Wow! This semester flew by. I have learned a great deal about myself through this course. I would recommend this course with this professor 10/10 times. I found my true priorities and value in the business world through the last 3 months.

If I could tie it all up and tell you the most important thing that I learned is how important it is to have the Lord involved in every decision that you make whether if its with starting a new business or with your family. The Lord should be the person at the Helm of your ship and your the guy directing the sails. I truly believe that if you do this, no matter what happens with your failures or successes, you and your family can be happy on this earth.

My advice for someone that is about to start a entrepreneurial journey is to take into account what their passion is. Don’t follow the money, let the money follow you and your passion. That is how people are not only successful in this world but also happy. There are thousands of people that make a lot of money but just cant seem to find happiness. But there are few that are very wealthy financially and spiritually.

My caution to anyone starting a business is to have your values and priorities straight or else the very thing that you are working for could disappear in an instance.

I have found the most success through other peoples experience. Learning about peoples losses and wins have helped me so much in this road to my career goals.

Recently I had an eye opening experience with my mentor. His name is Kyle and he has worked for some big companies in sales. I was in a situation with a deadline to choose whether or not to join a prestigious company. I had two weeks to decide and I didn’t know what to do. Something this week that I question a little bit is when Stan Christensen tells us to join a company that you love and that you can wait. I have a different view on the subject that my mentor and I agree on.

The company that offered me a full time offer after college is a great company. There are some red flags though, that make me hesitant to join. The values of the company may not be aligned with mine. But at the end of the day I haven’t worked there so I can’t say for sure. I know that If I dont accept this company’s offer, I wont ever work there. If I do, I know that is the only thing recruiters will ask me about when interviewing with other jobs.

My view on this subject is, even if I don’t love being at this company, why not be there for 1-2 years and stamp that on my resume in order to be at my dream company? I feel like this is a popular route that a lot of people take. My mentor agreed, especially with the pay. Financially, it is a great move because it is something that we can build upon for a few years to be else where.

I learn such great things at work. As I started my first week of calling on prospects at my new job, I had a tough time connecting with people and having a solid conversation.

I asked my co-workers for advice and got a few tips aligned with this weeks topics. I talked to a BDR that had been there for about 6 months. He said something that changed the way I talked to people. He told me stop selling a product and start selling a solution. Then he asked me if I am only working to gain money or to help people with our solution. I had to evaluate after he asked me. I realized that I was just trying to set demos with the goal in mind to make money and not actually help the people I was on the phone with.

After a few weeks of having a different mind set, I started to forgot that I would get a certain amount of money for every demo I set and really started to have wonderful conversations with people over the phone. I genuinely cared about their business and their goals for the up coming year. I had a charitable mindset that has really taken my conversations to the next level. I am not their to sell a product I am there to help them improve their lives through some of the solutions that we offer.

A few weeks ago I had a tough experience with choosing between my family and work.

My manager called me into the office one day to talk to me. He said he needed me to go to a conference in Las Vegas. I said sure! I asked him what were the dates. The dates for the conference were during Halloween.. my heart sunk. I forgot that I had made plans with my wife to go down to Utah.. I was torn because my boss really needed me to go and I knew if I went, I would be on his good side the rest of the year. I had to make a split decision in that moment. Keeping my promise to my wife to go to Utah or take the work opportunity.

I decided to choose my family over work. We went to UT and had a blast. I came back to work the next week and found out that the Las Vegas conference was cancelled due to covid.. I knew the Lord would bless me when choosing the most important part of his plan which is family. I am so grateful I had the chance to go through something like this to learn my lesson and see the hand of the Lord in my life.

I really enjoyed the License to Pursue Dreams video in this weeks study material. I had an experience at work that Illustrated some of the things in this video.

About 2 weeks ago we came out with a new website and rebranded. The marketing team did a great job and the site looked great! We have a messaging channel where we talk daily if we have questions or just a general discussion. After the site came out we had a discussion about it. The marketing was reaching out for support and ideas for the site. We actually had a big say in some of the changes that they made after the discussion! Our creativity was taken in consideration and applied. I love this kind of work environment because it shows that management trust us. It shows that they care what we think.

I believe that with this type of work environment, employees can perform to their peak. Trust can be built inside of the company. When I venture into new things, I would like to do the same. I want to find people with open minds that are open to suggestions and can collaborate with different people.

I would no like to be in a workspace where I don’t feel listened to, where my input isn’t taken under consideration.

A few years back I was looking for work. A buddy of mine mentioned that he worked a great place and he loved the environment. He said it was very relaxed and didn’t care too much about how hard we worked. Right off the bat I already saw a red flag but I decided to go interview to see if it was a good gig. I got the office and the boss was really cool. He came across like a hard worker but still liked to have fun. We hit it off and he gave me an offer to work for his insurance company.. I hate insurance. I declined his offer but shortly after he offered me another position. It was finding leads for a point of sale company. I didn’t really have another choice so I accepted and started the next day.

Over the course of a few months I worked pretty hard to meet quota. But soon after, I realized that nothing really happened to me if I didn’t hit quota. I started to slack. My boss was never present, he was always working on his insurance business and we felt like he didn’t care for us.

I came to the conclusion that the company that hired my boss to seek our employees like us, invite the wrong guy onto the bus. He wasn’t very ethical and didn’t catch the vision for this point of sale company. I always wanted to speak up but never did. I ended up leaving that job because of covid and went to go knock doors selling pest control. I look back and learn that if you don’t have the right people on board with your company and they don’t catch the vision of the product or service, they aren’t going to benefit you.

As mentioned in my discussion boards, my biggest challenge that I foresee with starting a business is managing the employee relationships to establish good structure within the company.

I believe that a company without good structure to it, is one that is bound to fail. You have to find people with passion, drive, a optimistic and realistic person. If the C-level execs that you hire don’t see your vision, your business will take a long time through trial and error to find success.

I’ve seen this through a specific company I worked for. The CEO came up with a helpful software tool. He started the company about 10 years ago. I worked there for about a year. My biggest issue was seeing management so worried about money and not really about the solution they were offering. I left the company for that reason. I didn’t feel valued, and I just felt like a number there. I knew I could be easily replaced and so I was impressed to leave. Its been about 4 years since I worked there and to this day, I will find people that currently work there have the same issue with management. That results in a big turnover rate, that no company wants. This is a huge issue that I would not want to have started a business. I would do everything in my power, even if that means I give up some of the my personal earnings to pay someone else more money that has that vision and desire not form money but from helping people.

Growing up my family did not have a lot of money. My father didn’t have his residency in the states so he was making the bare minimum. I remember in the year 2002 in New Jersey, we didn’t have money to buy our own Christmas gifts. On Christmas Eve we got a knock on the door and the catholic church member came with a bag full of toys. My brother and I were the happiest kids on the earth playing with those toy guns.

I think about that happiness often. What was so special about it? I mean… I lived in JERSEY, we had no money, we knew no english, ate canned meals for dinner, and lived in a tiny rented space. What was so happy about that? The value of family is infinite. Its not something money can even dream of. Although financially we weren’t rich, I still felt like the richest kid in the world with my brother along my side playing and a caring father and mother.

This is something that I strive for in my home with my future kids. I want me kids to first off have an education, learn about the importance of family, and find a passion. The money will flow later. Thats what happiness is truly about.

Do I work for money or do I work for my family?

These last few months have been great but also stressful. As mentioned in previous posts, I wrapped up my internship at IBM and received an offer. After my internship I couldn’t wait to hear what my offer was. Role, location and salary were so important to me. After I found out what my salary would be I was amazed! I am money hungry but this last week I reflected on the question why? Why am I money hungry? Do I work for Money or do I work to take care of my family WITH money?

Reading this weeks material helped me realize that money is just something that helps takes care of your money. But there are other things much more important that can accomplish the same thing. Putting God before anything will make my life and my family’s life the happiest it can be. It is something that money cannot buy. I made a vow in my work career to always do what is best for my family, not myself or anyone else.

I often ask myself, why do I want to make so much money?

A few years ago I thought, oh man I hope when I graduate I make 50k that would be awesome, I would be set for a long time. The following year I told myself ok I have a lot of experience I hope I make 60k right out of college and I will be good to go for a long time. Just recently I got a job offer from IBM a big prestigious company. When they told me what my salary would be, I was blown away. It was a large amount of money that i couldn’t believe. After a few days I thought oh man I wonder how much more I can get offered else where…

I caught myself after having this debate in my head. I asked myself wait, why do I need all this money? If I don’t have a goal, then any amount of money will never ever be enough. i will never be happy. That is when I sat down with my wife and we came up with reasons for how much we want to make. After listing all the things we wanted to do after graduation, we realized that the offer from IBM was more than enough to support out dreams… so… why was I wanting more than what was offered?

I believe that life is more than just money. Life is about being a good person. It is about living what you believe is right and what God has taught you. That is what will make you rich. Not with material but happiness that cannot be bought or touched with money. It is something priceless that not even the richest man on earth can buy. And its free from money.