All good things come to an end. This perhaps isn't an abrupt ending but certainly is the closing of the CEO chapter. This week we visited Gas Light Vinyl, the courthouse and worked on our presentations for the conclusion of this course. I somehow am still managing to get something from this class every day and I'm sure it will be this way past May 12th.

While at Gas Light Vinyl, Greg Bach started up his own vinyl wrap company. With the thinking process of an entrepreneur, Greg and his brother risked everything several years ago to open their own shop. I like how blunt Greg was with us this past week.  He didn't sugarcoat anything and admits opening a business is extremely hard. When talking about start up costs and expenses, Greg couldn't get a loan because he didn't have any “skin in the game.” What he means by that is bankers and loan officers want to see that you as a person are totally invested in your business so that they are assured they'll get their money back.

The time is flying, with our last week of CEO, many things are rolling through my head. I am still in awe that a high school class could have changed my life. I have met new friends, networked with business leaders in our area and had a lot of real world experience. For those investors reading this, I would like to say thank you not only for investing our program but also investing in me. CEO has helped me decide what I want to do with my life and many new skills. For instance, before I enrolled in CEO I had a hard time talking to adults and such. Now I'm a entirely different person and chomping at the bit when it comes to business talk. Thank you CEO for investing in our community but also the students in it.   Thank you, Austin

05/07/2017

In today's society, it's rarely heard of someone coming from the bottom and becoming the boss. This week we meet with several men where this instance occurred. While visiting McDermott, meeting with Wigginton and Peck, new ideas were brought to the table.

Nothing beats old fashioned HARD WORK. Peck and Wigginton were crystal clear examples of this. Both of these men started off at the bottom of their respective businesses and built their way up to where they stand today. Wigginton, a Belleville native, found a need in Belleville and filled it. While having the first women's clothing store on the west end of Belleville, Don Rogers, had a shaky start. The businesses early years suffered from debt and an economic recession and they managed to survive. While speaking with Wigginton, it was crystal clear that he knew his stuff and was on top of his business. What truly accounts for Don Rogers success today may not be its targeted market in Belleville but perhaps the targeted market in St. Louis. Having a friendly atmosphere and good staff, this accounts for a large portion of his business.

Starting at McDonald's while still in High School, Mr. Peck is the true example of the American Dream. Working his way up through the system, he now owns 6 different locations. It wasn't all roses in his line of work either. While saving and working to own his first store, he made many sacrifices for himself and his family. Though at the time they seemed hard, he now has all the freedoms he could want. Passion, if I am as passionate about whatever I decide to do is a fraction as much as Mr. Pecks my business will be a huge success.

04/21/2017

Family businesses aren’t dead, in a rare occasion; one person can be the roots of a dynasty. Monday we learned this first hand from Padgett construction. A family ran company that has had many ups and downs throughout their existence. According to Dave Padgett, the newly joint owner, the grandpa was the roots of their success. One person can have the power to impact people for entire generations to come. While having the privilege to speak with Dave Monday morning, the entire atmosphere screamed family oriented.  Upon arriving we were at their headquarters which is also part of Grandma’s property. Next door to her home they are always a short walk away from their kin. Though that is surely different than any other businesses we go to, the work ethic of these people are unmatched.

What I found most interesting, was the owner transition upon selling. There are many laws and tax implications that come into play when a business is transferred to family. Prior to this I had thought that ownership exchange would go smoothly and without any barriers. But without any research life can hit you hard.  I have learned this first hand but it seemed like I could relate more to what they are doing at Padgett construction. Though much of this week was centered around our Elevator pitches, I still managed to get something out of it. I overcame my fear of speaking in front of people about my personal assets and even though I didn’t win, I surely got something out of it.

04/07/2017

The art of communication, why is it essential? How does it affect our lives? The business world?  Always taking communication for granted, I have never realized how it important it was and the skills that can come with it. After meeting with Dr. Barger from Lindenwood university, he stressed how essential to get out of your comfort zone and TALK! While we spoke with us about the importance of answering questions, I couldn't help but think about how this affects my personal life. Lately I have taken on a new role and competing in Entrepreneurship events. Ironically my weakness is public speaking. I found myself thinking about how I can use the principles he spoke on my own way.

Later on in our eventful week, we reviewed our financials with our lovely representatives from US bank. Having spoken with Dr. Barger and meeting with them last week, I was mentally and vocally prepared to go over my business financials. I'm happy to get these experiences out of the way now so it can better prepare me for the next stage in my career. But things don't always go accordingly to plans and it was prevalent when speaking with Chris and David from Sips n Splatters.  I learned that life can get in the way of what a business can be. Naturally one starts a business from the ground up, with loans and loads of hard work. A side hustle turned their art Parties into huge events that have expanded our  to 3 locations!

03/31/2017

The power of investment, important? Yes. So when is a good time to start? Having the privilege to speak with the Dunnigans from Trinity Financial they encourage us as young business owners to invest our money at a very young age. Of course I loved learning about the stock markets and all the financials that are a part of it. That's not what stood out to me. Investing in the youth is arguably the greatest investment in our country! In my opinion, this week was full of many examples of reinvesting in our youth. From my own experiences with the bankers from US bank whom helped us with our business financials all the way to the advisors at the FBLA state conference. This week was full of reinvestment from teachers all the way to business leaders. All of this community reinvestment does not come unanswered. I'm proud to say that my partner and I placed third in our event, Entrepreneurship, in the state conference this past weekend. Looking back at it, without CEO I would not have accumulated all of my business Knowledge that's taking me to the National conference in Anaheim this summer! Reinvestment of the community has taken me to new heights and CEO is responsible for these changes. As far as the rest of the year is concerned, I can't wait to learn more about our community in hopes of becoming a great entrepreneur one day!

03/24/2017

Can networking build or bury a business? Perhaps the answer is both. So whether you're running a bank, own a consulting firm or even are starting your own business. The power of networking could mean life or death in the business world. Through this week I've established this as our “Theme”. With speaking with a consultant Joe Wiley, he specializes in training experienced workers who are subject to liquidation. Once his team gets ahold of their client that's when the magic happens. To learn how to network and get retrained will help anyone in the business world. Essentially Mr. Wiley's business is teaching adults all of the things that CEO teaches us students. Proper etiquette, how to interview and etc.  

This week much has gotten us one week closer to our final business plan drafts. With our business mentor Ms. DiMaggio coming to review our plans I have personally found much more is needed to be done than one thinks about when putting together a business plan.  As time crunches down I’m starting to stress out and networking with my business mentors to get things going!

03/17/2017

The act of resurrection, what is it, what factors are apart of it? Well according to the dictionary, resurrection “is being brought bad from the dead, causing something to be able to be used once again.” At Artigem, Kurt did just that with the old Belleville Turners building. Restoring this building to its former glory may be impossible, but the building has turned around drastically. Having renovated an old YMCA, much was left to modify. Kurt Artinger turned a worthless building into a headquarters for three different businesses. All of this is great, for the community, the businesses being ran out of the old building, and the people who were involved in such, though I believe that taking something old and worn out and renewing such can be a business plan in itself. Recently I have found myself trying to rethink the game and can't come up with anything new that's an instant hit. I can relate to the story of the Belleville Turner building by renewing something old. It seems like the entire group of Belleville downtown businesses has modeled this approach and saved the buildings for their businesses and the community. The value in these old ran down structures seems to be overlooked and modern entrepreneurs are certainly getting a bang for their buck! As I look into it, the people that own a building on the strip are more invested in the community and what they stand for. Perhaps one day, once I am grown and educated, I too can remodel an old business and reinvest into a community that has given me so much.

03/10/2017

A deep dark struggle, business is not always peachy and the bottom is lonely. To be successful, one must work up through the ranks and break through adversity. This week we met with three different business people and all of them had worked their ways up to the success they’re experiencing today. Building an empire takes consistency, bravery, and a strong worth ethic. Mike Riley and Sal Akbani are both candidates of those who have grown their businesses country wide.

In order to succeed one has to experience some sort of adversity. Sal owned and operated two different businesses before jumping into the classic car scene. His story is truly inspiring how he survived the worldwide crisis of 911 and came out of the recession booming.” If you are  passionate about what you do, you’ll never work another day in your life.” Since Sal has been open post 911, his business has prospered and grown to 14 showrooms nationwide! While touring the St. Louis showroom, it was obvious that cars are not the only source of income for Gateway Classic cars. While their showroom is impressive, they also have a space that they rent out for events and what have you. Like most businessmen Sal is taking advantages of all opportunities to make money. I like how he said that people are going to doubt you and tell you that your business won’t work because it’s a new impractical idea. I am a believer in Gateway and am definitely looking forward to the growth of their brand.

02/24/2017

The class business was a complete success, with over $6,500 made in profits we are very close to reaching the goal we set in October. With an attendance of 122, we fell short of our attendance goal of 300, it was quite the learning experience. The week consisted of our class sending out thank you notes to all of our attendees and sponsors. It has been really nice at class since we have had more relaxed days since the hectic preparation time for our event.

When visiting the BND warehouse, I was surprised by the amount of papers that are still being printed. It's very impressive how the BND had altered their business since the digital change. Most news nowadays goes through our cell phones and computers. The BND, a newspaper that is over 160 years old has adapted and morphed their business since the change. They sell their advertisement spots as a their main source of revenue. With our class business, that's essentially the same principle we followed. The BND also prints for other newspaper companies and outsourced their printing time. Personally I didn't like the idea of always outsourcing my equipment to other companies simply because it creates more wear and tear on the item being used.  

This next week I plan to finalize my business plan and start on my second job. Athurm refabrications is getting shirts and business cards thanks to the CEO fund. It's going to be fun because of the fact I can utilize my talents and make money. I hope to have this business while on college so that I may make some extra money on the side to pay for my expenses while in school. Maybe it will build into something more. Only time can tell.

02/17/2017

Coming back from an astounding four day weekend our class was bright eyed and bushy tailed early Tuesday morning. As Tuesday was a work day, we as a class where coming together to see what duties were left for our class business. As the CEOs kept everyone in line we got quite a few thing accomplished. As we are working in Precision’s extra office, the owner Renae came down and challenged all of us to make physical contact with at least two people by the nightfall concerning our class business.

Jaylen and I went downtown Belleville after school and went to various businesses. First we stopped by the BND and spoke with their education journalist and she decided to run a story concerning our class and tradeshow. As we kept going door to door downtown, we found that it wasn’t as hard as we originally thought to invite people and get the word out.   We stopped by the Lincoln and they're going to put our flier on the screen during previews!  It was a pretty successful week from that standpoint. I’m looking forward to our work day this coming week and I’m sure we'll be successful throughout the day.

There were a lot of different things that went on this week and what really stood out to me was our visit with the Schells from The EDGE. The EDGE has it all, anything from food to games. It’s quite the establishment meant for those of all ages. What really stood out to me was when Mary said “Don’t let why not keep you from reaching your goal.” As by all of the obstacles she and her husband have overcome it’s the way of life for them. I really could feel the connection with them, everything they do is big and they do it right. I love the way they think by having the wow factors in every aspect of their business. I’m really excited to see how their expansion goes and am looking forward to checking out their new attractions.

           

01/20/2017

The break was nice and relaxing but it's time to now get back to work. Like we thought, the class business is now sneaking up on us and ad a whole we are all unprepared. But that's life, we'll all have to buckle up and make this trade show happen. But, if the lackadaisical attitude continues our business will fail.

 Starting our week off at PPM (Precision Practice Management), we spoke with the CEO Mike Barnell and his colleagues Alan (Pulliam) and Angela (Willis). It was very cool to hear their story and the humble beginnings of Precision Practice Management. It was cool to see that businesses based in Belleville can work throughout the 26 states. I think these types of businesses are starting to come up quickly. Working from home has grown tremendously. Even though they work at their building in downtown I think it's great to keep the jobs in Belleville.

   On Thursday we met with several students from last year’s class. It was nice to be with people who have shared our same experiences. More than anything, out of this class period I realized that we a whole class need to pick things up. I wrote a list and intend to have certain things done by Tuesday. Though we have lots to do, we are on track to getting our show to be an event. Now that our business plan is written and we have a solid foundation to base the rest of our tradeshow among. I'm definitely expecting our group to get a whole lot more things accomplished this next week so it won't come down to the wire.

01/06/2017

Coming from a foundation that works with foundries, Tom Farquhar came and spoke with us about entrepreneurship. Like most businessmen, he failed in his first attempt of going big. Tom acquires a job that doesn't appear every day. He is a Manufactures Rep, by doing so he can build his own schedule and work as he pleases. It was interesting how he can work both sides of the fence with his manufacturers and his customers. Tom stressed that you need to know the technicalities of your products so you can be the best rounded salesman. With tons of benefits, there are downfalls by being a manufactures rep. Being a manufactures rep, you are paid solely on commissions. There is no cap on your income! Once Tom made more from his commissions than the VP of the company.  Tom believes that good businesses are full of people that are “well organized over brilliance.”

Our next stop for the week was King’s House, a retreat center hidden away in West Belleville. There we went and talked with Geri Boyer and her husband about the financials of Kings house but also the importance to be a well-rounded person. It is important as a person to be both physically and mentally fit. I find this true, too often I find myself too stressed and let other parts of my life lapse and it sometimes has a turmoil effect. It wasn’t until this visit that I had fully understood why being balanced is so important to my health and social life. With the things that I have learned through this visit I intend to use the skills for my life and add them to my business one day.

12/16/2016

To start off a chilly week the CEO class visited Governor French academy.  A private non for profit school, it is located in downtown Belleville. As an outsider looking in, one wouldn’t think that this is a school K-12. Also, many people do not think of a school as a business. Our class was given the opportunity to speak with Leann Bassler, the CFO of Governor French Academy. She spoke with us and explained the business aspects of running a school. From taxes all the way to payroll, she highlighted the main expenses. I had never thought of everything that goes into a business, the taxes, workman’s comp, insurance, and many more attributes. Then we were given a tour and the school is quite unique by which it is set up. It is an open atmosphere by which none of the classrooms have walls. As a whole our group had a great time touring the Academy.   

This week we had three work days for our class business are we are starting to nail things down. I have personally seen people step up and take charge for certain projects. Carson and I went to see Mike from The Scottish Rites and are working out our contract for the tradeshow in February. Though people are stepping up, I still wish that our group can get to a better flow but I bet that will come with time and experience.

With our tour of TWM, I personally realized how fast technology is changing the game for businesses everywhere. These guys are awesome, with many diverse specializations; the company has received many awards on their projects. Since they specialize in many different types of engineering, they have to be competitive in doing so. When designing something or even surveying. One needs precise measurements, TWM has new technology that allows lasers to scan rooms and areas, this saves on time and labor.

After having put some serious time and thought into this, I am pretty curious to see whether I can start my own personal business upon flipping cars and motorcycles. Just an idea that I am working through my head.

11/18/2016

All businesses need proper locations, as we have learned, location is essential. Sometimes businesses fail if not properly located that target the right crowd. This week our class had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Derek Betz. This was a clear representation of a small business owner. “Do it yourself”, currently, Mr. Betz is adding onto his restaurant Fletchers and has surpassed his initial budget projections. In order to compensate these costs, he and his staff are doing the work they can to save on costs. I have been able to relate with this in relation to our family business. I’m really enjoying the experience that is provided. All of the examples and business suggestions that I’ve learned through this class is helping me understand my family’s fish store.

Staff is important, Mr. Betz talked about the one minute manager. Basically you have only one minute to praise or scold an employee to make your point. When you applaud or correct an employee, it typically has a turmoil affect and your entire staff learns from that management decision. As you build your business, it’s important to build a staff that are all hardworking eager individuals. At Fletchers, they look for high school and college athletes. This hiring method has proven successful to Fletchers.  As I mentioned earlier, a hard working staff is essential for a business to reach its peak potential. Worker Bees are definitely the way to go! A worker bee is a hard working individual that takes pride in their work and is always going the extra step to ensure their job is done. As Derek has instilled this in his staff, Fletchers has become a successful restaurant.

While learning about management through Mr. Betz, Cheryl Mitchell from Midland Institute came down and spoke with us. She runs the CEO class “Franchise.” The reason is put the franchise in parentheses is because the technical term is a Chapter because CEO is non for profit. But to extend, she and her company are basically the home base for the CEO classes, they have resources and train the class facilitators and train the board members for CEO.  CEO is a rapidly growing all across the country. In order to maintain the core values and have a consistent program, people like Cheryl are needed to train the newcomers.

11/11/2016

With another week in the books, CEO has gotten even better. As we progress throughout this course, it is getting the job “vibe.” As we have worked with small businesses before,  Mr. Eilers was the perfect example of what I like to call a “Side-hustle.”  Working with trends on a consistent basis has proven to be a successful part of Neil’s business, Super Bit Kicks.

As with the previous weeks, there are certain aspects that stand out to each individual in our class. As Mr. Eilers started his business of custom shoes in high school, it led to a profit making small business. It is like most of our mentors’ startups, they have all ran smaller businesses and it often has led to other doors. From what Neil talked about, he’s used Super Bit Kicks to in a sense launch his higher education by using the profits to pay for his expenses while being enrolled in class. If anything Mr. Eilers is a clear example of an entrepreneur.  As I have stated earlier, his actions correlates with many of our other mentors and he has used a small business to propel him to other things, such as his professional teaching career.

Let’s talk about the class business. Having made up some progress, our class is starting to take responsibility for our assigned tasks. Slowly, like most things we are reaching our goals and getting the class tradeshow going.  Our class is incorporating a motivational speaker and a silent auction, it will be interesting how we accommodate for these events. I really appreciate Tim and Stephen for having a typed out memos each day. It has done well to keep our progress running.

I personally think we should try to advertise more for just our class.  While at CEO empowerment day, we saw a class that did a micro business that paid for their vests. If we do something along these lines we can have more money coming in for our class business expenses. It will be similar to our badge and shirts and will benefit us as winter is coming.

10/28/2016

This week was definitely one for the books! As always, we were extremely busy and had a lot going on. To start off this week, we were at Barcom for our new quarter and it's an extremely nice facility and most importantly, closer to home! While here Monday, our class worked on the class business and made up some ground. As we have accumulated knowledge from all of our tours, it’s becoming easier to work because everyone is starting to get on the same page. Though there are things that I don't agree with involving our class business, I’m willing to compromise so that we may keep things rolling.

As the week progressed, Charles Fike came in and spoke to us about what it takes to run a good business. As he doesn’t offer much advertisement, he solely relies on word of mouth to get him new clients. As with my parents saltwater store, they also rely on word of mouth as advertising.  It's quite interesting how many businesses work upon the same structures. As he deals with taxes, it’s definitely a priority to get your taxes done!

Hamilton Callison came on Wednesday and taught us valuable tools when dealing with business financials. As he spoke about his business and how it works, Mr. Callison stressed that you should invest in people so in return your company will be successful. As he spoke of his early years of working, he talked of Gallo Wines and how they’ve monopolized their portion of the wine industry simply because they can afford to have cheaper prices. Now I know Hamilton was not suggesting that we get into the wine industry but he was more or less giving us the base for a good business.

As a business owner, typically you want very low expenses. The way one may achieve this can be to partner with other companies or like Hamilton said, INVEST IN YOUR PEOPLE. I believe that one day when I own my own businesses that they’re modeled upon that principle. I know I didn’t highlight everything that happened this week, but these events stood out!  

10/21/2016

Branding, something seemingly simplistic, has been the direct representation of many companies. Apple, has the apple, progressive has Flo, Chevrolet has the bow tie. As what this means is the direct “brand” of what the common persons is informed upon that company. As society transitions and grows, so does the branding of companies and their ways of interacting with the customers. While at TrepStart, I learned the importance of branding and the essential interaction between the employees/ers and customer.

To transition, Mrs. DiMaggio came early Tuesday and gave us a presentation upon how the business plan works and gave us an outline. It was perfect timing, considering I've been shuffling ideas for my class business. Since I have it narrowed down to two different businesses, I'm in the process of writing two business plans. I realize this may be a bit unrealistic but this way I'll be able to narrow it down to the more fitting of the two.  As failure is okay, I believe this may help me along the road of becoming successful…      

Quite impressed with the mentors, I don’t know if any particular person was taking an interest with my ideas and I. I suppose being patience will only tell. The more we explore the mentor aspect of CEO, the more anxious I’m becoming. While the class business is a great opportunity, I’m more interested in running my own operation.

10/07/2016

Another week in the books, more learned and yet new junctions are presented among our group. While writing this, I cannot help but think of the quote Mr. Auffenberg had on the whiteboard in his conference room, “train your employees well, so that they can leave, but treat them well so they will not want to.” As a fourth generation ran business, they have had to adapt and treat their people well. To have a multi generation business, it most times comes down to the core, sometimes friends/partnership or simply family oriented.  Coming back to my first statement, our group is facing many new challenges that have arose this week.

…To progress, I was not in class Thursday and Friday because family business affairs, but I am most interested in finding my mentor and getting to my personal business ideas. While being gone for the latter part of the week, I experienced going to the newly renovated River Downs racing course. I enjoy going to new places and seeing how things such as horses differ from place to place. As in relation to business, everyone does things a little differently to meet the common goal. In horse racing it may be to win such as the same in running a store or a multi million dollar company. My family’s horse Terrace won by a astounding 12 lengths and it made the trip to Cincinnati well worth it.  

While going deeper into this class, while being in somewhat foreign surroundings, I am often finding myself looking into the smaller details of any establishment. This class while having some personal conflicting factors is offering so much more exposure to the outside world than I ever could imagine. What an opportunity this is!!!

09/30/2016

To start off the week, you may argue that it was rather “dead”, lol, but as we approached our week, The Kurrus’ were extremely welcoming and had us for a presentation and tour of their funeral home. It was quite an eye opening experience. These men and their staff endure long and unexpecting hours because they put their clients first.

Then we went to Memorial hospital and had a meeting with their CEO and Chief of staff.  As they walked/talked us through their legalities and what not, in awe I'm starting to find there's a system by which all of these businesses are ran.

Then as a pleasant surprise, we walked with the students at Union before school. I found that it was extremely important and truly enjoyed doing so. Though I didn't walk with the kids long, I felt some connections with the younger boys. I wish my school would have done something similar when I was younger so I could meet more positive role models.

It was an incredible week, for instance, our badge projection is coming near completion and people who are the hard workers are really starting to stand out. Personally I liked bringing in donuts on Friday because now everyone knows I'm serious about our class and willing to put in the extra work so we may be successful. As I challenged our class to raise over 2 thousand dollars, we succeeded. Though there were some personality conflicts in our meetings, I believe if we get a white board, we can be better organized and have a visual aid and save time once meeting. I would like us to get a white board donated and am going to bring this up during class on Monday. This is my favorite class since I've been on highschool and I think our group is going to go do some pretty cool things.

09/23/2016

Through another fun packed week with my fellow CEO students, much was dispersed. Visiting a variety of different businesses, a few key factors left an impact by which i thought how everything in our Society should be ran. Integrity, a simple yet forgotten act of common core values, seems to have been loss in the progress of our growing culture, but is it actually progress without this simple yet important trait? Service, why has service become a huge advantage for small businesses? Communication and Technology, its essentialness and downfalls. All three of these traits can make businesses expand and excel.

While having the opportunity to visit Holland construction services, it was clearly eye opening in the regard of the fact Holland builds structures that can alter and save lives. While having the pleasure to meet with Mike Marchal, it was truly impressive by how the company has expanded and their story of success. Integrity, the core of this company, in theory it will lead to more business and most certainly has. While having over a 190 million dollar company, rules have to be enforced and safety is largely controlled area. The reason this is, is not because the jobs are getting safer, Holland hires Calm and Wise advisors who control the job sites and are accountable for their actions.

As the week progressed, we as a class visited the Bank of Belleville and got to speak with Kevin Pesko. Founding a bank from scratch a little over ten years ago, he and his staff had to find their special niche. To compete with competitors, they mainly focus on Business accounts and the service by which they can offer. While service is key, so is Communication, as we visited the District 201 office. Jeff Doiser, the superintendent, stresses the importance of communication with others. Social media is changing the game, making communication easier, advertising more impacting, and it allows businesses to have the best employees. To extend upon that, there are endless ways to verbally and rhetorically communicate through our smartphones and computers. It's allowing companies to obtain the best employees because of the fact you can work at home. It is a game changing strategy and has many benefits. On the flip side it can make an individual more vulnerable in the work atmosphere.  For instance, social media can share many personal moments of your life and it's out there for everyone to see. When working for someone or even yourself, your social media accounts are extensions of your reputation. Most employers pay close attention to these accounts. Be smart, stay Private.

Badge project, at the beginning of the week i challenged our class to reach a $2000 dollar goal, as of thursday we were within margin. I’m glad that our class is actually functioning like a team. Good things are in store for us.

09/16/2016

Week two was definitely more productive than week one. I must say, we as a team needed the first week of breaking the ice. The environment within our class has became slightly less tense, I find myself talking to more of my fellow CEO classmates and I guess you could say socializing. It seems to me that everyone in our class is getting used to everyone’s behavior and quirks. We as a group have not gotten our badge project completed and I feel like no one is willing to step up and take charge. I have several ideas that I will share will our group next time we meet at Allsup for a personal day.

To begin the week, we stopped at Egyptian Stationers, I felt very comfortable there because I have already had experience working with the industry. As they drilled into us, innovation and creativity can bring your business to the next level and help you surpass all of your competitors. I really think it’s a good idea to only market and do a hundred mile radius when handling a furniture business like theirs. As the week went on it was clear that you can’t have a dog participating in the powerpoint, or nonetheless wear your work boots to work. The big puppy tried licking my boots the entire time. While at Kaskaskia Engineering, it was interesting obtain more knowledge on the DEB’s and other ways of going about setting up your own business. Geri was a perfect example of an entrepreneur, she runs several different businesses which correlates with the others to save money. As we keeping working through our week, it was neat to see the big operation which is held as Holiday world Splash and Safari. There is a ton of discipline and time that goes into all businesses that the public doesn't know about. ...While Mr. Hoering was with us, I was comfortable with his presentation because I understood all of the terms which he was talking about.

09/02/2016

I must say, the first complete week of the Belleville CEO program went very different from what I was expecting. In all honesty, it’s a very relaxed and laid back environment. While not sure what to expect from this organization, I must say so far I am impressed. Throughout the week, it was spent well. The team building gentlemen got our group closer, literally, Reva helped us retain a better understanding of ourselves, Mr. Zura had an incredible story of his early years and what motivated him to rise to the top. As the week progress group photos were taken and we had the privilege to visit Northwestern Mutual and spend the morning with Roger Lowery. Enough with the recap, our schedule tells everyone our itinerary.

Though all of our guests were incredible, two stood out to me in particular, Mr. Zura and Mrs. Faber. From the start of Zura’s presentation, I was automatically hooked. For example, while he was talking about his youth he worked on a horse farm mucking stalls and taking care of horses that struck huge with me. My entire life has been revolved around the horses and it was so cool that we have this in common. Like most people involved with the horses, money typically gets you out. The work is hard and long and a few dollars above minimum wage isn’t worth it most the times. While he went into his personal business life, I could just notice many similarities between him and me. For instance, he sells tickets on the side; I do a similar thing when I’m not working with the horses. I call them my side hustles. I really like that anyone who has a drive will be successful at whatever they may be driven for. Nobody likes, risks, but the risks will sometimes pay out tenfold, baby risks are the way to go.

The PDP test gave what seemed unreal results. While reviewing my sheet, I couldn't but help think of everything my parents have ever told me about myself. Coming to terms that a simple test on the computer could pick apart my personality and tell me things that I wasn't ever conscious to, Wicked stuff. 

08/26/2016