Host Joy Walczak from Kent ISD speaks with Flora Cuervo-Elias, Godfrey-Lee High student, Kent Career Tech Center Entrepreneurship & Marketing, Jonas Heyne, CA Frost High student, Grand Rapids Public Schools, Kent Career Tech Center Entrepreneurship & Marketing, and Kenny Vi, Kelloggsville High student, Kent Career Tech Center Entrepreneurship & Marketing
Transcript:
Host: Joy Walczak (JW): Welcome to the Your Dream Is Our Dream podcast where we celebrate students success and learn about their dreams. This program is made possible by Kent ISD in partnership with WGVU. I'm Joy Walczak and today I'm talking with three students from Kent Career Tech Center's Entrepreneurship and Marketing Program. First, I'd like to welcome Flora. Thanks for joining us today.
Flora Cuevo-Elias (FCE): Thank you for having me here.
(JW): Well, we're happy to have you here and I would love to learn about where you go to school and what brought you to the Tech Center?
(FCE): Okay, well I'm from the Godfrey-Lee High School and the thing that brought me here was I learned a bit about some careers out there that I might be interested in and I came upon marketing and then that's when I went to go talk to my counselor and she told me about Kent Career Tech Center and then from there, I kind of just went on the tour and then learned about the programs and then I was finally hooked on entrepreneurship and marketing.
(JW): Fantastic. You've been in this course now for a few months. What are you learning in this program that is helping you with what you're dreaming about for your future?
(FCE): Wow, this program has actually helped me a lot in learning because at first I wasn't sure if I wanted to go into marketing, but now I'm 100 % sure that I will. We've been learning how to build business plans, jargon to use in the field, specific parts, and a lot of the behind the scenes stuff that a lot of people don't realize that go into like marketing as well as being an entrepreneur. So I feel like it's taught me a lot of things that are just really important, especially in this field of marketing that keeps on growing every year.
(JW): And you have a practical experience going on right now as an intern for the communications department at Kent ISD. How is that helping to you to expand your skills?
(FCE): Yes, it's been helping me a lot. I'm so thankful for this amazing opportunity. I get to, again, like I had mentioned, learn the behind the scenes and actually be in those behind the scenes and get to create content. I get to network a little as well. So I get to be in the field and it's just kind of been giving me a taste of how it's going to be in the real world in like, shortly, upcoming days. So yeah.
(JW): And what kind of skills and programs and things have you learned to use in this program to make your designs and then to also market your social media?
(FCE): I feel like a lot has been networking as number one, learn how to network and learn how to talk to others as well as try to collaborate as much as you can. Especially for our class, I know that we collaborate with a lot of our peers and it helps us to see, because we can kind of like do our market research within our peers. So that helps us like elevate our creativity and create more better products and advertisements to put out. So I feel like collaboration and networking have been the two major things.
(JW): Tell us about a success that you've had so far.
(FCE): I would say this internship has been my biggest success yet.
(JW): What is your dream for your future? Where do see yourself in five or 10 years?
(FCE): Well, I hope to see myself as a fashion marketer or working in a role for a brand that does a lot with sustainability, because I feel like that's something really important and something we've been needing for a while now, especially now with everything going on with climate change and all the political issues going on, I feel like I really want to help with that and kind of be voiced and do that through my creativity and my marketing skills.
(JW): Why do you think it's important for educators to ask students about their dreams?
(FCE): I believe it's really important because instructors, professors, and teachers, play a big crucial part in the upcoming of students. it's really important for them to ask them about their dreams, because again, like I mentioned, networking, they might have someone that they know that could help them go into that role or see a little bit of what it's like to be in that field. So it's really important when you're all in the same boat and you can all help each other. And in the end, you're all going to end up winning. So.
(JW): Thank you so much, Flora. We've really enjoyed talking with you and we wish you great success with your dreams in your future.
(FCE): Thank you for having me here.
(JW): Now let's meet Jonas. Tell us what school you go to and what brought you to the Tech Center.
Jonas Heyne (JH): Yeah, I go to C.A. Frost High and what brought me to the Tech Center is looking for new opportunities. A change of location in the middle of the day is super helpful for my brain. just switching things up helps me function better throughout the day.
(JW) Why did you choose the Entrepreneurship and Marketing program?
(JH): I've always been super into entrepreneurship. I'm around a lot of entrepreneurs in my family. My mom owns her own small business and I was super inspired by her. And so, just seeing her do what she does and see my family do what they do, it really inspired me to try to apply what they do to my schooling.
(JW): And you're also thinking about maybe starting a business of your own. In fact, you've already kind of gotten your feet wet in that department, right?
(JH): Yes, yes. People come to me if they need to better organize their social media or need me to take videos and edit them for them. And so that's a little bit of what I do. It's not super frequent, but when people need me to do, I'm definitely available.
(JH): And you've been doing some great social media content for us at Kent Career Tech Center as part of your internship with our Kent ISD Communications Department. Tell me what tools and techniques you're learning to use in your program that you're able to apply by doing the social media.
(JH): Yeah, so a lot of things that I'm learning about in my program is right now attention span. People have a really short attention span and they need things that are interactive and interesting and bright to hold them and watch the video. So when I'm learning about that, I'm really trying to apply that to the videos that I make so people watch the whole thing and they can gather all the information that I'm trying to share.
(JW): Definitely getting a lot of likes, so good for you.
(JH): For sure.
(JW): And what kinds of tools are you using? What kinds of things are you learning to do in school, like Illustrator or Photoshop or any of those tools? Are there things that you've been learning that you didn't know before you took this program?
(JH): Yeah, Illustrator and Photoshop are super helpful. Photoshop is really good for editing certain pictures or trying to add. You can really incorporate AI and make it look natural in those pictures. And then Illustrator, I'm learning how to make logos and 2D designs, even 3D designs. Yeah, it's all super cool and helpful.
(JW): Excellent. How are your teachers helping you make your dreams come true?
(JH): Yeah, Mr. H is with me all the way. On Fridays, especially, we have a personal development day where we can really work on our own things. And since it's an entrepreneurship and marketing class, he encouraged us to start our own business and try to promote that and set up a business plan. That's our big project throughout the year. And so he's really helpful in guiding us and showing us what has been helpful for him. And yeah, it's super cool.
(JW): How do you plan to use the skills you're learning in this program in your future?
(JH): Um, yeah, I want to go into marketing eventually, at some point throughout my life. And so I'm really paying attention in class and applying myself to what we're learning. And I'd say everything in this course is helpful because it's going to give me a jumpstart on everybody else.
(JW): Excellent. What's next for you?
(JH): What's next for me is college. College is, um, a big part of my family. That's something that I'm definitely interested in. I say GVSU would be my top pick just because they have a really good business program. And yeah, I'd say entrepreneurship and marketing again, yeah.
(JW): So your dream job, what would that be, let's say, five or 10 years from now?
(JH): My dream job would really be this. I've really enjoyed all my time here and enjoyed what I've been doing. And it's like kind of just opened my brain to new career pathways that I could possibly go to.
(JW): What would be your advice for somebody who might be in middle school right now who would be looking for a way to get their own dreams inspired?
(JH): I say apply yourself to everything you can. Don't really close out any opportunities that you've been given. Don't be afraid to change. Don't be afraid to switch up where you're at and the people that you hang around. Just experience everything and then once you've done that, you can really narrow down, okay, I liked this, I didn't like this, let me switch what I'm doing and really apply myself to this direction.
(JW): Well, congratulations on the successes you've had so far. I think maybe all of us will be working for you one day. Thanks again for joining us today, Jonas.
(JH): Thank you, thank you.
(JW): Let's meet Kenny. Kenny, tell us what school you go to and what brought you to KCTC.
Kenny Vi (KV): I go to Kelloggsville High School and the reason why I joined KCTC is to get real life working hands on learning.
(JW): And what program did you choose and why did you choose it?
(KV): I chose entrepreneurship and marketing. I chose it because always when I grew up as a kid, I always had a cousin, he always chose to lead kind of in the business field. He's a financing officer. So I kind of just followed that.
(JW): Excellent. And I understand that photography is one of the skills that you're really embracing and working on. I've seen some great pictures that you've taken on our social media feeds. Tell me about how that plays into what you might want to do when you grow up.
(KV): I took that into my field because I've kind of seen marketing fields. I kind of want to see that picture of the behind the scenes of what people do. So I kind of want to own a business later on in the future. So I just kind of want to see everywhere in every field.
(JW): That's great. What are some of the skills that you're learning in your class right now that you think will help you do that?
(KV): Right now we are learning at the start of the year, we learned mock-ups and how to edit with Photoshop. We learned how small businesses and entrepreneurs grow as a small business to when they’re big and how they grow and what they change. So we kind of see the little steps of what it takes to be an entrepreneur and we learn how to finance and a little bit on the side we learned the stock market.
(JW): That's pretty awesome. What are some of your favorite things that you've been able to learn this year?
(KV): Maybe things you didn't even know about before you started this class. I did not realize how much money came into the line of a business. I've owned like small businesses on the side for fun, but the real life of, you gotta pay this much to people, you gotta have loans, a bunch of them especially, or the amount of payments you have to do with having a place, you gotta have storage units. And I did not know that was everything.
(JW): There is a lot to it. What kind of businesses have you already been part of? Right now?
(KV): I did a water bottle business because we didn't have a lot of water bottles at our school. A lot of people just had plastic ones. I always just took that. And then right now I am doing a apparel business right now.
(JW): Tell me about your apparel business. What's inspiring you to do that?
(KV): I'm kind of into the fashion on the side. I always like dressing up as like one of my main things. So I kind of found like apparel as in, oh, I can make something that I would like or other people would like for cheaper. Cause a lot of people right now, they're like, Oh, I want this - check the price tag, put it away. And so that's where I kind of stand and I just kind of enjoyed it. I kind of want to see how it feels if I want to do a clothing brand later in the future.
(KV): What do you think we'll see from Kenny in the future?
(KV): Kenny in the future, probably, hopefully owning a small business. Doing a master's degree in college for business and just hopefully maybe doing a little bit of tennis because I'm a tennis player right now.
(JW): Those all sound like great endeavors. What do you think it means to students when adults like us ask them about what their dreams are?
(KV): I feel like it gives that like little light bulb in people's heads to think about the question actually what do I actually want to do and it kind of gives them a little thought in the future and to prepare in the future what they want to actually do and just keep that in their mind.
(JW):What would be your advice for students who might be thinking about joining a program like this one or maybe even just wondering how they can get their dreams to come true?
(KV) I would say try to express yourself, try to open up and just like take any action or like any opportunity you can just to see what you would like even if you join the program and you don't end up liking it. You will actually see what you want to actually pursue in.
(JW): Definitely. Do you have any role models or mentors or teachers who have helped inspire you and helped you make your own dreams come true?
(KV) I would say a little bit. Everyone kind of helps and they inspire me a little bit. But there's this one quote. It’s “Who's your hero?” and “It's the person of yourself in 10 years” and you keep on following it every 10 years.
(JW): I love that. Who's the person that's your hero? It's yourself in 10 years. It's a great quote to live by and also a wonderful way to tie into making your dreams come true. Thanks so much for talking with us today, Kenny.
(KV): You're welcome.
(JW): I want to say congratulations and thanks to Flora, Jonas and Kenny for the steps they're taking now to be who they want to be tomorrow. And thanks too, to everyone listening today. If you know of a student who dreams big, we would love to share their story. You can share your ideas and hear more dream stories at KentISD.org/Your Dream. I'm Joy Walczak. The Your Dream Is Our Dream podcast is presented by Kent ISD in partnership with WGVU.
