|
 However, this group faced challenges that no other
class has had to face and they have now pulled it off very well.
When schools closed in March, the class was in limbo for only a
moment. Then facilitator Britta Langley and members of the LLCEO
Board of Directors worked quickly to put together a plan that would
enable students to continue their education from the safety of their
homes.
The hope was that come May, the students would still be able to
conduct their tradeshow. For that end goal, they had to stay on
track with their training and preparations.
Unfortunately, the tradeshow had to be canceled. Known to draw a
large crowd, the tradeshow had to go to the wayside due to
restrictions against gatherings of people in public.
“My initial thought about Covid-19 affecting LLCEO was immediate
stress,” said student Baylee Young. “I knew how much more difficult
things were going to be, but I was also sad. I was sad knowing that
we weren’t going to be able to go on anymore business visits and I
really enjoyed getting to know more people in my local community.”
The students at LLCEO attend special classes in addition to their
daily class schedules at their respective high schools. The business
visits happen before or after school. For many of the students, they
felt the same disappointment as Baylee. The opportunities to hear
from local business owners gives them insight to the daily
challenges of managing a business. But at the same time, these kids
were experiencing daily challenges that while perhaps annoying, were
also going to enhance their CEO experience as they learned to cope
with adverse circumstances.
They also had the advantage of still getting to learn from business
owners in a virtual world. Among those they visited from the safety
of their homes were Kathie Williams of Small Town Creations and
Jennifer Keith, CEO of Keith Technology & Educational Consulting.
Keith talked to them about finding humor in their lives and also
working that humor into their professional presentations. For some,
Keith provided a stress relief as she talked to the students and
helped them figure out how to laugh at a difficult situation.
Williams had met with the kids prior to the shutdown and then
visited with them again after the shutdown. She talked to them about
the difficulties small businesses faced when their doors were closed
by the pandemic and gave them insight into coping with what lay
ahead.
Before the shutdown, students did get plenty of opportunities for
tours and face-to-face experiences with local business owners.
Included on the list of those that they visited were Holland Barry
Bennet Funeral Home, Jake’s Furniture, Christian Village, and Abe’s
Carmelcorn Shoppe.
“Abe’s Carmelcorn was my favorite because the owners actually talked
about opening a storefront, moving locations, balancing stock, and
running the books,” said student Connor Noreuil. “They were by far
one of the most well prepared businesses. After dealing with
business owners that only wanted to tell their life story, or didn’t
even go into the actual operation of the business, Abe’s Carmelcorn
was very refreshing and insightful.”
Throughout the school year, the students had an assigned mentor. For
some of the students those mentors became especially invaluable when
schools closed.
Baylee Young appreciated all that her mentor did. “My mentor was
Sarah Stuart. She helped guide me the right way, gave me opinions
and advice based on my ideas, she always listened! The most
important lesson I learned from Sarah was to not give up. She taught
me to not get overwhelmed and stressed when things fail, get up and
keep trying until you become successful.”
“I had Patrick Doolin, who helped me to grow as a leader by showing
the importance of taking care of your team as a whole,” said Connor
Noreuil. “Because he himself is a leader not only in his business,
but in the community, he really helped me to understand some of
those team-building aspects.”
As the students moved forward, the last quarter of the school year
was primarily focused on getting their small business set up and
preparing for the trade show. When they learned that the tradeshow
was going to take on a different look in 2020 some were relieved and
some were a little more stressed over it.
The plan became for the students to move forward with developing
their business plans, creating their product or service and then
presenting it digitally. They did live streaming presentations to a
panel. Each one had an allotted time slot to fill, and the
presentations were spread across three days.
The first virtual presentation day was held on Wednesday April 29th.
[to top of second column] |
On the schedule for that day were:
-
Connor Noreuil--- Connor’s Custom Tees
-
Teagan Wyss---Wyss Residential Air Quality
Testing
-
Baylee Young---Pads & Paws
-
Luke Doolin---LincNet
-
Josh Wright---Wooden Wonders
On April 30th the presenters included:
-
Grace Frye--- Grace Smacks
-
Ruthie Ruhl---RR Equestrian Jumps & Training
-
Annagrace Keller---Repurposed Designs by Anna
-
Eli Hewitt---Nothing Fancy
The third and final day, Friday May 1st presenters
were:
-
Bayleigh Gillum--- BG Photography
-
Moriah Prather---Milk & Cookies Bakery
-
Mia Young---Built to Better Tutoring
-
Chase Mayberry---Maybands
Chase Mayberry commented on the experience of
preparing and participating in a virtual tradeshow. “My greatest
concern was the inconsistent connection to the internet, finding a
place to set up my booth, deciding whether or not to spend money on
a small business during a pandemic”
Grace Frye had the same concerns over the internet connections and
also worried, “I wouldn’t understand them or they wouldn’t
understand me,” referring to the panel. But in the end she was happy
with the presentation and the interaction. “It was good, they asked
good questions and I understood what they were saying.”
Looking back on the overall experiences of the year Connor Noreuil
offered his perspective and overview.
“Overall, it was an experience. There were definitely lows, such as
nearly bombing our group business. But there were highs as well,
such as the very successful turnout at our group business. I do have
mixed emotions about the class. As someone who doesn’t have all
these business connections, it was great getting out there and
meeting some of the community leaders. I really enjoyed some of them
and how they presented their ideas and critiques. I also met a
couple really good friends through the class, who I probably
would’ve never met had I not taken the class.
“I knew signing up for the class that it was going to be a
commitment and a lot of driving due to where I live. I was prepared
for this, however as the year went on, this became much more of a
struggle. It was hard finding motivation to spend the time, energy,
and gas early in the morning for this class.
Noreuil concluded, “The CEO program is definitely an investment, and
good for students set on a business path. This class isn’t really to
be taken lightly in the sense that it will consume a large amount of
your time, energy, and money. Despite some of my complaints about
the class, I don’t regret taking it.”
Baylee Young commented. “I loved absolutely everything about CEO. I
think that it was a great experience and I’m glad I was able to
participate. I will also be recommending this class to any student I
know that is interested in business.”
LLCEO Board member Kristi Powell offered up words of praise for the
students and their facilitator Britta Langley for enduring through a
tough end of the school year and prevailing.
“The school year did not end as expected for the young entrepreneurs
in the Land of Lincoln CEO class of 2020,” noted Powell. “However,
these business people & their facilitator tackled the challenge of
virtually connecting, learning and completing the culminating task
of every CEO class: the individual business. Out of the chaos
emerged thirteen new business that reflect the passion and
individualism of their owners. The entire LLCEO Board was proud of
the way in which the students and facilitator adapted to the
challenging times with determination and grace.
“Although not ideal,” said Powell, “the virtual Trade Show gave the
students an opportunity to share their new businesses in a way that
allowed the audience to see their dedication and resolve. We look
forward to seeing them grow in the future.”
Facilitator Langley also had strong praise for her class of 2020.
“It was a crazy year to say the least, but my students have shown
great courage, adaptability, strength, and endurance to continue
their success as an entrepreneur and finish strong in their CEO
experience. I am extremely proud of them. They got to see firsthand
that being a business owner comes with all sorts of challenges good
and bad.”
According to Langley, there is still a possibility of a trade show
of sorts for the LLCEO Class of 2020. The LLCEO is working with the
ALMH Market to bring the students into the Saturday morning market
in the near future. LDN will post if and when that is able to
happen.
[Nila Smith] |
