My greatest takeaway from the individual business experience was that things will sometimes not go as planned but take risk and show others that you can do it! 05/12/2018

Decorating for trade show was really fun and exciting. I was really excited to see what everything was going to look like. I am so thankful for all the help that I had.   I am so thankful for the experience that we had at the trade show. Meeting more of the community was amazing and creating more connections with community members was one of the best experiences of the trade show.   I am getting really sad that CEO is coming to an end.

05/05/2018

I have never been to Lilly’s until this day. I am so glad that we were able to visit them. To learn that the profits go to Food For Thought really blew my mind and was a really amazing thing that he decided to do. I am so glad that I live in a community that wants to give back and help others out.

04/28/2018

I am really excited for the trade show. I can’t wait to be able showcase my business. I have been brainstorming ideas for my booth and trying to get everything I need to make my booth attractive.

Simply Salon- I really enjoyed hearing how they got started. I also thought that it was really cool that they played interactive games with us to learn more about us.

Martin Tax & Accounting- Since I want to go into the accounting field I was really excited to visit this business. I really thought that the services he provides was what I am interested in - payroll for business and keeping track of their accounting.

04/21/2018

I have never heard of the Gala until something was said about it in class and Greta Wetzel came to speak. I think that it is an amazing fundraiser. Being able to help and see what goes on at it was a great experience. Networking with more community members and seeing how the community will do anything to help raise money for very important things. Knowing that some money was going to a bus to transport the seniors around for fun activities is amazing that things like that can happen in such a small community.

There are a lot of businesses in Hancock County that I didn’t ever know about. The Carthage Suites is one of them. Seeing the transformation of an old building to make it look so nice for visitors to stay in is incredible. To see that he is expanding to have more than just the one space is pretty amazing. There is an incredible view to see out to the courthouse and to also be able to sit out on a porch to enjoy the nice weather. He had to have thought about all the amazing features to make it such and amazing place.

04/06/2018

I really enjoyed visiting Case. I really liked to see how the equipment is made and how they make everything go together. One thing that I thought was really cool is the transportation around the building - the bicycles and all the motorized vehicles that they use to get things from place to place. 

03/31/2018

Setting goals for my business as well as setting goals for myself. I have always loved setting goals that are short and long term. I think that for my business I can set goals that will make my business better in the future.

I really enjoyed visiting with Joe and learning more about Ag. Being able to learn about the ag community is amazing since I never had the experience with it all. My favorite part about the visit is that we not only got to talk with Joe but talking with the other guys. 

03/24/2018

Banker day - I was as nervous as I was the day of our class business. After meeting with my first banker I started to calm down a little bit. I knew that I would be okay and sure enough after meeting with all three bankers I felt pretty good about my business. I really appreciate all of the help from the amazing community.

03/17/2018

Presentation Day! Everyone’s presentations were good. The feedback from the board members was amazing. I am so glad that they were able to be there to ask us about our businesses so that we could research more or change things in our businesses that we hadn’t really thought about before they asked us about them.

I hope that everyone that has said that they are going to fill out an application hold true to it and gets to have the amazing experience as all of the students that have taken the class already. I have had community member tell me that they wish that when they were younger they could have had this type of opportunity. I have enjoyed networking and I'm really not looking forward for this class to end.

03/03/2018

Business Presentations, presenting about our business was a great experience. I really think that now we all understand the businesses that each of us will have and I am really thankful that the board members were able to be there to give us feedback and tell us things that they would look for in the certain business that you have. I am excited to see where my personal business goes and to see what the future looks like.

02/24/2018

A visit to Beth Boley Country Financial - I am glad that we were able to go see her before we kicked off our businesses. She gave us some types of insurance that we would need to protect ourselves and our businesses.

02/17/2018

Overall the day of the CEOlympics went really well. At first I thought that we weren’t going to have a big crowd due to not having a guest speaker.  Hearing that we did an amazing job from guests made the event a lot better. While playing trivia, everyone making noise when they either got the answer right or maybe even wrong.  I think that the Olympic games and speeches was our strength for the CEOlympics.   The trivia and the marble race were my favorite parts of the event.  I want to remember all the struggles we went through and how successful we were as a team.  
02/10/2018

Nathan Harnetiaux - I really thought that the cash flow lending (EBITDA) was the most interesting. I enjoy learning about how to come up with the numbers to give an offer to someone. It sometimes can be tricking but you just have to make sure that you get the best answer. One thing that Nathan said that really stuck was when he told us to think about why your business exists, and when thinking of your business ask to yourself would anyone care if it went away?

01/13/2018

Ignorance VS Stupidity- I have never thought about these two words being different or even the same. Now that we read about, it I know that they are completely different. 

Outlaw Tees - I have always wondered how you get the images printed onto a t-shirt. Now that I have visited Outlaw Tees, I can now say that I have seen it. It is amazing what all is put into the finish product. I thought that not only the printing itself was amazing but also the drying. I never would have thought that you would have to send the shirts through a dryer to get the ink dry. This visit is one of my favorites thus far. 

12/09/2017

T-shirt sales are complete and the order has been placed. It is a huge relief that we got them ordered. Selling t-shirts was a fantastic learning experience and I am glad to be a part of this class. I have learned that not everything goes as planned, and you have to keep on top of things that need to be done. On to our class business, I am excited to see all the learning experiences that we come across while planning our business. As a team we work really well together and need a way to mark our progress. Some of the tasks that I am in charge of are things that I never thought that I would be doing in my life. I am glad that I took on the role of being the COO. I hope that I can do everything to the best of my ability and the way that everyone has envisioned our business to be.

12/02/2017

“Everything has Value” - As Craig said in his book even the smallest things have value. A simple little coin could have so much value. Even some of the things you learn throughout life that you don’t think will have any value in the future it will come back around and be valuable.  Also on Monday we went over the 3 most important things, another chapter in Craig Lindavhl's book. Do what you say you’ll do, do it when you say you’ll do it and communicate while you do it. If you can do these 3 things you will be successful. I know for myself I need to learn to communicate better while doing something. I knew that I wasn’t a very good communicator but I hope that I can get better at communicating with my peers.

Working on our class business I hope that as a class we can communicate and everyone is all in. I am super excited to see what our class can do as a team and what we can accomplish.  Putting together our class business will be a challenge.

11/17/2017

A fantastic week is coming to an end and I am so happy that we have started selling t-shirts. It feels so good to be almost finished with that small business so we can go forward with our class business. We have had quite a bit of rough patches that as a class we have overcome and learned from. Our class has a lot of courage that has helped us stay strong and get our business done even if it wasn’t something that we were passionate about.“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."-- Winston S. Churchill

11/11/2017

“From Here to the Door” - You can’t think of all the risk at the beginning try it out and deal with the obstacles as they occur. All the bad questions you ask yourself are things that you just have to deal with as they come. If you’re really passionate about it then take all the risk and get through them.  

11/04/2017

There’s times in life when someone gives you this tool that you have no idea what it is for. You might think that it is pointless but you keep it in your toolbox and one day you figure out that the tool wasn’t pointless. You use that tool that you stored in your toolbox for something incredible. In the chapter The Toolbox of Life you learn that there will be tools that someone tells you is going to help you in life remember that tool and it will be helpful the day you have a problem and need to use the helpful tool someone gave you.

10/28/2017

"Boomslam!" Acknowledge your surrounding. You’re always going to have bumps and challenges in the road. Stay focused on the goal that you have set and make the best of it.

We were joined by Jim Boyd to talk to us about business plans. I never knew much about a business plan and all the things you have to do to put a business plan together. One of the things that Mr. Boyd had said that really stuck out to me was “ You are selling yourself and your company not your product or service.”  You must be presentable and respectful to your customers.

Kent Probst traveled from Effingham, IL to come and join our class to speak about his journey and how he got involved with CEO. I thought that it was really cool that he taught with Mr. Lindvahl. He gave us pointers about class business ideas. We were given the opportunity to talk with some of the board members and with Mr. Probst at the end. It’s amazing how much the board members do for the Hancock County CEO. 

10/21/2017

The Farm Bureau is very interesting. Being an FFA member/ officer we have been to events that the Farm Bureau has put on. It is very interesting what such a small membership driven organization can put on to help their community become better members of not only the organizations but the community as well.

10/14/2017

When life is moving really fast and there are a lot of obstacles, keep moving and don’t give up. I really think that in the chapter "Riding the Rapids" when Kyle gave the advice “Paddle like heck. And keep paddling.” that this is something everyone should take into consideration. When times are tough just remember there are others in this world that have it a lot worse than we do.

10/07/2017

In Craig Lindvahl’s book, Chapter 2 is called “Be careful how you magnify.” In this chapter he says “ Never forget that the things you focus the lens on appear to be the biggest and most important things in your life. Because you choose where to aim the lens, it’s a pretty subjective thing.” This really stuck out to me because if you focus on the little things in life you won’t see the bigger picture. It's all in what you want to make your bigger picture. I think that there is a lot of great advice in his book that will help throughout the year.

09/23/2017

Wednesday I was given the opportunity to speak in front of people to tell them my experience with CEO.  I really came out of my shell for CEO.  I didn't know anyone that is in class and now I do.  CEO has opened a lot of doors for me.  Getting to see what the county has to offer, meet new people, and speak in front of big crowds.  

I never thought I would be a leader.  Being a leader is so much fun but a lot of stress if things get away from you.  Being a leader means you have to get everyone to stay on task.  Make sure they have their part complete so that the goal will be accomplished.  

09/16/2017

Thank you Hancock County for bringing such a great opportunity to the community. I have really enjoyed the first few weeks of this amazing class. Learning about the businesses in Hancock County will be amazing.

Mr. Lindvahl has great advice. In the video we watched, he said ask anything you want to know. For me I have always been a shy and quiet student/ individual. During this class I have come out of my shell and started to take lead in a few of our class exercises. I will always think of the advice that he gave us in the video throughout the rest of my life.

09/09/2017

Team bonding is always a good time. There is always that one person who has to step up and be a leader - sometimes more than one. We learned new things about the students in the class by introducing them to the class. Trying to flip a blanket with thirteen students on it without anyone stepping off can be really frustrating, but we worked as a team. We failed a couple times but came back and succeeded. 

We were joined by a couple of board members Matt Dickinson and Craig Wear.   I really enjoyed hearing how these two men started their businesses and how they became board members of Hancock County CEO.

09/02/2017