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Designing and Building Mid-West featuring Macoupin County CEO · Designing and Building the Midwest One Community at a Time

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_10: Hey, welcome to designing and building the Midwest one community at a time.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_10: I'm Chris Hartsuok with Big Dog Construction, your local window depot.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm Caitlin.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_04: This is the show where we bring you real insights, expert input, and a lot of entertainment along the way.
• 0:13
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• 0:15
  SPEAKER_10: Hey, every week, our main focus is bringing you the best advice on home improvement, remodeling, and how to take care of your biggest investment.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_10: But we don't stop at the property line.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_04: Exactly! We also dive into our realtor segment to cover the ins and outs of buying and selling locally.
• 0:29
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• 0:35
  SPEAKER_10: Plus, we regularly sit down with some fantastic guests from all walks of life to hear their unique stories and perspectives.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_04: Whether we're talking blueprints or community roots, we've got you covered.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_04: Let's get into today's episode.
• 0:47
  unknown: Big dog!
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: In the military, there's no such thing as good enough.
• 0:51
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• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Blake Middleton of Elite Roofing Professionals and Exteriors.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a veteran, and I brought the same mission first mindset back to Illinois.
• 1:02
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• 1:09
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• 1:15
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• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: Elite roofing, high standards, zero compromise, clear communication.
• 1:22
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• 1:24
  SPEAKER_10: Hey, welcome back to Designing Building the Midwest, one community at a time.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_10: I am Chris Hartsook with Big Dog Construction, your local window depot, and I am your host today.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_10: And I'm glad you're joining us for another episode.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_10: Hey, this podcast is about more than construction.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_10: It's about the people, businesses, and organizations and ideas that are helping shape the future of our communities right here in the Midwest.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_10: Today, we're talking about something incredibly important building the next generation of entrepreneurs and community leaders.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_10: Joining me are Ryan, who's the facilitator of McCopin County CEO program, and two of the students this year.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_10: We have Carter and Sophia with us, both from Northwestern.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_10: Yes, sir.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_10: Awesome.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_10: Awesome.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_10: Yes, sir.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_10: I'm clear so you don't have to call me sir.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_10: It's all good, but I appreciate the professionalism and courtesy.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_10: Hey, we're going to find out what the CEO program is all about, what these students are learning and how they're using these experiences to start designing and building their futures because the future of our community depends on the people we're preparing today.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_10: Ryan, welcome to the show and welcome both of you guys to the show.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_10: Thanks for having us today.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_10: Guys, I apologize to use that term loosely.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_10: Welcome students.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_10: We'll just say that.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_10: Hey, let's start helping our listeners understand what the CEO program is all about.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_10: But first, I have to pay a few bills, and that means I need to talk about one of our 10x partners, and that is elite roofing professionals.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_10: Hey, your roof and exterior are important investments in protecting your home.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_10: Whether you need roofing, guttering, gutter guards, or siding, you want a team that takes quality and workmanship seriously.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_10: Elite Roofing Professionals, when quality counts, they're always on top.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_10: Call them at 217-851-3836.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_10: Jenny will be glad to get you an appointment set with them.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_10: There's still time to get that free roof inspection before the snow starts flying, or give them a visit on the beautiful interweb at eliteroofingprofessionals.com.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_10: Now let's get into the topic of the day.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_10: We've got a big dog bite, and that big dog bite is your future isn't something you simply wait for.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_10: It's something you start building today.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_10: Think about that, right?
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_10: You don't have to wait until you're older to learn how to lead, solve problems, build relationships, or create something of your own.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_10: Those skills can start developing right now.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_10: And that's what makes programs like the CEO so exciting.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_10: They give students opportunities to step outside the traditional classroom, learn from business owners, and see how ideas turn into action.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_10: So let's find out how that works, right?
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_10: Ryan, for our listeners who've never heard about CEO, give us a high altitude level of what CEO is, but first let us know who you are.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_05: Sure.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_05: Yep.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_05: Brian Follis.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_05: I uh facilitate McCupin County CEO.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_05: I've done it for a year and a half.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_05: I have some background with the Midland Institute.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_05: I was there for about four years.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_05: And before that, I facilitated the Montgomery County CEO.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_05: So, you know, dipping my toes back in, uh, I always said with Midland, the opportunity to be back in the trenches with the students is pretty life-changing, not only for the students, but for me as well.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_05: Just can't get enough of it.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_05: So I also pastor a church in Tacomas, Illinois, and between the two, just feel like it's a good yin and the yang, if you will, you know, uh, an opportunity to do both what is passionate for me with the church.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_05: But then in the real world, as we say, you can't be all high and mighty and spiritually minded, that you have no earthly good.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_05: So here we go with CEO.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_05: And yeah, your point of 10,000-foot view is very simple.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_05: We have uh an expectation as CEO that high school and through high school, they're learning in a greenhouse.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_05: And we want to keep them in a space that is temperature controlled and uh we're nurturing that growth.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_05: That's the educational system.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_05: Hey, if they're behind, how do we get them ahead?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_05: But you and I both know the real world doesn't work that way.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_05: No, no, we have to get them out of the greenhouse.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_05: We have to see if they can weather the storms, if they can make it through a drought, if they can make it through hard times, um, and if they have the grit, if you will.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_05: And CEO just it's experiential learning.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_05: So we put them in that environment, both with soft skills.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_05: They introduce themselves routinely, they make a lot of pitches throughout the year.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, they learn professionalism, getting up, showing up on time.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_10: They're dressed nice today.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, right.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_10: So for our listeners only, they're dressed in nice CEO polos, button-up polos.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_10: It's great.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, and really to hand it over to them, the the conversation that leads with most CEO professionals.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_05: We don't really refer to them as students.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_05: We call ourselves a team.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_05: They're team members and they're part of our our business ventures.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_05: We do a badge business.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_05: It's more of a, you know, can they market for a business?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_05: And then they do a class business, and then the proceeds will go into their personal businesses.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_05: So it's not monopoly money at the end of the year.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_05: No, it's real, it's real money.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_10: So green hard cash, right?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_10: So I've got to ask, what does CEO stand for?
• 6:02
  unknown: Yeah.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_05: Craig Lindwall originated CEO in Effingham, and that's where it caught wildfire.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_05: I was like lighting at a bottle.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_05: And he, with several others, came up with CEO is creating entrepreneurial opportunities.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_05: Correct.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_10: I appreciate that because that's that's what I want our listeners and followers to understand is what that means, right?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_10: So you as a facilitator and the board are helping create entrepreneurial opportunities for these students, these team members, right?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_10: Correct.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_10: And so as team members, one of the qualifications is they have to be a what in high school?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_10: It's for seniors, correct?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_05: We do have a junior this year, a little pivot from one direction to another.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_05: We weren't sure about recruitment if being a senior was a deal breaker for students that wanted to go credit.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_05: But we found in the recruitment, we offered it to juniors this year, and we had such a turnout with the seniors.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_05: We have one junior.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_05: But by and large, a lot of the schools really saw the opportunity to be best for their seniors.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_05: So I think we're going to stay with the all-senior program again next year.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_10: Gotcha.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_10: So the junior you do have, are they eligible then to reapply for CEO next year, or it's a one double?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_05: It's a one year, yeah.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_05: The challenge you have is it's kind of like you can't take algebra one twice.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_10: Well, you can if you fail it.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, that's bad as fair.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_10: Wait, is there such a thing as failing a class anymore at school?
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_10: Yes.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_10: Sophia's eyes got really big.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_07: Not me, but like that's because of high school, yes.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_10: I like yes?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_10: Okay.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_10: No, that's great.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_10: That's great.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_10: Well, that's awesome.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_10: So, how does the CEO program differ from a traditional high school classroom?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_10: Let's hand it over.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_10: What do you guys think?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_07: It's like it's completely different.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_07: It really is.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_07: Completely.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_09: What's what's complete?
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_09: Give me, give me an example.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_09: I mean, you're not sitting down in a classroom and about to fall asleep in your chair.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_09: Oh, wait, do you do that, Carter?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_09: Occasionally.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_10: Oh, that's okay.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_09: Sophie's like, yeah, it depends on the class.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 7:48
  unknown: Yeah.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, but like it's like a real meeting.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_09: Like it feels like you're really like going to work.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_09: You have like a goal, you have a team.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_09: Like it's not like it's not like being in the class.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_09: You're coming in.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_07: I mean, being in the classroom is important.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_07: Like you still need to know like science, math, English, like the basic stuff.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_07: But in CEO, it's a lot different because it doesn't feel like you're a student.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_07: It doesn't feel like you're stuck in a classroom and the teacher's going on and on and on.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_07: You know what I mean?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_05: The truth is they go on and on and on.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, as all of us, but it doesn't feel like you're just getting lectured and like you give homework and stuff.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_07: Sure.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_07: Like we go to different businesses and we get lots of opportunities and we get to be seen as more of an adult, as more of a person actually in the community.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_10: Equal equal person in that conversation, right?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_10: Awesome.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_10: Awesome.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_10: So, Ryan, real quick, students get to learn directly from people who have started their businesses, right?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_05: Correct.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_05: So we will have throughout the year, my goal as a facilitator is to set them up with those relationships.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_05: So again, it's not professorial, it's not teacher.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_05: There's there's moments of coaching, but really it's a experiential learning.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_05: Can I put them in front of our goal?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_05: 300 professionals, 40 business visits, 40 speakers.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_05: So you accumulate that because the businesses we visit have also staff that we run into, their employees that interact with our team.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_05: You have mentors.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_05: Every student gets a one-to-one mentor for the course of the year.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_05: A lot of those mentorships actually continue in duration after for years.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_10: I know some mentors that still have a relationship with CEO students from five, six, seven years ago.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_05: And the statistics, it's crazy.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, if you ask students today who's their mentor, uh they'll have no professional mentors.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_05: They'll have a coach, they'll have a teacher, right, uh, maybe a pastor, somebody who's investing in their life.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_05: But the direction isn't ultimately, do you want to be successful when you get out of college?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_05: And if so, who are you talking to to make that happen?
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_05: And that's an opportunity CEO offers.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_10: Excellent.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_10: Excellent.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_10: So what do you think they gain from these real world experiences that they may not get from a textbook?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_05: Hands down, the reality of CEO is practice it now.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_05: So the illustration I get is uh give is when I was word of target, they said that you know, if you want to be in management, you gotta know all the app attributes you have to go around.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_05: And I avoided the check register line.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_05: I just for some reason the pressure of that I could do back stock, I could do inventory, I could do paperwork.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_05: Getting on the register was terrifying.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_05: Because you were going to be talking to people.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and then in the pressure of getting through and making sure cash in hand and back and credit cards and all the lines backing up, and you're like bit of a pain.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, something's not scanning right, and you're like, yeah.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_05: Uh so my joke is the the last of college business day, they realized I hadn't done the register, so everybody stood around while I had to run the register for about six hours.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_05: Nice.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_05: And all my team friends that thought I'd skipped that day I didn't get out of it, they thought it was pretty fun to watch and be entertained and amused.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_05: But that's what they get to do is actual business ventures.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_05: And it's not a textbook.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_05: It's a can you see real results for the conversations that you have?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_05: Are you offering a return on investment to the people that you're giving either sponsorships to or we joke our class business is not going to be a fundraiser?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_05: We don't like the F-word.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_05: So what can they do?
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_05: None of the F words.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_05: None of the F words, yeah.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_05: Not the one that's 11 words long.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_05: I don't know, fundraising.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_08: Sure.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_05: Somebody will fact check that.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_05: That's right.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_10: So, you know, let's hear from these two.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_10: And I know it's two of the 16 you have this year, right?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_10: Correct.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_10: So let's let's start with.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_10: So, Carter, we've already heard you talk, Sophia, we've heard you talk.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_10: But Carter, tell us who you are.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_10: What's good?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_10: Don't give us, I don't need your social security and address.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_10: Don't want to give that stuff out there.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_10: But who tell us who you are, what your interests are and hobbies.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_09: Well, my name is Carter Murphy.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_09: I'm obviously with the McCoop County CEO.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_09: I go to Northwestern High School.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_09: I'm sponsored by Smith Seed.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_09: And uh comes in with a sponsor.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_09: I love it.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_09: Outside of CEO in school, I play a lot of sports and I like being outside hunting, fishing.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_10: Awesome.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_10: Have you got your do you archery?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_10: I do, yep.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_10: Have you got your buck yet?
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_10: I have.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_10: Look at that.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I didn't even know that.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_10: Not the big one yet, but you're gonna go get another tag so you can get your big one, right?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_10: Okay.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_10: And you're gonna you're gonna go firearms season two?
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_09: Yep.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_10: Yep, yep, yep, yep.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_10: Awesome.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_10: Sophia.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_07: I'm Sophia Priceon, and I'm also from Northwestern.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_07: And I'm sponsored by Smokey Jennings and Palmyra.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_07: And then also I do cheerleading and I also do track.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_10: Awesome.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_10: So I this interests me because I know cheerleading and even sports.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_10: Are you playing team sports now in school?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, I'm in football season right now.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_10: Just made the playoffs.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_10: Hey, let's go.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_10: Let's go.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_10: So all those extracurricular activities, they take additional time.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_10: Because you're meeting after school.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_10: Obviously, your practice before school, after school, whenever you guys aren't probably doing before school practices right now, but that takes up time as well.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_10: So how do you find the time to do these additional things and CEO?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_10: Because obviously CEO, you're getting up early in the mornings, right?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_10: What time do you have to be a CEO?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_07: Uh 7:30.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_07: 730.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_10: What time's your school normally start?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_10: You have to be there by 945, but school starts 9.45.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, we don't know.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_10: Regular school.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_10: Regular school starts at 8.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_08: Okay.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_10: Okay, gotcha.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_10: So you guys are getting up, you have to be somewhere a half hour earlier than if you were just like, ah, I'm gonna cruise my senior year.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_09: Not only a half hour earlier, Chris.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_09: They have to drive.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_07: What's your drive?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_09: The minimum drive for us is usually 30 minutes, but when we're in Litchfield or Staunton, I'm driving over an hour from where we had a business visit in Staunton that probably was an hour and ten minutes for them to leave and get there by 7 30.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_05: Nice.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_05: Yep.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_10: And that shows a level of commitment, right?
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_10: So is that what motivates you guys?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_10: What let's go through that.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_10: What is your motivating factor?
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_10: Why are you getting up?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_10: Why do you feel the CEO is where you needed to be?
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_07: I always look forward to going to CEO.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_07: I've never woken up and been like, I don't want to do this.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_07: I don't want to go.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_07: I don't think it's worth it because CEO is definitely worth it.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_07: It teaches you so much more than you actually think.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_07: And not a lot of people know about CEO.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_10: Which is so how did you two hear about CEO?
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_07: I'm from our guidance counselor.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_07: So at first we really didn't know what it was, but she's just like, you need to sign up for this.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_07: Like I promise you it's worth it.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_07: And so we signed up for it.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_07: And I remember the first day we walked in and Ryan was nowhere to be seen.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_07: We had to go to the Carlimville area hospital.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_07: Ryan's nowhere to be seen.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_07: And he's always got a trick up his sleeve.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_07: So we're just like, but we didn't know that yet.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_07: But you didn't as well say you never met him yet.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_07: So you didn't know that, right?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_07: We're just like, where is he?
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_07: And then I asked the lady at the front desk, I'm like, Do you know where we're supposed to be?
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_07: She's like, No, who's Ryan?
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_07: And we got so confused.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_07: And then we kept it.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_09: First day, by the way, we all have no idea what we're doing.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_07: And then he comes out and he's like, What are you guys doing?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_07: He's like, Why didn't you come find us?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_07: And we're just like, What?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_05: And so in that space, what we really challenge is you can't step back, you gotta step up.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_05: The text simply said, I'll be at the Carlin Very Area Hospital, come find me.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_05: And they all piled up where?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_05: In the lobby?
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_10: The main lobby or the mid lobby down to the top side.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_09: Right when you walk in on the south side.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_10: Like under the south side, gotcha.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_10: And they're all like huddled there together.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_05: They were hiding, yeah.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_05: They've since changed.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_05: Now I they they find me and we get rolling pretty quick.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_05: So I love it.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_10: So so how did you hear about same thing?
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_10: Counselor?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, same thing.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_10: Okay.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_09: And you asked earlier motivation to make that drive all the way.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_09: I'm I really think it prepares me for my future, and I'm really excited about my future.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_09: And I think this gives us a huge head start above.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_09: And we're just making leaps and bounds because we're willing to do that.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_09: And I think it'll really pay off.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_10: Well, one one thing that that uh 10x, and again, Grant Cardone, 10x.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_10: I don't know if you guys ever heard of Grant Cardone and 10x, but one of the things he talks about is action, right?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_10: There's four levels of action.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_10: There's no action, there's retreat, there's normal action, and there's massive action.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_10: And it's a little pop quiz.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_10: Which one of those four do you think is the most dangerous?
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_10: I think no action.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_10: Okay.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_10: Actually, no action means you can take action.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_10: There's still something to do, right?
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_10: Retreat means you can stop retreating and move forward.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_10: Normal action is your most dangerous.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_10: And here's why.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_10: People get up every morning, I'm getting up, I'm going to school, I'm doing my what I have to do to get through.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_10: I get home, I do my studies or whatever I gotta do.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_10: I watch TV or watch Doom Scroll for five hours.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_10: I go to bed, get up the next day, repeat, rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat, rinse, normal action.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_10: They think I'm doing all I can.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_10: That's the most dangerous because in their mind, I'm doing everything I can.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_10: No, massive action is the one is the one you need to take.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_05: We've said a few times, we'll say it over and over again.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_05: I always use the phrase perfection is the enemy of good, good is the enemy of great.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_05: Perfection is what we strive for, so we have inaction.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_05: We don't do anything because we're afraid we can't do it perfectly.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_05: But to your point, we do something good and we think we've arrived.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_05: And then there's always more.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_05: We're not trying to do anything better.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_05: And you look at it and go, every opportunity can be approved on.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_05: And we've probably had that challenge with their pitches, where it's like I talked to somebody, I said, hi.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_05: Well, can I improve on small talk?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_05: Can I make sure that there's space to know more about a person's business than just what I saw on the surface, that one conversation?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_10: Set 30-second elevator pitch.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_10: Have you guys heard that convert that that expression before?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, doing it.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_10: We've never seen it.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_10: So an elevator pitch means have you ever guys have you ever ridden an elevator?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_10: Yes.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_10: Just just asking, right?
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_10: Just checking, right?
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_10: So have you ever been in an elevator with somebody else that you didn't know?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_08: Yeah.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_10: That's called the elevator pitch.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_10: You have about 30 seconds to pitch who you are and what you do or how you can help that person before those doors open on the next floor.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_10: They're trapped.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_10: They gotta listen.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_10: You have a trapped audience, 30, it's called the elevator pitch.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_10: You've got to perfect it because you're gonna lose that opportunity that fast.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_10: So you gotta be ready to move to with what you can do, how you can help them who you are, asking the right questions, right?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_10: And making it about them.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_10: That's an elevator pitch.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_10: So if you ever hear someone say, What's your elevator pitch?
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_10: That's what that means.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_10: Okay.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_05: We've not called it that, but we've been working towards it.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_05: One would be we talked recently about CTA, which is what?
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_05: Call to action.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_05: Don't just tell them the what, tell them the how.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_05: How am I going to get what it is that you're selling me?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_10: And that's one thing that I find interesting about CEO, right?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_10: That that in that drew me to it.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_10: This is what year of it?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_10: 10th?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_05: 11.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_05: So this year's trade show is the 10th trade show.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_05: Next year, when this team accomplishes their trade show to be the 11th.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_10: So I got in on year two.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_10: And so what drew me to that, because I actually saw the founder from Effingham come out and do a presentation at before we even started a CEO at an annual chamber event here.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_10: And that's why I was like, I got to, I got to get involved with that because I'm all about the youth.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_10: Because without the youth, I need somebody to take care of us, right?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_10: And if I have an opportunity, just like you, Ryan, to help mold them to be better citizens, leaders, and and just fellow people, then that's the better on that.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_10: But one thing that we find is called the four M's in business, right?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_10: It's model.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_10: So I, as an owner or I as a leader, want to model what needs to be done.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_10: The team member then mimics that, right?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_10: And then they master it.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_10: And when they master it, and I, as the modeler, say they've mastered it, then we multiply.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_10: Can you do that again?
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_10: The four M's model, mimic, master, and multiply.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_05: So we could talk about those soft skills.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_05: How are we doing with that?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_09: I feel I think we're doing great.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_09: Compared to the first day who was like making us make phone calls and we were so scared, like we just like, yeah, hello.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_09: Like, but I feel like now we're so much more comfortable.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_09: Even just however month or two we've been in the program, I feel like our soft skills have just multiplied.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_05: So did Ryan model the soft skills?
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_05: Oh, yeah.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_05: That's kind of our joke, is that I go, you need to have the same energy I have, and then eventually you're gonna be the ones leading with the energy, and I'm gonna just fade into the shadows.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_05: Exactly.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_10: That's that's the goal of a good leader is to teach the the person that they're teaching to be better than they are.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_10: Because what I find is the more I teach, the more I learn.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_10: And the better I get at at the skill that I'm teaching.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_10: And so my first podcast, if I go back and look a year ago, my first podcast to now, I'm like, who's that bumbling idiot?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_10: Right?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_10: But I have no fun doing it now.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_10: So well, Carter, what's the experience been so far for you?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_09: So far, yeah, it's been awesome.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_09: We're going to see all these businesses, we're meeting professionals nearly every day.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_09: Well, we're working as a team, real professional environment, and I I love it.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_09: It's great.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_09: I love it.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_09: Sophia, same question.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_07: About the same thing.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_07: It's just we get to see all these great people and meet actual professionals and then entrepreneurs, and just it's a great time.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_07: It's a great experience.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_05: What's behind the scenes?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_05: Can you give a picture of what may be one of your business visits or speaker that stands out so far this year?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_05: Or even how about asking your sponsors?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_05: That probably had to have a little bit of a Oh my gosh.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_07: That was kind of scary.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_05: Okay, explain.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_07: You gave us one day to go and get a sponsor, and he's just like, you just have to go ask someone.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_07: Right.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_07: Just just go ask someone.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_07: So I was just like, I don't even know who to ask.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_07: And I just walked into Smokey Jennings after school and I pitched it to him, and he's like, Yeah, it's great.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_07: Let's go, let's do it.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_07: And it's just, it's so surprising to see how involved people want to be in our community and just just how easy like our soft skills that we've learned, just how much it helps.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_05: What did you think before going in?
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_05: Like he's gonna shoot me down, they're gonna run me out of the business.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, I was just like, I don't even know what to say, I don't even know what to do.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_07: But then I thought back to what Ryan said, and he like taught us like, you know, how we should pitch our business and like what we should say, and it all worked out.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_10: Well, here's the thing that I find, and Carter, I'll be asking the same, you know, question that Ryan did, but I find that, and I wear it, no negativity allowed, right?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_10: If if you go in with a negative attitude, like, oh, they're gonna shoot me down, dah, dah, dah, you're gonna you're gonna give off that vibe and energy.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_10: But if you walk in with the confidence, like I'm gonna close this and I'm gonna walk out with a sponsor, your chances just went up exponentially by doing that.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_08: Right.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_10: Just taking that that initial, it's a mindset shift.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_10: It truly is.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_10: And I think that's what CEO initially starts with is creating that mindset shift that anything is possible, right?
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_10: That's one of my my affirmations to tell myself every every day is I have infinite potential and possibilities in my life.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_10: Infinite.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_10: Everyone does.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_10: Infinite.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_10: You just got to take that step, that first step to make it happen, right?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_10: And this is one thing, not to segue when we'll we're gonna get you to answer the question, but that's one thing that if people understood there's enough money.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_10: In this world for every one of the 8.3 billion people on this planet to be multimillionaires.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_10: Do you guys realize that?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_10: You probably did.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_10: Did you realize that?
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_10: I didn't realize.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_10: And and what Grant Cardone says, one of the things is who's got my money and how do I get it?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_10: And that's what CEO is.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_10: It's not so much about the money, it's about how you create opportunities for yourself to be self-sufficient.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, the spin I I really offer for CEO with the young generation is there's a real challenge.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_05: I tease them often and they take it in stride that this generation is a very me-centric.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_05: I joke about the 15-year-old whose parents pick up their soccer cleats and their water bottle and their soccer bag and carry it to the van.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_05: Johnny, let's go.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_05: I've teased we do recruitment and I ask them, how many of you do your own laundry?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_05: You know, how many of you can order your own at a restaurant?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_05: And there's a large percentage of even high school students that that don't take that initiative aren't challenged to do that.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_05: I had a mom approach me after talking to junior high students who, when I said they need to be able to go into the grocery store and get something to come out, and she said, I'll never let them go in a grocery store alone.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_05: And I said, Do you do know there's a real world out there they're gonna have to introduce when are we giving them that chance?
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_05: We did orientation and I tell the parents as they're filling out the paperwork.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_05: I go, Can you please stop, put the pen down, hand it to your young entrepreneur?
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_05: Yes, the one who's supposed to be filling the paperwork out.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_05: Well, they don't know.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_05: I go, but they don't know until you tell them, and then they can figure it out.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_05: Fill out the paperwork.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_05: And and that's sort of the challenge I think CEO creates is this fear of talking to people until you realize the value you want to present is not me centric.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_05: It's what kind of offer you that you're willing to pay for.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_05: And then that's the give before the get we we celebrate with each of their endeavors.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_09: So So do you do your own laundry?
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_08: Mm-hmm.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_09: Do you?
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_09: I do.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_09: I don't watch my football clothes though.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_09: Mom's better at getting stains out.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_07: I don't think I can smell that either.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_10: So here's here's the thing, Carter.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_10: This is where you you would want to take that step-up attitude here and that massive action.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_10: Say, Mom, how do you get the stains out so well?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_10: I want to learn how to do that so that I can do that one day.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_08: And you're gonna give her a thank you card from CEO for all the years of service.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_10: Literally, that's what mom does because she does it better.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_10: Well, if that's the case, I do a lot of things, but I would never have employees, right?
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_10: Because I can do it better, that's the wrong attitude.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_10: And then I can learn from them.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_10: You might pick up a trait that makes something that your mom doesn't know make it better, and she'd be like, thanks, Carter.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_10: I can do that now on the other stuff.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_10: So you always got to look for those opportunities.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_10: It's creating entrepreneurial opportunities.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_10: So, how did you feel about getting your sponsor?
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, let's talk about that.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_09: Well, I guess I I ended up with Smith Seed after I'd already asked, I asked a bank to sponsor me, and they kind of weren't giving back with me.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_09: If you don't want to mention the bank, might as well.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_09: It's Warren Boynton Bank.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_09: Okay, yep, yep.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_09: It's a Modesto office.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_09: So I asked them and they were only willing to give me a hundred bucks or so, which was we offered three packages.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_09: Ryan always Ryan always talks about good, better, best.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_09: Yep.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_09: Talks all about it.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_09: Offer options.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_09: And he they picked the lowest option, which is all right.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_09: And I was thankful that I got the sponsor, but I was like, like I can do better.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_09: So I started asking around and I ended up getting the the biggest package, which was$500 from a seed company, Smith Seed out of uh Heddock, Illinois.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_09: So you have two sponsors then.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_09: Well, no, we are I accepted Warren Boyden?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_09: No, I said thank you, thank you for your offer, but so here's a great question.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_05: Why not?
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_05: Why don't we do that?
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_09: It's because we have one sponsor each.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_05: They're just learning how to present their sponsors.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_05: So instead of using the F-word, which is we take your money, we don't give you return on investment, we're not making NASCAR jackets where somebody gets this little sliver on the elbow we're never gonna mention.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_10: Yep.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_05: So some of that was just a little bit of that integrity of the product.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_05: Are we going to give them what we promise?
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_05: And so we're not gonna take all the checks, we're not gonna cash all the checks just because they're willing, because we'll overpromise and underdeliver.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_05: So right.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_10: You should always overpromise and over-deliver.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_05: It's huge.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_05: I think also with the bank, I think that was part of the pitch was just trying to see where they promote the ROI, you know, when you talk to the first businesses.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_05: Do they understand the value of what they're offering?
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_05: Is this just to help the program or am I really getting marketing value out of it?
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_05: So some of that was learned in the in the no's.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_05: Some of the kids coming back on, they they they said no.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_05: And they said, Well, how well did you pitch?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_05: Did you give them a bigger picture of what you're offering?
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_05: And I think also, what's your connection with the seed company?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_09: A kid that goes to my school, he works as a dad, like runs the company.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, and they just sell seed and spray.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_09: And I'm also involved in agriculture and stuff.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_09: My family is farmed.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_09: So we have connections there, and so the network's really a big part of it, too.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_10: Gotcha.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_10: I was pitched.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_10: Not in person.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_10: Oh, I did not know that.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_10: Oh, we're gonna have to go back to our notes.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_10: Via phone, yeah, via text, but never in person.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_10: I do, but I won't call them in the won't call them out.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_10: Not on her, but conversation.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_10: So anyway, yeah.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_10: Because I know you guys have your different uh let's talk about that real quick.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_10: You have your different teams inside the CEO.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_10: You have your marketing team, right?
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_10: Talk to me about the teams.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_07: Well, I'm on the marketing team.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_07: And we have a Facebook page, we have an Instagram page, and we also just got TikTok page.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_07: So we had to do lots of convincing to get Ryan to let us have a TikTok page.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_05: I said I didn't want it in any individual's control.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_05: We needed to make sure it was with the program.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_05: They did a great job.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_05: They put that in the the program's control.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_10: Correct.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_10: Awesome.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_09: So what other teams, what team are you on?
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_09: I'm on the operations team.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_09: And then we have one other team, which is the finance team, which is pretty straightforward there.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_10: Which Katie Ashworth is still kind of the Leah's onto that, or no?
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_05: Katie's on the board and she comes in and helps with the marketing.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_05: The marketing team.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, I knew she was helping a lot of the team.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_10: Angela is probably helping with the finance team, maybe.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, but they don't really haven't explored enough when we get into the class business, they'll expand on it.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_05: We kind of drip these things in.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_05: I will tell you, Chris, I love setting them up for failure.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_05: Of course.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_05: So then they figure out how to then refine.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_05: Um, we can even go with class business ideation.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_05: We got through the badge business and we thought we survived.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_05: And to their credit, we marketed it well.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_05: We had a good better best, we had a sales flyer.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, we have a little bit on that.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_05: Barter got the product with a couple of our team members for operations, which included the badges, included their polos.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_05: Love it.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_10: Polos are sharp, by the way.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_10: Thank you.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_10: I'm a little disappointed Ryan doesn't have one on, but yeah, I know I didn't get one.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_09: Why didn't you get one?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_05: I've got I actually have one from the board, but I don't have one from the badge business.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_05: So can I use it to be representing the batch business?
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: You got a match us.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_05: Always be representing.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_10: Always be representing.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so the class business, they're gonna be figuring out what they want to do for the class business.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_05: How did the ideation date go?
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_05: Day one.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_05: Day one, it was hurting cats.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_09: The expression.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_05: And mad cats.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_09: Angry cats.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_09: They were.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_09: Oh yeah.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_09: I mean, we were all just like we were just butting heads.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_09: We had so many different ideas, people stuck on their ideas, and we were it was a mess.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_07: It was pretty a lot of us just like to take, you know, the lead.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_07: Everyone wants to do their own idea.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_07: So it was just when you have a lot of people like that, it's it's do you guys do the disc assessment?
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_05: We do.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_05: And you've done it.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_05: And our problem is we have a lot of high eyes.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_05: Yes.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_05: They're very very opinionated.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_05: Yep.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_05: Which is great.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_05: It's great.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_10: And and that's that's what you'll find with the CEO program, right?
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_10: Is because CEO means it's your people that are outgoing, right?
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_10: The students that are outgoing that want more or craving more, they just don't know it.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_10: And then when you get those people in the same room, yeah.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_10: And this is this is so great because this is one of the opportunities you guys have is to be able to learn to work together with people that are like-minded, which sometimes is harder to do because they want to be in charge.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_10: Or it's their way or no way.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_10: So we do have that?
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, I think like I feel like everybody on the team is pretty strong-willed and pretty like, you know, like you said, like their way.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_05: Use the illustration pivot from the class business ideation, which to land the plane was everybody had an opinion and everybody wanted that opinion to be considered, but nobody was really listening to each other.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_05: So in business ideation, we went back to clusters, we did groups, they then formulated an idea within their groups, and then we took members and switched them into different groups to be more of a sounding board.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_05: Yep.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_05: I think were you guys good with that, or was that intimidating itself?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_07: I think that was a lot better for us.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_09: Switching.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_09: It definitely was a lot smoother.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_09: A lot smoother.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_09: I think was all part of Ryan's plan.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_09: Like he's always playing chess, like we all like to say.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_09: It's it's always like he wants us to fight and he wants us to like, you know.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_10: Well, it's it well, it's interesting about that is because early on, I would come in and we have a a game that we play, which is designed to pit everyone against each other.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_10: But the name of the game is Win All You Can, but by the end is Can You All Win?
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_10: Then they got to figure out how to work together so they all can win.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_05: So it's how is it a win-win, not a win-lose?
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, exactly.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_10: So I love that.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_10: I love that.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_10: So I know we got so much great stuff to talk about with you guys.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_10: I want to know, Carter, especially you, because you already said something about it, about your future, right?
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_10: So do you know what your future is or where you're wanting to go towards?
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_09: Well, my plans right now is to go to college, go to a four-year school.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_09: And then I'm really interested in like business or finance, which again is why I thought CEO would be a great fit.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_09: And yeah, that's all I planned out so far.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_09: Do you have a school figured out?
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_09: I'm thinking about Mizzou or because of football?
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_09: No.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_09: Okay.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_09: Just because they have a good program.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_09: Or I was thinking a smaller school in case I wanted to play a sport that also has a good business program.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_09: Gotcha.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_09: Gotcha.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_10: Okay.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_10: Sophia.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_07: I'm thinking of going to Maribel University for nursing, actually.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_10: Okay.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_07: Which is different than most of the kids in the program.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_07: Everyone wants to go into business.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_10: But well, there's and here's the thing that even as a business coach, you know, I have mentees, we call them, I have mentees that aren't business owners.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_10: They're W-2 employees, right?
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_10: And because they just want to do better at what they're doing, where they're doing it for, right?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_10: They feel they have a purpose to do that and they just want to be a better person in that position.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_10: So, and and you and here's the good thing though, with being in the program, you never know when the opportunity will create itself when you might be able to become a nurse practitioner and then be able to spin off and create your own thing.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_10: Or find a niche, like, you know, I'm constantly seeing this same need come in.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_10: It's not being filled.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_05: I think I can fill that.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, that's what gets lost.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_05: I think when we do recruitment this year, we're gonna really emphasize uh, I don't know how we'll say it exactly, but the entrepreneur, you know, if you're gonna be a nurse, you're still gonna be in a position of opportunity and growth and better schedules and and better systems.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_05: And you look at it and you go, well, why do I want to change that?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_05: Because it'll be better for me.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_05: And if I change it, and it's better for me, then it'll be better for everybody around me.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_05: Correct.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_05: Um, versus a, I just complain about my schedule, or I just complain about the systems.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_05: Or I just complain about the the overhead that's being put more on my plate than I have to do over time.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_05: And you go, okay, how can I position this for the benefit of everybody around me?
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_05: And entrepreneurs are game changers.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, because there's tons of people that want to be problem finders, yeah, but very few problem solvers or team members that want to step up and make that happen, right?
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_10: Gotcha.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_10: So why is it important for local businesses to invest in the students?
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_10: I want to ask the students that.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_05: Amen.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_10: I want to know.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_10: Why is it important for us as business owners to invest in the CEO program, which ultimately is investing in you, the students?
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_07: I think it's important because you're not just investing into a program, you're investing into kids who want to make a change in the world.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_07: And like what I was saying, like I want to do a different career than most people that would think to take this class, but it's not just about business, it's about getting yourself out there and making yourself known and taking action and having those soft skills.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_07: And these um investors in these companies that want to invest in us, you know, they're helping us do that.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_07: They're helping us get out there and learn and just get with the community.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_10: Carter, how can local businesses and business owners get involved in the CEO program?
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_09: They can obviously, you know, invest in the program and we do business visits, so we all go to a business, we'll learn about it, ask a ton of questions.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_09: There's lots of ways to get involved with the program.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_10: Um how do they contact anybody at CEO?
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_10: How do they get a hold of you guys?
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_10: Is your elevator pitch?
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_10: How do I, a business owner, get in touch with you guys?
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_09: You can always email our facilitator at uh McCoupen County CEO at gmail.com.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_09: There you go.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_07: We also do have lots of social media that we can.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_10: So we can find you on social media now on TikTok.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_10: Yep.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_10: Lord the TikTok boy.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_10: That's right.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_10: Sophia's like, yep, that's right.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_10: We got it.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_10: Our marketing team got that.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_10: Yes, they do.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_10: So, question this Ryan can close his ears.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_10: Is there anything that you would change about the CEO program to make it better?
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_10: The facilitator.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_10: No, Ryan's great.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_07: We love Ryan.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, he'll pay you later.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_10: But I think it's a great question.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_10: I don't mind at all.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_10: Is there anything?
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_10: Because again, constantly, Ryan is wanting to make the program better.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_10: The board is wanting to make the program better, and you two, as team members of the CEO, I would think you'd want to make the program even better if you have an opportunity to.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, think of recruitment, think of maybe some of the things we've been up against.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, I think uh you want to go?
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_07: I just think the recruitment wasn't like done that well last year, which you mean no shade to like the you know, the students last year.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_07: But like I didn't know what CEO was.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_07: I had to do it from I had to learn from my guidance counselor what it was, and I just didn't know anything about it.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_10: And that's why I thought it was odd because the CEO used to do student visits at schools for recruitment.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_07: They did come to our school, but it was just kind of like I I don't know, I just didn't really wasn't at a group setting.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_10: It was like if you want to know more, you can go by or drop by their table or something or yeah.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_07: The students like stood in front of all of us and they kind of talked about like their personal businesses and stuff, but I just I didn't know exactly what it was about.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_09: So it wasn't represented very well.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_09: Yeah, I I feel like there's a common there's a common misconception of CEOs.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_09: You only you only have a business, like you only it's only a program where you start a business, but right it's really for everybody, like the whole program.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_09: Obviously, the soft skills and starting a business is not just about starting the business, but you have to overcome, you know, the hard things in doing a business.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_09: And I think it overall just makes you a better person and more prepared for your future, no matter what you're going into in general.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_07: Definitely.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_10: Well, I I think sometimes we talk about building stronger communities as if it only happens through building of new businesses, right?
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_10: But it also happens when a young person discovers a talent, learns a skill, starts a business, or finds a way to solve a problem, like we talked about a little bit, right?
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_10: So when local businesses invest in young people, they're investing in the future of the entire community.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_10: And that's I think a common message that we'd want to convey.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_05: Chris, I will tell people when I run into them, we're planting trees, not rice.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_05: I think everybody wants immediate return on investment.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_05: These kids are gonna start businesses and they're gonna flourish and they're gonna be here and they're gonna hang a shingle.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_05: They're 19 years old and they're gonna take on that risk of a building, a location, what have you.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_05: And we're thrilled if that happens.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_05: But we've got board members who used to be CEO teams members.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_10: I know Aaron got a hold of me.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_10: About getting you guys on here about the podcast.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_05: Um, they've got mentors that are previous CEO team members.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_05: And I think that planting trees means you've got to make the investment because we need these kids to want to see their community and then potentially stay.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_05: One of the statistics when I worked in Midland was always a little bit of a jaw dropper for boards is if you ask students at the beginning of the year if they want to stay in their community, out of the majority of kids starting CEO, 35% say that they want to stay in their community.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_05: 65% are ready to leave.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_05: That were that flips.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_05: By the end of CEO, 65% of team members are saying, I could see myself staying in my community.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_05: 35% are still saying, I still think I'm I'm moving out.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_05: But what's the significant change?
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_05: They meet their community in person.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_10: They understand what it takes to make that community stay.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_10: It is.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_10: And and it's interesting you said about or planting trees, not rice, right?
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_10: Because there are actually monks that built a monastery, and they when they built that, it was built with the timber that they cut in the area to build it, right?
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_10: But they immediately went and planted more oak trees because they knew at some point that building the the monastery was gonna have to be repaired.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_10: And they would have to have timber to do that.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_10: So they planted the trees at the same time they built their monastery.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_10: So it's looking for the future.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_10: That's it.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_10: And that's I the vision, right?
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_10: And my definition of vision is what future success looks like.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_10: And that doesn't mean just business, it means personal or whatever your personal development.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_10: Absolutely.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_10: So here's the part of the podcast: it's the big dog rapid fire.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_10: So we're gonna be wrapping this up, right?
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_10: So it's don't overthink it.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_10: I'm gonna ask, I'm gonna shoot out questions, and it's the first thing right.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_05: Stay a puff, marshmallow man.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_10: Love it.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_10: So that's what you think.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_10: One word to describe CEO program transformation.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_10: The most important skill an entrepreneur needs.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_05: Initiative.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_10: What excites you most about the next generation?
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_10: They're all Carter.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_10: Dream job or dream business?
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_10: Business owner of some sort.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_10: Biggest strength.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_10: Let's say your biggest strength.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_10: Don't be flexing the guns here.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_09: Hey ladies, good.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_09: I think my biggest strength is like my ideas.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_09: I'm creative.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_10: Okay.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_10: Awesome.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_10: Love it.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_10: One last question.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_10: One skill you want to improve?
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_10: Communication.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_10: Okay.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_10: Sophia, work for yourself or work for someone else?
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_07: Work for myself.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_10: Awesome.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_10: That just segued nice, right?
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_10: Because her biggest lesson you've learned so far.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_07: That owning a business is a lot harder than you think.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_07: And people need to have more empathy towards it.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_10: As she tapered off her voice.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_10: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_10: That's one thing.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, I'll ask you one thing to improve would be vocal.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_10: Vocal.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_10: There's a story.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_07: In the classroom is different.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_07: That's what it's right.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_10: One goal you want to accomplish before graduating.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_10: It's your question, Sophia.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_10: One goal you want to accomplish before graduating.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_07: I just want to better myself.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_07: Like I want to be the best I can before I go.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_07: I love it.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_10: So this is for everybody.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_10: Okay.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_10: One last question.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_10: What's more important?
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_10: Having a great idea or taking action?
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_10: Action.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_10: Taking action.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_10: So finish this sentence.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_10: My future is something I can build because I can start now.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_07: Because I believe in myself.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_10: I'm not dead yet.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_10: I love it.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_10: I do.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_10: All right.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_10: So here's our big dog challenge.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_10: So today is for everybody listening, especially the young people in our community.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_10: I want you to do three things this week.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_10: Number one, ask one question.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_10: Find somebody doing something you admire, a business owner, a tradesperson, a teacher, or a community leader, and ask them how they got started.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_10: Second, learn one new skill.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_10: It might be communication, public speaking, budgeting, sales, leadership, or problem solving.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_10: Pick one and work on it.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_10: Number three is take one action.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_10: If you have an idea, write it down, research it, talk to somebody who can help you figure out that first step.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_10: You don't have to build your entire future today, but you can start building it today.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_10: And for the adults listening, here's your challenge.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_10: Find one young person you can encourage, mentor, or introduce to an opportunity.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_10: You never know what one conversation might lead to, right?
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_10: If you can make one difference to one person, you don't know what that pebble dropped in the water, those ripples will do, right?
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_05: And be patient.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_05: Everybody wants them to be experts when they're 17.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_10: Exactly.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_10: Exactly.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_10: So here's a final thought for us.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_10: So Ryan, Carter, Sophia, thank you for joining me and sharing your experiences.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_10: One of the biggest takeaways from today's conversation is that you don't have to wait until you're older to start building for your future.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_10: You can learn now, you can ask questions now, you can develop your skills now, and you can start discovering what you're capable of right now.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_10: Whether you eventually start a business, work in the trades, go to college, join an established company, or choose another path.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_10: The ability to communicate, take responsibility, solve problems, and keep learning will serve you well.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_10: And as a community, we need to keep creating opportunities for young people to explore those paths because the future of McCoopin County isn't just something that happens to us, it's something we build together.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_10: So if you're a student listening to this episode, learn more about the McCupin County CEO program or the CEO program in your county.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_10: Because they're all over there.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_10: This is not in McCoopin County, right?
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_10: If you're a local business owner, consider how you can support the next generation through mentorship, sharing your experience, or getting involved in the local education programs.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_10: And if you know a young person who's trying to figure out their future, encourage them to ask questions, explore their interest, and take that first step.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_10: If you enjoyed today's episode, share it with a student, parent, educator, or business owner who cares about the future of our communities.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_10: So thank you again for joining us today here at the Design Building the Midwest, one community at a time.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_10: And special thank you to Ryan, being a facilitator, and taking your time to do this.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_10: And Carter, Sophia, I appreciate it.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_10: And I meant to say to you you two earlier that watch what you say because all the other students will be coming through here.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_10: So that's why we're not throwing shade, right?
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_10: Hey, today's conversation reminds us that building a stronger community isn't just about what we build today.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_10: It's also about the people we're preparing for tomorrow.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_10: At Big Dog Construction Company, we just don't build houses.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_10: We help families build better lives inside them.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_10: We build relationships that last and we build stronger communities, one project, one family, and one community at a time.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_10: I'm Chris Hartsuok, and I am the host of Designing and Building the Midwest one community at a time.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_10: Till next time.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_10: Bye.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_10: See you later.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Lisa Miller, managing broker and owner of First Choice Realty Pros.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: We don't just help you find a house, we help you discover home.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: My team and I are passionate about taking care of your needs, making the process smooth, and ensuring you get the personalized attention you deserve.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_00: Ready for the next step?
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: Call us at 217-825-3999.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: With First Choice Realty Pros, you've got a team that's got your back.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_10: Hey, listeners and followers, we have something big coming out that'll be launching January 1st, 2027.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_10: Yes, I said 2027.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_10: It is upon us already.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_10: We're almost done with the third quarter rolling into the fourth.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_10: But we are rolling out the big dog home guardian program.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_10: It's a residential service and maintenance agreement.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_10: You ever have those the annoying beeping smoke alarm that's like, oh crap, I forgot to replace the battery in that.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_10: Or it's too high, I don't have a ladder, I can't get up there safely, or that furnace filter that you're like, oh, I forgot to change the furnace filter.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_10: Gutters need cleaning, it's just a mess, whatever that is.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_10: We are gonna have that in our home dog big dog.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_10: Home dog.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_10: What up, home dog?
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_10: The big dog home guardian program to where we can take care of those things, or the little handyman stuff that you need taken care of, right?
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_10: The squeaking storm door, the squeaking bedroom door, squeaky loose floorboard, whatever that is, we can take care of you.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_10: We're gonna have three tiers of service low, middle, and high.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_10: Each one of those will have their own things that we offer.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_10: Obviously, the higher the tier, the quicker response time you'll get put on the schedule.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_10: Okay?
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_10: So stay tuned and be looking for more information on the Big Dog Home Guardian program.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_10: Until then, we'll catch you next time.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_06: Hey, it's Ryan Cleman.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_03: And Lindy.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_06: We are the community partners for the Big Dog Podcast.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_03: As the owners of SIPS Coffee Co., community is at the heart of everything we do.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_03: We want to support the people who make this area great.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_03: So if you are a local business or organization that would like to be featured right here on this podcast, or if you want to work together with us to make the Midwest the absolute best community it can be, please get a hold of us.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_06: Reach out today and let's build something great together.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_04: And that wraps up another episode of Designing and Building the Midwest, one community at a time.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much for tuning in and listening with us today.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_10: We hope you walked away with some valuable insights to use in your home or neighborhood.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_10: If you enjoyed what you heard, make sure you hit that subscribe button so you never miss a weekly episode.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_04: And be sure to follow us on Facebook and across all your favorite platforms to keep up with everything we're building.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_10: Until next time, I'm Chris.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm Caitlin.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks for hanging out with us, and we'll see you next time.
• 47:02
  unknown: Big Dog.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_10: This episode was produced by Big Dog Media Group, delivering powerful creative for brands and creators everywhere.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_10: If you're looking to take your podcast to the next level or just get started, Big Dog Media Group has you covered.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_10: Thanks for listening.