A witness to your growth.

I remember my own PA Business Week experience like it was yesterday.💙

Since 2016, I have been asked to be a judge in the Marketing and Advertising Competition with Corry Area High School. Getting to see the innovative ideas the students came up with over the years gave me so much insight into my direct profession.

This year, I had the privilege to be an advisor for one of the twelve teams.

And I truly mean, a privilege.

Although my students didn’t win Top Company, (they did get an honorable mention for best Marketing😉) it was a privilege to see them grow so much in just one week.

✨The student who stepped up in truly becoming an inspiring CEO after our original one had to be quarantined.

✨The two who took on our finances (even though none of our group liked math) and not only excelled in their overall financial literacy by the end of the week but took our company from last to third in RONA in just two days.

✨The handful who were dedicated and willing to step in on tech, design, and manufacturing from the minute we started.

✨And especially, the one who said on Monday they wanted to stay in the background but ended up being our second highest seller at the Trade Show and one of the main speakers in our competitions.

What an honor to witness this growth during this exhausting and energizing week. I’m so grateful to have been a part of it.

A fellow advisor asked me earlier this week if I thought all the effort we put in during this time actually sticks with our students.

My answer was immediately yes.

It was 15 years ago, but details of my own experience in Business Week stick out to me often, especially when I get to be a part of Corry’s week.

Even though my own team failed miserably, my business advisor was the reason I went into marketing, because he was the first person to point out I had a knack for it. And he is the reason I’m not afraid of sales, because he taught me they were just relationships to be built.

If you are ever approached to be a part of or donate to ACES PA Business Week, do it.

This week is formative for our students and truly life changing. I can only hope my participation during the last five days has lived up to that tradition.