This is it, Ladies and Gentlemen, the last journal I’ll be writing that I know of anyway. One last fun filled the week of CEO class, and it was also one really busy one with a lot of great speakers.

Our last class was to have breakfast with the Baileys. It wasn't some big lesson or anything (Well, you did have to set a formal table from a diagram!  EB)   but it was probably the best class we had. We all got to sit there and talk, eat, and listen to Mrs. Bailey and her husband tell us stories about their trip to China.

05/12/2017

I hosted Mr. Winkleblack, the general manager of Schaefer Enterprises in Wolf Lake.  Before he worked there he was with management of John Deere, but also fought forest fires and led his own group into the fires on a helicopter. He talked to us about how the business started out as selling whole tractors and large equipment but found that selling parts was more profitable. They have been in business 50 years.

05/10/2017

Dr. Haire gave us a lot more than just his story. He also gave us tons of life advice. Dr. Haire’s MRI was one of the coolest things. For other vets, it's hard for them to diagnose certain things, but with his machine he can find a lot of things.

05/02/2017

The week started out with a BANG when we went to DyNo Nobel. My dad used to work there so I already knew a good amount about the company, but it was still fun to go around the plant and see the process of everything. We even got to be there when they tested some of the explosives which was just really cool.

04/25/2017

I had no clue that Cook Portable Warehouses was as big of a company as it is. To think that they are in most of the southeastern states is astonishing to think about. When they explained why their sheds and such are the best, it makes sense. They put a lot of work into making them durable. They also really didn't leave a rock unturned when it came to what they were selling

04/19/2017

The Strike Zone visit was also a really interesting visit. I had no idea that the owner had other businesses and a job. It was great to sit there and hear his story, and then after he left, his wife lead us around the place. Something that I thought was interesting was that he and his brother both come up with great business ideas, and then they kind of just go with it, which is how they got the idea to also do laundromats.

04/06/2017

Mr. Egelston was one of the best speakers we’ve had since I’ve loved magic since I was a kid. To get to meet a magician who also speaks about business in CEO class, just wow. He was able to speak and keep constant attention from everyone because you never knew if he was going to do something spectacular. He had some really good information for everyone.

03/28/2017

Susan Odum came and talked with us for the second time this year. She talked to us about how to help people understand that we need to buy things in our community so that it can grow and be better. She had us come with some new ideas.

03/21/2017

It's always a good day when Mr.Sisulak comes to talk to us. He is always full of knowledge about getting in touch with people and how to market your business. Some interesting information he shared this week was that he would still visit a school even if the school did not do business with Baysinger Architects, just because you never know about the future.

03/15/2017

Customer communications was one of the topics on Monday morning with Mr.Rollie Hawk. He also shared his story of how he got to where he was today. He was an extremely interesting man and shared some very odd techniques to make sure people listen to a speaker. He talked about how if you walk around and stand within close proximity people will pay more attention.

03/06/2017

Pizza is something that means a lot to my family and me because of a family recipe. Getting to make some for the class on Monday was a blast. It was even better since everyone seemed to really like it.

Business plans are coming along nicely along with the help of people like Mrs. Eastwood who give up their time to help us. She had this neat program that allowed us to put in our numbers which would give us a rough estimate to what will be making yearly after our expenses. Getting closer and closer to having a business and I just can’t wait.

03/02/2017

This week we met Mrs. Eastwood. She had us tell her about our businesses and she critiqued us all. The more I tell people about my business the more and more confident I get about it. She also showed all these different sites that we could go to that would show the average consumer purchases of a type of product.

02/16/2017

Mr. Tom Harness was a lot like me in the way that he’s an introvert but still pushes his comfort zone and acts as if he’s not an introvert. He had so much energy and enthusiasm it was great.  He had advice for all of our businesses.  For me, for example, he gave me the name of a place that's looking for tradesmen like myself to sell our products. I also really liked how he said he didn't have employees but instead had a team.  Just overall, he was a really great speaker for us.

02/10/2017

In class this week we met two truly interesting characters that gave my favorite speaker Mr. Bill Ecker a run for his money. The first was Mr. Terry Paligo, the CFO of the Union County Hospital. Now at first, I didn't think I was going to be as interested as I was, mostly because he’s a numbers person and I’m not at all. Then he started talking about how he got where he was. He told some old war stories and some stories about his family. I don't know what he said that did it, but I felt like I just understood him.

02/05/2017

The following is being shared with permission from AJ Senior Shad Turner.  As the students mature, they become more reflective.  Half the journals had similar sections this week, the others too personal to share.  The second semester has shown the beginnings of the "transformation" we talk about in CEO.  Stay tuned.  Remarkable things are happening!  EB

As I’m finishing this up I’m in the middle of a wrestling meet, regionals to be specific, and I just wrestled my last match.  It was my very last match for the season actually. When football was over it hit me hard that it was over, and again today it’s hitting me hard. I know that my last day of CEO will be the same hard hit of reality, and there's no way to prepare for it. In the end, though, I know that I gave it my all in the season and in the CEO class.

02/04/2017

Please let me preface this with the fact that Mr. Farris gave the students two pages of quotes filled with inspiration and wisdom, with a couple of funnies thrown in—EB. “Some people are like Slinkies. They don’t really have a purpose, but it puts a smile on your face when you push them down the stairs” was one of my favorite quotes of all time and Mr.Farris knew it, and it made my day that he did. That was one of the highlights of this week. That was towards the end of the presentation, at the beginning we talked about Mr.Farris and how he didn’t have any clinical medical experience but controlled a hospital which I thought sounded like a really hard job.

01/26/2017

During our class meeting on Tuesday, I came up with a possible name for my business. I was researching a type of blacksmithing technique known as Damascus. It's when a smith takes one high carbon steel and kind of mixes it with a low carbon steel, and then when the metal is put into an acid the acid etches the low carbon steel leaving a pattern in the steel. While researching it I saw the metal get twisted together which formed a beautiful pattern, so since I already planned on doing mostly Damascus I could do the twisting pattern on each piece I do. When I decided that, it popped into my head that i should call my business Twisted Metals because of the twist in the steel. I really enjoy the idea, but it's still a work in process.

01/12/2017

“Always run towards the bullet not away from it” is probably the best advice I've ever gotten from a guest speaker. Then again it wasn't just any guest speaker it was Illinois Representative Mike Bost. Mr.Bost was really just an average guy who fights for what he believes. I really enjoyed hearing what he had to say. I also learned that he used to wrestle which isn't an important factor, but I wrestle so I more than respect all wrestlers.

12/15/2016

As someone who's grown up always wearing a pair of boots, I never really thought about the stores they came from. While hearing Mr. Fuller speak about the beginning of the store it was so intriguing to find out that it just used to be a shoe repair shop. I'm someone who really appreciates craftsmanship jobs like that. It kind of makes me sad, that due to modern products that those crafts are dying out. Hopefully we will come to a realization that those crafts are better than the cheaply made products that we all buy now.

12/07/2016

This week during class we visited one of the most impressive people so far: Mr. Hornbeak. Most just seem to know him as the other barista at Kiki’s or the owner Kathy Bryan’s husband, but he’s so much more. Not only is he the owner of 326 Productions, his recording studio, but the people he's got to meet or sing with, just WOW. He told us his story on Monday during which he was talking about famous people he has met. He started talking about how the band Journey came to his basement in Nashville ( his old recording station) or how he got to use Elton John’s grand piano right after Elton did.

11/28/2016

The best part about CEO class this week was going and visiting Rendlemans Orchards. Not only was it a really fun visit, but while Iwas there I got some peach salsa and I haven't been able to set it down yet, it's so good!! While there Mrs.Sirles spoke with us about how the orchard was like the only one that takes credit cards, and that their retail store isn’t what makes most of their money I always thought it was because of all the things that they sold there. The orchard had the same problem that Flamms had, that they that they were really short of farm workers.(And had to start using the H2A program.)

11/17/2016

This week during CEO my favorite day was getting to walk around the courthouse and seeing all the different offices there. I didn’t realize how many different things go on in the courthouse and all the different records that they have there. They have marriage licenses and honorary discharged forms.

11/06/2016

I really enjoyed seeing all of the abstract clay work there and the collection of items they had in the retail part of the Gallery. They had so many different things like morel mushrooms carved out of deer horn and essentials for straight razors.

11/02/2016

One of the things I learned was that with road construction several different companies put in a bid and then the person who wants it done chooses who they want. I thought that really interesting. I just always thought that you would just go to the company you wanted but with the bidding, it could really help with comparing prices. Then there was the quarry which was a really cool trip. I never knew that there was more than one pit. I also thought that they would just mine down to the ground not that they would blow up a certain section and then move to another one. I just can't get over the fact that CEO class continues to amaze me all the time.

10/28/2016

The most exciting part of my week was visiting the T-Rex Small Business Incubator which was our last stop on our CEO trip to St. Louis. The Business Incubator was this extremely tall building that held 200 or so small businesses in it. When you first walked into the building there were all these banners hanging up on the ceiling of all the businesses in the building. It was incredible to see the variety of businesses there. When being shown around the building we got to talk to one of the guys who works with a small business called Food Pedalers. They go to restaurants and pick up people's orders and then ride their bike to the address that ordered the food.

10/22/2016

“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” Walter Elliot.

With Flamm Orchards we found out about how it was really difficult to find local employees, and then for those employees to tough it out and keep working there because of how hard the job is. When Flamms do better than breaking even they use that money to upgrade the equipment so that the job can be done better.

10/13/2016

The most interesting thing in CEO this week didn’t even happen during class. It was when Aaron and I went to speak to the Chamber of Commerce about our micro and class business. At first it was a tad awkward. They had us stand up and talk for a bit. Aaron talked about the micro business, and I talked about the class business. I felt like we did an excellent job.

10/07/2016

Robinson Fresh is where produce is packed and shipped and sent to a ton of different stores all over the US. They ship to mostly Walmart but also to Sam’s and smaller grocery stores. They’re also trying out this new thing where they take the produce that doesn't make the cut, and sell them. They call it the Misfit program. It was really interesting to finally see what it takes to get all the produce from place to place. I also enjoyed listening to Mr. Mitchell speak about the military.

09/28/2016

On Tuesday I visited Union County Hospital to talk about advertisement. I went there with Jessa and Erin. This was the third place I'd visited about advertising, so I wasn't as nervous as I had been the first couple times. I also visited US Bank, this time with Jessa and Jessica. Walking in and talking was like bread and butter this time.

09/19/2016

We started out the week on Tuesday at the Old Feed Store in Cobden talking to Mrs. Hogan.  Mrs. Hogan and her husband run an event center know as the Old Feed Store. We came to find out that she runs two other business at the same time, which I find amazing because of how hard it is to keep one business open, but to have three total, WOW.  A big thing for her was a business plan like Mrs. Adams of Sudzy's Bath & Biscuits. 

09/06/2016

CEO class started this week with a lovely visit to Sudzy Bath & Biscuits on Main Street in Anna. It was a very good visit due to the fact that Mrs. Adams was only in her second year of business, so we got to all learn and see how difficult it can be to start our own business. Not only did Mrs.Adams show us the many parts of her business, she told us some very useful information about starting a business.  She taught us that we can't just jump into a business and expect it to be successful.  We leared we need a good business plan, to do our research and that being an LLC is VERY important.

08/29/2016

Today’s visit to Southern Real Estate Group was a great start to the day due to the attitude of our presenter. At first glance, the business looked just like any other business, but upon walking in I was greeted by the sound of very energetic music. After all of the excitement brought by Mr. Nimmo, I learned some interesting things like how some people make an impression of you in only 8 seconds. I thought that was an extremely short amount of time. I also learned how being able to blend in with a lot of different groups could really help in business, but that you should also be sincere about it too. It was a very fun and educational visit.

08/25/2016