Scott Turrel - Entrepreneur

 I found it very interesting that in Paths to an Entrepreneurial Career, speaker Ted Zoller said the most successful path was to start in a large company then, over time, back into a smaller venture. I think about how much you can learn from a large well established company and the contacts you can make. Its almost like a free education allowing you to learn the ropes before going it on your own.  Another thing I made a connection with this week was about the importance of knowing how other companies (often large companies) operate. A small business that supplies a large business, needs to know how their client makes decisions. I love making connections with the different kinds of work I've done, often using one as an example to help solve a problem in the other. The last thing was reviewing my learning about gratitude. I always have to remind myself that having an attitude of gratitude is not the same as being complacent and just thinking there is nothing I can do about my si...

 I believe that virtue and integrity are important to the economy because trust is needed to grow business. Business drives economy. Without trust in a business it won't work and thus won't contribute to the economy the way it needs to. Whether the general population stops frequenting a certain business (i.e. restaurant, or market, etc.) or refuses to invest in a its future through the stock market, this will impact the economy that is most closely affected by that business. I am reminded of shows like "American Greed" or movies like "The Other Guys" and "Fun with Dick and Jane". The former is documentary style while the latter two are more comedic and satirical, but they all paint a vivid picture of corporate greed that destroys innocent lives and subsequently causes harm to the economy. I myself am hesitant to invest in any business without knowing what kind of values they live up to, not just what they say, but what they actually do. According t...

 In answering the question- What is your attitude toward money?- I have to say that it is pretty complicated. As I learn more with each class leading up to my degree, I think my attitude and views on money change more and more. Years ago I thought that simply having all the money would make all my dreams come true. Now, through education, I've taken a hard look at what it is I really want in life. And yes, having lots more money would make some things easier. The truth is that what I want doesn't actually require all the money. At least not right away. Having more money now could make things go faster, but the reality is I can still accomplish what I want through hard work, research, and especially patience.  A person's view on money can drastically change their life to the point where it becomes an all consuming concept. Something I have tried very hard to do is teach my kids about patience and responsibility. When my oldest wanted to take a vacation to Washington D.C. wit...

This week I learned that not only is it okay to dream big, but working toward our big dreams should be a priority in our lives. It can be easy to get bogged down with life and forget that it is okay to make time for ourselves to work on our dreams. Realistically as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have the biggest dream in the universe. I believe that by following the Gospel of Christ I can achieve eternal salvation, which leads to celestial glory. In that I will become a God as my Savior and my Heavenly Father. What a massive dream! With that in mind, knowing that I am a divine child of God, why should I think I am either unworthy or underserving of big dreams in life? I'm not. If my goals are worthy ones, and I ask for spiritual guidance from the Lord, then I should be able to accomplishing anything no matter how impossible it seems. That "impossibility" comes from either an inability to see how to achieve my dreams, or from personal doubt ...

 This week was interesting for me because I got to do my entrepreneur interview. Even though I decided to talk with someone that I have known for a long time, I was still able to learn so much. I had never really talked to him about his career, business experience, or life goals before. He had so many good insights, and yet he was able to answer in a way that made sense to me because he knows me. He didn't talk over my head or feel like he needed to dumb things down for me. He knows exactly where I am on my own path and was able to talk on my level. I'm glad I chose the person I did as I felt confident and comfortable talking with him about his experiences, where I think if I had interviewed someone new to me the conversation may have been more stale and less enlightening. Another thing about this week was the opportunity to review the talk Leadership with a Small "L" by President Kim B. Clark. I had studied this talk previously in my educational journey at BYU-I and...

  This week we studied the idea of overcoming challenges, something I know all too well. But that doesn't mean I'm an expert nor unafraid of future challenges. There have been many times in my life when I looked at the road ahead and knew it would be difficult yet forged on anyway. With roadblock after roadblock preventing me from making progress as a pilot I struggled onward anyway. In listening to and re-reading the words of Elder Holland when as the President of BYU he gave a talk to the student body about challenges, I found so many parallels to my own life. At one point he says " And when some of those challenges come, you will have the temptation common to us all to say, “This task is too hard. The burden is too heavy. The path is too long.” And so you decide to quit, simply to give up. Now to terminate certain kinds of tasks is not only acceptable but often very wise." (Holland, 1983). What about the times where I thought what I was doing was so very important ...