CEO Business Visits

• Doug & Geri Boyer (Investor)

CEO Guest Speakers

• Our Last Day with Renae Eichholz at Precision Practice Management

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

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

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

Martrell Robinson
Sunday, December 17, 2017Learn More About Martrell

The last two weeks for CEO have been great and very interesting for everyone in the class. We as a class over the past few weeks at PPM have learned a lot about each other and a lot about our class business. This past week was our last week of PPM and I would like to say thank you to Renae for letting us stay there for nine weeks and that was great being there. Over the last two weeks we met with Tom Farquhar, Renae Eichholz, Matthew Warren, and Doug and Geri Boyer.

All three of them gave the class some information that was very insightful and helpful for class business. When we talk to Tom Farquhar he told us that one of the main ways to keep a business was to have good connections. For us as a class business this is very important for us to be able to talk to new businesses and be able to find new partners to help with sponsor Belleville’s Got Talent. When we talked to Renae about how PPM get started she told us that one thing to do is to never give up on anything and that you should always try to do what you love to do. I think this is very important for all of us because we are all getting ready to start our personal businesses and a lot of us may not know what to do for them so her saying that is very encouraging and helpful to us for finding out what we want to do with our personal businesses. When we talked with Doug and Geri at the Kings house on Friday one of the main points they brought up about being a successful business was that you have to be calm, cool, and collected. Another thing they talk to us about was that we should never get too stressed out over anything and that if we do it is really good for you to step back and take a few minutes to reset yourself so you can become calm again

I’d like to want to again think the Renae and everyone at PPM for having us it was a great nine weeks there and lessons we learned will not be forgotten. I cannot wait for after Christmas when we get started again in January because will be in for a great ride and we should excel.

Jake Roche
Sunday, December 17, 2017Learn More About Jake

...On Thursday we said farewell to PPM. Before leaving Mrs. Renae Eichholz shared her life story with us as a class and it was emotional and inspiring hearing about the tribulation in her life that she overcame. One of the things I found most interesting is how she told us the story of how she played a part in revolutionizing her field of work with technology. After she finished her story we presented her with the flowers that we bought for her as a going away present, then took a picture. I will miss being at PPM, but all good things must come to an end eventually i guess. ...

Antwan Stith
Sunday, December 17, 2017Learn More About Antwan

 I found Mr. Farquhar's talk to be very interesting. Even though the course focuses on entrepreneurship, it was nice to hear about sales, where the amount of work you put in still defines how well you do in the industry, as well as the financial risk that is applied to it.

I was fairly confident with those we selected for the event. There were many talented submissions, but the ones we chose definitely stood out. When we starting approaching businesses for sponsors, I quickly knew it was going to be tough to get any quick results. However, Kaleb and I were very happy with our one sponsor, Olde World Jewelers. The people there were very nice and made their support for our program very clear.

After being at PPM for an entire quarter, I had thought it was odd Renae never really told us her story. I thought it was nice she talked to us as long as she did on our last day there. I really enjoyed her story, and how she ended up in the business.

I really enjoyed the King's House. It was nice to relax and talk about the combatants to stress, which I have definitely been feeling lately. I had heard about the benefits of mediation, but never made the time to try it out. With break coming up, it's definitely some I'll consider trying.

Jacob Gall
Sunday, December 17, 2017Learn More About Jacob

At our last day at Precision Practice Management (PPM), we were able to sit and speak with Renae one last time. She provided us with a bit of her own background and told us the history and creation of PPM and her reasoning for creating it. Renae discovered that she was good at organizing and billing medical transactions, and figured that she could do it for others. She started on her own, billing for only one doctor, but the number of doctors gradually increased, and so did her business. Though she originally worked in her own home, with the help of one other person, she eventually hired even more people and this led to the need of a new workplace. Renea found the building that is currently the PPM headquarters, and began building it into the company that we know today. We gave her a bouquet of flowers before we left, ands she seemed to appreciate them, so that was a good thing.

For our last day of meeting before we started break, and before beginning the next semester, we met at King’s House with Dough & Geri Boyer. There, Mr. Boyer gave us a tour around the facility, and explained what their purpose was and how frequently people came there. Mrs. Boyer explained how she traveled and took classes to be able to teach others how to meditate. We talked about stress and what stressed us all out individually and how we often waste our energies. From there, we all did a meditation excessive together, and I do have to say that I did feel a bit more relaxed afterwards. On a side note, I liked that we were able to get a cup of hot chocolate, which was very good, but very rich at the same time.

Regarding the class business, I think we are making very good progress. We have already chosen all the contestants, though I personally did not agree with some choices. However, we still need to work on how the whole venue is going to look and getting funds. To help us with that last point, we all went out in an attempt to get more investors from around the surrounding areas. I’m proud that my partner and I, Jacob, happened to be the only group that were able to receive money from an investor that day. I am also proud of John and I’s design and work on the Artitorium logo. We thought it was good, and it seems as if everyone else liked it as well, which is a great bonus. Again, I hope this business will be as successful as we project it to be.

Kaleb Leatherman
Sunday, December 17, 2017Learn More About Kaleb

This last week in CEO was probably one of my favorite weeks of CEO. We were constantly busy, and I enjoyed every second of it. It is very crazy to see just how fast the CEO class is flying by and how much progress we are making and will make in the future. Half way through this year has taught me many valuable assets that I continue to find myself using in my everyday life. It gets easier for me to walk up to people, shake their hand, converse with them, and act accordingly. All these assets have had tremendous effects on how I live, and I look forward to the future of CEO to see what it brings. The work effort and pace of the class, I think, has increased, helping the class as a whole to reach their goal for the final stages of our business.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have focused much of our time on the class business and have made great strides in our project at hand. We even spoke with Tom Farquhar, who helped shows what the real world is like from a man who, he himself, has had a lot of success. I think by this point in our class everyone is starting to figure it their roles, and where they fit comfortably in to help. Everyone has a certain job, attribute, talent, etc. that helps make and form the class into who we are and what makes Belleville CEO stand out the way it does. I think one of the most important and eye opening scenarios, am when we went out to all the business in Belleville asking for sponsorships and everything because it taught us to not be afraid and to just talk to people openly. We learned that the worst people could say is no, we learned that by going out and reaching out to people can make a huge impact for ourselves, the class, our business, reputation, and much more. Scenarios and events like these are ones that help make the students of CEO better, and what prepares us for real life scenarios. We were taught and have experienced that Belleville CEO is much more than just a class, and in these last couple of weeks, working together, we have proven that we are much more than just a class, but a family.

James Monken
Sunday, December 17, 2017Learn More About James

...Thursday was our last day at PPM, and we got to talk with Renae Eichholz one last time there. She went into a little bit more depth about how she started PPM, and I though the story was very interesting to hear. She was constantly told that she wasn’t going to be able to do something she wanted, but she persevered through it and became very successful. She also obliterated her competition by staying true to quality over quantity with her business, and doing the absolute most for her clients. It was a cool last day at PPM, and I have really enjoyed our time there and can’t wait to see what’s next.

Friday was full of surprises for me. First I was surprised that the King’s House even existed, and then I was surprised at its location because I didn’t even know something that big could fit back there. My next surprise came when Doug Boyer explained what exactly the King’s House was. I had never heard of a place where you go to just get away and become spiritually sound. I really like the entire concept and wouldn’t mind doing something like that myself. My final surprise came at the very end when Geri Boyer lead us in meditation, and I loved it. After I felt very calm and relaxed and we only did it for five minutes!

James Wiegers
Sunday, December 17, 2017Learn More About James

I really enjoyed hearing Renea Eichholz’s backstory. She came a long way in the business world, and it was all because she was so determined. She never let other people hold her back. She had her mind set to do something and followed through because she kept her goal in mind at all times. To me, she really did fit the description of an entrepreneur because whenever she saw a problem with her job or company she fixed it or improved the situation. I want to assume that kind of characteristic because I often just go with the flow, but I have the potential to do so much more than that. I believe that could really help my work ethic. Also, I am also excited for her restaurant to open up so I can try it out.

When we visited the King’s House with the Boyers, I thought it was super interesting hearing from Geri how stress affects the body. It also made me a little worried because I know I stress very often, but I am going to start trying to meditate each morning and control my thoughts more. Meditating has so many health benefits, and my art teacher has taught me a little about it before. I’m hoping that by exercising my mind in this way, that I will be less stressed and able to accomplish what I need to do. Some things are always on my long term to-do list, and they stress me out, but with a clear mind hopefully I can get them done.

Our class business is coming up faster than I realize. Sometimes it seems like we still have a lot of time to figure things out, but in reality we need to have things in order very soon. Sometimes during our class days I feel like we waste time talking about unimportant or unnecessary hypothetical situations. I hope lots of companies get back to us soon about sponsorships because that would be great news. Also, I feel like I need to be more ahead on my personal business, but we never talk about those. I am really going to try and get a lot of work done during break on that so I can have a good start at least.

Elizabeth Harla
Sunday, December 17, 2017Learn More About Elizabeth

This was our last week at Precision Practice Management. I think that Renae has been very generous for allowing us to use her facility for the quarter. Also she would come down on her own time to see what we were doing and would give us advice for what to do with our class business. It felt good giving her the flowers and having one last talk with her before we left PPM for the quarter.

Going around Belleville for sponsors was something very notable that we did this week. Going into stores and businesses asking for a sponsorship for our Belleville’s Got Talent show was kind of frightening because the process could turn out good or bad. I learned that going in the businesses with the mindset of failure would not benefit me or the reason that I was going in there for. I learned to think about a positive outcome but also accept that we would get denied. Surprisingly we were only denied once! Everyone else seemed happy to support or look into supporting our class business. The fact that it is a program of high schoolers made people more generous with their time to listen and potentially donate because they knew that it would be for a worthy cause. I believe that we will get the desired amount of sponsors plus some more because that it is a student CEO program.

The meditation with Doug and Jeri Boyer was a great way to end our week. This is a stressful time during the year because we are trying to get our sponsors for our class business, finals are coming up, college submissions are due and Christmas is coming up. The visit to the King’s House was perfectly timed to help cope with all of the stress there is during this time. Also what I learned from this is very beneficial because I can use what I learned for another time when I am stressed.

Cam Wicks
Sunday, December 17, 2017Learn More About Cam

This week in Belleville CEO was one of our most productive weeks to this day. In my opinion, everyone had put in a solid effort, and it was beneficial for the whole group to succeed. On the smaller side of things, Artitorium is getting kicked into gear. For our class business, we have finally picked our top 10 contestants, and will be informing them soon, if not already by now.

I mentioned Artitorium getting its start this week, and it has. On Wednesday, I met with my mentor, Bob DeRousse, and we are working on building a business plan, building a website, and even contacting art galleries. I am interested to work with Artitorium as my personal business as well, but I am also 100% good with it being the whole class’ business as well. When there is an opportunity I would definitely like to talk to the group about that. I believe that Artitorium could really be kicked into gear if it had a secure leader to it, and I would enjoy doing that, but as I said before if the class wants to keep it as a class then that is all good with me.

For our class business, Belleville’s Got Talent, we have made some exciting advancements as of recently. Within the past two weeks, we have reached out to past visitors and contacted them about sponsorships, and I do believe that we have actually had a couple respond positively! Also this week, on Wednesday morning we all branched out from class and took about two hours to go to individual businesses, in person, and talk to their managers about sponsorships and tickets. A lot of us enjoyed being able to actually get out and do that, so I think that that was a great idea for the class.

To conclude, CEO is really growing as a group, and as individuals. If you compare this week to our first week, there is a HUGE difference in the amount of leadership, participation, ideas, productivity, and so much more. We are halfway through the year now, but I am very excited to see how much different it will be in May, hopefully you are as well.

John Lewis
Sunday, December 17, 2017Learn More About John