executives of the roundtable.0

a couple weeks ago, i was approached by neal, one of the board members of ABS (alliance of business students), to be an ‘executive guest’ at their upcoming annual event. as the umbrella organization representing nine business-oriented clubs on the UCI campus, ABS throws the ‘executives of the roundtable’ event to allow students to meet and network with business executives; to allow them to seek advice, ask questions and explore different avenues of the business world.

after learning a bit more about the event, i was honored to be invited, but also slightly hesitant with the mindset: “of all people to ask, are you sure you want ME there?” neal convinced me otherwise, and i gladly accepted the invitation.

the night started off with being escorted into the ‘executive lounge,’ where we were welcomed with a mini buffet and were encouraged to mingle amongst one another. i got to meet an assortment of other ‘executives’: people from kaplan (oh memories of SAT prep), an advertising agency, and other ‘big name’ companies from around the area. we had a really nice chit-chat, but something was very apparent: in a room full of 40-somethings, i was definitely the youngest one there. it was pretty intimidating, and aside from being naturally awkward in any situation, this one in particular definitely made me feel out of place. guess i didn’t feel like i had enough ‘street cred’ to be in that room, but regardless of how i felt, it was definitely a humbling experience.

my best part of the night, of course, was sitting down with the students. there were three roundtable sessions lasting 20-minutes each, so i got a good amount of time to speak of my experience and open up for any questions they might have had. it was inspiring to see how eager a lot of them were, and really brought me back to how i felt in college. it’s only been two years since i graduated, but my life style is drastically different from how it was back then. i was the kid dancing in parking structures til 5am, so to be attending an event like this, these kids were way ahead of me than i was at that point in my life. they asked a lot of questions about how i got to where i am today, what keeps me motivated, and where i see myself in a couple years. it made me realize how spontaneous (and ‘organic’ i suppose) this whole adventure has been with my business. nothing was planned; everything very unconventional. and while i got e-mails and messages from a few of them after the event telling me i had inspired them, i realized that they had reciprocated the same feeling within me as well.

my mom asked me a couple months back what i think makes a successful business. i told her, ‘good business decisions and lots of luck.’ there’s a lot more that goes into that equation obviously, but luck is definitely the one that stands out for me. i have no idea what the next couple of years look like for me and my business, but i’m blessed to know i have the opportunity to find out. to everyone i got to speak to last night, thanks for being so interactive and inspiring. oh, and assuring me i wasn’t a huge bore helped too.

good times, dude. 

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