Teri Bennett’s Post

"What I love is the journey," says Shelley Klingerman. "What I seek isn't the end but the journey." Shelley Klingerman shared with CEO characteristics of an entrepreneur and the challenges they experience on the journey. An entrepreneur herself, Shelley even shared ways one can support an entrepreneur. After 18 years at Sony in Terre Haute, Shelley broke from corporate work to pursue many different ventures of her own. She opened a yoga studio, was a personal trainer, owned and operated a boutique, produced a documentary, and authored a book. Ask Shelley, and she would tell you she knew little about what she ventured into...but she learned. In 2015, Shelley began a non-profit co-working space called Launch, to provide a collaborative workspace for freelancers, independents, and start-ups. In 2023, Launch merged with The Station Coworking, doubling the size of the work space, offering a kitchen, conference area, work stations, and more. CEO often uses The Station as a class venue. Shelley is the sister of the late FBI task force officer Greg Ferency. Out of the tragic events of his fatal shooting, Greg's sister felt she had to do something. The result was Project Never Broken, a non-profit she began to support law enforcement and honor their resiliency. Ninety minutes of class weren't enough time to learn all Shelley had to share, but she did leave CEO students with these words as an entrepreneur herself: Your network is your net worth. #miehq #stationterrehaute #projectneverbroken #stillettoagency

This year's CEO students took the $1 to $100 Challenge seriously. Given one, crisp dollar bill a piece, each student was challenged to be creative in multiplying it to $100 in two weeks. These seven entrepreneurs delivered food (Door Dash style), rented tools to clean or complete a project, bought and resold products at a markup, tutored, gave golf lessons, and cat "sat". Each recorded their progress in a ledger to help them with financial literacy, be accountable, and even add some competition. The money these students have earned in this challenge is theirs for their individual business seed money. Well done, CEO! #miehq #1to100challenge #youngentrepreneur #epicinsurancemidwest #terrehaute

The number of skills put into practice with the Badge Business is easily double digits. From design, marketing, writing agreements, pricing, negotiating, pitching, to corresponding...it goes on. Today, CEO students sought approval from Board Chair Mark Metheny to proceed with the Badge Business commitments. After sharing their progress, students answered Mark's questions and explained how they will meet these commitments to their sponsors. Several students shared how they used a tool new to them: claude.ai. At Rally Innovation Conference this week, students took away ideas from keynote speaker Tia Smith how to use AI (Alternative Intelligence) in business. Tia Smith has held execute roles at many Fortune 100 companies and is now General Manager of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Tia explained how AI is a learning process that pulls data, finds a pattern, and predicts an outcome. As a user of AI, one has to challenge it. It has to be verified, and there is responsibility that comes with using it. CEO students used claude.ai to frame emails and sponsorship agreements for their Badge Business. Mark Metheny told the students that AI is not a trend. It's not going away. It's not a substitute for that personal interaction, but it is here and now. #miehq #RALLY2024 #scottcollegeofbusinessisu #AI #epicinsurancemidwest #tiawhite

Keynote speaker Alex Rodriguez shared a small portion of his business wisdom with everyone at #Rally2024. One piece of advice that he gave was that everyone needs to step away from their technology and just think. Especially young people. He said to just sit in front of a fire for 30 mins and think. Think. Then, build that up over time. Alex shared some of his biggest challenges growing up, what he dreamed of as a young person, and how much determination he had to play baseball. Today, he said that successful people in his business show up early, keep their phones put away, and take good notes. Success, he said, requires you to be present. Even in failure, Alex said when he does, he hopes to fail fast and fail soon to learn from it. #miehq #scottcollegeofbusiness #terrehaute #AlexRodriguez

CEO attends #RALLY2024. Young entrepreneurs meeting experienced business leaders. #miehq #southvigo #westvigo

Meredith Jurica had a problem. The makeup bag she used couldn't hold all the items she wanted. The bags that she bought tipped over, and often were messy with leaky or spilled products. Being able to sew, Meredith toyed around with a design that laid flat, held more (much more) of her cosmetics, and were lined for easy cleaning. What started as a little side hustle not only solved her problem. It has grown to be a multi-million dollar business. Meredith, who goes by MJ, shared with CEO her journey from speech pathologist to product designer to manufacturer to business owner. MJ even learned the ropes of securing a design patent which has helped her product remain her intellectual property. MJ was in Terre Haute this past weekend to work with Becky Anders, owner of Petals by Flannel Rose, to promote MJ's products called Makeup Junkie Bags. CEO toured the Petals location and saw how both their online and store operations work. Kyla Dowell said "with an online business, description is everything." Customers want to know as much as they can learn about a product. Returning items isn't desirable for either customer or business. She said, "AI has helped a lot with writing descriptions." MJ's trip to Terre Haute included live online sales for two evenings. MJ met with CEO, covering numerous lessons she learned in manufacturing, marketing, and pricing her items. In 2018, her items and approach to her business were so intriguing that she was selected to appear on "Shark Tank," where she pitched her items for marketing help, financial investors, and mentorship. MJ prides herself in a product that is 100% American made. Even though foreign labor could help her bring down the cost of her product, Meredith said that's not who she wanted to be. MJ shared with CEO a piece of wisdom she has learned from her journey as a business owner: There's no rules when it comes to entrepreneurship. You decide what you want your business to be. #miehq #petalsbyflannelrose #makeupjunkie #youngentrepreneur

Jordon Miller says the biggest thing to influence his job is networking. CEO listened to Jordon explain how important support has been in his pursuing a career in photography. Seven years ago, he took the plunge. He quit his job and started his business ISO Images full time. He said he couldn't have done it without the network of support around him...especially his wife Danielle and bigger family. Jordon learned you can't do it alone. He attributes his success to the relationships he's formed around him. Jordon says, "Everyone has to define success for themselves." Whether that's having the flexibility to be home for the kids before and after school or owning a vacation home on the coast. "There's not just one way to be successful," he says. The three most important points to his business success are support, networking, and passion. He told CEO that if you can't answer WHY you are doing something, maybe you shouldn't be doing it. Jordon put his passion for photography to work in taking this year's head shots for CEO. He said he loves taking senior portraits and wedding photos. He loves capturing the individuality of the students and the happiness at a wedding. #miehq #isoimages #terrehaute #southvigo #westvigo #YoungEntrepreneur

I am excited to introduce the new class of Vigo County CEO students! Welcome and encourage them when you meet them. They are eager to get started. Jamison Miller, Matthew Ewing, Andrieli Dos Santos, Jackson Stewart, Lydia Shepherd, Chase French, and Gabriel Reed. #miehq #terrehaute #youngentrepreneur