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 The day, tagged “A morning with Young Entrepreneurs”
included a breakfast buffet catered by Peggy’s Place in Lincoln,
comments from Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship Executive
Director Austin Brooks, and LLCEO graduates Filipe Buenrostro
(2018-19) and Faith Sanders (2021-22).
Mentor
Michelle Bauer (left) with LLCEO Chair Bridget Schneider.
The morning began with a welcome from LLCEO Board Chairperson
Bridget Schneider and an invitation to take advantage of the
breakfast buffet while hearing from the guest speakers. Schneider
then said the guests would view a short video about the CEO program.
The first to speak was Brooks who hales from
Effingham. He commented first on the quality of the Air B and B he
had utilized in Lincoln on Wednesday night. He said it was hard for
local people to talk up the accommodations offered in a community
because they rarely used them, so he was providing a testimonial and
compliments to the owners of the Lincoln Loft in the heart of the
city. He said that he had a really good experience and enjoyed the
comfort of the Air B and B immensely.
He moved on to talk about the program he represents and spoke about
how that the idea of creating an experience-based leadership for
young students interested in entrepreneurship had exploded into
something far greater than had been imagined. He spoke about the way
the program is managed with a teacher-student format but rather with
a facilitator who sees the students as young adults and treats them
accordingly. He said the program offers students the opportunity to
learn not just about business but about being a leader, creating
relationships, teamwork and gives them greater confidence in their
own ability to succeed.
Brooks shared information gathered from the Effingham area, where
the CEO program has been offered for the past 15 years. He said that
of the first three graduating classes, 44 percent of the students
still reside in the Effingham community. He said that there was a
comparison on the pre and post impact of the program where that
pre-CEO students indicated that they had no desire to stay in their
home communities. Post-CEO the opinion had changed dramatically, and
many said that they would not prefer to stay in their home
community. After getting to know the host businesses and mentors, 60
percent of those students said they would refer friends and family
to those businesses and 65 percent said they would be a customer of
that same business in the future.
Of that same group of students, 47.55 percent said they had attended
sessions and heard from businesses that they would like to same day
work in.
Brooks shared his personal experiences with the alumni guest
speakers Filipe Buenrostro and Faith Sanders. He said he recalled
attending a conference and walking into a room with four men. He
noted that three of the men were mega-successes in their individual
fields, and the fourth man was Filipe, holding his own and standing
out in a group of highly successful entrepreneurs.
Brooks said Faith had participated in student improvement interviews
and had stood out to him as super bold with great communication
skills.
When Brooks finished, he had the honor of calling the first LLCEO
alumni guest speaker to the podium. Filipe Buenrostro, a graduate of
the 2018-19 LLCEO class came forward to share his experiences during
and after CEO.
Buenrostro began by talking about other leadership classes he’d
heard of or witnessed and said those classes offered opportunities
for leadership “with guard rails.” He said he felt the program was
“dressing me up to be a leader but not letting me lead.” In the
LLCEO that was not the case. Buenrostro said the CEO program had
taught him skills that he had taken with him and utilized for his
own success over the last few years. He spoke about spending time in
Washington D. C. and meeting a man from Haiti which led to an
invitation to visit that area. He said he developed a relationship
there that may be of value to him in the future.
Buenrostro also shared that he had attended university in
Springfield, and though a friendship with the president ended up at
19 years of age being employed and entrusted to oversee a budget.
He said he had applied for an apprenticeship at a
good lawn firm. He had interviewed well and was very excited about
his prospects, but he didn’t hear back. After quite a little while
he decided to follow up only to discover that some how the
notification that he had won the position never reached him. He said
it saddened him to have missed that opportunity, but it also
motivated him to move on and try again and again. He said he made
copies of his resume and went in person to law firms and after
several stops, it did pay off for him.
He did eventually get a good apprenticeship and went on from there.
He said the CEO program helped boost his courage and
confidence and taught him the value of networking. He noted that
learning to be bold and outgoing had landed him an opportunity to
meet someone from Haiti who eventually invited him to visit.
Buenrostro took advantage of that offer and spent time in the
tropical climate. He said he built a relationship that he knows will
be there if and when he needs it.
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During Covid, he went to Mexico to learn more about
the culture and language and to invest in building his import
business that he featured as his small business at the 2019 LLCEO
Tradeshow.
Currently Buenrostro is working in Springfield at Bunn Capital as an
international account administrator.
Buenrostro’s quotable quote for the day came from the Midland
Institute for Entrepreneurship founder, the late Craig Lindvahl
“Life ain’t no laser beam.” Buenrostro spoke about his year in the
LLCEO and the group event the class had planned for a fundraiser for
the program. The two-part event began with an evening event that was
quite successful and the class had left that first night quite
pleased with the result. However, their spirits fell dramatically
when the athletic event that was part two of the fundraiser the next
day failed. The turnout was very low and there was no profit to be
made. Buenrostro said the team leaders were in a bad mood,
disheartened by the end result of the effort they had put into the
event. It was then that Mr. Mahler, the facilitator for that year
had a pep talk with the students, reminding them they had made a
promise to those who were in attendance. And even though they were
few, they were entitled to received what they had been promised.
Buenrostro said it was a lesson well learned. We will put in a lot
of effort and reap a great reward sometimes, and other times, we
will fail. But we have to keep trying, and we have to follow through
with our promises and doing what is right, even when it seems to be
going all wrong.
He said the lesson learned was that “life ain’t no laser beam.” One
cannot predict the way things will turn out, and one cannot predict
all the directions life will take them.
He said if he needed to answer the question what CEO meant to him he
would have to say it was a place to become stronger, more courageous
and all around a better person.
When Faith Sanders came to the podium she said that
she could not even begin to offer a good follow after Buenrostro
offered such a great lead. Sanders is a senior this year at
Hartsburg Emden High School. She said that she couldn’t foresee the
future and what directions she would go or how she would relate it
to the CEO program. But at the same time, she knew that the program
had made her better and a good example of that had been the words
spoken about her earlier by Austin Brooks.
She said she was somewhat surprised to hear that she had presented
as bold and confident. If she gained anything from CEO it was that
ability to step out of the shell she often lives within. Being quite
and shy by nature, she learned to be assertive and to speak out and
be a part of the group.
She said that the CEO program had helped her and her fellow
classmates to realize that they do have a voice, and they should
exercise that voice to speak out for what they think is right. She
learned to take the lead instead of waiting for someone else to do
it so she could follow along. Even though she still considers
herself to be an introvert, she knows now that she has the ability
and the skills to speak out, be assertive, and take the lead.
She’s looking forward to the future and knows that the personal
growth and development that came for her in CEO will continue to
serve her in the years to come.
As the morning came close to an end, Rachel Judd, the LLCEO Investor
Committee Chairman stood at the podium. She talked about the network
that keeps the CEO program alive. Even though Facilitator Lisa
Kuhlman does a great job, she doesn’t do any of it alone. Judd asked
for representative of businesses that had been classroom sites in
the past to stand and remain standing. She then asked for those who
had volunteered to be student mentors to stand, then the ones who
had offered class addresses to stand, and the ones who served on the
board, were current students, past students, and financial
supporters.
At the end of her requests, she noted every person in
the room was standing. She said it was because the LLCEO was not a
teacher-student program, it was a community program that needed and
continues to need the support of those present and more to remain
successful. She thanked all those who have contributed to the
community effort for doing so and encouraged all to continue to
support the CEO program locally through their personal interactions
as well as their financial support. She noted that all of it
combined is what makes the program go and she is hopeful that the
program will continue to go for years to come in Logan County.
As she closed she invited guests to linger as long as they wished,
visiting with the current CEO students, the board members, those who
are mentors and others present.
The next CEO event will be the LLCEO Tradeshow. At the tradeshow,
the current students will set up their own small business and
present it to guests in an evening event held at the Lincoln
American legion.
The LLCEO Class of 2023 is Isabella Bree-Elmore, Benjamin Crombie,
Ashlyn Duvall, Riley Fretag, Lilianna Houzenga, Maggie McNalis,
Kyleigh Ott and Emma Petro. To learn more about the LLCEO, visit the
website at Land of
Lincoln CEO - Entrepreneurial Education
[Nila Smith]
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