Though growing up and having a full-time job may seem far off to some students, students in the Entrepreneurship Club are preparing for the future by learning how to have an entrepreneurial mindset to better equip themselves for situations in the real world.
On Thursday, October 12, Mr. John Holloran, the President and CEO of the National Center for Dispute Settlement, LLC, came in and talked to the Jesuit Entrepreneurship Club about principles of success for business and adapting to changes and issues.
John Holloran is the founder, owner, and operator of a dispute settlement firm that provides warranty arbitration programs for a number of leading automakers. Additionally, he was an investor in early stage businesses.
Holloran explained to the members of the Entrepreneurship Club about his experiences as a former and current entrepreneur, and how the road to success may be full of setbacks and failures. He said that the most important characteristic for an entrepreneur to attain is to have passion and enthusiasm, because with these qualities, one can endure all of the challenges of entrepreneurship. This passion and enthusiasm can be quite hard to sustain because entrepreneurship is inherently risky. Additionally, he talked about failure, and how failure should not get in the way of achieving one’s goal.
After the forum, the president of the Jesuit Entrepreneurship Club, Alec Davis ‘18, said that Mr. Holloran “was an interesting guest at our monthly speaker forum because he shared with us the misconceptions about business and how his career has progressed over the years. He was also very personable and answered all of the questions we had about his life and being an entrepreneur.”
The teacher involved in the Entrepreneurship Club, Ms. Ochs, commented that “Mr. Holloran did a very good job expressing to the students that to have a passion and an enthusiasm is the most important thing for an entrepreneur because that will keep you humble during the peaks and sustain you during the lows.”
After the lecture, Mr. Holloran was impressed with the students of the Entrepreneurship Club. He said that “it was a pleasure to share my business experience with a quality group of students participating in the Jesuit Entrepreneur Club. The students learned from our discussion that one’s career rarely follows a linear, upward path -– more often it’s full of unexpected setbacks or failures that can represent an opportunity to learn and seek new opportunities. I also shared a few principles for success that have worked for me, including a life long commitment to continued education and learning which can help you find your passion and sense of purpose.”
Davis finally remarked that he “hope[s] that the members take away the fact that nothing in life ever goes exactly how it’s planned and just because failure becomes part of the equation of your life, doesn’t mean you should be afraid to fail.”
For those interested in the Entrepreneurship Club, roughly every other Tuesday, the club meets in the morning and every so often, there are speaker forums like the one Mr. Holloran spoke at. The next speakers forum is Thursday, November 16th, where Ms. Shama Hyder, the CEO and founder of Zen Marketing Group, will come to talk about marketing.
