CEO Business Visits

• Mark Turner and Anne Thomure (Investor)
• Thad Payne, General Manager

CEO Guest Speakers

• JoAnn DiMaggio-May, Director of SBDC SIUE

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

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

Martrell Robinson
Friday, January 12, 2018Learn More About Martrell

This is our first full week back for CEO and we were able to meet with some great and very interesting people. This week we met with Mark Turner, Mike McManus, and Anne Thomure of  Memorial Hospital, Thad Payne of St Clair Country Club, and JoAnne DiMaggio-May to discuss with us our business plan for Belleville’s Got Talent.

On Tuesday when we met with the people from Memorial Hospital they explained to us how important it is to market for your specific business and not just to put it under the general idea of marketing. I think this is very important for us as a class to learn because we are going to need it for continuing to market the class business and for us later when we are marketing our own personal businesses to others.

On Wednesday we met with Thad Payne from the St. Clair Country Club and we talked to him about proper etiquette at meals and what utensils are used for what during the meals. I think it was very important for all of us to learn the skill before we have our class business because we will be eating dinner there and I also think it is important because we may be able to use this valuable skill later down the line when we are older and own our own individual businesses.

Finally on Thursday we talked to JoAnne DiMaggio-May who helped us understand how to set up a business plan and how we can do it on our own for our class business and personal businesses. This is a very vital skill for a business owner to know and I am glad we are learning how to do it now so in the future it is not as much of a hassle as it may be the first time. I think as a whole this week was great and I cannot wait to get back into the groove of CEO after  coming back from this long Christmas break.

Jake Roche
Friday, January 12, 2018Learn More About Jake

Coming back from break has been a big wake up call for the class business. We have a lot to do in the coming weeks. However, I believe we will be successful in having everything we will need prepared. The business plan is coming along nicely, but is somewhat tedious. I think this will also go fairly smoothly though. Sponsorship and ticket sales could be better. However, we did just acquire a few more sponsors, and I just got some more ticket sales; hopefully everyone else is doing the same.

I really enjoyed Memorial Hospital. Mr. Turner was very helpful, and answered our questions well and in-depth. I liked how he explained the factors that went into into supply and demand with doctors, and how this affected their expected income. I also was interested by the process Memorial underwent to get permission to build their location in Shiloh. I liked his note on how we must emphasize the intrinsic value on our sponsorships. The president seemed like a man dedicated to sharing his knowledge with others, particularly the younger generations.

The etiquette talk at the country club with Mr. Payne was very informative. I knew manners and decorum could have extensive detail, but didn’t know just how specific certain behavior could become. Learning this information will help us in numerous ways, as all of us will soon find ourselves in interviews for jobs and scholarships, and at important meals where proper etiquette will be necessary. It was fortunate we could listen to someone who had a long history with the subject, and had seen the differences in etiquette around the world.

Jacob Gall
Friday, January 12, 2018Learn More About Jacob

This week we had three class days. We talked about the things that need to be done for the class project and how we need to have everything together and prepared because the event is less than a month away. The class is still currently trying to sell tickets and the goal for Friday was to sell at 5 of your tickets. We also searching and in the process of trying to find more sponsors for the event. Decorations set Saturday the date to look at decorations and talk to Grand Rental Station about getting the table cloths.

Tuesday the class went to Memorial Hospital and talked to Mark Tuner and Anne Thomure. We learned about the work done for the hospital and the other location that they have and why the made another hospital. They talked the doctors and their pay and how on this generation most doctors want to make thousands of dollars but don't work the hours to earn what they are getting paid.

We also went to the Country Club and met Thad Payne on Wednesday. He taught etiquette the proper way to set a table, the do’s and don'ts of sitting at a table and having conversations with other people. He talked about his past and what he used to do before start working at the Country club and how he has a new opportunity that he's going through.

On Friday most people said they sold at least 5 tickets and now we are having problems with acts not contacting us back through email and the class is thinking that we might have to have some alternative acts if they do not contact us in time. We talked about having rehearsal the day before and the event.

Saturday Emmie and I went to Grand Rental Station and Hobby Lobby and found everything that we needed for the event but the only problem is the items are expensive and we don't that much money to buy all of the stuff on our own. So we are trying to figure how can we be able to buy all the items. We are going to talk to the class on Tuesday about what they think we should do and we also took pictures of what we found and we were going to let the class pick what they think looks best so everyone is satisfied with the decision. Hopefully the event will be successful as planned and that we might be going through a rough  patch right now but at the end of it it's going to work well. The class is still working on a lot of things to improve the event.

Dauneshia Holman
Friday, January 12, 2018Learn More About Dauneshia

This week I really enjoyed going to the St. Clare County Country Club because it was very interesting learning about etiquette. It was something different than what we normally talk about, but just like everything else we learn about, it is very important. Being able to handle and compose yourself while eating in a formal setting has a whole set of requirements, which we went over. Personally, I prefer to not eat around people I am not familiar with. On top of that, I am fairly reserved and making small talk requires a lot of focus and effort for me, so those would be two things I would have to work at. There is a lot one can tell by eating a meal with someone, so it is important to stay observant.

I was also very interested while visiting Memorial Hospital because I never knew much of the business aspect of a hospital. It mainly depends on healthcare, but there are other things such as constantly updating the treatments and care they provide. I did not realize that it such a competitive field. Another major factor for running a hospital is the government. Each year the hospitals have to work on making care more affordable since the government cannot offer them more money. It seems like it would be a very difficult task to manage and balance the yearly budget.

I am very grateful that JoAnne DiMaggio-May came in to help us with our class business plan. Since none of us had made one before, it was very helpful to have her experience with us to guide us through. Her resources will also be very useful in some of the later sections we work on. This project is very good practice for when we have to make our own for our personal businesses. It really is not as hard as I thought it was going to be, you just have to go through it section by section.

Elizabeth Harla
Friday, January 12, 2018Learn More About Elizabeth

This week, being our first week back was a solid refresher, as it reminded us of how your mind cannot float from the goal in your business. Our break was needed, but it definitely side tracked our class from necessary objectives that needed to be completed for the Talent Show. Ticket sales, confirmation messages, and a few other things were forgotten, but we are now back on track.

Last Friday, we had past CEO members come in and give some words of advice about their flaws and successes that they wanted to remind us of. How to sell tickets, how to keep track of what needs to be done, and what the future in college looks like. All of this was very informational, and hearing it from people who are only a year older than me is a lot more relatable, because they can word their thoughts in ways that is sometimes easier to understand.

We also visited Memorial, where we mainly focused on our questions about income and paying off debt. As he spoke, I paid attention to as much knowledge as I could, because most of my concerns about becoming an entrepreneur after college associates with the debt that I will be graduating with, and from a CEO of a hospital, debt among surgeons are through the roof.

Overall, this was a very solid week, and I have been selling a good amount of tickets. I hope this week we stay on top of our game and truly nail down the objectives we need to-do for the business.

Ian Hass
Friday, January 12, 2018Learn More About Ian

Our first week back was a great kick start for the second semester. Friday we had a some old CEO students come back and talk with us, we visited Memorial Hospital, got an etiquette lesson at the St. Clair Country club, and we were visited by JoAnn DiMaggio-May.

The CEO reunion was a great welcome back from Christmas break. Getting to hear what we can expect for the next step in our life was a really fascinating opportunity. Hearing what your first semester in college is going to be like was a true wake up call, but also made me even more ready for life after high school. The class also received some much needed help with Belleville’s Got Talent, and I’m very glad that someone finally told us what we need to get done first.

On Tuesday we went to Memorial Hospital and met with the CEO. I really enjoyed getting to hear about the business side of the medical field. I didn’t understand that Memorial was a not for profit organization, even though there is a ton of money in the medical field.

Wednesday might have been one of my favorite visits yet. We went to the St. Clair Country Club and met with Thad Payne for a lesson on proper etiquette. I think that everyone should be taught proper manners at some point in their life (the earlier the better). Thad did a great job of teaching us in a way that we could fully grasp each concept easily within the two hour time frame.

On Thursday JoAnn DiMaggio-May came to MMR to help the class write a business plan. I thought that it was going to be a lot harder for our event, but we actually got to skip a few steps, and there wasn't a lot to write. Having JoAnn there also made writing the business plan a hundred times easier, and I'm not really sure if we could have done it without her.

Belleville’s Got Talent is finally starting to come to life, and it’s becoming a monster. We have sold almost zero tickets, and if we don't have an audience there then we are sunk. We need ticket sales to skyrocket, we need more advertisement for the event, we need to figure out the decor finally, and more. I’m scared of what’s to come, but I'm very confident that we can make this work.

James Wiegers
Friday, January 12, 2018Learn More About James

As we start the second semester, the CEO class has a lot of work to accomplish and look forward to completing. The task ahead of us will not be easy at all, but it will give us the opportunity to learn from the experience and challenges we will be facing. Sadly, we do not have lot of time before we all graduate, and there is still much to learn and accomplish as a class and individuals. There is much to look forward to and be excited about for the future of CEO.

This past week we started off the first full week of the second semester of our Belleville CEO, and it started off great. We met with Mr. McManus of Memorial Hospital, and his knowledge and insightfulness of the being and becoming young businessmen/women gave us a lot to think about for the future. He touched up on the subject how as entrepreneurs, to become the next Bill Gates, we need to create a product or service that combines the rate of interest to the cause surrounding the consumers. As we draw closer and closer to creating and owning our own personal businesses, we need to keep this in mind to help us mentally decide on what we want to-do and create. There’s more that goes into a product or service than most people realize. Mr. Turner came from wanting to become a basketball player to becoming the CEO and director of memorial hospitals in the St. Clair County area. His story is truly amazing.

I also got the chance on Friday to meet with my mentor, Pat Hill. We had a very nice first meeting together and connected very easily and great. I really look forward to working with him in the future, and learning from his experiences in the business world. I feel our fit together as mentor and mentee worked out perfectly, especially along the lines as we are both CFOs. The second semester of the class looks very promising, and will give us all the chance to adapt and learn.

James Monken
Friday, January 12, 2018Learn More About James

Last week was our first week back from winter break. During the break, I wasn’t really able to sell tickets since I was out of town, and I highly doubt that my family members would drive all the way out from where they reside to come to the show. Anyway, on Friday, the previous members of the CEO class came in and discussed their activities and the difficulties of college. From what they described about their personal businesses, it can be said that most students do not really continue on with them after they finish the program. However, I would like to continue on with mine, what ever type of service I might be doing or product I may be selling.

We explained to them what our class business is, and what would be included with it, such as the auction and our catering service. They seemed to like the idea and provided us with some advice, mainly about to importance of ticket sells (which we are apparently having trouble with, me included) and how we could make money more efficiently. Near the end, they asked us to tell them what part of CEO we liked the most, and what part we disliked the most. Being at the end of the line made this much harder for me, but it made me think. I decided that I disliked having to make small talk with others the most, since it is very hard for me to come up with a relevant or somewhat interesting topic, and because I generally find them awkward. However, I like the fact that we are able to have this opportunity of learning about entrepreneurship and making connections with already established business owners.

As for the businesses we visited this past week, we went to Memorial Hospital and the St. Clair Country Club. At Memorial, the CEO Mark Tuner described how hospitals received profit. Memorial, and I’m guessing hospitals in general, are very low-margin operations. Hospitals require a lot of money to run, and only receive profit from commercial patients. Mr. Turner also described his three phases of business. First is operation, having to be good at your job to move up, management, and leadership.

Our visit to the Country Club was a bit different, as Thad mainly focused on proper business etiquette and eating etiquettes. An interesting part of that visit was learning about a different way to shake someone’s hand, and I have been trying it out on others.

Kaleb Leatherman
Friday, January 12, 2018Learn More About Kaleb

 It has been 19 long weeks of CEO and the days are going by pretty quickly. There’s always so much to learn and so much to do, we seem to always be on the next move! Our class business, “Belleville’s Got Talent” is approaching so fast and when we meet together it seems as if we’re just starting. The most challenging thing with putting together this event is reaching our goal of ticket sales. Each of us students have to sell eleven tickets, however going out and trying to sell them has been stressful! Finding the correct target audience is the worst part because with being a high schooler, you of course want to go to your peers but if they don’t know of anyone who’s planning on performing or attending it’s a complete turn off for them. Hopefully things will pick up with planning our event, it’ll be a great turnout!

Aside from our class business updates, this week we met with JoAnn DiMaggio-May for the second time and we started on our business outline. We’ve completed a portion of the outline and we will meet with her again to complete it. Learning what I know so far about the importance of having a business outline I have passed over my knowledge to my father. My father is starting his own trucking company for his goal of 2018. As he has been in the business for several years, he has decided he wants to become his own boss. It’s exciting to share what I’ve learned from the class on to my family who will be great business people!

Teonna Davis
Friday, January 12, 2018Learn More About Teonna

Our first day back to class was on Friday. We spent our time at our newest quarter location with members of the previous CEO classes. The alumni that joined us was primarily from the ‘16-17 class. Every person there still had kind things to say about the class and everyone told us at least one way CEO had helped them in college so far. What was interesting about that was the fact that a majority of the alumni aren’t studying business at their respective colleges.

The next week we went to Memorial Hospital and met with Mark Turner, who gave us his unusual rise to the position he holds. Mark went over the importance of education with us and how he wished he would have focused less on basketball, and more on his academics growing up. This wasn’t really surprising as almost everywhere we go stresses the importance of our educations. Another thing he obviously discussed was the prices of healthcare and how the medical field works. I liked how adamant he was about the importance of lowering healthcare costs in generations to come. It showed that, even though he is a higher up at Memorial, he is still very concerned with the affordability of the procedure and treatment going on in the hospital.

Wednesday, we went to the St. Clair Country Club, and met with Thad Payne. Mr. Payne is definitely one of my favorite people we’ve met with to this day. He is so full of character, everything he said and did just captured my attention. His story of when he was in the military wasn’t a typical one to hear, and that made it ten times more interesting. He talked about how he made friends and has had business opportunities that he never would've expected because of his background.

Thursday, we were back at MMR with JoAnn DiMaggio-May. This is our second time meeting her after the conference we went to back in first semester. She came and helped us start writing a business plan for our Belleville’s got Talent event.

Josie Proffitt
Friday, January 12, 2018Learn More About Josie