I think the trade show was a really good opportunity for us to network with other people around the community and get our names out there. I also think it helped the next year’s class on deciding a personal business. Overall, it was a fun event that could potentially help our businesses a lot.

05/05/2018

On Tuesday, went on a business visit to Lilly’s where we learned how Mr. Bair started his business. He is a very interesting person and had much more to tell us than just about
Lilly's. I thought it was cool how he has owned about a dozen businesses and also how he donates his profits to charities. He had a lot of fun stories to tell us and it was a fun visit overall.

On Thursday, we went to Homestead Lumber. I thought it was cool how he got into the business. He started by just helping there as a kid and now he owns the store. He also talked to us about some of the things that might have an effect on our businesses. For example, on thing that affected his business was when the government raised the prices of lumber and steel from Canada. He told us that we just have to prepare for stuff like that.

04/28/2018

On Wednesday, we had our mentor morning. Jared and I discussed what I was going to do for my trade show booths. He gave me some cool ideas for what I could do with my monitors and how I could set it all up. It helped me a lot to figure out what I was going to do for the trade show.

We took a visit to Ten Acre Treehouses. The treehouses were really cool to see. I didn’t expect them to be that nice. They were all furnished very well. He told us about how he got the idea to do the treehouses and just how many people stay in them. It was a really unique business. I think that next year, you should take that visit early in the year just to show the students just how outside the box their personal businesses can be.

On Friday, we visited Baby Bliss and Rural Bliss here in Carthage. Honestly, I had no idea Carthage had a clothing store that was that nice. I feel like a lot of people look past shopping in this smaller area. It surprised me how nice their stuff was. It made me realize how nice of things we have in Hancock County.

04/14/2018

On Wednesday, we went to Royal Printing. I thought it was interesting because I had no idea what went into a printing company. I had no idea that they needed that many large machines. I also didn’t know what all they did, but after the visit I have a much better understanding of the business.

04/06/2018

On Tuesday, we finished up the rest of the presentations in the class. Overall, I think the presentations not only allowed for the board members to understand your business, but even for the other classmates to understand it. Also, it helps a lot when the board members ask you questions that you haven't thought about yet.

03/03/2018

On Wednesday, we took a business visit to Country Financial. Here, we learned a lot about the different types of insurance that we might need for our business. She also told us about how she got started. Overall, it was an interesting visit that definitely helped most of us know which type of insurance we will need for our personal businesses.

02/17/2018

The highlight of my day (CEOlympics) was when I got to hand the microphone to the next person. It was nice to get that over with. I want to remember how much fun it was. I want to remember what the atmosphere was like when you're talking to people from all around your hometown, seeing them getting involved in an event that we spent months planning. 

02/10/2018

Bill Rasmusson came to talk to us about what he does and to give us some legal advice for our personal businesses. In my opinion, Bill was for sure one of the more interesting speakers that we have had and I think his legal advice that he gave us really helped a lot of us that didn't know what we really had to do legally to start our business.

01/27/2018

Rachel Lewis came to speak to us about sales and marketing. She told us about many different ways to market our personal businesses and also told us about how she got started. She gave us a lot of helpful tips based on her experiences. Overall, she was a helpful and informative speaker who gave great advice.

01/13/2018

On Monday, Connor gave us a presentation on leadership. We knew that we were going to have to find someone to lead us during our class business, so the presentation helped us decide what type of person could do the job. Later that day, Kendra and Elizabeth gave a presentation on the next chapter of the book. It was about Buckeyes and it told us that other people do notice your actions, even if they are subtle.

11/11/2017

Mr. Boyd came to speak to us about our personal businesses. He explained to us how to find a business idea. He told us that one of the best ways to find an idea for a business is to find something that is broken in society, and fix it.

On Wednesday, Ada Bair visited us to talk to us about what it takes to run a hospital. She is the CEO of Memorial Hospital in Carthage. She made me realize that you can’t define
yourself based on what others say about you.

Mr. Probst from Midland Institute came to speak with us about the CEO program. He was a very interesting speaker who made me realize that we are not going to just be able to walk through this class. He explained that if you are going to do something, you need to have a plan set out first.

10/21/2017

On Tuesday, we went to Sharpe Real Estate. During that time, we talked about the business of buying and selling properties. I never realized how much work actually went into
selling a home. I also didn’t know the rules for being a broker and what you had to do to become a manager. 

10/14/2017

We took our trip down to MORE Medical and listened to Mr. Jacquot.  Mr. Jacquot not only taught us how he got his business started, but he also told us what we could do to become successful entrepreneurs.  He taught us that we should never give up on an idea and that not all good things happen right away.  He taught us patience is one of the most important traits that a person can have.  

Elizabeth and Kendra told us about their chapter (in the book "Things You Wish You Knew Yesterday").  Their chapter was all about gaining all the knowledge you can from everything that is said to you.  I think this is really important becuase if you ever want to be able to learn new things, you're going to have to be able to take it all in.  

09/16/2017

Even though getting up for a 7:15 class everyday can sometimes be rough, this is definitely the most interesting class that I have taken in high school.   On Monday, we had the first day of CEO. From the very beginning, I learned that this was going to be a very interactive class. This wasn’t going to be a class where I was going to have to watch a slideshow presentation day after day. This is a very social orientated class and that’s what makes it so much better than any other class that I have ever taken.

09/02/2017