Conversation
My mother
Hey guys! By the title of this, you're probably guessing I'm going to talk about my mom. Well, you'd be right. My mom is a serial entrepreneur, who has started around 15 businesses. She's not only a entrepreneur, but a fashion designer as well. My mom worked for companies such as Adidas, Nike, Under Armour, and even Chippendales (yes the male strippers). She talked about her experiences as a entrepreneur, and how we could start to become one too. She might be my mother, but I never once heard most of her stories. She was a huge inspiration to everyone in my class, and I am ecstatic that she came to speak. My class learned that anyone can be an entrepreneur, no matter where you come from. She never even went to college. She went to design school, yet was still able to become who she is today. She made a huge business with my dad, and worked non stop for years. She had 3 kids, and still managed to work 100 hour weeks. She had an amazing work ethic, and if you're trying to be an entrepreneur, work ethic is what matters the most. She is one of the hardest working, and most passionate person I have ever known. That's why I'm so proud of her, and I love her so much. Thanks for reading!
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Nothing
As displayed in our entrepreneurship class, teaching nothing tends to work really well. Our teacher sits in the class, and is available to aid us if we need it, but he does not teach us. We work in our groups, do our own thing. When we have our presentation, he expects that we got it all done, rather than babying us through the process. In my opinion, I believe that this is a genius idea. We learn work ethic, and independence. It goes against the normal high school learning process, and it works wonders. It separates the self-driven students from the slackers who leech off the hard workers. Let’s just say I happen to be somewhere in the middle, able to do my work, but hating my life while I do it. My group members, Brooke and Cassidy, are insane. They work like machines. They have no free time during the day, yet still manage to love life and be self-motivated. I hate them for it (not really). I envy them for their insane work ethic. If I could trade places with them, I would instantly. No doubts about it. Lucky, my class is teaching me work ethic that will aid me tremendously in the future. I am very thankful for that. Work ethic is more important than innate intelligence (not by much). If you have amazing work ethic, you can definitely beat a naturally smart lazy person. So for those of you who don’t think you’re intelligent, work hard.
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Conversation
Let's Eat!
Obesity. It really isn’t a great thing. People die every day because of it. There is a company called Goliath Coffins that is specfically dedicated to making coffins for people who are so large that they no longer fit in normal coffins. But obesity isn’t the only eating disorder. We also have anorexia, bolemia, and many others that might make someone look good, but in actuality they are just as unhealthy as their overweight counter part. People judge those who are overweight, but not those who are way underweight. I find that funny. We only judge one end of the insane spectrum, and completely accept the other. I don’t understand. Well, actually I think I might. Obesity is more obvious, and people who are obese normally take more of a toll on people around them, as they are not normally able to do everything on their own. In contrast, anorexic people are less of a “nuisance” to people around them since they do not even have to spend any time during the day to eat. Despite the ideal lifestyle this might sound like (sarcasm), it is truly unhealthy. It’s debated which is unhealthier for your body. Doctors can not decide which side of the spectrum of eating disorders. For those of you who are reading this, please acknowledge what I’m trying to say. I really want you to take into consideration the fact that people who are skinny might have as bad of an eating disorder as those who are obese. Thanks for reading!
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Immigration
Look. As much as I love other cultures, some countries are not built to invite them in. Why don’t we take Sweden for example? I’m a Swedish citizen, as well as a US citizen, but I am very prideful of my mother land. I hold no hate to Muslims. I don’t like some of the extremist beliefs, but honestly who does. In Sweden, Muslims are flooding in as refuges to the main city of Stockholm. There are parts in Stockholm that the ambulance or police will no longer go, completely due to some extremist Muslims that refuse to acknowledge the law, and have decided to implement their ideal Shuria Law. There are many stories of nurses who went into these neighborhoods to help people, and were killed while saving lives, all because they were not wearing a hijab. As much as I love the idea that my home country is doing more than its part to help the refugees from the Middle East, Sweden needs to be stricter. If people are losing their lives, they need to remove violent immigrants immediately. Religious or not, violent people are violent, and they need to be removed. Another issue I have with some of the Islamic refugees is the idea that they deserve to have Shuria law implemented into the areas that are helping them. Keep in mind that this is not every Muslim. Very few Muslims are part of the extremist regime. The violent Muslims would be violent on their own. The religion of Islam is an amazing religion when taken to its core, even rivaling the good values of Christianity. That’s why I believe we should deport immigrants after even one crime. One crime should be the line for them to be deported. If they’re receiving protection from Sweden, they should be deported if they’re violent. Those are my thoughts. Sorry guys for the long and unfunny entry. I’ll make it funnier next time!
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Heels
First of all, let’s start with the facts. Women’s apparel was first designed as lingerie to please men. You’ve got to be kidding me. Heels were made to arch the back, making the butt and boobs more visible. Fantastic. I love sexism. Almost as much as I love racism, slavery, and Hitler. (For those of you who aren’t very smart, that is sarcasm). Thongs were created to outline the torso for men to see more than normal. Same as bikini’s. You can honestly see more in bikini’s than underwear and bras, yet it’s considered wrong to wear just underwear and bras…. THEY ARE LITERALLY THE SAME THING! Let’s also talk about makeup. I hate you makeup. It’s sexist, but I really envy it. It was designed so women could have smoother skin, making them seem feebler and baby like. But I really want to be able to use it. Who doesn’t want to buy a cream that covers literally every blemish (idiots). Even with sexist backgrounds, makeup is a blessing to women everywhere, giving them an advantage over men, with men having to naturally be gorgeous, and women being able to physically change their face. Oh well, at least I have a great personality. Now, onto the other side of the argument. Feminists. I hate you. All of you. I believe in equality, but seriously? Feminism? That’s what you’re gonna call the plea for equality. It is completely biased to women. What about other races? Other sexuality? Other genders? That’s fine… Only fight for women. Gotcha. Maybe fight for other people, then I’ll join your “club”.
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Honestly though, Why...?
I honestly do not get it. I truly don't understand. We learn things in school we will never even somewhat use. We learn about number that do not exist. Are you kidding me? Imaginary numbers? Yeah, good choice teaching us how to use things that don't exist, rather than teach us to do taxes. I am so glad that I know that the Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, but don't know how to pay bills (other than the one I get from Dominos). Speaking of food, why has Home Ec been abolished? It's not slavery, we still need it. I know how to divide things by negative exponents (sort of), but not how to cook pancakes. What a joy! I say (obviously my opinion do not judge me) that we completely abolish high school, and just teach kids based off of what they want to pursue in life. Very few people need to know Calculus. I want to do international business law, not be a low payed teacher, who is hated by all of my students. Oh and by the way, not every student learns well from being yelled at by a (on average, extremely old) teacher about why they need math. Literally (yes I said literally) every math teacher is old enough to have ridden on Noah's Ark. Let's start a petition to abolish High School, and start preparatory schools for life. Just remember I am a high school student so this is completely biased. Thank you again guys! It's been great ranting!
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Learn To Talk
Hello again! So glad you’ve come back to read my blog! But now, it’s time to get real. Let’s say that you work for someone, and you’ve created a huge presentation just for them. First of all, good job creating the presentation. But second, you’ve already failed. Huge presentations never really work. People are people. We lose interest after about a minute of your monotone voice, unless you’re me, because I’m amazing. Either shorten it, or be a more interesting person. Now to really spice it up, actually be smart. Don’t use useless facts and info that nobody wants to hear. Use things that actually help with the point you’re trying to make. I know, I know. It’s fun to show fancy graphs and charts that you found on Bing (just kidding) or Google, but unless it is seriously needed to prove a point, just don’t. Oh and please….. PRACTICE SPEAKING! The word “um” is not cute or okay. Leave it outside. When you walk into a presentation, there is no “uh”, “um”, or especially “like” allowed. It will make you sound like a mindless (key word) valley girl. Just remember, they stopped listening after 1 minute. Live with it. You don’t have to accept that you lose people’s attention. Fix them. Make them listen. Or if you really can’t avoid being boring and bad at speaking, summarize the 1 or 2 key points to your entire presentation. It will save you a lot of agony. Trust me.
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Clutter
Hey guys! Wanted to thank you all for reading my blog, and I’m giving you guys another story! Yesterday, our Business groups presented to the CEO of the company we’re helping. We had to make a powerpoint filled to the brim with useless details, which strayed most of us away from the purpose of the speech. How do we solve the problem? The problem was the lack of understanding from the costumers. Most of the costumers could not understand dimension, such as 10 x 20 x 15, or they did not like the sizes of the storage units. The company we worked with was a storage company (obviously). We told the CEO that to fix the problem, he needs to set up customizable storage plans, and to fix the dimension problem, we believed he needed to add photos of the area that you could store your stuff in. If people have a photo of the area, it is much easier to comprehend. I hope he took our advice, since I truly believe his company could thrive if it was simple enough to understand, and easy enough to use. Another issue he had was the lack of an app. He had a website, but without an app, you’re missing the entire younger demographic. Yet the major thing he was missing was the lack of advertisement. I had no idea what this company was before I had an assignment on it in school. And I never would have either. So overall, he has a great company, and if he fixes those few things, it could be greater. Thanks again guys for reading my blog! See you soon!
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TED Talks
Hello there! It’s me. Erik. Obviously… I wanted to let you guys know about an amazing TED Talk. If you don’t know what TED Talks are, let me explain. If you do, just skip the next paragraph.
TED Talks are informative speeches given by people from all walks of life. They’re organized by the TED organization who tries to show people different stories and life lessons. TED stands for Technology, Education, Design. Ted strives to cover all three of those topics, and does it well too. TED also has a special branch called TEDx, which is where they allow other people to organize TED talks, such as at schools. I am on a TEDx committee at my school, and it’s an amazing experience.
But back to the TED talk. This talk was amazingly informative, and it opened my eyes to the sadness that is the negligence of the Everglades. So many people despise the Everglades, due to the high amount of deadly animals within them. The only issue is the fact that we’re killing them off, deadly or not. There used to be 1000’s of nesting pairs of flamingos in the Florida Everglades, but the number is now down to less than 100. We have lost appreciation for this beautiful biome, and according to Mac Stone, we need to regain it. He showed Stunning photos of the endangered Everglades to the rest of the world, and it was shocking. I fully recommend for you to watch the video, as well as other TED talks. Thank you for reading!!!
=D
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Dice of Fate
In our Entrepreneurship class, we had to present our solutions to a company’s business problems. My group was, well, absolutely horrendous. As funny as they are, they did no work. We had to make a PowerPoint presentation on multiple different things, such as a 2x2 Matrix, Business Model Canvas, and a customer Archetype. Our teacher recorded us and posted them onto YouTube. Luckily, none of you will ever find them. I also will not tell you how to find them, mostly because I never want anybody anywhere to find them ever. I absolutely love my teacher. I also love what we are learning, however some of the kids in the class do not agree with me on my opinions. Some of the kids in my class consider this a free birdie course, which they can fly right through. I however, have used this class as a learning experience. And because I consider it such, I shall share my lesson with you, the reader. I learned so far the importance of preparation and practice. Without them, presentations can ruin your reputation. If, by some unlucky roll of the dice of fate, you’re forced into a group of lethargic apes, learn to control. Whether or not you fully trust your leadership skills (hopefully you have some), you must be the leader. Unless there is someone more qualified and diligent at the task, do not give up the title to a lower being. For now, my young pupils, that is all the advice I can give. Please feel free to read my ever scholarly-dying blog again!
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Bill Dallas
Bill Dallas is the founder of my school and was recently invited to speak to my entrepreneurship class. Bill is a very wealthy business owner and a very intelligible man. He has started multiple businesses, one of which is Oaks Christian. Bill thinks he’s amazing and is a very confident man, which he should be! Bill was initially inspire to found Oaks because his grandchildren needed someplace to go to middle/high school and Bill didn’t feel that there was a neighboring school that fit his standards.
In addition to founding Oaks, one of the business ventures that Bill is most proud is his job as a financial manager. Most notably, Bill managed Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen’s money, he also acted a mentor to the twins and guided them through life as a young Hollywood starlets.
Bill’s was kind enough to offer our class some sound advice on life and money management. Bill encouraged us to finish school strong and to get married once we are 30, and to then have many, many children.
Bill was very high energy, so impressive! For a 50 years old medium height gentleman he was very agile.
Bill was not what I would have had assumed him to be. I imagined him to be a much older man who was boring and slow, yet hip. Bill was surprisingly energetic, fun, squirmy,
Although Bill’s advice came from a good place I felt that it pertained to him alone rather than as a general statement of advice.
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Shelene Bryan
In our Entrepreneurship class, we were lucky to get to know Shelene Bryan. She was a wealthy Hollywood producer, and was able to sponsor two African children. She admits that for her it was just a check, and yet she wanted something more. So instead of emailing someone to find out if the children she was sponsoring were real, she flew to Uganda and found out herself. She found the kids in the middle of the jungle in Uganda, in a mud hut with a sheet as a door. She instantly fell in love with them, considering them her own children. She asked them if they could have one thing, what it would be. They said a bed. A bed. Noting more. Just a bed. She went to ‘Jungle Mart’ (Not really) and bought them beds, sheets, mosquito nets, shoes, and blankets all for $20. She says “I felt like Oprah.” She was so inspired by how far her money could go, she decided to return to America and start an organization, Skip1. She asks for people to skip one thing from their daily, weekly, or even yearly routine. You can skip a coffee once a week, and donate the $5 to get a child a bed. The concept is to skip one unnecessary thing in your life to buy multiple things in dire need for others. Her organization today is huge, and donates 100% to people around the world. Donate if Starbucks (or coffee bean….) has already taken too much of your money!!!
https://www.skip1.org/
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Design Thinking
In my class, I have learned a lot about Design Thinking. Design Thinking is laying out your thought process in physical means, such as sculpting, drawing or acting out. I will incorporate design thinking into my learning experience by using it to come up with new ideas, or fix current issues. Design Thinking has proven itself a useful tool for brainstorming. I will most likely use the acting out aspect of Design Thinking so that I can physically see and do the process I am going through. My feelings on working in a group are not that of love. I have never had good experiences while working with other people, mostly because I normally end up with all of the work. If I were put in a group where my fellow worker bees contributed to the problem or work, I would adore and want to be in group projects. My past experiences in group projects have all been negative, and the group I am currently in is the same. For my English Class, we are required to write a paper with a partner assigned to us, yet I wrote the entire paper and typed it up. My partner got an A without any work or effort. Although group projects haven’t been kind to me, I would still be open to a group, and would definitely try my best to contribute to the group and to my class. Thank you again for reading my blog! I hope to post again soon!
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Talking to Humans
In my entrepreneurship class, we were required to read the book “Talking to Humans” by Giff Constable. He wrote this book as an introduction to the social aspect of business. The book taught me that surveys are important. If you want to find out what your customer wants, ask them. Don’t guess, but go to a store where your product might be and survey people buying a similar product to your own. This is a genius concept, despite being so easily overlooked. A lot of people think they know how to target a certain type of consumer, while in actuality they have absolutely no idea what that specific social group truly wants. The book also taught me multiple requirements of a startup business: you have to have the correct customer and market, you have to get the revenue model, you have to get the cost structure, you have to get the product, you have to get the correct and perfect team in relation to skills and attitude, and you have to have the perfect timing. Although I never had fears of talking to strangers, the book offered good advice. It won’t help me with my nonexistent fear of talking to strangers; however, it will help me with interviews, correct speech setup, and concise information delivery. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about business or speaking to strangers. This book is a great building block to learning the social aspect of business. As I said in my last post, if you have any questions feel free to ask! There is a free url to read the book. Go ahead and read it if you wish. https://s3.amazonaws.com/TalkingtoHumans/Talking+to+Humans.pdf
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About This Blog
Hello! My name is Erik Hainer. I am fourteen, soon to be fifteen, and I am taking entrepreneurship at Oaks Christian High School. I’ve attended Oaks Christian since middle school, and I’m presently in my fifth year. My dream job has always been to become an international business lawyer. I have been working towards this goal for my entire life. I even speak four languages, which are English, Spanish, Swedish, and Mandarin Chinese. The college I’m aspiring to attend is Harvard Law School, located in Boston, Massachusetts. I live in Los Angeles, California, and more specifically Hidden Hills. Both of my parents are entrepreneurs, and very business oriented. They have taught me a lot about the business world and how to succeed in it. While my main interests focus on law and languages, I’ve always been encouraged to pursue business and entrepreneurship, which I have a natural inclination to as well. Now, I have always been a great speaker, yet I have never been an amazing logician. Hopefully from this class I can learn to use logic when it comes to persuasion. I’m very empathetic in the way I speak, but I have never used facts and details to build and present my arguments. This class will be a great learning experience to me, helping me improve upon my speaking skills. Ideally, this class will also teach me a business set of mind—pragmatic and efficient. I will be bringing my strengths to the class, such as the ability to converse and persuade people as well as previous knowledge given to me by my entrepreneurial parents. Throughout the course of the year, I also hope to improve upon my weaknesses and even further sharpen my strengths. That brings me to this blog. What will I be talking about? To be honest, I am not 100% sure. All I know is that this blog will keep a detailed record of how this class is going, and what some of our major projects are. The class will be running from August 2015 to June 2016, and is the first entrepreneurship class Oaks Christian has ever had. Some exciting things this course will offer include learning the basics of how to efficiently run a business, teaching good work ethic and how to work with others, and even meeting with real life business owners and CEOs. We will be helping the owners and CEOs solve daily and tedious issues. We will also be assisting them with advertisement, social media, and sales. This blog will be documenting the everyday experience of this class. Hopefully, I will be able to post to this blog once a week to cover everything we have learned so far. If this seems interesting to you, or you are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur yourself, click the follow button in the top right-hand corner of your screen! My hope is that you’ll learn as much valuable information as I am. If you have any question, feel free to ask me. Stay tuned!
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