Presentation

1.What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
I am definitely proud of how well my presentation flowed. Before I was up to present, I was extremely nervous, because I felt as soon as I went up I would forget everything I had to say. Quite the opposite happened instead. As soon as it was my turn, I was pumped and ready to inform everybody about my topic. The words rolled off my tongue, and I had little to no problem getting across what I wanted to say. 2. a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?
AE
    b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
It is rare that I self-asses myself an AE, but for this presentation in particular I feel like I did a good job explaining why I picked my answer to my essential question. I didn't overwhelm the audience with any unneeded facts, or bore them with a monotone voice. I felt very comfortable in what I was saying, and although Business Management may not everybody's interest I think the class was engaged in what I was saying. Not only did I give good information, but I had several examples to further guarantee understanding from the audience.
3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
As explained above, I really like that I used a ton of examples. Some of the information I had might have been a bit confusing to some, so using those examples allowed a more clear understanding. The examples I used also gave the audience insight on how social media is used not only to connect with friends, but how businesses take them as an opportunity to expand themselves. 
4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
I felt myself speaking a little too fast in the beginning, which did slow down throughout, but if I could go back and maybe speak a little bit slower it would have felt a little less rushed. 
5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?
My second answer will most likely be, "Running a well maintained, and organized website"

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 hours check

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
Downtown Claremont at Maple Boutique
2.   Who is your contact?
Amy, the owner of the store 
3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?
13 hours 
4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.
Mentorship for me includes setting the store up, opening new clothing packages, steaming items, running to the bank to deposit money, sending out packages at the post office, re-clothing manequins, 
inputting invoices, and occasionally attending events Amy sets at the store. 

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you do over the break with your senior project?
Over break I did not go to mentorship. Both my mentor and I were busy for the 2 weeks, and seeing that she was out of state to visit family for the holidays, there wasn't a way I could help or learn from her anyhow.

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why?  What was the source of what you learned?
As stated in the question above, I did not get a chance to meet up with my mentor. I will be heading to her store both Thursday and Friday to hopefully assist her and I will hope to gain any knowledge she may give. I look forward to asking her more questions about the business, especially since I would like her to be my next interview. 

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for your EQ, who would you talk to and why?

1. How did you start your business?
2. Did you do anything in college specifically to move your business along?
3. What do you think the differences are between managing a boutique and larger retail?
4. How long did it take to get everything you needed to start your business?
5. When did you notice it was becoming successful?
6. I would like to set up a small clothing website while I'm in college. What advice would you give me?
7. Is it hard to manage your personal life and the business?
8. How would you go about opening a second location?
9. If you had the chance to go to business school instead of FIDM would you?
10. Did you consult with a lawyer or accountant before opening your business?

December: Extra Blog Post

For this month, I have to be honest and say I didn't do a lot to progress my senior project. For the past two weeks I have not gone to mentorship, due to prior responsibilities. I do however plan on going this Friday and Monday. Seeing as mentorship hours will be counted soon, I deem it necessary to have as many done as possible. Besides the lack of hours, I thoroughly enjoy going to mentorship and assisting Amy. I can tell that she really cares about me succeeding in my senior year, and gives me a lot of insight about the business. She often invites me to events she sets up for The Village, and her customers so I can gain more knowledge about running a business. The reason she likes to invite me to these events is because she says I can see what the business is about besides what she does in the store. These events range from Girls Night, where customers can come together and have a couple drinks while making crafts and during that she provides discounts, or a simple holiday party. I am glad Amy gave me the chance  to work with her, and I look forward to whatever more I can learn from her.

November Extra Blog Post

      This month was very busy for me considering I went in to help my mentor twice or three times a week for 3 hours each visit. I have decided that I will continue with this routine, since I thoroughly enjoy working with Amy and I feel that I can assist her plenty. Most of the work I did was unpacking new items and tagging them to the boutiques set price. Amy explained to me that each time she gets in a new order before she does anything else, she makes sure she has what she ordered and that nothing is missing or ruined, because once you open a package it is now your responsibility. There was an incident where an order of about 50 leggings had come in and after I unpacked and tagged them all, there was still one missing. Of course this is a problem that needs to be solved, so we recounted the pair of leggings 4 times, went through the dressing rooms, and checked the trash, until she realized she had sold a pair earlier in the day but she never inputted it into the system. This is why she tells me it is very important to always keep track of your merchandise so mistakes like that don't happen.

       Business is going very well for her; every time I go in to help there is always plenty of customers. Especially with the holidays, everybody is doing their shopping and I can see why they would be shopping at Maple. Amy has recently organized a boutique Christmas event where about 14 boutiques that she rounded up get together and have a huge event where customers can get discounts and lots of fun activities will be set up. She has invited me to come to the event and help with the production of the event which I am very excited for. I feel as if I only get to see one side of the store, but this can expand my view of what else the store is about and involved in, So far, I really enjoy her presence and everything that she has taught me. I only look forward to spending more days with her where I can learn from her experience and wisdom in the business. 

Blog 10: EQ

1.  Review this.  Confirm by stating "I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ."
I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ

2.
 a.  What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss?
This EQ follows the rule of three because health and fitness is met in a plethora of ways which means there is several standpoints on how to answer this question. This question gives a huge window to research and can be based on opinion as well, meaning it is not a yes or no answer. 
 b.  What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?
I do not believe this is a good EQ because I feel as if this can be answered with a single fact. It sounds as if there is a list of answers that can be chosen and there is only one right one to pick. 
 c.  What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer?
This question kind of confused me. I think if it confused me it can confuse somebody else as well. Perhaps if the wording were less funky, it would make for a better EQ. 
 d.  How can an anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain?
Like the first one, this EQ meets the rule of three, The was it is worded makes it easy to understand and even though I am no expert, I'm sure there is more than one answer to this question.

3. What is the best way to managing a business into success?

Lesson 1 Reflection

1. Positive StatementWhat are you most proud of in your Lesson 1 Presentation and why?
What I'm most proud of is that I managed to get everything I had to say in under 10 minutes. The funny thing is, at first I felt as if I didn't have enough content because when I timed myself I wasn't making time. I decided to go ahead and add more to my lecture so my presentation could be more informational. When I timed myself once again, I realized what I had originally wrote was taking more time than I thought; I was going more and more into detail when I was practicing. This is the reason I was so nervous to present, because I either talk to fast or talk to much. Luckily I calmed myself down and made it to the 10 minute mark.
2. Questions to Consider
       a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 1 Presentation (self-assessment)?       AE       P          AP       CR       NC       b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 1 component contract.
I would give myself a definite solid P. When going over the contract I found myself meeting all the criteria for a P consideration. I'm a fairly decent presenter, so I feel I had good volume and interaction with the audience although I do feel I could have done better in this category. My research was well spoken about and it was also backed up by citing three articles. Not to mention that my hook and reference with my mentor/interview was also included while I was presenting. I do feel as if I could have done better, but what I presented was what was required according to the contract.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 1?
What worked for me in Lesson 1 was that I had enough research done from research check in order to present something from my topic to the class that could be easily understood. My research/lecture content is what really "made" my presentation, considering my presentation skills slacked a bit for this lesson. When I was presenting it didn't feel like I was doing just that, it felt like I was talking to a group of friends what I was interested in. I think that helped me calm down throughout the presentation, because I was freaking out right before I was called up to go.
4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 1?
Like I touched on in the previous question, if I could have improved on my presentation skills I would have. I felt really nervous that I would easily lose track of what I wanted to say, so I started shaking a bit and tripping over my words. For the next lesson I will most definitely memorize my content a lot better, and practice more before my actual presentation. Since this was also the senior's first "major" thing for senior project I feel this is why most of us were a little jittery. In the future we now know a little bit more what to expect, so it won't be as gut-wrenching.