16A: Secret Sauce

Assignment 16A: Secret Sauce

• Five ways I have human capital:
• 1. Determination: My extreme determination to put my mind to what I want to do and to stick with it helps me accomplish anything I want to.  
• 2. Perseverance: I always go the extra mile and never stop what I am doing until I reach the final point that I originally desired no matter how many obstacles I may come across or how discouraged I may get at times.  
• 3. Loyal: I have always remained loyal in everything I do whether I be loyal to friends or loyal to the task that I am completing at hand. 
• 4. Authoritative: I have always enjoyed being in charge of everything and being the person who delegates tasks to get everything done. 
• 5. Anticipator: I VERY RARELY procrastinate in anything.  I like to have all of my work done not only on time, but in advance as I rather have extra time than to be cramming to complete a task.  
• Video Interviews
 
  . 
• Video 1: My roommate and high school friend Mackenzie believes that I am "determined because [she] is very hard-working and never gives up on her dreams."
• Video 2: My roommate Macey thinks that I am extremely productive because "[she] has an amazing work ethic and always gets her work done, especially ahead of time."
• Video 3: My roommate Allison thinks that I am "responsible because [she] takes accountability for my actions and gets her work done."
• Video 4: My mom would use the word compassionate to describe me because I "am very sensitive to the wants and needs of others."
• Video 5: My sister Jacqueline would use the word dedicated because I "always give 110% to everything that I do." 
• Reflection:
• I think the ways in which I see myself and others see me are very similar.  However, I do think that I assess myself in a much harsher way as I try to be as perfect as possible and constantly be doing more than what I am already doing while others see me as someone who is always on top of her stuff.  I definitely think my interviewees are correct about me as I am responsible, productive, committed, compassionate, and extremely dedicated as they said.  I found it interesting that although I interviewed five different people who know me in all different ways, they all had similar ways of describing me.  If I had to make a change to my original list, I would change anticipator to leader as I believe that the word leader better describes my desire to always have tasks done on time and influence others to do the same.  

21A: Reading Reflection No. 2

Assignment 21A: Reading Reflection No. 2

• 1) What was the general theme or argument of the book?
• The general theme and argument of the book was that instead of allowing television and other forms of media having a detrimental effect on consumers by taking up consumers' leisure and free time, recent active forms of social media have the ability to change people from "passive consumers rather than active producers."  In his book, Clay Shirky expresses the opportunities that could be missed out on while consumers are engaged in activities that are not fruitful.  However, by creatively using new media and communication tools available in our society, we have the potential to create greatness. 
• 2) How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
• This book connected with what I have been learning in this entrepreneurship course because just as this class teaches us to brainstorm an idea and stick with it and keep building upon it, this book encourages consumers to become producers and to make a difference.  Just as Shirky advocates for the ingenious use of media and what we have available to us, this course advocates for people to start doing something with their time and what they are offered.   Shirky argues that online communication is changing the world today and his idea of the "cognitive surplus" expresses the idea of how much knowledge is left unused when watching television.  This class taught me how to use every moment of my time just as Skirky argues that we need to be utilizing our time wisely instead of wasting it.  For this specific reason, I believe that this book truly connects with what I am learning in this entrepreneurship course.  
• 3) If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
• If I had to design an exercise for this class based off of Cognitive Surplus, I would have each student keep track of how much time they spend every single day watching television.  Then after a week of keeping track, they would need to analyze how much time total they waste on television.  Then I would tell them to track how much time they spend on interactive social media and other times of communication tools every day and then compare this data with that of the television data.  
• I would then tell the students to compare what they got done in their day to day lives when spending time watching television versus spending time on social media communication tools.  By comparing the two, they will be able to realize how different forms of media produce different or more effective outcomes.  
• 4) What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
• The biggest 'aha' moment in this book for me was when Shirky used Jane McGonigal's TED talk about video gaming to compare time spent video-gaming and time spent in school.  McGonigal claims that online gaming has become a "parallel education system" as kids have spent just as much time engaging in online games as they do receiving an education.  As I was extremely surprised to hear these statistics and facts, it came to my realization that if children really do spend so much time engaging in online gaming, online gaming should be given an educational aspect to create a more prosperous outcome for people.  By using so many examples in our society today, Shirky really gives readers ideas of how to use their time spent on social media and online communication tools to make a difference and ignite a change in the world.

20A: Growing Social Capital

Assignment 20A: Growing Social Capital

• Domain Expert
• 1) Who they are and what their background is.
• Robert works for Sensornation which is a company that sells sensor products for loss prevention solutions.
• 2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Robert is considered a domain expert because he is engaged in selling sensor products to companies that want to limit the amount of theft in their stores just as I want to do.  
• 3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• I found Robert by looking up companies that are in the loss prevention business for companies by offering sensor technologies.  Once I found a company that is well known for their effective products, I found an email on the website and contacted it as I told them about my assignment and idea and would appreciate learning some insight about their experiences.  I then received an email back from Robert. 
• 4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• Robert provided me with great information as to what companies they sell most of their sensors to and what kind of sensors are the most effective in stores today.  He also explained to me the costs of manufacturing particular sensors and why it is so expensive for companies to buy.  I was pleasantly surprised as to how willing he was to provide me with great information.  
• 5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• By including Robert in my network, I have the experience of someone who has been working in the sensor business and knows exactly what it is that companies are looking for in loss prevention solutions as he also has experienced what has worked in the past and what has not worked.  
• Market Expert
• 1) Who they are and what their background is.
• Rebecca works for Sensor Tags, Inc. which is a company that offers retail security systems.  
• 2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Rebecca is a market expert because although the company she works for may be appealing more towards clothing companies while my idea appeals more towards grocery stores, her company is still targeting the same/similar market with similar sensor detectors.  
• 3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• As it is very difficult to speak face to face with someone in this industry, I conducted research on Sensor Tags, Inc. and then found an email to write to.  I explained my product/service idea and asked for any insight or advice that could be offered from a company that sells sensor detectors.  Rebecca was the company's employee would responded to me.
• 4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• Rebecca offered me some insight as to how her company conducts research to most effectively target users of their products.  She did explain about how her company relies strongly upon demographics to decide their targeting methods but she did not go into great detail about what demographics worked the best for their company which left me wanting to learn more about that.  
• 5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• By including Rebecca in my network, I have the knowledge of someone who has played a great role in choosing what market areas are in need of the sensor products the most and of the most effective ways to attract the buyers to actually buy my product. 
• Industry Supplier
• 1) Who they are and what their background is.
• Jason is a representative in South Florida for Dade Paper Company which produces labels for grocery stores.  
• 2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.
• Jason is an industry supplier because the company he works for would also be selling a product to the industry that I would be selling my product to. 
• 3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.
• As my family is in the food business and we buy our labels from Dade Paper Company, I was able to contact our local representative (Jason) by email. 
• 4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 
• Jason was actually really helpful when I told him about my product idea and how I would be interested in working in conjunction with his company.  He thought my idea was great and that his company would definitely consider buying the ink from my company to print on their labels.  
• 5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?
• By having Jason and his company in my network, I will be enhancing the availability of my product because I can sell my magnetic ink to this company.  I would even be working in alignment with Dade Paper Company as my magnetic ink that acts as a sensor would be printed onto the labels that Dade Paper Company produces and distributes.  Therefore, the grocery stores that buy from labels from this company will not have to go out of their way to buy my product.
• Reflection:
• This assignment was definitely one of the hardest yet for me to complete.  At first it was very difficult to find people that would fit into each category and to contact them.  However, once I conducted research on different companies and was able to find how to contact them (such as through email) I felt more confident in learning how to create a network.  It was also a bit nerve-wracking at times when I would email the company email because I was not confident that I would receive an email back.  In fact, two of the original companies I researched and emailed never sent me an email back.  However, I did not let this deter me from continuing to create my own network.  For past assignments, I had an easier time finding people to interview and to offer insight.  In contrast, this assignment made me work harder to find new people who I had never met before.  This assignment definitely taught me to be persistent in the future in order to create a great network.  

19A: Idea Napkin 2

Assignment 19A: Idea Napkin No. 2

1. You: 

• My name is Julia Alfano and I am a Business Finance major.  I have grown up in a family-owned grocery store which is where I believe that I acquired my determination and productive values.  As I have grown up in a business where I have become the manager of a department, I understand the qualities that a business leader must have in order to be an effective authority rather than becoming a dictator.  
• Using the entrepreneurship qualities that my family instilled in me through our family business, I aspire to become an entrepreneur myself by starting my own successful company one day.  If my product idea that I have been working on in this class were to become a successful company, I would dedicate a lot of my time to making my product a success.  I definitely see this potential business taking time to develop and to make it widely known.  However, I believe that starting a business takes time and persistence and I am dedicated to making my product successful.

2. What are you offering customers:

• As I have discussed in numerous of our other assignments for this class, I will be offering my customers the ability to protect their business and physical store environment from shoplifters while also protecting their inventory sales and profits.  I am offering grocery stores the ability to more affordably and effectively detect shoplifting.  I would be solving grocery store owners' unmet need by offering them a sensor system that detects theft and would therefore save sales and profit.  As I discussed before, the rate of shoplifting in grocery stores is dangerously high and the shrinkage rate for inventory loss in grocery stores has been recorded at 2.2% which is ridiculously high.  I think this number is extremely important to identify because it shows how much money these business are losing in profits every single year. The magnetic ink offers these businesses to catch shoplifters even if they take an item without anyone seeing them do so.  These grocery stores need a way to detect the people that they are not capable of catching themselves.
• However, based on the research I have conducted and the feedback from my classmates, I have realized that grocery stores are not the only retail store that needs a detection system like this.  Therefore, although I am specifically targeting grocery stores, my product can be useful for other retail markets such as clothing stores.  I can give these businesses the ability to retain their social status of the type of business atmosphere and culture they foster while still being able to detect thieves.  

3. Who are you offering it to:

• All of my customers are hardworking, motivated, and most likely middle-class people who started their businesses from the ground up.  These people can range from basically any age; however, many of them may be middle-aged because they have already started their businesses as they have developed a need for a product such as mine.  These people have all invested so much time and money into making their own ideas a reality and deserve to earn the profits that they work for.  They are interested and concerned in making their business the best that it can be.  One of the biggest values that all of these customers have is honesty as they desire for their customers to be honest with them and their business. 
• As I described before, I am specifically targeting small and medium-scale grocery stores who cannot afford high quality sensors such as the big machines by exit doors or the plastic tags that go on every item.  I would be offering the magnetic ink to labeling companies and to the grocery stores themselves. 
•  The owners and managers of grocery stores are my targeted customers because it is extremely difficult to detect shoplifting of food items because not everything can have a sensor on it; however, every food item has to have a label of some sorts on it.  Therefore, the grocery stores will want a product that can detect theft without being obvious.   
• Once this product is bought by grocery stores in need and gains success, I will further attempt to sell my product to other retailers such as clothing stores as I recently mentioned above.  Once again, this targeted customer also values dedication and honesty within their business. 

4. Why do they care:

• As the purpose of my product has remained the same from the beginning of my creation of it,  grocery stores can limit the rate of theft that occurs in their stores with my product idea. Grocery stores have experienced a drastic increase in the rate of shoplifting in recent years and owners want to find effective and efficient ways to stop it.  
• By buying my product, grocery stores will be able to save their sales and profits.  The costs of shoplifting have left grocery stores without the sales revenue that they work extremely hard for and deserve.  Grocery stores want to have a way to know when an item is being stolen and to hold shoplifters accountable for their actions.  By having this system, customers will know not to mess around with these grocery stores and if someone is shoplifting, the ink will be detected and the manager will be able to call the cops on the shoplifter. 
• Additionally, these businesses want to be able to portray their store as sophisticated with the  advanced measures to protect itself.  My product will give these grocery stores the ability to depict the strong extents to which they are willing to protect their stores, product, and sales.  

5. Core Competencies:

As I stated in my previous idea napkin, the research that I have conducted has shown me that no other company has yet created a magnetic ink that acts as a sensor for theft.  Therefore, by creating this new product, I will have something to offer these grocery stores and other retailers an opportunity that no other company will be able to offer.  Another attribute of my opportunity is that buying the ink and the small detectors will also be cheaper than a company buying the very large sensors and plastic tags that most retail stores buy to detect shoplifting.  

 Personally, an attribute that I have that not many other people would have is that I have grown up in a family-owned and operated grocery business and I have first-hand witnessed people stealing and attempting to steal.  As I have listened to numerous discussions with my family about ways to stop shoplifting in our businesses, I have learned of exactly what it is that these stores are looking for in a product.  I can use my expertise and knowledge of the grocery store business to create a product that is truly desired by these companies and that will be effective for them.

Grocery stores in particular will find my product intriguing as it is capable of detecting theft of any food item, no matter how big or small or if it is sold singularly or not.  By offering a product tailored to the needs of grocery stores at an affordable cost, I believe that they will be more inclined to buy my product.

Reflection: 

• As my first idea napkin expressed, I believe that all of my elements described above fit in well together as they each complement one another.  I think that my core competency of having personal experience in the grocery store business benefits the potential customers of my product as I know exactly what it is that these ideal customers are looking for and what I am offering them in my product.  Additionally, I still agree with my thought from my last idea napkin that an aspect of my product that needs to be better identified is how the magnetic ink will be made because the process of making the ink will determine its price and how effective it is or not.   Therefore, the production aspect would be the weakest part of my product which means that it is the most important part to spend time on. 

Feedback Memo:

• One of the biggest points that I took away from the feedback I received was that my personal experience really helps me get a different, more advantageous viewpoint in the shoplifting dilemma.  As my classmates commented that they were intrigued by my experience in the food business at such a young age I was able to incorporate this value into this idea napkin by using it as one of my core competencies. 
• Another point that I took away from the feedback I received was that my product has the ability to deter shoplifters from continuing their illegal acts.  I incorporated this point into my new idea napkin as it adds to the reasons why my potential customers would care to buy my product as they want something that is going to portray them as a strong, prepared company.  
• I also extended the ultimate targeted customer to include other retail stores besides just grocery stores.  Even though grocery stores are my most individualized target, the larger scale of my targeting would be small to medium sized retailers as a whole which I identified in who I am offering my product to.  

18A: Creating an Avatar

Assignment 18A: Creating a Customer Avatar

As my product is originally intended for grocery store businesses, I will be creating an avatar of a grocery store owner as he/she will be the one who decides to buy my product for their business. 

My customer avatar is a middle-aged man (about forty-five) who runs his own grocery store and is looking for a way to protect his business and its atmosphere.  He is a workaholic who very rarely gets a day off from work; but when he does, he spends it with his family as he has a wife and four children.  He reads the newspaper every night when he gets home from work to stay up-to-date with everything happening in society-especially economically so that he knows what to expect in terms of his business.  However, he always falls asleep reading the newspaper as he is exhausted from working a sixteen hour day everyday.  

He identifies as a conservative as many of his business ideals align with conservative ideals such as tax breaks which help him to use the money his business makes to better pay his employees and buy products that will enhance his business such as my product.  He also enjoys reading books about successful entrepreneurs in whatever free time he can find.  

Although he is a workaholic, he is still able to enjoy some of the benefits of all of his hard work.  For example, he tends to like cars that are on the higher quality end such as Cadillacs and BMWs and owns one of each.   Additionally, he enjoys going on tropical vacations where he can simply sit in a beach chair, read his newspapers, and smoke a cigar.  Behind all of the hard work and entrepreneurial ideals that he exemplifies on a daily basis, he is a very simple and down-to-earth man.

He is an extremely personable boss and genuinely cares for all of his employees and their personal lives.  However, with so much constantly going on in his life, he feels twice his age and that he is no longer able to handle his thriving business on his own.  He is in need of better managers who take more responsibility within his business.  He is in need of something that will allow him to take more time off from work and enjoy his life.  

Customer Avatar: 

Commonalities: As a college freshman who does not have much money of her own compared to the owner of a business, I do not share many commonalities with this customer avatar.  However, I do identify with the hardworking personality that does not allow anything else to happen until a task is completed the right way.  This avatar clearly works extremely hard to reap the benefits not only for himself, but for his family.  I definitely admire this quality in him as it is something I dream of achieving in the future.  

Coincidence: I do not think it is a coincidence that I share some of the characteristics of a business owner such as determination and perseverance because as the daughter of a grocery store owner and entrepreneur, I have always been taught to work extremely hard until I reached my desire goal.  

15A: Buyer Behavior part 2

Assignment 15A: Buyer Behavior Part 2

Alternative Evaluation:

• Instead of focusing on particularly store owners when conducting my interviews this time, I took a greater focus on store managers as they are still very much a part of my innovation and entrepreneurial segment.  I chose this path because managers are the ones who need to be the most aware of shoplifting as they are hired to keep the store functioning properly in every way possible.  As I interviewed three different store managers (from a grocery store to a clothing boutique) than I did for the last assignment, I was interested in how they all focused on the effectiveness/quality and cost of my product the most.  As I talked to Louis and Jim who are managers of small grocery stores and to Jenna who is the manager of a successful boutique, I found the managers to care the absolute most about the quality of the ink because they will only pay for the product if it works effectively.  Secondly, cost becomes the next major concern as managers believe that their boss/owners will only pay a certain amount for the product if it works properly.  The managers do not have much say in how much the store would be willing to pay for the product as the owners are the ones who make the decisions.  However, as small and medium sized stores such as grocery stores and small clothing boutiques cannot afford the security measures that big chain retailers have, the product would need to be sold at a reasonable rate. 

How to Buy:

• The managers also stated that they were aware of their owners looking online for security products to protect their stores from shoplifting.  Therefore, I believe that my segment is most likely to buy my product online, especially since ink is not something that you would need to see in person.  The only part of my product idea that the buyers may want to see would be the undercover sensors that will detect the ink if a product is being stolen.  And depending on the total cost of the sensors plus the ink, the managers believed that the company would most likely finance the purchase.

Post- Purchase Evaluation:

• The only way the consumers of my product will know if they made a good purchase is not only if the sensors detect the ink and the business can catch people stealing, but if the businesses do not experience a loss of inventory sales and profit.  If my product can help these companies protect themselves from losing money, my product will be worth the cost, especially since the cost is not nearly as expensive as other sensor methods.  In order for the product to work properly and to be a good idea for store owners, the labeling companies and retail stores themselves need to print their labels with the ink.  This is the only way that the sensors will be effective. 

Report Findings & Draw Conclusions:

• Overall, by talking with the people in this segment I learned of the strong need for an easier and efficient way to catch shoplifters.  Detecting theft is one of the numerous job tasks that managers must complete throughout their days.  So if there is a product that could do their job and save them time, they would invest in it.  However, the only reason that a consumer would think that my product was a bad idea is if someone peels off the label of a product and steals it, the sensors will not be able to detect the shoplifting as the ink is no longer on the product.  But by talking with these innovative people who want to build the businesses they are working for, I learned that my product is needed in small retail stores and will help stabilize if not increase sales and profits.  

14A: halfway reflection

Assignment 14A: Halfway Reflection

• Tenaciousness is a competency:
• The first biggest skills that I have utilized while taking this course so far is motivation to complete my work.  As there are numerous assignments due every week, it becomes easy to get behind.  But by staying motivated and determined to get ahead in my work, I am able to stay on task and even find some free time if I finish all of my ENT3003 assignments before they are due.  
• The next biggest skill that I have utilized the most to keep up with the requirements of this course would be time management.  I have always been good at keeping up with my work; however, having excellent time management skills and motivation to complete assignments in advance definitely helps me to keep up with the workload.  Since all of the assignments are uploaded the very first day of class, it is possible to complete as many assignments as possible as soon as possible which is especially great when I know I will be busy the next week. 
• Tenaciousness is also an attitude:
• A moment I felt like giving up was when I was attempting to complete the extra credit assignment of creating a new product from scratch.  I had so many ideas that fell through but once I found an idea I really liked and stuck with, I had an even harder time developing the product.  I felt like my idea was not good enough and that nobody would ever pay for it.  However, as Dr. Pryor explained that no idea is a stupid idea, I told myself to just keep going and to keep developing my product idea.  And now, I am extremely confident in my idea as I have interviewed numerous people who have suggested interest and a need for my idea.
• I definitely believe that I have developed a tenacious attitude over the past two months of being in this class because this class has taught me to stick to my ideas and decisions and to work them to the best ability and work with what I am given. Evidently, developing my product has contributed the most to this development of tenaciousness in my attitude.
• Three tips
• Tip #1: I would advise to not only stay on top of your work, but to do some of the assignments in advance.  By doing them in advance you will have time to make any edits that you want when revising them before the due date.  Additionally, you will never feel behind and always be relieved to have completed all of the necessary tasks by a certain date. Completing assignments in advance will develop your tenacious mindset. 
• Tip #2: I would STRONGLY advise going to the extra credit workshop.  It only requires that you go to class in person twice and create a product idea to present to the class.  This extra credit assignment really helped me in the rest of my assignments for the semester as it forced me to get a head start on all of my work.  A huge plus is that the extra credit presentation and class appearances earned me fifteen extra credit points which helps a LOT in a 100 point class. These extra points will offer you security for your grade in case you miss an assignment or do not get the full credit for something.  By taking advantage of this extra credit opportunity, you will be exercising tenacity by sticking to your decisions that you develop in the extra credit assignment. 
• Tip #3: I would also advise talking to different people taking this class to test your ideas for assignments and get judgement from someone who is experiencing the same challenges as you.  It is easy to get caught up in how overwhelming it is to complete ALL of the assignments; but by having people to remind one another about due dates and talk about the requirements of assignments will give you a piece of mind that you are not alone in this class.

This picture is of the sunrise at Paynes Prairie that I was able to go see one morning because I had completed all of my ENT3003 assignments for the week in advance. 

13A: Reading Reflection 1

Assignment 13A: Reading Reflection #1

I read about Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in Lisa Chaney's Coco Chanel:

• What surprised you the most?
• What surprised me the most about this entrepreneur was that she was able to create such an enormous empire despite all of the adversity she experienced throughout her life.   She experienced poverty throughout her childhood, drug addiction later on in her life, and even had an abortion; however, as her dedication to her work continued to grow, her brand and name continued to live on as her innovation and work never failed to increasingly gain popularity.  
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I most admired that Gabrielle Chanel used what she was given (even if that was very little) to create a name for herself and to create change in a society of stability.  It did not matter that she came from nothing with no money and no name.  Instead, she used her knowledge of sewing that she gained by being put into an orphanage and taught by nuns to kick start her career as a designer.  Additionally, Chanel was great at networking and using the people she knew to converse and gain connections.   
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• Although she was very talented at gaining connections to prolong her company and career, I least admired how Chanel seemed to use people close to her just to get her way.  As discussed in Lisa Chaney's book, Chanel even left a man (Etienne Balsan) that she was involved with (who even offered to help her start her own business) for Balsan's wealthier friend.  Although it may have seemed like a good way to increase her opportunity at success, I do not believe that she needed to use people the way that she did.  I think that there is a fine line between using someone and making connections for the right reasons.  
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Chanel was born into a state of adversity as she was placed in an orphanage by her father after her mother died and was forced to learn to sew by nuns.  However, she took this terrible situation and turned it around for the better as her knowledge of sewing is what jump started her future career and work.  Throughout her years of success, Chanel encountered numerous obstacles.  Even after she closed her company due to the chaos of World War II and fleeing to Switzerland to escape the judgement of the people of France for having an affair with a German soldier, Chanel rose back up and launched a new line of clothing, demonstrating her unwavering desire to achieve success.  
• What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
• I think the greatest skills that Gabrielle Chanel exhibited was her ability to use her confidence as a way of branding and creating networks.  By creating networks with some of the most influential and famous people of her time, Chanel was able to expand her company and receive enormous amounts of fame.  Most importantly, I think that Chanel's greatest skill was her ability to stay in contact with the desires and needs of the public which is demonstrated as she created clothing that was comfortable yet stylish, appealing to the very likings of society.  
• Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
• As I read through this book, I was confused about the information that was discussed about the middle of Chanel's life regarding the people she knew.  Chaney quickly discusses and lists numerous names of famous people that Chanel knew and people that she engaged in relationships with and it became difficult to follow the story line while also keeping up with all of the different names.  I think if Chaney discussed each character that Chanel encounters in her life more in depth depending on their importance, it would be easier to follow. 
• If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
• I would ask the entrepreneur how she was able to come back from more than a decade of being out of business and create yet something new that consumers wanted.  And according to Chaney's writing, society did not openly accept Chanel's new products at first; however, with her ingenious designs, she was able to extend her infamous company.  I would ask this question because once someone experiences success and makes it big and either sells their product or starts their company, it is so simple to fail as so many things can go wrong.  Therefore, I would like to know what it took for Chanel to make a comeback and reinvent her name.  
• I would also ask the entrepreneur what it took for her to turn her childhood of poverty around into a money-making company and name.  It would have seemed nearly impossible for someone like her who had absolutely no family and no money to make something that could support her for the rest of her lifetime.  I find it extremely admirable that she was able to have enough determination to make a new life for herself. 
• For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
• I think that Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel's opinion of hard work was completing a task and seeing it through until it reached success.  According to Chaney's writing, Chanel was a determined and powerful woman who did not stop until she got exactly what she wanted.  Chanel wanted to create an empire for women as she believe that men had too much power in the fashion business and she aspired to make a difference in fashion.  I agree with her opinion of hard work as I believe that hard work is giving something all of the effort you have and giving it your best so that you can reap the benefits.  

10A- Elevator Pitch

Assignment 10A: Elevator Pitch 

Link to my elevator pitch: https://youtu.be/hqHyHgU_xLY