Mrs. Renae Eichholz

Owner & Partner
Precision Practice Management – Investor

On October 19, the students were introduced to their new 'home base' for the next nine weeks. Mrs. Renae Eichholz welcomed the group at Precision Practice Management in downtown Belleville. The students were given a tour of the office while learning about upcoming renovations and about how their business is run.  She told the students that by giving people the right tools, they can do great things. Making sure people are happy, both clients and employees, is key as well. The Belleville CEO students would like to thank Mrs. Eichholz and Precision Practice Management for hosting the group in the upcoming weeks.

Written by Heather Gosebrink and Edited by Hannah Prindable

Mr. Neal Eilers

Owner
Super Bit Kicks – Friend of CEO

On Wednesday, we heard from Mr. Neal Eilers, an art teacher at Belleville East and owner of Super Bit Kicks. He creates custom shoes, shirts, and hoodies for his shop on etsy.com. We were intrigued by his web based business as he showed us the many products and attempts he has tried before finally achieving success. Mr. Eilers asked us about our future businesses and put into perspective the pros and cons of running a smaller scale business such as his. Thank you for visiting us Mr. Eilers! 

Written and Edited by Montez Douglas and Hannah Prindable

Mr. Kevin Nicol, President

Mr. Todd Groesch
Nicol Financial Services – Investor

On Thursday Mr. Kevin Nicol and Mr. Todd Groesch, from Nicol Financial Services, came to Precision Practice Management to speak to the class about building a business. We learned the methods of earning Financial Independence and what it takes to get there. We discussed our dreams and what freedom means to us. Mr. Nicol also introduced to the students the scholarship he will be giving out at the end of the year. The $1,000 scholarship is given through the Nicol Foundation. To receive the scholarship, the students must fill out an application, obtain multiple letters of recommendation, write an essay and present it to an independent organization, and the quality of their personal business at the trade show at the end of the year are all factors that will be judged.

Written and Edited by Aliyah Gillespie and Hannah Prindable

Just A Reminder

Our door is always open. Entrepreneurs, visitors, guests, and friends are welcome and highly encouraged to join us. Drop in and share your story with our students or participate in our class discussions. Check out the schedule on the website.

If you are interested in hosting our students for an educational visit about your business operations or would like to speak to the class and share your story, please email the facilitator, Julie Siebers, at jsiebers@bths201.org or call or text her at 618.719.3177.

Journal Tidbits

"We were visited by Mr. Eilers and Nicol Financial. First probably the most relatable visitor we had was Mr. Eilers and his shoe customization company. This presentation was my favorite because of how he used his limited resources and made the best of it by starting his own shop on Etsy and now selling over $40,000 in products. Also what really impressed me about how he ran his business was he realized what was a hot product and what was not. Nicol Financial was also a great presentation because of how his business is so morally strong. I really like his policy of selling what is best for the customer and not what will make the most money for his business."

David Rauckman

"Mr. Nicol, Mr. Nicol. I think he such a powerful man. His speaking is sophisticated and professional. …Mr. Nicol gave us many valuable tools about creating a business. But as an educator, it was no surprise that he geared his presentation toward education. And especially, college. He basically told us that college is great, but entrepreneurship is going to be our bread makers. I totally agree! My favorite quote on the outline was, "Weaker people need security; stronger people demand freedom. That shall be my thought process from now on!"

Malik Marks-McRath

"Neal Eilers’ business is different than any other business we have learned about because it’s done online. He doesn’t have a building or do much advertising like the other businesses. He creates his product and sells it on etsy.com and that’s probably how some of us are going to sell our product. So learning about his business was very important. One of the things I got out of his presentation was limitations. He had a lot of limitations with trying to create his product and get it out there and I feel I have a lot of limitations as well. I’m trying to create this product that I have no idea how to create.  His presentation has encouraged me to push past those limitations and to keep trying."  

Montez Douglas