Man, am I glad spring break is here. With scholarships, my business, academics, my job, and school activities, these past two weeks have been hectic. However, through juggling all of these things I am proud to say that I feel like I did a great job with time management. Before CEO, I would always be forgetful of assignments, things I need to bring, and other things, usually causing me to freak out and panic if it was something important. The uniqueness of CEO is that with the responsibilities that are given to you, you develop a sense of urgency to wake up every morning knowing what needs to get done that day, and also to plan ahead for tomorrow. You take real pride in your work, and I think that’s something I wouldn’t be able to experience anywhere else this early in my life.

Also, my business pitch went great! I might have talked a little too fast because I was both nervous and excited about my idea, but nevertheless they loved what I had to offer and had a great deal of positive things to say about it. They did have some concerns, like how it seems to be that young people are leaving facebook and going to other platforms, and that’s where my advertising will be mostly based on. I let them know how it will also appear on Instagram for the same price, and they changed their minds.

So the business is a go! I’ll be spending some time during spring break to do some other further planning with how my booth will be set up and other aspects, but I still have plenty of time set back to just take a breath and relax!

03/25/2018

Thinking back through high school, I think turning 16 was my toughest transition. This time was a big transition for me; I had just gotten my licence, I’m trying to figure out my career path, but most importantly - I have to find a job. For weeks my mother had been on me saying that I needed to find a job to pay for insurance and gas money, so I finally sent applications to any store I could think of that would hire at 16. After about two weeks of waiting, I got a call from McDonald’s for an interview. (Yes! But wait, I’ve never been in an interview before) That thought crossed my mind, but I had so much confidence from one place calling me back that I didn’t even consider the interview to be a challenge. And man, was I wrong. I completely bombed the first interview. With my hands shaking from how nervous I got just before walking in, I somehow managed to get a second interview. From the time I left to the time I walked in a few days later for round 2, I was researched vigorously on how to ace an interview. During this time, I learned a lot of what Jerry Binder had to say on Wednesday. One thing he mentioned about interviews was just being honest when you don’t know a question, and I had to use that when the typical “Where do you see yourself in ten years?” question came up. Another thing he brought up was researching facts about the company. It may not seem so, but just knowing some facts about the company and applying it in your answers can make you stand out from the crowd in an interview. That time I walked out of the interview, I had confidence and I knew that I had just landed the job. And that was thanks to some google searches that gave me the same principles that Jerry taught us last week.

12/10/2017

What Reading Has Done For Me

Before the beginning of last summer, I had absolutely no interest in reading. Before, in the classroom, I had enjoyed reading some books like Hatchet by Gary Paulsen in the past. Beyond that, though, my interest for reading ran dry. As of now, that is a different story. I started reading business books from Dale Carnegie to Gary Vaynerchuk and it is great how even if I didn’t get anything from the book, just the fact that I read it is a great networking tool. For example, at Moore Tires, Jeff Moore mentioned how he admired Gary V for his statement that any advertising platform that isn’t digital is dead. Coincidentally, I know exactly what book that is from, the one I read two months ago - “Crush IT”. After we were dismissed, I quickly thanked him for having us tour the building and mentioned how Gary’s book is one of the greatest business books I’ve ever read (which was true!). His face instantly lit up, and we conversed about the book and thanked me for coming. It may seem like something that small can’t make a difference, but it does, and it can mean the difference between a stranger and someone you’ll remember.

09/10/2017

The first day I arrived to CEO, the class changed the way I thought about business. Collectively as a group, we were asked a tough brainstorming question: “With the millions of dollars it would take to remove aspectus and toxins from the abandoned factories next to the first avenue bridge, simply taking down the buildings is not an option at this point, but what can we do in the meantime?” At first everyone was stumped, but then it was though something clicked, and people started to give great ideas. From that moment on, it made me think of the world differently. With every business I saw, it made me think of the numbers they are bringing in, and it also made me look around for potential competitors of these businesses. This also made me ask myself “What could I do that they aren’t to win customers if I were in that field?”. I am also gaining a better understanding of real estate value when It comes to businesses. For example, the new Casey’s in Rock Falls is now the first gas station shoppers and truckers see when entering town from the interstate. Conveniently, the store sells diesel as well, making it the first choice for most truckers coming off of 88. Another thing that caught my attention is collaboration between businesses. An example of this is Selmi and Country Financial’s mutual agreement to remodel their storefront together and place a matching awning that displays the names of both businesses. These are just a few of the things I saw, and with the new things I’m learning everyday, this is just making me more excited about the class. I am eager of what the future will bring:)

08/27/2017

The first day I arrived to CEO, the class changed the way I thought about business. Collectively as a group, we were asked a tough brainstorming question: “With the millions of dollars it would take to remove aspectus and toxins from the abandoned factories next to the first avenue bridge, simply taking down the buildings is not an option at this point, but what can we do in the meantime?” At first everyone was stumped, but then it was though something clicked, and people started to give great ideas. From that moment on, it made me think of the world differently. With every business I saw, it made me think of the numbers they are bringing in, and it also made me look around for potential competitors of these businesses. This also made me ask myself “What could I do that they aren’t to win customers if I were in that field?”. I am also gaining a better understanding of real estate value when It comes to businesses. For example, the new Casey’s in Rock Falls is now the first gas station shoppers and truckers see when entering town from the interstate. Conveniently, the store sells diesel as well, making it the first choice for most truckers coming off of 88. Another thing that caught my attention is collaboration between businesses. An example of this is Selmi and Country Financial’s mutual agreement to remodel their storefront together and place a matching awning that displays the names of both businesses. These are just a few of the things I saw, and with the new things I’m learning everyday, this is just making me more excited about the class. I am eager of what the future will bring:)

08/27/2017