I spent the entire morning at Billinghurst Middle School as one of their guests for career day. I had 5 sessions with about 30-40 teens in each session who interacted with me on choices, leading up to what matters now, and through high school, that could lead to a career path as an entrepreneur.

Billinghurst Middle School - Career Day with Amazing Teens

Today was absolutely an exchange of learning, as are most activities that involve people. My attitude going into this environment was positive, and I was excited at the idea of spending time with teenagers. There is something about young people that I find thrilling, fun and memorable. My highest respect goes out to the administrators and teachers at Billinghurst, but most of all, to the students.

Bighorn Stickers to all Guests, Gotta Love It!

These young people displayed an impressive level of mutual respect towards me and to each other. They were great listeners, and they enthusiastically contributed to the classroom discussion. They were creative in drawing their visions, answering questions and providing scenarios.

It is virtually impossible to present a complete understanding of what it takes to become an entrepreneur in 30 minutes, especially to teens who still have their high-school years ahead of them. So what we did focus on were “choices” as I passionately repeated in each class, “everything matters…every choice you make matters!”

I started each session asking the teens what position in life they see 20-year-olds in – not just people they know, but those in society. I led them to understand that 20-year-olds range from military positions, college students, workers, entrepreneurs, house-wives/husbands, homeless people, and even prisoners. The challenge was to make them understand that no one chooses to be homeless, nor do people choose to go to prison – people end up in these situations largely due to poor choices. So, every choice they make matters! Each teen has a baseline of “smart” – my loud message to them was that every day they need to make choices to get smarter…they heard me loud and clear, and without exception, they agreed it was important to be smarter each day…and that in itself is a choice!

It’s tough to love every day of school, and every subject. What helps the learning process for teens is getting them to understand the relevancy of school subjects to their future jobs, careers, life! We talked about math – I told them that in business, math = money, and money matters – it’s part of every business, and everything in life has an aspect of business.  Math = Money! Learn it, use it, and know that the better your math skills become, the smarter you can run a business.

Naturally writing and reading are big on this list as well. Many of the kids said they hated to read. My response to that was you will become a better reader the more you do it – find an author, a book series, a blog – the Internet has virtually millions of things to read – do it, and then you may find yourself wanting to write as well. No one can survive as an entrepreneur who doesn’t read and write daily.

I am just one person who wants to see teens care about learning. I want to see them believe that as individuals they have value, and believing in themselves allows them to make good choices in learning, living and growing. It doesn’t matter what is taught in a classroom if there are no listeners. Once teens choose to learn, and understand the value of education, they can grow closer to their potential. We as adults need to care, we need to get involved, and when we get a chance to hang out with these awesome teenagers, we need to choose YES, they are worth it. It was my honor to participate in career day at Billinghurst Middle School today. I hope they ask me back.

I’ve been off the blogging zone since October. I spent quite a bit of time establishing and building the structure – the blog website – and when it reached a “point of temporary completion” I posted about a dozen blogs…and then dropped off.

I’m like most with great intentions, to create a transparent presence with a vision to provide value in my area of expertise. But like most people, I got busier – I got tired – I pushed this task aside and excused myself. So, what did all this do for me?

I keep myself intimate with business training, professional development, and technology updates as they apply to me, the “non-techy” professional. Going off the grid has proven one thing only – I have missed out on opportunity, information, connections and remarkability as only I can individually accomplish.

My saving grace is my position as a training director.  As the founder of our NNCC/NSBDC monthly BizFlash program, I have the luxury of a selection process of topics and speakers that apply to the needs of our business community. This morning’s BizFlash featured top-notch speaker Bret Simmons, an accomplished blogger and professor of organizational behavior and social media practices at the University of Nevada, Reno.

A couple of years ago, it was Dr. Simmons who convinced me, and a couple hundred other attendees, the concept, practice and belief that personal branding is only going to become more present in our business environments. This morning’s presentation REMINDED me that those who commit to a social presence via the Internet do so because they believe in themselves, and their talents/expertise to be of value. Additionally, his message is current, relative and powerful. But…and you know these are multiple…it takes commitment, focus and a “remarkable” discipline.

Just last week I was on the phone with one of our training instructors – I asked her why she didn’t have a website, and why she didn’t blog, while also discussing the subject of Social Media as a critical topic to our existing and future entrepreneurs. She said, “KC, I tell my students that they should only be doing social media if they can be consistent.” I also asked her why she didn’t blog. Her response was, “I don’t like to write.”

I actually bought into these responses until this morning, when Bret Simmons reminded us of a quote from famous blogger Gary Vaynerchuk: “Social Media doesn’t work for two reasons only: 1. your product or service isn’t any good, and/or 2. You’re doing it wrong. Bret’s bottom line is that people are talking about you, and you have earned everything they say. Are you positioned to respond?

Bret presented the various forms of blogging – audio, video, written, photographical, and formal presentations like a powerful PowerPoint. From his own site, he displays the effective combination of all of them and mixes up his blog site – truly powerful when you blog daily like Bret.

I cannot blame or judge why people do or don’t do whatever – but when it comes to a powerful tool like a blog, I can only wonder why some take it to the limits and others keep on telling me why they don’t utilize it. Perhaps a vision of self-remarkability is in order.

The bottom line – become an expert if you aren’t already – believe that you have value – share that value and invite people into your conversations – become social in this world of constant information – at the VERY LEAST you will end up with years of journaling your words, your wisdom, your comments and your contributions if nothing else before your leave this world!

Just over a decade ago, Rod Jorgensen began teaching our 13-week NxLeveL for Entrepreneurs course by telling the business-owner attendees to carry a Yellow Pad wherever they went. He elaborated on the importance of capturing every idea onto paper. Writing down new ideas does several things:

1. It clears your head and makes room for more ideas
2. It captures a thought or idea that may very well become a starting or stepping stone to something great
3. It sparks action into play

I carry one of those bible-size Franklin planners wherever I go. My personal motto behind my madness, “if it’s written, it gets done.” People tease me, and I laugh with them, but I sleep better at night because the things I need to remember and some of my new ideas are written down.

Scott Armstrong, GOT DIBBS?

In Scott’s presentation, he bounced back and forth about the company, the new technology, social media, and his joys and pains of living his life as an entrepreneur. He is one of the most decent people I’ve ever listened to.  His advice was as real as he was. Among the expert advice Scott shared was his strong recommendation to write things down and to carry a pad of paper everywhere you go! He told us Dibbs began as an idea, and this new technology is a fine example of what could have been lost had it not been scribbled down with on-going thoughts, ideas, and brain-storms. Scott went on to tell us about the huge white-board in his living room, and seeing the progression of daily thoughts was essential to move his ideas, and those of his team, forward.

Scott and his team have developed a technology that has more than 8,000 users in a short couple of months. Scott IS an entrepreneur in every sense of the word. Dibbs grows exponentially, and I believe that Scott, his amazing team of innovators and entrepreneurs, and Dibbs will become household names in the near future. And Scott will continue to carry his notepad with him.

Do you know of people who talk and complain that a new product hit the market, and that he/she thought of it first? Well, I’ve learned to ignore these people, because that’s all they do is talk – they don’t write it down, and they don’t follow up.

After you’ve written an idea down, ponder it and see if it goes anywhere. What have you got to lose? Nothing, but you will lose your ideas if you DON’T write them down! Take Rod and Scott’s advice – carry a Yellow Pad wherever you go, and write down your ideas – daily. This is truly a valuable step in becoming a successful entrepreneur.

I had the privilege of spending two days and nights in Carlin last week to attend a workshop hosted by the Nevada Commission on Economic Development. I feel strongly that when I travel I spend my travel dollars in the towns in which I’m doing business or visiting rather than going for the more populated areas.

CDGB Workshop at Carlin Senior Center, NCED's Des Craig Presenting

Elko is an additional 23 miles east of Carlin with more choices of lodging, entertainment and restaurants. However, to stay true to my values I booked my stay locally, ate locally and met some amazing local people.

The workshop I attended was all about the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding processes important to all of us who apply for these funds. The grants provide assistance in areas of economic development to various rural Nevada locations. I applaud the NCED, and Des Craig in particular, for choosing Carlin for the workshop site because it is through our travel that we learn more about our fellow Nevadans and the history behind their home towns.

Nine-acre Park in Carlin, NV Provides Lots of Recreation

Our workshop was held at the Carlin Senior Citizen’s Center, which by the way, was beautifully built through an approved CDBG grant several years ago. In a future post I will tell you about a couple of the amazing seniors who work there and make life better for many of the residents. I also may go into some details of the town’s famous Ghost Cries Murder story.  But for now, this post is to thank the people of Carlin who took their time to take the workshop attendees on a tour. Their 9-acre park is beautiful and houses ball fields, a skate park, an equestrian park, a nature study area, motor cross track, archery range and more.  Backpacking, fishing, hunting and camping are highlights of Carlin as well.

What made the tour additionally valuable was our tour guide, Darcy. She has tremendous pride in her community and is without a doubt one of the nicest and most knowledgeable people in town. Many thanks go out to the folks of Carlin for the warm welcome, home-made cookies and great hospitality.

I attended a workshop several weeks ago by a good friend and exceptional trainer, Meggin McIntosh. Meggin is one of those people that no matter what topic she chooses to present, everyone is going to walk away glad they came.

The workshop was titled something along the lines of How to Create a “not-to-do” List. This event title made me curious because I’m such a fan of creating “to-do” lists. The title, in more complicated terms, could have been “how to say no, what to say no to, and why you should say no when you want to say yes in your professional environment.”  I can appreciate Meggin’s creative topic title that got me to this workshop.

Great trainers typically have great books in which they recommend. Meggin’s plead with us to go out and purchase #1 New York Times Best Selling Author Tom Rath’s Strengths Finder 2.0 is proving to be a life saver for me. The book comes with a computer access code and test that allows you to really identify your strengths that are based on your innate talent – and not based at what you think you’re good at. The key is to start by honestly identifying your innate talent.

It reminds me of a recent situation when some colleagues actually thought I would be okay in developing my own, simple personal branding web site. The fact is, I get lost going home – I have no sense of direction. I also have no sense of technical instruction outside of using software applications that matter to me. I do have determination, I do know how to ask for help, but seriously, the only thing I could have constructed would have been at best mediocre, and probably dysfunctional. I don’t do “technical” – so why would I say yes to a technically challenging project?

I am very good at what I do because I have an innate talent to organize. I did not learn how to do this, at age 6 every square inch of MY living space was in order. At age 16 I was the only one in the family who could fit every suitcase into the trunk on our 3,000 mile vacation. I was born 3 weeks early, maybe that’s why punctuality is so important to me.

It’s not too late for any of us to honestly identify our innate talents and strengthen them. And it’s never too late to admit that no matter how hard we try, there are some talents in life better left to others to strengthen.

It takes time to plan a rural trip from Reno when my destination is in southern Nevada. I’m flying to Las Vegas this Sunday where I will get a rental car and drive about an hour+ to my first destination, Pahrump. Working with Al Parker who is our NSBDC counselor in this town is fun because Al’s a fun guy! But more than that, he really cares about his community and welcomes members of our NSBDC team with open arms. We’ll be doing a workshop on social media for beginners Monday morning and I’m excited to learn more about the various businesses in Pahrump who will be in attendance. Al’s like most of us, he’s busy, but took the time to get the word out and create awareness of this learning opportunity for his community.

I want to encourage other rural Nevada communities to contact me for training outreach. We are here to provide valuable services to our entire State, and are always looking for those who want to bring our services to their area. We have funding for specific locations, so give me a holler and we’ll go from there!

Like many small business owners I find my position as State Training Director for the Nevada Small Business Development Center (NSBDC) shifting in how I conduct business, and in how I connect with existing and new NSBDC clients and partners.  Five years ago we were happy with providing free standing seminars on popular subjects such as customer service, employee retention, team building, leadership, conflict resolution, communication skills, etc.  Large companies sent their employees for professional development training, and small business owners invested a few hours here and there to polish their skills.  People came, they learned, and they went back to work.  Marketing tools consisted of a standard press release, an uncomplicated e-blast and word of mouth.  Hard copy brochures were mailed out and newspapers listed our events in a calendar section.

As management and marketing tools evolve so do we.  Social media sites have allowed people to communicate directly, with each other, on a 24/7 clock.  Faces appear that personalize the message and no longer do we settle for a monotone voice.  Today we look for conversations that make us feel valued, and the business education and training events that we choose are based not only on a topic, but who we can meet before, during and after we sit and learn.

I have had the pleasure of developing a countless number of meaningful, powerful, valuable and pleasant business relationships this year because our community has evolved to an impressive level of effective networking practices both on-line and in-person.  We are an amazing region of incredible people and my expertise of “knowing experts” is growing exponentially.  I invite you to feel welcome on a 24/7 basis to leave a comment or suggest a training topic that allows our business community to continue its evolution in gaining knowledge, friendships and partnerships…all at the same time!

NxLeveL is the world’s largest most effective entrepreneurial training network. Since 1996, over 80,000 students have participated in NxLeveL training nationally, and over 1,800 in Nevada since 2000. NxLeveL is a 13-week intensive training program designed to encourage small business expansion and promote economic development. It focuses on teaching the art of better business practices while producing a comprehensive business plan to guide business expansion, decisions and activities.

Topics taught include:

Failure to plan is a key reason 80% of small businesses close their doors! Join us for NxLeveL in Nevada!

Note: This class is fully funded by the Western Nevada Development District. There is a $95 registration fee that will be returned to each attendee who completes the class with 3 or less absenteeisms or submits a completed business plan if more than 3 absenteeisms. No refunds will be provided to attendees who drop the course. Fee includes all materials.