Innovision Spring 2021

18 | INNOVISION MAGAZ INE SPRING 2021 | 19 ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK 2021 Jack Gulati, 50-year serial entrepreneur was the keynote speaker for Entrepreneurship Week. Gulati is a 1966 graduate from the University of Minnesota with a degree in mathematics and has owned 44 companies worldwide, such as The Allen Americans Hockey Team and The Reading Royals Hockey Team. After coming out of his second retirement, he wrote a book called Serial Entrepreneur: Balancing Business and Family to Achieve True Wealth and Happiness , published on September 21, 2012. “In my opinion, both of those go hand in hand.” Gulati believes that without family, one cannot be happy. In regards to his book, Gulati expresses why he wants people to read it; “I wanted to communicate to the next generations what it takes to be an entrepreneur.” The book is a guide for KEYNOTE SPEAKER anyone, beginners or not. You can find tips, advice and mistakes that turned into lessons. After graduating, Gulati bought his own car, a Mustang convertible. Unfortunately, like any other student straight out of college, he didn’t have the finances to pay for it. So, the solution was monthly payments for 3 years. Five years later, he was able to save up enough money to buy his next car with cash. The lesson he shared is to never buy depreciating assets on credit. Most of the time we need to buy major purchases on credit such as homes, cars, major appliances and more. The goal is to pay off your credit card charges in full every month. Students were engaging with the speaker and learned a lot from him. Students were particularly interested in the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur. JACK GULATI WOMEN’S PANEL The number of women entrepreneurs, according to the State of Women-Owned Business Report is increasing (2019). Women have shown themselves to be vital in spurring economic growth. In light of this, the Entrepreneurial Leadership Center along with the Northeast Berks Chamber hosted a Women’s Entrepreneur Panel on Wednesday, March 24th. The panelists included four women entrepreneurs: Dena Breslin of DenaB Coaching; Jennifer Lau of Farmhouse Flowers; Amy J. Miller, Esquire of Miller Thielen, P.C.; and Kutztown University alumna (‘06), Talia McKinney, licensed Real Estate Salesperson and member of Ryan Serhant’s team from Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing NYC. The panel was moderated by Lori Donofrio-Galley, Executive Director of the Northeast Berks Chamber of Commerce. The discussion surrounded the theme Adapting in a Changing Business Landscape , giving the audience a perspective of how each woman entrepreneur redefined their work habits and day-to-day business operations due to the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The panelists shared their personal experience of diversifying their business services and products to best serve their customers while maintaining safety. Jennifer Lau stated that it was important for her business to “collaborate with other small businesses and build relationships.” Talia McKinney credited her success through this pandemic by continuing to build relationships with her clients and “talking with them about what they are going through.” The pandemic diversified how Attorney Miller meets with her clients, and she stated that this will be continued in the future. When meeting with clients she will use a “hybrid of zoom consultations and phone consultations and less in-person meetings.” In today’s challenges of being a business owner, Dena Breslin expressed that the key to staying innovative and agile and providing customers with what they really want and need is networking. After determining your “ideal client and when networking with them you get to ask them the one thing that they are experiencing right now that they wish they had a solution for, just ask them.” The discussion concluded with the lasting impression that in anything you do, it is important to be the best version of yourself. Amy J. Miller, Esquire Dena Breslin Jennifer Lau Talia McKinney