Now entering the 4th year of White County CEO, this year’s class has 8 students. To kick off the year, administrator Tracy Orr gave each of the students a single dollar and a specific task to test out each student’s ingenuity. It also was designed to get them out shaking hands and meeting the business community. One such student made her way into the WROY/WRUL Studios yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon.
She explains just what brought her to my door Wednesday afternoon.
“Our leader Tracy, she gave us a dollar the very first day that we met and she said ‘Alright guys, so by this date I’m going to need you guys to bring me back a hundred dollars. And we were like, ‘What do you mean?’ and she just kind of threw us out there and was like, ‘You need to get your name out there, You need to figure out how you are going to use your skills and your resources to turn this dollar into a hundred.’ So we’ve all been trying our best.”
In order for her to make some money, I told her it would be a great opportunity to visit with her for a short interview that I could turn into a news story and surprisingly she didn’t panic and agreed. I began by asking her if she knew from the program’s inception if she knew it was for her or whether it wasn’t even on her radar until it came time to apply for the program last year as a junior. She says a classmate and former CEO student helped her.
“When I saw Ashtyn Cowling start her business and she wrote a book, that really interested me because I just really thought that was a cool idea and I saw how she grew through that. That really pushed me to get ready and sign up for CEO.”
The CEO class will have a class business which serves more as an event typically before they set out to create their own venture. Knight says she’s not completely certain what she sees as her own business yet, but it has definitely helped to have a parent as a small business owner.
“My mom is Kerri Knight and she owns Sassy Cuts on 112 Lexington Avenue.”
Even though she says she never really thought about her mom being a small business owner, Knight admits that she expects it will be helpful to be able to ask questions and get a better grip on what it takes to run a successful small business. At the end of the day, it’s about growing as a person for her.
“I’m just really excited to see myself grow through this class and just get new experiences and get ready for life in the real world.”
Stay tuned for exciting developments all school year long with the White County CEO class and if you’d like to learn more or watch their journey unfold, visit www.whitecountyceo.com for weekly updates and details.
