Mentor Meeting

This past Thursday my mentor group met with our mentors, Meg and Joe. Being as I was not able to attend the previous mentor event, I was delightedly surprised to see that Meaghan's stomach had grown exponentially with her and Joe's new addition to their family. I never fully understood what people meant by a pregnant mother's glow until I saw Meaghan that night. I would even go as far to say that Joe was glowing with the happiness of being a soon-to-be father. I couldn't be more happy for the two of them.

They took our group of business students to the Odgen Museum of Southern Art and then to dinner a few blocks away at Lucy's. Both of these places are located in the up-and-coming warehouse district of New Orleans. 

We were supposed to meet with Roger Ogden, who is perhaps one of the most important real estate developers in New Orleans. He has been the leader in development in many commercial properties including shopping centers, hotels, and office properties.  He co-founded Stirling Properties, developed the Wyndam and Loews Hotels, co-owns the Shops at Canal Place, and founded the Ogden Museum with over 1,000 of his personal art pieces. This was probably the most surprising things I learned throughout the night. It amazed me that the museum was originally created solely from Ogden's personal art collection.  Many assume that to have collected all of the art he has, he must be at least 100 years old but in actuality, he is thriving in his 60's, still making business deals.

Unfortunately, Roger Odgen was unable to meet with us. Instead we met with the CEO of the company, who is also a professor at UNO. We able to interview and receive a tour from him. He was extremely informative, telling us all about the history of the museum and the surrounding area along with telling us how they manage to make a nonprofit such as the Ogden successful. 

The key to the success of the Ogden is being innovative. Such innovation was required after Katrina in order to revive business and make people want to come back to the city. This is why the museum came up with the idea of hosting the event "Ogden After Hours". Every Thursday this event is thrown at the museum with live music (Danon Smith performed when we were there), wine, food, and not to mention...exquisite Southern artwork.  The manager informed us that the key to making money from an event like this is to keep the customers coming back.  This way, word-of-mouth becomes great advertisement.  In addition, selling membership packages is very profitable.  They advertise memberships as "50 concerts for 50 dollars", which is not only a good marketing slogan, its a damn good deal. 

The event attracts a slew of guests ranging from trendy college students to old-school art buffs.  When the recession began to affect the way businesses were run, the Ogden decided to branch out and attract another demographic, families. At first, some were skeptical because the event had typically been marketed towards an older crowd (hints the wine and jazz music). However, the museum decided to employ an art teacher who comes up with a new art project each week.  She creates projects that have to do with an exhibit in the museum so the children and other participants can draw from that inspiration. This has been a huge hit because it allows parents to get out of the house while still being able to do something fun with their children. 

In addition to learning about the promotion and marketing strategies the Ogden uses, we learned a range of other important facts including the following:

1. The Ogden staffs about 20 employees.

2. The exhibitions change quarterly.

3. There is a vast amount of artwork in storage that is switched out quarterly as well, sometimes more frequently.

4. The art comes strictly from the South and ranges from classic old pieces to contemporary experimental art pieces.

5. The Museum is affiliated with UNO.

6. Many artists seek out the museum wanting to show their work; however, the Ogden doesn't just let anyone show. They do accept donated artwork as well as paying large sums to host an exhibit. Exhibit prices can escalate to hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

7. The museum's history can be learned about here.

I feel that I benefited exponentially through this experience. I was able to experience a new part of the city that I hadn't been able to experience before, enjoying beautiful art and music and learning about the warehouse district.  And more importantly, I was able to learn about the business of nonprofits and creative ways to innovate while expanding my network to a different crowd. I'm very thankful that Meg and Joe planned this for our group and I hope to be able to have more opportunities like this in the future.

Careerbeam Assignment 2: Interest & Occupations

I recently completed the Careerbeam assessment about my interests.  The assessment reinforced that one of my strengths is creativity.  According to Careerbeam (1.) I am creative, innovative , and imaginative.  (2.) I like to use creativity to express my emotions.  (3.) I am drawn to the arts, performance, writing, and fields that appreciate unusual ideas and aesthetic styles. 

In addition to scoring high in the creativity category, I scored high in the human development and scientific categories.  I scored high in human development because I have a willingness to help and teach people and I scored high in the scientific category because I analyze things and think independently.  

One of the careers that was suggested for people who had strong scores in the creative category is fashion/clothing design.  I looked more into this on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website and discovered new information about the job.  In May 2006, there was an estimated 20,000 fashion designers in the United States and their average annual salary was $62,610.  Starting salaries are fairly low until the fashion designer has been able to establish himself or herself in the industry.  Growth of those working in the industry is said to be slower-than-average while the competitiveness will remain.

After learning some of the statistics about fashion designing, I am still interested in pursuing it at some point.  However, I also came to the conclusion that I would like to try to incorporate my top three interests/skills (creativity, human development, and scientific) and become a fashion show and event planner. 

Networking

This is a picture of John Galliano, whom I would like to professionally emulate. Not only does he design for a line under his own name, he also designs for the House of Christian Dior. He is not afraid to take risks and others usually end up following him in the process. Galliano's name is known worldwide for the fresh and inspiring looks he creates as well as for simply being the fashionable man he is.

This past Thursday the Business Communication students joined together to network with business professionals working in New Orleans. 

Three of the people I met, Andrew Goodwin, Allison Plaisance, and Michelle Huck, work together for Loyola's mentor program. All three of them are accountants.  Allison and Andrew both work for Ernst & Young while Michelle works at Bourgeois Bennett. Michelle double-majored in International Business and Accounting. Andrew majored in Accounting and Allison majored in Biology. They all get to travel through their companies with most of the destinations being in central America. Collectively, the group liked Nicaragua the most.

I was very excited to meet Jan Moppert. She works here at Loyola as the Associate Director of Internships and knows all about networking. She was very welcoming and seemed interested in helping my friend John and I pursue our dreams, mine being fashion and his being acting.

I met Daphne Main, who also works here at Loyola.  She has her doctorate degree and teaches accounting here at Loyola.  I look forward to having her class in the near future.

I felt that my strongest asset at the networking event was my elevator speech.  I perfected it ahead of time and was able to come up wit something pretty interesting.  I mentioned my passion for clothes and the fashion shows I did in the past.

In the future I will be more outgoing at events. It's a little intimidating and takes some time to get used to.  However, I'm sure the more I have to network myself, the more comfortable I'll be.

Overall, it was a great learning experience and I'm glad I had to opportunity to meet the people I did and work on my networking skills and etiquette. 

When researching networking I found a useful site called Take Away the Worry with a page all about ways to network yourself in the current times. Some tips they give are to use the web, start your own club and join clubs at your job, hang out in interesting places, and get to know your neighbors and co-workers.  I'm excited to perfect my networking skills and meet new people along the way.

Community Service Project

I was unable to attend Wolves on the Prowl with the rest of the business program.  However, my teacher, George Howard, allowed me to volunteer through an organization of my choice.  As it turns out, I found a volunteer project in central city that I was able to volunteer for the following week. 

On Saturday November 15th, I met up with some 300 other volunteers at the W.J. Guste School building to build a playground and paint a mural at their school.  In order to make this possible, three different non-profit organizations, KIPP, KaBOOM!, and New Orleans Non Profit, came together to help.  Each of the organizations played different roles in the process.  KIPP specifically works with W.J. Guste School along with 65 other schools, providing them with outstanding educators and building partnerships among parents, students, and teachers in order to better student's chances of going to a good college.   When it comes to the actual production of the playground is when KaBOOM! steps in.  KaBOOM is working to provide playgrounds within walking distance from every child nationwide. Lastly, New Orleans Non Profit posted a blog to get the word out there and recruit volunteers. 

Before the volunteers began working, we were served a small but filling breakfast to energize us for the day of work that lay ahead.  I figured that since I have a little bit more artistic ability than muscle strength, I would help paint the mural.  We painted the mural in the courtyard portraying a group of angels overlooking three children in the city. 

I had a great time painting the mural because I got along very well with the other volunteers.  If I had to guess I'd say their ages ranged somewhere from 7 to 50.  Although we were such a diverse group of individuals, the common interest of helping others allowed us to all form a strong bond while we worked.  There was music playing so we were even able to dance and sing while we worked, making things even more fun.  

Pictures can be seen above of the mural, playground, and a handful of the volunteers that participated that day.

When I realized I wouldn't be able to participate in Wolves on the Prowl, I had to search for another organization to volunteer for.  The search was hard because I wanted to help at every place I found.  However, there was an organization that stood out to me in particular. 

I'm a big environmental freak.  I go out of my way to recycle things and pick up trash, am a member of the Earth Club, made my family start a compost pile, and hate people who leave water running when they don't need to.  The organization I found is called Green Light New Orleans.  They are trying to reduce New Orleans' energy use, subsequently preventing global warming "one lightbulb at a time".  Their program works by sending volunteers to different low- and middle-income households by changing their old fashioned incandescent bulbs to modern, compact fluorescent lighting. According to Green Light:

If every household in the United States replaces one light bulb with a compact fluorescent light (CFL), it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing 800,000 cars from the road.  In addition to the environmental benefits, a CFL uses 75% less energy than an incandescent bulb and lasts 10 times longer, thereby saving money on a home's energy bills.  Each CFL will save the user more than $45 over the life of the bulb.

Executive Speaker on Personal Finances

        I learned far more than I expected to when the guest speaker came to talk to our Intro to Business class about credit.  I thought having a credit card wasn't such a big deal until I learned how dangerous it can be for certain individuals.  Insurance companies, who already rip people off as it is, check people's credit to determine their premium.  This can make a big difference for people when it comes to circumstances such as house and car payments.  Not only do insurance companies check your credit scores, employers and banks check it as well.  When I purchased my phone earlier this year I switched services and the cell phone company even checked my mom's credit.  

        Most people checking credit use a system called FICO.  The FICO system rates people's credit going up to 850, with 850 being the best.  Ways to make your credit score drop include:

        *spending big at the wrong time

        *having payments that are too thin

        *being a payment slacker

        *being too tidy

                    and

        *being nonchalant

       If you have to file for bankruptcy it will remain on your credit profile for four years and if you miss a house payment, that will stay for two. 

       Another credible site for college student to use when researching information about credit scores is this one.  It shares the rates of each score bracket along with other information as well.

      When the business class divided up to meet with our mentors, one of my mentors, Joe, told us a story about credit and how it can lead to trouble owning your own house when you are an adult.  That on top of everything the speaker shared with us was a wake up call for me and how I will manage my money.

Careerbeam Assignment 1: Self Assessment (Value and Visions)

Ten years down the road I plan to have accomplished or be on my way to accomplishing many different goals.  The goals include: being married and working for myself designing for my fashion label, owning stores, having an interior design firm, and working with real estate on the side.  I will travel on a regular basis and have houses in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, the beach, mountains, lake, and farm.  

I am going to begin working with real estate the first minute available.  Although the market isn't doing well now, I have no doubt in my mind that it will pick up.  I'll start off buying and renting houses, then eventually I'll get my commercial license and rent out apartment buildings and large commercial space.

I will have people working directly underneath me, with someone in charge of each project I have (like the real estate and each store I own).  I'd like to have a store for each different thing I really like so the boutiques would include clothing, furniture, ice cream and coffee, yarn, pets, and an outdoor store with camping and hiking equipment.  I will do the interior design for each of my shops.

That is my vision.

Its good to write a vision statement to organize your thoughts.  It enables you to do things now that will benefit you later in life without getting sidetracked as much.  I'm glad that I wrote my mission statement because I have a lot on my plate and plan to do it all.  On the contrary, having so much planned for myself is also my downfall and it's what I found the most difficult about my vision statement.  There are so many more things I would be interested in doing but I had to choose the things that I'm the most passionate about.

I completed the values assessment through Careerbeam, however, I don't know if they hit the nail on the head exactly.  They put me in "The Driver Set".  This is supposed to mean that I am motivated by an environment that encourages advancement and upward mobility. It also said that I influence others with my vision in order to provide myself with status symbols such as a large office or company car.  It says I measure success in dollars and salary is very important, however, my ultimate goal is obtaining a position of authority within an organization.  What they said was true for the most part but I don't see myself in the same light.  Although it would be nice to have a position of authority, it isn't my main goal.  I'd like to work for myself and be happy.  Happiness is what I measure success in, not salary.  Salary definitely helps the happiness aspect of things but doesn't always lead directly to it. 

The Whole Foods Market has values very similar to mine.  Their first value is "selling the highest quality natural and organic products available".  That value doesn't relate directly to me but every one of their others does.  They include:

*Satisfying and delighting our customers

*Supporting team member happiness and excellence

*Creating Wealth Through Profits and Growth

*Caring about out Communities and Our Environment

*Creating ongoing win-win partnerships with our suppliers

It took me a while to think of a picture that exemplifies my values and visions.  Finally I decided on posting a picture of Justin Timberlake.  I don't want to do the exact things he is famous for but I want to establish myself in many different areas like he did.  Timberlake is a well-known musician and actor as well as fashion designer for William Rast and restraunt owner.

Some of my creations...I'll add captions when I figure out how to work this thing