I wanted to set up my trade show booth like how I have my business cards designed. My business cards are set up like a school teacher’s desk.  I decided to put up “children of the world” flags behind my booth to give it a real “pop” look. That night was the Trade Show and I had a lot of people come through and look at my booth! I had a lot of questions about how my business was started and my thought process and I could actually answer those questions confidently.

05/05/2018

Monday, we took a trip to “Simply Irresistible,” a building just off the north side of the town square. We were greeted by Mrs. Gutting and Hannah Huff. They talked to us about how the business was started and especially the details and tricks of operating one.   We also played a get-to-know-you game with M&Ms. This visit was fun.

04/21/2018

We met at Lake Hill Winery with Mr. Evan Printy. Even though he says he isn’t, he is such a comedic man at times. He talked to us about their family business, Printy Funeral Homes.  He also talked with us about the history of funerals, embalming, and cremation. I probably won’t do anything like the lines of this type of business but it was cool learning about something new. Two quotes he said that stuck with me were “Build your brand around you” and “The best advertising is yourself.”

04/14/2018

The business visit took place at Carthage Suites on the north side of the town square, right next to The Re-Stock Room. To be completely honest, I had no idea that this place existed. The suite that we visited looked amazing! It’s amazing to see a before and after of these suites. David Rye, our tour guide, put a lot of time and effort into these rooms!

The gala took place that night as well! The gala was really fancy event and somewhat stressful at times. Being a part of the staff was a new experience that I probably wouldn’t have gotten the chance to do if I wasn’t a part of this class.

04/06/2018

We met in Nauvoo for a 3-part business visit. This was definitely one of my favorite visits this whole year! We started off at Annie’s Frozen Custard with the owner, Helen Campbell. She told us about her business and gave us some advice too. “If you start a business, you are married to it!” We even got free custard in waffle cones! Our next was right across the street at The Apron Bake Shoppe and Cafe and we met with the owner, Ellen Hundt. I really liked listening to her story about how she started her business. She also gave us either a cookie or brownie. Our final was at The Nauvoo Tourist Information Center and we were guided by Sharon Nicholl. She told us about some of the history and even the attractions around Nauvoo. It was a very informational and fun day!

On Friday, we met outside of the Warsaw area. It was a far but nice scenic drive. We listened to an Ag Panel of 3 at Joe Zumwalt’s farm. After hearing about what all 3 of the gentlemen do, we got to look around the building. I thought it was really cool getting to hop into the machine and looking at the technology they use. Joe mentioned that the tractor can be remotely operated and has a built in GPS so it knows not to go in the same place it was before. I liked learning about another subject that I didn’t have much knowledge on.

03/24/2018

On Monday, we were visited by Trevor Sandidge, a 2-year CEO student. Trevor still runs his business while attending college at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Listening to Trevor about his experiences and his balancing of school and his business, gave me ease.

03/10/2018

On Thursday, we took a visit to Hamilton for another student recruitment breakfast. I really enjoyed this visit because we ate pancakes and bacon, which is my favorite breakfast! We, as a class, chatted and discussed different things. He (student from Hamilton) seemed kind of shy and not so talkative, but that’s how we all were before CEO. Seeing him like this made me think of before I took CEO and how unconfident I was to talk to new people. A lot has definitely changed since the start of the year.

03/03/2018

On Wednesday, we met with Amy Bruenger from First Bankers Trust Company. This was just a really great visit. Not only were we provided with breakfast, but also with some new knowledge on how to write a business plan. We were each given a packet that had what we needed to have in our business plans, which was extremely helpful.

On Friday, the board came in and listened to our presentations of our businesses. I was a little nervous about what they might have to say but I knew it would only be helpful feedback. After finally through my presentation for my business, I could finally breathe. Their feedback was really helpful and I even took notes on what they had to say about my tutoring business and how I could make it better.

02/24/2018

On Thursday, we enjoyed a good breakfast at the Double Deuce with some fellow students from Illini West High School. Each CEO student from IWHS could have invited someone who is interested in taking part in CEO. We all participated in the activity, in which we tried selling us or our product/service to someone else in a informational/professional manner.

02/17/2018

The highlight of the day for me was the speeches.  Six months from now, 1 year from now, and even 10 years from now, I want to remember this as the very first event I spoke at and finally came out of my shell. This was a huge deal for me and I am very thankful for this opportunity.

02/10/2018

Former first class CEO student, Rachel Lewis, joined us and spoke to our class about Marketing and Sales. She told us that social media is the most used media platform of today which can be used for marketing. She told us that no matter what, “always represent yourself appropriately.” She also talked about her experiences and what she learned from CEO.  Rachel really impressed me and she was definitely a great speaker to listen to because she has been through what we are going through now in the class.

01/13/2018

On Tuesday, we had our mentors come in, sit down with us, and update them on our class business and class as a whole. I got the privilege of sitting down with my mentor, Tim Parrish. Tim was such a huge help when it came to the financial part of our class business. He gave me some ideas and new information to better help me and my fellow students with the class business. He came up with the idea of “incentives” which would, in my opinion, help pick up the pace of selling and even just selling more in general. Tim is an excellent mentor and I am glad to have him as mine.

12/16/2017

Brad Culpepper came to CVS for a visit and talked to us about our class business event. I really think he gave us a better perspective on what the whole food aspect entailed. I was a little relieved when he gave us a selection to choose from and also a price for what we were ordering.

12/02/2017

We started to talk more about our class business. We separated into groups and began collaborating together to see what ideas we could come up with.   On Tuesday, we continued on the topic of our class business. We started thinking of more ideas in which to make our event more of a success. We decided that it would be best to separate in our groups and think of more ideas.

11/17/2017

Connor gave a presentation on Leadership and Communication. During his presentation, he showed us a video of the top 7 characteristics of leadership and communication. The 7 characteristics were “Be Enthusiastic, Keep Moving Forward, Be Passionate, Be Unique, Know Your Things, Every Time Is The Best Time To Start, and Learn From Your Past.” We, as a class, finally decided our class business this week. I was so happy and so relieved that we finally achieved this goal.

On Tuesday, it was Mentor Match Day! I was so excited for this day and to find out who my mentor was. I was paired up with Mr. Tim Parrish! I was extremely grateful to be paired up with him.

11/11/2017

Mr. Eric Jackson talked to us about his past and all the experiences that went along with his job.  I thought it was interesting that one of the times that he relocated, he ended up living in Paris, France. We also went through an exercise that involved everyone touching tennis balls and trying to have them reach our customer, fast and efficiently. It took a couple times before we created a strategy that worked and ended up being the best way of doing it. One of his sayings that stuck with me was “Be happy where you are!”

11/04/2017

On Wednesday, we took a business visit to First State Bank in Laharpe, IL and met with Mr. Andy Bastert. I was really excited about this visit because this is just another visit that helps me better understand what I hope my future occupation entails, which involves banking/accounting. He started out with explaining the history of the bank and then moved onto explaining different loan types, 5 “Cs” of credit, and different acronyms used. I really found this business visit quite interesting.

10/28/2017

On Wednesday, we met back at the hospital and talked to Ada Bair. Ada was really fascinating and such a nice woman. Ada had some really nice quotes and I also wrote down a few that stuck with me. The quotes were “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom,” “Allow others to help you to be your best,” and “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

10/21/2017

Tuesday we took a trip to Marine Bank & Trust. We had the privilege of touring the bank and learning about how the building runs. They took us through a PowerPoint discussing certain information about credit, loans, and much more. I really enjoyed this business visit because banking/accounting is something that I am really interested in pursuing.

09/30/2017

The first week of CEO is probably something that I will always remember. I enjoyed meeting all the fellow students in my class and getting to know about each one. CEO is something that I really think I’m going to enjoy!

09/02/2017