Ex-CEO hosts teen program to lift ‘disadvantaged’ youths
NOW THROUGH JUNE 30TH ONLY
Mort Fleischer is one of Arizona’s most successful entrepreneurs, but his future was anything but assured at a young age.
He lost both parents early, faced other life challenges and took a circuitous career path that included selling insurance and co-owning a coal mine. Based on his own struggles, Fleischer indicated he doesn’t have much sympathy for people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds who make excuses or indulge in self-pity.
In a talk to roughly 30 disadvantaged Valley teens, mostly Latinos and AsianAmericans, Fleischer urged them to raise their bars for success.
“Maybe you have low self-esteem, and maybe you feel disadvantaged,” said Fleischer, who serves as chairman of Store Capital Corp., one of Arizona’s most profitable companies. “But you live in America and can get where you want to go,” he said.
Fleischer earlier served as CEO of Franchise Finance Corporation of America and Spirit Finance Corp., two highly successful Arizona real estate investment trusts that were were ultimately sold for more than $1 billion each.
The students he addressed were participating in a week-long program this month underwritten by Fleischer’s foundation and held at Arizona State University. It featured many of his business tips and values for success. The program’s purpose is to help lift youngsters from “the disadvantaged sector into the mainstream,” he said.
Adolfo Tenorio, a 17-year-old high school student in Mesa, said he felt inspired. “The trail is not easy,” said Tenorio, who is planning to attend college. “But I feel almost anything is possible.”
Josh Elizetxe went through the program seven years ago as a student at Alhambra High School in Phoenix. Elizetxe said he always had an entrepreneurial itch but lacked the resolve to follow it through. He also felt wary about taking risks. That changed when he completed the program, which he calls the catalyst for his later success. He eventually graduated from ASU.
“I became determined to go to college,” Elizetxe said. Today, at 24, he’s an entrepreneur who has launched successful ecommerce, software and online-advertising companies, while serving as a board member of the Phoenix Coding Academy.
“You can either make excuses or you can make a plan,” Elizetxe told the group.
Of the Valley teens participating in the program, most are high-school seniors, mainly from the Phoenix metro area. Applications were made through the W.P. Carey School of Business website, wpcarey.asu.edu/.
“We look for students who are from low-income families, have a difficult family situation, financially or otherwise, and/ or would be the first in their family to go to college,” said Danna Wiseman, who manages outreach and summer programs at ASU.
Of the more than 300 students who have gone through the program since its start in 2010, about 80 percent either are in college now or already attended.
One key concept stressed by Fleischer is the need to set goals and stick with them. Mistakes are to be expected, but it’s critical to hang in there.
To illustrate the concept, Fleischer drew on his experience when he was a young man in the military serving as a launch control officer for surface-to-air missiles. “Nothing goes straight to the target,” he said, explaining that missiles are constantly making in-flight corrections in pursuit of their targets.
While college is the immediate objective of most students in the program, Fleischer said success involves continuing to learn throughout life. He stressed the importance of what he called “masteradaptive learning,” or recognizing and adjusting to information, experiences and change, both good and bad.
One key reason to attend college isn’t just for the degree but to learn this ability to recognize, respond and adapt. “You have to be a master-adaptive learner because the world is changing so quickly,” he said.
College also can boost a person’s confidence, especially someone who would be the first in his or her family to graduate. “If you want to win, you have to have a good image of yourself,” he said.
Fleischer emphasized the importance of having sound ethics for business success, and he urged the students to learn to enjoy the process of achievement, not just the end results.
“Once you decide that you want to be in business or an entrepreneur, you’re hooked, and you’re only happy doing that,” he said. “The journey is the exciting part.”
The one-week fleischerscholars.com program also was taught this year at the University of Arkansas and Washington University in St. Louis.