LOCAL CEO'S HOST ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION FOR YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS ACADEMY AT FREMD
PALATINE, IL – Jim Nowakowski, the President/CEO of Interline Creative Group, Inc., a leading marketing company based in Palatine, served as part of a panel of CEOs to share experiences and insights of the business world with 13 District 211 students from the Palatine Area Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!). The event, which was held on Wednesday, January 29th at Fremd High School, served as a forum to provide the students with the opportunity to talk one-on-one and ask questions to the CEOs about how they got their start in business.
“It was a great evening of ideas,” says Mindy Phillips, Chamber Director for the Palatine Area Chamber of Commerce, who moderated the event, along with YEA! instructors John Udelhofen, Tom Anderson (AdviCoach) and Hank Sobotka (Palatine Bank & Trust). “The CEOs brought their real-world, life-teaching moments to the class and gave the students insights into how businesses are really run.”
Along with Nowakowski the CEO panel was comprised of: Todd Sander, American Red Door, Larry Moats, Moats Office Properties and Jim Meier, MeritCorp Group LLC.
“Entrepreneur school was something that I certainly didn’t have at that age,” Nowakowski said afterwards. “In fact, part of my story to them was I didn’t start my business until I was fired for the third time. From adversity comes success,” he added, now successfully leading his 22-person firm into the digital disruptive age. “We survived the brutal 2009 downturn without laying anyone off. That was a miracle in itself, but probably our flexibility had something to do with it.”
One of the topics discussed was control, and how entrepreneurs find it difficult to delegate when it’s all them doing everything in the beginning of a business. Nowakowski used his rubber band example to help the students understand the concept.
He asked for a rubber band, and gave one end to a student who volunteered. Then he said to start gently pulling (“so you or me don’t hurt each other”) and asked the students what they saw. “Tension,” said one. “Exactly,” he said. “And if we keep pulling and creating tension, it’s going to snap and more than likely we will both be hurt. Now let’s try that again, and I’m going to ask you a different question.” The student started pulling the rubber band, but this time, Nowakowski allowed himself to be pulled along rather than pulling back and created tension. He asked, “Now, who is in control?” Most responded the student was, except for a couple of who said, “You are!” “I am,” Nowakowski said. “You see, you might be running a business, but it is your employees who are in control. Your customers control you more than you control your customers. Don’t forget that. It’s always been about the customer. And it always will be. It’s not about you.”
The “Rise Early, Work Hard, Strike Oil,” comment Nowakowski made at the end of the event wasn’t his. “J. Paul Getty said that,” Nowakowski explained, and asked the students, “You know who J. Paul Getty is, don’t you?” When the class remained silent, one of the instructors said smiling, “I suggest you Google him tonight.”
“Ah, to be young and a sponge,” Nowakowski added, smiling as well.
The Young Entrepreneurs Academy, or YEA!, is a groundbreaking educational program that takes students in grades six through twelve through the process of starting and running real businesses over the course of a full academic year. Students work in close cooperation with local leaders of industry, community members, and educators to develop ideas and objectives, write business plans, pitch potential investors, obtain funding, register with governmental agencies, develop their brand identity and much more!
Interline Creative Group, Inc. is a Palatine-based marketing company serving clients throughout the country, and offering full-service agency services such as graphic design, content creation, as well as management for loyalty programs and more. Their website – www.interlinegroup.com – contains a wide variety of content that is useful for businesses. They are located at 553 N. NorthCourt, Suite 160, Palatine, Illinois 60667.