Very Short Interview No. 1

For the sake of this assignment, my entrepreneur wanted to go under the pseudonym as Laurie. After working with DECA Inc. for many years, Laurie decided to use her knowledge and begin being an entrepreneur and decided to start helping the brand and students involved within the organization. In order to help students, Laurie decided to start publishing work for DECA including guides, workbooks, and other supplements to help students have a better understanding and guide when competing. Here are the questions I asked her:

1. I'm currently in an introductory entrepreneurship class at my school. What would you expect me to learn in this course?

Her response: "In an entrepreneurship course, two important components I believe students need to understand are innovation and business management. Innovation is the thing that allows an entrepreneur to begin a project or company, but business management (the process of leading, planning, and executing) is what is required in order to maintain a scalable business in the long term. For me, and entrepreneurship course would teach students to brainstorm, to innovate by working with what they already know, and how to flesh out their concept in terms of feasibility, operations, and consumer demand. I’d also expect an entrepreneurship class to teach the basic foundations of a business model, so students will understand each of the components that go into creating a business."

2. What does it mean to you to be an entrepreneur?

Her response: "Being an entrepreneur means being an innovator. It is somebody who sees a problem in society or in their own lives, and innovates in order to create a solution. But more than that, an entrepreneur is somebody who takes initiative to build a business out of their idea, and who takes risks by experimenting with new ideas on the market. "

3. What do you wish you knew before being or starting your journey as an entrepreneur?

Her response: "Before starting my journey as an entrepreneur, I wish I knew that the biggest obstacle to your success is not trying, and that risk taking is such a fundamental component of entrepreneurship because without taking risks, the answer will always be no."

One thing I took away from this interview is that life is filled with obstacles. No matter what, something or someone is going to hold you back at one point. Life is also filled with failures, but through failure we learn, we innovate, and we try again to be better. In this process and asking ourselves, "how can we be better next time?" lets us reflect and grow. Life isn't easy, but having the perserverance and strength to continue with your ideas is what truly defines who you are as an entrepreneur.