Final Mentor Meeting

Last Thursday, March 26, my mentor group met for our last meeting together as a group. Our mentor, Ralph Litolff had planned to take us to a Yacht Company, which I must say would have been very interesting, but instead he decided because of the weather that we would meet at a restaurant in Lakeview. We at dinner together at Lakeview Harbor, a restaurant sports bar with a very fun atmosphere. When I walked in the door, I noticed that although the restaurant was small, may be 10 employees tops a night, they were catering to a lot of customers. It seems as if the restaurant makes its money, obviously by serving food, but they also have a full service bar for all of those who are over 21 years of age. I have to say that although I was told that Lakeview Harbor was a popular restaurant among the local citizens of Lakeview, I had no idea that they could generate that many customers. What surprised me the most about this restaurant was that it was generating so much business being that it was in Lakeview. Although we weren't able to meet the owner of the business, at the last meeting when we went to Lago's restaurant, we were able to meet the owner, who is a current restaurant owner, lawyer, and law professor during the day. The advice that she gave our group was to pursue our dreams no matter what they are, because she always wanted to become a lawyer, but was never good in school, but she persue her dream and it finally came true. Another piece of advice that she gave us was to enjoy our college years, because they will be gone with the blink of an eye and you will wish that you could just go back. After attending my last meeting with my mentor group, I would have to say that it has been a very memorable year for me, this program has definitely allowed me to enjoy the actual class part of college.

Mentor Night

On Thursday February 12, my mentor group went to a dinner meeting at Lago Restaurant in Lakeveiw. As soon as I pulled up to the restaurant, I saw that we were going to be dinning at a fancy restaurant. This made me very happy. As we sat down for our meal, we started to discuss several different things, this made me think about what exactly I had learned from my mentor thus far. So far I have learned that in order to be successful in the business world today you must be able to communicate with other people. The guest speaker that came to eat with us explained the different roles that communication played in the daily life of a business professional. Also, you must be able to write well in addition to speak well. Although most of the business world has turned to technology, we still must know these skills. Although in the last couple of weeks I have had doubts about the profession that I am pursing, Accounting, after the mentor meetings I am definitely reassured that this is the job for me. Accounting is a profession that I know that I would enjoy and be successful in because I love number, correcting things, and money. I am almost positive that this is the job for me. After we spoke about communication skills we spoke about mardi gras and what we expected to experience. I would like to have my mardi gras experience outdo mine from last year. I would like to possibly go to all of the parades, but I don't know if that will happen but I will definitely attend every one that I can get to. I would like to have an amazing time with all of my friends and family. I would definitely like to avoid the dangerous parts of down and bourbon street. Although it is always the talk of tourists, us locals like to avoid all the crazy drunken crowds. Mardi gras is most definitely important to me and to New Orleans, because it is part of our heritage and it helps us to keep our minds off of all the crazy things that are happening in the world today. I would like to wish everyone a very happy MARDI GRAS.

Networking Night

On the night of January 15, 2009 I found myself very nervous about the future events of the evening. Not only was I nervous about meeting many successful business executives, but also what if I don't say the right thing and I make a fool out of myself? After I came over my fear I walked into the St. Charles room filled with all of my fellow College of Business students, mentors, past and future professors and business executives. As I began to mingle with the many people in the room, I found myself conversing with some very important people. I ended up meeting five very wonderful people. First, I spoke to Professor of Marketing at Loyola University New Orleans, Dr. Mike Pearson, PH.D. He explained many of the benefits and affects marketing has in the corporate world today. The second person I met was John J. Zollinger, IV, Regional Manager from Region Bank. He attended undergraduate school at Spring Hill College, then University of New Orleans, and finished his masters at Louisiana State University. He currently works in finance, he explained benefits of taking and majoring in accounting to many of the students at the event. He believes that although his job description does not mention psychology, he uses many of the ideas involved with this everyday at work. I also met Lee Vorisek, President of Alta Max LLC, a packaging company. He graduated with an engineering degree from Tulane University. Another person that I met was Mason G. Couvillon, President of Dardis Couvillon & Associates which deals with Financial Services and Insurance. He attended Jesuit High School and went to Georgetown University for college. He works as a financial planner. After speaking with him and introducing myself I realized that he knew a cousin of mine that also worked in the financial world in New Orleans. How small the world really is. Finally I ended my rounds by speaking to Jude Boudreaux from Bellingrath Wealth Management. He works as a Financial Planner, he stressed the importance of a well rounded education by taking other business classes even though you may not be majoring in them. During this event I felt as if I worked the room well, I worked my way around and did not just stay in one place and wait for someone to come to me. For future events similar to this all I could say is that I need to just relax and stop worrying about what I am going to say, just to involve myself in conversation better. I need to practice ways to start a conversation besides just introducing myself or asking what they do for a living. If I could emulate a certain business professional today I would probably say it would have to be Warren Buffet, who seems to be one of if not the most successful business man today. Tips on Business Networking and Social Networking Helping Your Business to Succeed are some helpful websites on networking.