Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour

A rockin’ tent party, loads of door prizes, and action packed presentations turned the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour stop at Southeast Missouri State University into a day-long celebration.
When we rolled up to the university, the CEO club members directed our bus to the center of campus. To attract attention and promote the event, they put on a party around the parked bus. This included complimentary food giveaways from places like Quiznos, Imo’s Pizza, and Jimmy Johns, music from a local radio station, and free beverages by a CEO table where people could register for the event and sign up for a raffle. The Extreme Entrepreneurship Team joined forces with the CEO crew in handing out fliers and talking to students about the event.

That evening, a diverse crowd of students, faculty, and even international visitors from Denmark joined us for a series of speakers, networking opportunities, and workshop activities. As the Director of Entrepreneurial Studies, James Stapleton, opened up the event co-sponsored by Career Linkages—Southeast’s career services department.

Following his introduction, Jake Sasseville, of the late-night talk show The Edge with Jake Sasseville (www.edgewithjake.com), entertained the crowd with his stories of relentlessly pursuing sponsors—again and again and again. During the presentation, Sasseville also shared how he turned the personal tragedy of his brother’s death into a positive motivation to make an impact every single day.

The tour’s co-founder, Michael Simmons, then helped program participants think about how they could make an impact on their community through a workshop on business idea creation. Simmons challenged the audience to think of problems that those around them faced and how they could solve them.
Next it was time for networking and fabulous door prize giveaways! The CEO team had collected everything from cafe gift cards to t-shirts to raffle off throughout the event. Local restaurants also sponsored food during breaks.

Our second keynote speaker, Morgan First, founder of 1st Publications and MAP Boston (www.MAPBOSTON.com), shared about how she turned every challenge into an opportunity. For instance, as a recent college graduate she was younger than everyone else at business networking events. Instead of seeing that as a problem, she turned it into an opportunity to stand out and be different.

Then we wrapped up the high-energy day with a panel discussion facilitated by Elizabeth Grace Saunders, founder of the speaking company Real Life E™ (www.RealLifeE.com). During this time, the audience had a chance to ask Simmons, Sasseville, First, and Nolan Brunnworth, career specialist with Career Linkages, about how to protect their ideas, how to find money for starting a business, and how to overcome personal challenges—like being shy. The panelists responded with anecdotes and tips from their personal experience.

At the end of the event, the conversation continued as we packed up and talked with Southeast students. Thanks to the amazing CEO club, local sponsors, and tour sponsors—like VenturePort.org and Operation Enterprise—we had a great time and inspired the next generation of young entrepreneurs to start pursuing their dreams—today!