarding and I have already learned so much on how to grow my business in the future.

09/09/2016

Ambition, Ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. That was the main lesson that I have picked up this week in the CEO class. I met some amazing people this week from Geri Boyer from, Kaskaskia Engineering, Brett Baltz from Egyptian Stationers and Ed Hoering from Clifton Larson LLP. One thing that I picked up from all of them is that they did not have an ambition to open up a business at all until something went off in their heads to tell them we can do this.

 Geri Boyer is the Founder and CEO of Kaskaskia Engineering. I connected with Geri a lot, because I see my mother in her she is a very confident and upbeat independent woman. She let us into her headquarters this week and showed us some core values about being a great boss. She told us that if you don’t respect yourself first people will not respect you as a leader. I strongly believe in that because you have to be the boss of your staff and that also means you have to be the boss of yourself. Mrs. Boyer stated to always be the boss that makes people want to come into work but at the same time you have to be a stern leader when necessary. She also taught me to find people that know people. It is very rare that you can make a business empire on your own; you will always need some sort of help from someone. The last thing that Geri told us and what stuck with me the most is to always have faith, trust, build a partnership, strive to be great, do good service, respect yourself and your staff, and always be appreciative and show gratitude.

 Ed Hoering is a partner of Clifton Larson Allen LLP. He is also like me and Roger Lowery, he did not know what he wanted to do coming out of high school. Mr. Hoering fed me a lot of information at his visit to see us almost enough to make this journal 5 pages long. He is a very intelligent person who knows business like it’s his child. One point that stuck with me the most however is, when you go home and you're with your family you're business mind is still on the clock your ideas will always flow through your head no matter what and if this is not happening when you go home, you're not an entrepreneur.

 Brett Baltz is the CEO of Egyptian Stationers. He taught me about the way to get the most production out of your staff. Keeping your employees comfortable will raise our production, and it all starts with the furniture that you put your staff in. From this, when you start to buy furniture for your office or store you want to look at the ergonomics in the furniture, the way the body relaxes and receives comfort. Mr. Baltz told me that efficiency is key and you want to have the happiest most efficient staff to have the best results for our business.

The second week of the CEO program has already come to a close I have already soaked in so many information like a sponge and met some amazing people, I am so grateful for the opportunity I have received in this class, it's amazing how lucky I was to be accepted into this class my adventure to becoming a business leader continues this week.

09/02/2016

Who am I? That question was asked from time and time again this week. I think this week I learned a lot more about myself than I ever thought I would. The thing about business is that you have to connect with the customer to grow a personal bond to further sell your product. How are you going to do that when you can't connect with yourself? That's what I learned this week from people such as Reva Faber and Roger Lowery, also like I said before connecting with the customer is key to selling a product. That's when Vertical Performance by Lynn Clapp and Jim Schneider came in to show us the beauty of teamwork and communication.

Reva Faber is the Chairman and CEO of JAKS Counseling services. She came in to show us what type of leaders we are. According to my PDP test I am a Conformity Leader, which is a Careful leader, a person that needs all the facts up front and center to make decisions. I personally thought I was I Dominant person because I’m very upfront about what I want, but as Reva told me sometimes you will take on a leadership role in different ways depending on the situation that you're given. In my case I have a very dominant trait when it comes to being on the football field, but when it comes to being at home I’m actually very high in conformity.

Roger Lowery is the CEO of Northwestern Mutual. He reminded me of myself in many ways. He didn't really know what he wanted to do coming out of high school and didn't know what to do with his life period. Mr. Lowery really spoke to me in a good way giving me some very spiritual lessons that I could not hesitate to highlight in my journal. He said to push forward no matter what anyone say, or keep making the pie bigger even though your slice is small. Mr. Lowery also taught me something he calls the three I’s. Independence, Income Opportunity, and Impact, those things are all super important to have in the life of business because to open a business you have to be able to perform within yourself which also ties in to me meeting the President and CEO of Allsup Dave Zura, who sold Wizards basketball tickets to make some serious money and open a business he had to trust himself and have a certain type of drive to do it. Income opportunity which is the opportunity to grow in the field you're in to make some good money. Last and the one that stuck with me the most is Impact, you have to value what you're doing because without your impact our job will always be boring.

The CEO class has just begun this week and I can already tell this is a class full of benefits and opportunity.   My high school career was fast and short and this is my final torch. This is the year where I will be a success no matter what I do. I am a dreamer, ambitious but overall I’m a person with a chance to do something that is once in a lifetime, to be in to be handpicked into a program that is a chance to do something bigger before I leave my mark in Belleville. This is Belleville CEO and my adventure begins now.

08/26/2016