Left to right are 2018 CEO alumnus Filipe Buenrostro, 2021 CEO student Shivang Patel, 2017 alumnus and current board member Ashley Zinser, 2021 CEO student Payton Johnson, 2021 CEO student Elizabeth Stewart, Illinois State Representative Tim Butler, 2017 Alumnus Adriana Doolin, 2021 CEO students Jordan Crowell, Grace Doolin and Faith Sanders.

Land of Lincoln CEO hosts “A morning with young entrepreneurs”

 

[January 15, 2022]   On Thursday morning, the Land of Lincoln CEO hosted “A morning with young entrepreneurs” breakfast meeting at the Lincoln Elks Ballroom. The breakfast was attended by several guests made up primarily of CEO board members, sponsors, past and present mentors, past program facilitators and past and present CEO students. A special guest in attendance was Illinois Representative Tim Butler.

The morning began with CEO Advisory Board President Bridget Schneider welcoming guests and inviting everyone to enjoy a breakfast catered by Peggy’s Place in Lincoln.

When plates were filled, and guests were settled in for the morning, Schneider introduced a short promotional video provided by the founding agency of the CEO program in the Midwest, the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship.

Schneider then introduced the 2021-22 program facilitator, Lisa Kuhlman, who in turn introduced the first speaker of the day, Adriana Doolin.

Adriana Doolin is a former student of the LLCEO, class of 2017. She spoke of her CEO experience, what she learned and how it is benefiting her in her current pursuits.

Doolin's individual business developed in the program was “Radiance Cosmetic Artistry.” She continued her business into college and is now preparing to launch a new small business, Adriana’s Embroidery.

Doolin is working now for a marketing firm. She said what she learned from CEO has helped her be an effective employee in her current position.

Doolin said some of the best lessons she learned revolved around working as a group and also taking a leadership role. She said it was valuable for her to learn that not all people think alike, and when working in a group, the different personalities and work habits need to be addressed and understood. While others may not take the same approach she does, they have the same end result of creating something good and valuable.

She said she also learned not to trust her memory, to write everything down. She said she learned how to work with people, but also work independently.

Ashely Zinser, a 2017 CEO alumnus spoke next. Zinser is also currently serving on the CEO Advisory Board. She works for Central Illinois Ag in Atlanta and said her position there came from her year in CEO. She recounted the class attending a morning session at CIA and her opportunity to talk with owner Michael Schmidt. He had asked about her family background and knew members of her family. When she finished her education and began seeking employment, she had the opportunity to go to work for CIA and is very happy it worked out for her.
 

Zinser said the class taught her many things, most importantly what she learned was based on first-hand experiences rather than from text books. She said having the opportunity to make mistakes, learn from them and make herself better because of those mistakes was a valuable part of the class. She noted the program does not focus on grades or scores. More important than scores, the program focuses on accountability and doing what one says they are going to do and doing so successfully.

The final speaker among the young people was Jordan Crowell, who is a current student in the program. Crowell said he is still learning and expects at the end of the program he will have much more to say about how it has impacted him. He noted one notable improvement for him was his ability to stand at the podium and address the group today. He said coming into the program, addressing a crowd would have been a very uncomfortable situation for him, but the program is helping him learn how to address the public with confidence.

Crowell said he is also learning marketing skills and the value of networking.

The final speaker of the day was LLCEO Board member Rachel Judd. She said she wanted to remind everyone that though the program is incorporated into the Lincoln Land Technical Education Center, it is not a state or school funded program. The money to operate the LLCEO comes from sponsors and investors. She encouraged those at the breakfast to continue to stay involved through financial support, education and mentoring support.

She added a big thank you to those who have given that support over the past seven years of the program. She said those in the room have helped grow the program, but also have helped to grow young men and women preparing them for the future. Judd also encouraged those in the room to reach out to others they might know who could potentially become sponsors, business hosts, presenters or mentors and encourage those people to get involved.

When Judd finished, Schneider returned to the podium to close out the morning. She said the one last point she wanted to share is that the program has impacted many local young people over its seven year tenure. She said in some cases, the students continued on with aspirations of owning their own business in Logan County and some found through the program that entrepreneurship was not for them. She said that was okay as well, because it helped these young people understand what they would have to do in order to become a business owner and they saw that it wasn’t for them. At the same time, just as the first two speakers had demonstrated, the skills they learned during the program led them in the choices of career and benefited them in many other ways professionally.

The LLCEO is currently preparing for its group business project. This year it will be a Winter Fest family activity at the Lincoln Park District Recreation Center. The date of the event is Saturday January 29, and will run from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Students are also working on their individual businesses, which will be showcased at the annual CEO Tradeshow to be held at the end of the program year.

Anyone interested in learning more about the program may visit the LLCEO website at https://www.landoflincoln
ceo.com/.

[Nila Smith]