A Central Michigan University student-created speaker series exposes students to real word entrepreneurs to share their passion and drive.
It's one thing for a university to prepare its students for their roles in the workforce. But one student-created speaker series at Central Michigan University is convincing students they can define and create their own careers.
The Motivated Mitten Speaker Series was created last year by student Anthony Lazzaro, in concert with his work with CM Life Publications. The aptly named series brings successful Michigan entrepreneurs together with CMU students in an environment where young, promising minds can not only share, but feel and absorb, the first-hand experiences that lead people to buck traditional career paths and pursue their own dreams for a living. And when speakers talk from their diverse business backgrounds, they communicate frankly about the heartaches, headaches, failures, drive, persistence and next-level fortitude required for one to call their own career shots, instead of settling for a lifetime of answering to a boss they can't stand while simmering in a career that ends up being unfulfilling.
Motivated Mitten puts successful entrepreneurs who have carved their own career path in front of an audience of those who wish to do the same. And it's not just pupils who benefit from this experience--students, academics and those in the Mount Pleasant business community have attended, listened and been inspired.
"This series was created to promote opportunities in Michigan," says 22-year-old Lazzaro. "Every successful entrepreneur loves to tell their story. It helps to motivate people. "
And its motivation that comes at a critical time. The idea of entrepreneurship isn't as uncommon as it was, say, 10 or 20 years ago. As economies fluctuate, among other components, communities and individuals find it necessary to reinvent themselves. With that, comes a seemingly newfound sense of guts.
Career-wise, in recent years, there was a swell of instead-of-waiting-for-it-to-happen, I'm-going-to-make-it-happen. And that's where Motivated Mitten shines. Graduating from college and working 30 years in the same industry is hardly the reality. People are finding new motivation behind a pursue-your-dreams mentality. In the past, it seemed far-flung, almost ludicrous. Today, it's a reality. And Motivated Mitten is bridging that gap.
Motivated Mitten had its first speaker series in November 2013. Lazzaro says organizers hoped for a turnout of about 200. Instead, the event sold out CMU's Plachta Auditorium, while rapt students, community members and even those from outside of the region, listened intently as a panel of three professionals, each from varying backgrounds, shared their not only their enthusiasm and passion, but encouraged those in attendance to do the same.
A second Motivated Mitten Speaker event is scheduled for April 2014. Speakers and date, at this publishing, have yet to be finalized.
The inaugural Motivated Mitten Speaker series was as diverse and inventive as the dreams it hopes to inspire in the audience. First on the dais was Sheldon Yellon, CEO of Belfor, a company specializing in rebuilding homes destroyed by fire, as well as communities devastated by natural disasters. He grew up on the streets of Detroit and turned a mom-and-pop operation into a $1.5-billion property restoration company.
The second speaker was Roland Coit, who also goes by the name Ro Spit, a sneaker enthusiast, hip-hop purveyor and successful businessman who started an upscale sneaker boutique--Burn Rubber--in an empty shop next to railroad tracks in Royal Oak, turning it into a go-to mecca of that footwear genre. Jeff Wegner of Movement Creative Media rounded out the Motivated Mitten bill. This CMU grad started his own company that builds digital asset libraries, leveraging social media campaigns to sate an impressive array of client needs.
Motivated Mitten came about in conjunction with Lazzaro's consultancy with CM Life, but with funding from the university's College of Business, as well as the school's New Venture Competition. That endeavor, according to PR Director Steve Smith, awards $60,000 annually to students with viable business plans. He says the Motivated Mitten Speaker series, in concert with the New Venture Competition, generates a one-two punch: elevating students from settling into a career of someone else's ideals and instead fostering their own.
John Horn has been a journalist for nearly 20 years, including 12 as a freelance writer. He has covered city government, crime, real estate and sports for both community newspapers and large, metro dailies. He has written extensively about dining and drinking in and around Detroit for numerous clients, locally, nationally and internationally. He loves the city. He loves up north. He loves his wife Kerry, their toddler daughter Maeve, their 80-pound Labradoodle, Lamont, and the Detroit Tigers. In that order.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.