The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Entrepreneurs share secrets of success with students
Become a lifelong learner. Never stop reading. Always strive to learn something new every day.
These were some of the messages being shared with middle school students at Eastern Heights Middle School in Elyria.
Dawn Balog, Lorain County JVS instructor, has joined with Elyria City Schools this year to reach out to the eighth-grade students at the three middle schools and provide them with 16 career clusters to help prepare them for their future goals.
“Students have been participating in job shadow days with a large variety of institutions throughout Lorain County, which will assist them as they begin to plan their high school career pathways and beyond,” Balog said.
During this final semester of school, Balog is spending time on the topic of entrepreneurship. As an added effort to provide the best curriculum and career exposure to students as possible, she has joined forces with Junior Achievement, an organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to plan for their futures, and make smart academic choices.
Six local entrepreneurs came to Eastern Heights Middle School to speak with the students about their businesses, branding and product development and the challenges and rewards of owning their own companies.
Tony Madalone, owner of Fresh Brewed Tees, told the students that the name for his apparel business came to him in a dream. The next morning he checked to see if the name was available, registered it and then secured the domain for his online presence.
When asked if she was worried about failure, Megan Flanigan, who works for a family owned business and also runs her own holistic health and wellness business, B.L.U.E., told the students, “of course, but that is when you have to push forward. Running your own company also means you are responsible for not only yourself, but the people who work for you too.”
Every person on the panel was from Lorain County and spoke of how proud they were of being and staying local. Author Robert Moore shared how novelist Toni Morrison is an inspiration and role model for him. “She is from my home town. She drank the same water, ate the same foods, and walked on the same streets that I did. Knowing that she came from Lorain County, and had tremendous success, made me feel I could do it too.”
Michael Sherrill, owner and president of Simplified Facilities Group, said, “Success isn’t guaranteed, but if you don’t even try, that is a failure.”