Wegman's

            This mentor meeting was not only informative, but enlightening and exciting as well. The meeting was with the merchandising manager named Jim, the store manager Wendy, the service manager Rob, and a front end store manager in training, Kristy. It was amazing hearing from four different people and their thoughts and point of view, rather than just one. It really reiterates the idea of Wegman’s being a very family-oriented store, that thinks of employees as one big family.  My biggest lesson I took away from this meeting was how to integrate innovation into your everyday life, and when running a business especially.            

            In Wegman’s, innovation is a daily thing. Wendy, the store manager, gave the example of how when she was first a store manager a few years ago at a different location, the employees of Wegman’s insisted that they never install a self-checkout aisle, and at the time, Wendy agreed. A couple years down the road, Wendy ended up installing multiple self check-out aisles because that is what the customers wanted. You have to fulfill the need that you see in your business. The next lesson I learned is my absolute favorite lesson I have taken away from the whole experience this entire semester. Wendy stated a great saying, “Take care of the people that take care of you, that take care of your customers.” She explained that by treating your employees with respect and as friends and family, not just employees, it instills a sense of positivity and productiveness in the workplace. When you treat the people who work for you nicely and actually care for them, they are going to do their jobs and do them well, and take care of you. They are going to take care of the customers, because they are going to treat the customers with respect, the way their bosses treat them with respect. This is very obvious anytime you walk into a Wegman’s store. Every employee looks happy to be there, not miserable like many other stores. Employees almost always say hi to each other when passing each other in the store. The store truly has a sense of positivity and a sense of family to it whenever you enter their doors.

            The last lesson I took from this meeting was that as a leader, you can never ask someone to do something you have never, or would never, do. This is something I will follow for the rest of my life. Not only will your employees respect you more for it, but they will be more willing to help you when you do have to ask them for something. Seeing your boss go out of their way to help the overall store and their employees with their work is just such a great sight, and really instills that family-oriented sense that Wegman’s has. In my future, I will never ask an employee to mop the floor, if I myself have not done it. You should know what it is like for every employee in your business. Not only will it give them respect for you, but it will show them that you do ask them to do something, its because you can’t do it yourself, not because you just don’t want to.  Overall, seeing the “behind-the-scenes” of a store that I grocery shop at myself was amazing. I feel so lucky to have been given this opportunity, and will use the lessons I learned from this meeting throughout all of my future endeavors. 

Far Corner Inc.: Mr. Chris Myers

Meeting Chris Myers, the creator and owner of Far Corner, a holding company, was such an eye opening experience. He is the definition of an entrepreneur. He gave me so much advice and so many lessons that I can use for the rest of my life, in all aspects of my life.

            With a personal philosophy of “opportunity is everywhere,” Mr. Myers really has a keen eye for seeing a need, and filling it. When discussing opportunity and the importance of just opening your eyes and looking for opportunity, he told me to “never stop asking. If someone says no, find a different way to ask.” Asking for something is a great way to create opportunities for yourself, something he really made clear to me. Mr. Myers and I talked for a little over two hours, and I learned so much from him just in that short period of time. Even though he is clear cut entrepreneur, who even started his own dry cleaning business in college, he didn’t always think of being an entrepreneur as a career—

“I realized being an entrepreneur is a profession…I used to not think that. If you are truly an entrepreneur, it is a career. I think it is a state of mind of seeing a need, rallying resources to meet the need, constantly adjusting and refining, and empowering people to fill the need, and eventually filling the need for profit.”

When I explained to him how impressed I was with all his success and all the business he has created through Far Corner, he said “I really enjoy creating opportunities for people and watching them succeed,” and you can see it in the way he handles his business that he means it. With all of Far Corners companies on the same floor of the building, it makes it easier for each person in charge of a company to really be a part of a bigger team—the Far Corner team. When I asked Mr. Myers why he not only created a publishing company, but a transportation company, wholesale company, etc, he said “I enjoy the synergy between the businesses and enterprises.” He really made it clear that he thinks its beneficial to be apart of every aspect of the process. Not only does he publish the books, but has a company to transport the books, and a company to sell the books (along with quite a few other very impressive companies).

            One of my biggest questions for Mr. Myers was what motivates him to keep creating more companies, and to continually innovate his work. He said the motto around the office is “create assets that help other assets that we have, to create more assets.” To me, that is such a great tangible example of continuous innovation.

            My favorite lesson that I took away from this meeting besides “never give up asking” and to take baby steps in the business aspect of my life, was that failure is not necessarily failure. Mr. Myers defined failure as something that just doesn’t meet your expectations. He really made it clear that you need to learn how to manage and to really keep things in perspective. A lot of times people set a timeline for their goals, and he made it clear that he could not disagree with that more, because it really is so tough, and often leads to you feeling like a failure. I really took this to heart because I have always put a timeline on my goals, but he made me realize that in the long run, when I reach my goal is not important…its actually reaching the goal that is. 

Unsweetened Howard: Mr. Ian Kennedy

Upon investigation prior to the actual meeting with Mr. Ian Kennedy, I discovered what exactly Unsweetened Howard is. It is a campaign that was created by the Horizon Foundation to make it easier for parents to give their children the best types of food and drinks they can. Mr. Kennedy explained that Unsweetened Howard was created because obesity is affecting about ¼ of the children in Howard County. They are different than other programs aimed towards healthier eating because of their exclusive focus on sugary drinks. The number one driver of obesity is actually sugary drinks, which is why Unsweetened Howard created the “Better Beverage Finder.” The Better Beverage Finder provides 300 different options of healthier, alternative drinks. If a parent wanted to find a better alternative to their child’s favorite soda, which was Dr. Pepper, for example, they would type Dr. Pepper into the Better Beverage Finder and it would give alternatives based on if they wanted an alternative that tasted the same, or still had caffeine, etc.            

            This program was only started three months ago, but seems to have made major headway in my opinion. The campaign is partnered with The Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. Unsweetened Howard gave a grant to the school system, and in return is collecting BMI date for every 6^th grader for the next 5 years. They are also purchasing sales data from local grocery stores/other retailers to look at soda consumption. To see if any difference is made, they have a “control county” in Pennsylvania that is very similar to Howard County, without a campaign such as Unsweetened Howard. The technical experts from the Rudd Center will look at all the data to see what sort of changes are being made over time, and compare it to the control county. To me, this is complete entrepreneurship and innovation at work. The Horizon Foundation saw a problem—obesity—and are trying to help make it easier for those who live and work in Howard County to live a healthier lifestyle. They saw a need, and are trying to fill it.

            After giving us a detailed background on the Horizon Foundation and Unsweetened Howard, Mr. Kennedy gave us insight to his life and his own perspective on innovation, and how he uses it in his own life.  After working as a newspaper reporter and then for the county executive for 5 years, Kennedy saw an opportunity for a job as the Communications Director at The Horizon Foundation that would allow for a little more creativity and freedom and the ability to pick his battles—something that is not so true of a politics/government based job. He really made it clear that he feels students shouldn’t stress out about their major—something I really appreciated hearing. With a bachelors degree from UMBC in interdisciplinary studies, environmental writing, Mr. Kennedy is a great real-life example of a major not specifically defining your future career.  As an early childhood education/special education major with an interest in entrepreneurship, innovation, social work and law, this was a relief for me to hear, and definitely one of the biggest lessons I took away from the meeting.

            When asked about his own understanding and perception of what innovation is, he said “To me, it is seeing how the pieces work. The pieces are out there—it’s just putting them together in a different way to make something better; Rearranging a few pieces, making different connections…that transforms how we do things. An innovative idea takes an idea that may seem obvious after it’s done.” To me, that was just a fantastic way to look at innovation. Not necessarily just the entrepreneurship aspect of it, but looking at something in a different way.

We left off by asking for any advice he had for us college students. He said success comes from opportunities. “I think a lot of people see barriers instead of opportunities,” he stated. He also explained that he felt “there is some value in being a kid and not over thinking things,” and I could not agree more. Especially at this time in my life, I over think and stress myself out. This really taught me that sometimes being innovative isn’t from sitting down and forcing yourself to brainstorm. Sometimes, just changing your routine can really make a difference. Mr. Kennedy, for example, claimed that he has to disconnect to come up with good ideas. He gave great advice throughout the entire meeting. What really resonated with me was his advice to just know yourself, and know how you work best, and try to maintain an optimistic attitude about things. Those are such simple things that many people, including myself, never actually tell themselves to do.

Overall, sitting down and meeting Mr. Kennedy and learning about the innovative Unsweetened Howard was just a great experience. It really showed innovation in a real-life example that even I had the chance to use myself through the Better Beverage Finder. After this meeting, I feel as if I can stop forcing myself to come up with innovative ideas, but rather just try and have an innovative mindset in general, and acknowledge all the opportunities that are always popping up around me to invest my innovative thoughts into real life experiences. 

Howard Tech Advisors: Mr. Ananta Hejeebu

My meeting with Mr. Hejeebu did not end up how I expected it to—in a good way. Mr. Hejeebu, although a very successful man, was extremely easy to talk to. Not only did he explain to me how he ended up where he is today, but he gave me some great advice… advice not only for my future endeavors involving innovation, but great advice for life in general.

            Mr. Ananta Hejeebu grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended West Virginia University, and graduated with an impressive degree in mechanical engineering. However, he did not become a mechanical engineer. After he graduated, he claimed it was just not what he saw himself doing. This is when he taught me one of the top 3 lessons I took away from this meeting. He explained to me that just because someone does not know exactly what they want to do as soon as they get out of college, does not mean they should settle for a career they will be unhappy with. After he graduated, he ended up working in sales, selling children’s books. He then ended up at a startup company call F5; a company involved with selling software for the internet. At the time, the internet was up and coming. He explained to me that although he had no experience with working with the internet, he saw an opportunity, and he went for it. He applied for the job and was hired as the sixth employee, but by the time he left that startup company, it had over 900 employees.            

            In 2009, Mr. Hejeebu decided to create his own company. After talking to his friends who said they could not find an IT company they really liked, he created Howard Tech Advisors, which brings me to the second lesson he taught me. He explained to me that the best times to start a company are before the age of 30, and after the age of 50 (give or take). This is because in between those ages are when people typically have the most responsibilities such as children and a spouse. The third and most important thing I took away from this meeting was his advice to really just to “jump in.” He explained to me how he believes that If you are passionate about something and have done your research, then just taking a reasonable risk is a great thing to do as soon as possible. Putting it off is pointless. If you want to reach your goals and make your dreams come true, you need to be willing to take risks. He stated that “the more you do something, the easier it is. The first time is always going to be the scariest, that’s why you just need to get it over with.”

            His lessons and advice really convinced me that I need to be able to take risks in my future. I have always dreamed of creating chain of my own daycares, and his advice really just taught me that if I can get all the logistics figured out and it is a reasonable risk to take, there is no reason I shouldn’t. He really motivated me to be innovative with my ideas about my future and the career path I end up taking. He showed me that if I do not want to work for someone or want to have a job that doesn’t exist, I can create that. I can create a chain of daycares that is integrated with technology if I have the motivation and resources and knowledge to do so.