CEO Business Visits

• Mr. Todd Badgley, President (Investor)

CEO Guest Speakers

• Mr. John Perles

This week was another full week of activity, games, and excitement.  We are continuing to make strides in our class business as well as still learning more and more with every speaker. One of my favorite things about this class is how I learn something new every day.  After every class, I walk out knowing that I have grown as a person, and I have grown in knowledge. 

On Monday, John Perles from Midland institute joined us.  I love having the people from Midland come in. So far, they have been two of my favorite speakers.  I really like the action plan that he showed us.  I think it can be an essential tool in the growth of the class business. I also enjoyed making a personal and class mission statement. It is very good to stick to our mission statement.  Everything we do should be judged if it fits in our core values. He also stressed the importance of setting goals and deadlines.  As CEO, I have not stressed that enough.

On Wednesday, we went to FKG oil. I really liked Mr. Badgley, and the whole building.  I liked the old gas machines, and the other decorations.  I like the Moto business. It is very good, and personally they are my favorite gas station to go to.  I really enjoyed the presentation about the business.  I was also very interested in how they determine the price of gas weeks in advance.  Finally, the game of Jeopardy was extremely fun.

This week we had the first day where we went out to different businesses in search of donations and sponsorship.  Overall, my group did very well. We had very promising conversations with managers, and they all seemed very excited and interested in our class. We got a free hotel room from the Hilton, and I was very excited about that.  It really helped me develop skills speaking to people, and I found it very important to be straight forward and to the point. 

Stephen Waltrip
Friday, December 9, 2016Learn More About Stephen

The start of our week in the CEO class was listening fro John Perles from Midland Institute talk to us about the how business operates and some of his sales tips. John  Perles only talked about it for a little bit but for the few minutes he talked about how to sell a product or service to someone really struck home with me. Last year I sold candy and other items in school and his advice would have really helped me. John said “make people believe what you believe” and it really does work. I still have some of my old inventory from last year and decided to give this business sales tip a try. I sold out all of my items that day by the end of 4th hour and made about 30 dollars of profit and 50 dollars in all. I did not expect that technique to work so well or maybe I just got lucky that day but it was probably a little bit of both.

The class business has been successful so far in getting sponsors but looking how many sponsors we want for each tier and the booths that we want is gonna be difficult to get. The booths are my main concern right now since we only have one booth and a significant amount of our time in the Around the Fountain Conference is dedicated to networking and talking to the booths. I also think it would be easier for businesses to just sponsor or donate something then get a booth. Since they only have to write a check for a sponsorship but actually come in and set up for a booth, most people will just write a check and be happy with that. I also do not know what type of businesses we should be targeting to get booths. I guess really any business and especially food but if I was a business owner I might just go with the sponsorship since it is easier to do and requires less effort on my end for me and my employees.

           

Joe Beussink
Friday, December 9, 2016Learn More About Joe

This week was another productive week on our class business, but we also heard two presentations. On Monday our presenter was John Perles. Something that really stuck out to me was how each one of us could make the world a better place. If we would freeze life right now and make just ourselves a better person it will give life more value. We also need to look at where we are and build a bridge to where we would like to be.

On Tuesday I met with my mentor, Renae Eichholz. Working together we are focusing a lot on my personal business. For my personal business I want to do something contained around volleyball. Probably some sort of volleyball camp for kids who need help on improving their skills. Also for kids who are going to join a club team or approaching high school. Most middle school volleyball teams do not teach their students what they need to do before entering high school teams.  

On Wednesday we heard Todd Badgley speak, he is the president for FKG Oil. He spoke about how Moto Mart is doing what they were doing 15 years ago and bringing back the order to made option. Order to made will be one of the biggest competitors for fast food restaurants. What really stuck out to me was how he said the more fun at work you have the more you'll love it. They try and create an environment while on your days off you still want to come into the office. We also played a game of Moto jeopardy with all the questions being based off of what we talked about and what they sell.

On Thursday, we went out in groups to different businesses to find sponsorships and silent auction donations. Tim, Stephen, and I went to the Egg and I, Tim Hortons, Target, Dierbergs, Edward Jones Investments, and the Hilton Hotel. Most of the places took our flyers to get back with us later. Although, the Hilton donated to our silent auction.

Claire Randle
Friday, December 9, 2016Learn More About Claire

 On Tuesday and Friday, our class had work days.  We finished our fliers and went over the floor plan.  We also read two more chapters of Craig Lindvahl’s book.  “Boomslam!” was an incredible story about how a high school band accomplished amazing feats.  Their story taught me that nothing is too big to accomplish.  If you put your mind to it, you really can do anything.  The next chapter, “The Toolbox of Life”, discussed America’s education system.  This chapter taught me that creativity is my best asset.  Mr. Lindvahl used an example of the people who invented the smart phone.  I discovered that creativity can change the world and impact a great deal of people.

On Monday, John Perles from Midland Institute visited our CEO class at Barcom.  Mr. Perles had many valuable lessons to teach and got us entangled in a few activities that could relate back to the business world.  I learned that all people are more capable than they realize.  Sometimes we set limits for ourselves, and once we reach that limit we lose motivation to continue on to bigger things. 

Mr. Perles also talked about Simon Sinek, a person who hosted TED talks.  Mr. Sinek lectured about “the golden circle”, which is a series of three concentric circles.  In each circle, there is a question.  From the outermost circle to the innermost, the questions are: what, how, and why.  Mr. Perles said that Mr. Sinek revealed that most businesses can answer the what and how, but they struggle with the why.  Answering why is what makes your business unique.  Knowing why you made your business the way it is clarifies your business goals and can make your business seem more grow further.

On Wednesday, our class met at Todd Badgley at MotoMart.  Mr. Badgley has grown his business a lot and has many big plans for the future.  Mr. Badgley taught me that competition can benefit both businesses.  Competition can improve customer service and encourage owners to expand their business, growing more than they ever thought they could.  I learned that teamwork and culture is what makes a business run smoothly.  Mr. Badgley stressed the importance of communication and advised us to always look for ways to strengthen a team.

On Thursday, our class split into groups and went to different businesses to ask for permission to hang fliers.  We also asked the businesses for sponsorships and silent auction donations.  Although none of the businesses I went to answered right away, many of them were considering giving to our class.  I love that I get opportunities to experience first hand what it is like to speak with the owners of a business.  In speaking to the people about our class event, I also learned more about the owner’s business than I knew before.

Kaitlynn Borik
Friday, December 9, 2016Learn More About Kaitlynn

This week was another full week of activity, games, and excitement.  We are continuing to make strides in our class business as well as still learning more and more with every speaker. One of my favorite things about this class is how I learn something new every day.  After every class, I walk out knowing that I have grown as a person, and I have grown in knowledge. 

 On Monday, John Perles from Midland Institute joined us.  I love having the people from Midland come in. So far, they have been two of my favorite speakers.  I really like the action plan that he showed us.  I think it can be an essential tool in the growth of the class business. I also enjoyed making a personal and class mission statement. It is very good to stick to our mission statement.  Everything we do should be judged if it fits in our core values. He also stressed the importance of setting goals and deadlines.  As CEO, I have not stressed that enough.

On Wednesday, we went to FKG Oil. I really liked Mr. Badgley, and the whole building.  I liked the old gas machines, and the other decorations.  I like the Moto business. It is very good, and personally they are my favorite gas station to go to.  I really enjoyed the presentation about the business.  I was also very interested in how they determine the price of gas weeks in advance.  Finally, the game of Jeopardy was extremely fun.

This week we had the first day where we went out to different businesses in search of donations and sponsorship.  Overall, my group did very well. We had very promising conversations with managers, and they all seemed very excited and interested in our class. We got a free hotel room from the Hilton, and I was very excited about that.  It really helped me develop skills speaking to people, and I found it very important to be straight forward and to the point. 

           

Cole Maul
Friday, December 9, 2016Learn More About Cole

Starting off our week on Monday at Barcom meeting with Mr. John Perles from Midland Institute. I really enjoyed the activity where the class split in small groups where Mr. Perles instructed us to pass/throw multiple bean bags between our group which showed me a lot about teamwork and communication and how important it really is. Once one person dropped or made a mistake it affected the whole group which could’ve been avoided if we communicated more.

Having a work day on Tuesday our class discussed a little more on the flyers and sponsorships/booth ideas. The class has had a lot of “work days” lately and personally I feel we need to spend more time going out and searching for sponsors and vendors for our class fundraiser.  I feel that time is running out and we need to be a little bit more organized money wise and layout wise.

Meeting at FKG Oil and Moto Mart on Wednesday to meet and speak with Mr. Todd Badgley. Mr. Badgley showed me that being different or unique from everything else is a way to strive. He used an example of his MotoMarts coffee after I asked the question of how he competes with bigger companies like Circle K, QT, and Caseys. He showed how their coffee is named Mojoe’s private blend. Having this name on the coffee cups hooks and reels people in with interest and curiosity.

On Thursday, our class split into groups and visited different businesses to ask for donations, sponsorships, and vendors for the fundraiser. While each group had their own designated places my group visited The Abbey, Ace Hardware, Napa Auto Parts, and Target. We received two gift card donations from Ace Hardware and one from The Abbey. Our class agreed that it’s less likely to get a donation/sponsor out of a big corporation than out of a smaller business.

Ending the week on Friday our class had another work day at Barcom where we discussed the businesses that we visited on Thursday for sponsorships and brainstormed on how we could improve for next time and also spoke on scheduling a whole day of seeking for sponsorships instead of just a class period. We also read a little bit out of Craig Lindvahl’s book.

Devin Alexander
Friday, December 9, 2016Learn More About Devin

This week we got to hear from John Perles. He serves on the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship Advisory Board. For those who don’t know that much about the Midland Institute, the Institute provides training, materials, content, mentoring, and guidance for the CEO program. I especially enjoyed his talk on how your life is your business and how people are more capable than they realize. I was lucky enough to get his book for the cost of reading the first 20 pages. This is awesome because I love free books.  

On Wednesday we got to go to FKG Oil Company. Todd Badgley, the president at FKG, gave us a tour and told us a little about the company. He personally oversees the operation of the entire company. For those of you who don't know that much about FKG Oil, it operates 79 convenience stores, 20 carwashes, and 5 restaurants. So they have about 1100 employees which is awesome. I also learned that store associates must be 18 years or older to sell alcohol which I find interesting.

And it was really cool on Thursday because we were able to go out and talk to business about sponsoring us. Sadly I wasn’t able to go around with everyone else but I was able to write an action plan for the class.  I was also able to work on my personal business more which is always fun.

And after school Thursday I got to meet up with my mentor Mike Crotty.   We talked and figured something for the decorations for are Around the Fountain event.  We also started to make names for my personal business.

Kelly Rowden
Friday, December 9, 2016Learn More About Kelly

This week in CEO was somewhat reasonable. We had a presentation by John Perles, a meeting/tour at FKG Oil with Todd Badgley, and we traveled to different businesses. On Monday we had a presentation from John Perles from Midland Institute. John Perles talked about the what, the why, and the how of business and how the mind works. He also talked about how to believe in yourself, explain yourself and your mission to make connections and how to move from where you are to where you want to be. He stressed that you need to have clarity if you have a vision and that you have work to improve yourself for your. This presentation resonated with me because, sometimes you need to motivate yourself, to help others around you feel encouraged.

 On Wednesday we went to FKG Oil to meet Todd Badgley. Before Wednesday I never paid any attention to the building next door to the MotoMart on main. I would have never thought that, FKG oil owned MotoMart. FKG are the owners of Moto Mart, Moto, Orange Leaf frozen yogurt, Magic wand, and Moe Joe coffee. They have 1110 employees, annual revenue 300 million, 60 million in lottery sales, and 7 million cups fountain soda sales. The business has a personal culture of creating a comfortable work environment, leading by example, being organized, competitive, flexible, not getting caught up in titles, logic and common sense, respect, No I in team, and the goal of get the job done. He stressed that networking makes opportunities that open doors. He also said to ask questions, save time and don't reinvent the wheel, use others experience, build confidence, and make connections.

 Thursday we split up in groups and went to different business to promote the class business, and get sponsors…

Epiphany Smith
Friday, December 9, 2016Learn More About Epiphany