Adventure, Motivation & Business - Skip Yowell

I had the honor Wednesday evening of speaking to a group of 100+ youth and community members who are a part of Youth Entrepreneurs, including students, alumni, teachers, and supporters.  I enjoyed sharing stories and lessons about my journey in business over the past 45 years with JanSport.  Fortunately the JanSport brand has been successful making quality products worldwide, providing innovation and employing people, all while having fun. 

But after I spent Thursday as one of the judges for the 2012 Business Plan Finals Competition, I realized something.   

My skills in high school were not even close to the knowledge of these students on some best practices for a successful business plan. These students are getting an early start on having a successful career; and I’m sure they’ll make far fewer mistakes than I did. And overall, they demonstrated great confidence and presentation appearance. I was very impressed…hats off to their teachers for fine work teaching the basics of business.  This was a very rewarding experience for me.

Guest Blogger, Skip Yowell, Co-Founder of JanSport