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"Life Ain't Fair and Jim Don't Care"
Mr. James Balouris provided FBLA members with insightful professional advice and important life lessons.
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Mr. Burnham Kicks Off Our Speaker Series Encouraging Students to Network
Mr. Burnham encourages students to begin networking and building their own personal brand online that attracts the right people and opportunities.
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The Importance of Meaningful Connections and Relationships
Coach Gray spoke on his 3 key tips/ingredients for establishing deeper connections with others. He took the time to do group activities to establish teamwork and a bond between members. Coach Gray took the time to stress the importance of how these relationships will be crucial for any young professional.
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How to Handle and Set Yourself Apart for Jobs as a Professional
Mr. Ludwig took time to reflect on his own personal career sharing insights and tips that helped him set himself apart and gain a position at the Pittsburgh Penguins. He took time discuss exactly what ways one can set themselves apart and then how to reflect upon your position.
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How to Determine and Handle Change in a Professional Career
Mr. Gelly spoke on his experience throughout this career on how he choose to make changes. He took time to focus on how to recognize when change might be right, and how to proceed with that change.
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Advice for Successful Professionals
Mr. Burnham spoke on individual professional development, corporate and employee expectations, and professional conduct and behavior in the workplace.
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Strategies for Success in Business and Life
Dr. Jochem spoke on strategies and skills necessary for success including communication, creating the win-win, dedication, goal-oriented thinking, sacrifice and understanding the rules of the game.
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The Top 7 Plays to Develop a Winning Growth Mindset
For the first time, Pine-Richland FBLA welcomed Coach Dave Gray of CDG Sports events to deliver a presentation on values which have brought success in his capacity as a community member and entrepreneur.
Coach Dave has decades of experience with community service and outreach which he brought to our members for his presentation. Drawing from his success as a business owner and employer, Coach Dave spoke upon the values of professionalism and the skills which he believes will bring young professionals success. He is a recipient of KDKA Radio’s “Larry Richert Hometown Hero Award” in 2016. Currently, Coach Dave serves as a local consultant for Dick’s Sporting Goods, as well as working with Allegheny Health Network with the Pittsburgh community in mind. -
Exploring New Pathways Through Life
The club was pleased to welcome Mr. Jeter back in person for our March membership meeting.
Mr. Jeter serves as a Principal and Financial Advisor with Allegheny Financial Group located in Pittsburgh. With over 30 years in finance, Mr. Jeter brought his expertise in hiring and managing a financial firm to our members to discuss approaching new pathways through life. Mr. Jeter was able to provide his unique insight and career experience for an important and useful presentation for emerging professionals. -
The Skills, Habits, and Strategies of Successful People
Pine-Richland FBLA welcomed a returning speaker, Dr. Todd Jochem for a presentation.
Having graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Ph.D. in Robotics, his professional work has included the development of autonomous vehicles for some of the nation's most known automobile manufacturers. As an entrepreneur himself, Dr. Jochem has founded and sold two companies within the field of robotics. Dr. Jochem provided our members with the strategies he sees as the characteristics the most successful people provide to their work professionally. -
Approaching the Recruiting Process
Our second edition of this year's speaker series, Pine-Richland FBLA enthusiastically welcomed Mr. Leeper to speak to our members.
With over 25 years of experience in human resources, Mr. Leeper is the Head of People Operations at Seegrid, a robotics company based in Pittsburgh. With his background and expertise in the hiring process, the club was thrilled to have the "inside" perspective that recruiters take towards new candidates. -
Successful Strategies in the Workplace
For our first Speaker Series, and third monthly meeting this year, we were pleased to welcome Dr. Petcash to speak to our members.
A graduate of Washington & Jefferson College and the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Petcash brought his experience in research, creating, and operating his own practice to present to our members for his presentation. He shared relatable advice to the club as emerging professionals for pathfinding and exploring various avenues professionally. -
Successful People and Their Successful Habits
Continuing our speaker series, we were pleased to welcome Mr. David Jeter on April 12th. Mr. Jeter is a certified financial planner in partnership with the Allegheny Financial Group. With his immense experience working in the financial services, he advised prospective financial students to consider the three different streams of work: corporate finance, capital markets, and personal finance. He was kind enough to share with us insight on what facilitates success in all fields of work as well, or the elements of success.
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The Skills, Habits, and Strategies of Successful People
For our March meeting, we welcomed Dr. Todd Jochem as our speaker. Dr. Jochem has his undergraduate degree from Indiana State University and his PhD in Robotics and his work includes the development of autonomous vehicles.
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Building Your Brand
For January’s monthly meeting, we were glad to have Mr. Amit Gupta speak for us. Mr. Gupta got his MBA from Penn State before joining the workforce with companies such as DuPont, Celanese, and Owens Corning, where he now works. His immense experience allowed him to provide essential tips as well as a personal narrative on how to navigate through the corporate field.
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The Roads to Opportunity
We were pleased to welcome Ms. Stacy Siegal as speaker for our December meeting. Ms. Siegal has worked as head of the legal and human resources department and is the Executive Vice President of American Eagle. She is a graduate of Lehigh University and George Washington University. She highlighted, for us, the complexity of the career path, explaining it as “more of a jungle gym than a ladder”.
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The Mindset to Put You on Path to Succeed
For our second FBLA meeting this year, we were grateful to have Mr. Chuck Holm as our
speaker. Mr. Holm is a graduate from the Black Hills State University with a Bachelors of
Science in Accounting. He now works as the CFO of an oil and gas construction company. With
his significant experience accumulated through work at such a senior position, he was able to
provide us with some information on how to maximize our resources and important social skills
to cultivate in order to set the path of a successful career. -
Five Key Strategies for Success
The 5 Keys to Set Yourself Up for Success: For our first meeting this year, October 12, 2020, we were grateful to welcome our speaker Mr. Thomas Swartout. He addressed the 5 topics of Selecting a Career, Networking, Creating Centers of Influence, Charitable Work, and Capacity.
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The Three Integral Growth Elements- Knowledge, Experience, and Wisdom
You can always modify your goals as you grow and your interests and needs change over time. He also shared the advice to never be reluctant to ask for help. He would always tell his interns, “Don’t expect other people to do your work for you, but people do like to be asked for advice.” Even as an employee himself, Mr. O’Neil learned that asking for advice makes you a stronger worker and more personable in the workplace.
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Suit Up And Give It 100%
After sharing the important characteristics that an individual needs to thrive in the workforce, Mr. Swartout then shared a few tips with our members to better themselves. He shared that communication is everything. Getting to know people is vital in any career.
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Leadership Comes From Motivation
Mr. Dugan kicked off his presentation with the quote “leadership is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it” stated by Dwight D. Eisenhower. This led him to share the questions “Why is it worth it?” and “How can I build a culture and style in the workplace that makes people motivated to do their work?” that he asks himself everyday while he works. Mr. Dugan went on to share the benefits, fundamentals, and standards of leadership in today’s workforce.
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Your Future Is Not A "One And Done" Deal
Because us students have our whole future ahead of us, Mr. Jeter wanted to ease the uncertainty of our futures by sharing three stories that relate to what we might experience within the next ten years. He asked our members to reflect on the theme of each story because the themes display that our futures are not a “one and done deal.”
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Spring Forum 2019: Developing Effective Leadership Skills - Mr. Keith Cuyar and Mrs. Cynthia M. Dorundo
Pine-Richland FBLA continued this year’s Speaker Series on Tuesday, April 30th at our annual Spring Forum with Mr. Keith Cuyar, an Account Manager at Amazon, and Mrs. Cynthia M. Dorundo, a healthcare consultant at Healthcare Economics, Logistics, Informatics, and Transformation.
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“Communication is a Journey, not a Destination”
Pine-Richland FBLA continued this year’s Speaker Series on Monday, March 11, 2019, with Mr. Battaglia, the Chief Executive Officer of Crown Brands LLC. Mr. Battaglia believes that one of the best skills of a leader is effective communication. He said, “You’re never going to be perfect, it’s about improvement. It’s progress, not perfection.”
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Have Fun, Seek Balance, and Enjoy the Ride
Mr. Zink talked about his tips for success starting with, “No matter what you do, these are things I think I’ve learned throughout my life that will be key to success.” He explained that these tips are for your personal life and professional life. He then went on to explain that many people he knows have sacrificed their personal lives for their professional ones, but it is all about having a balance, not prioritizing one or the other. He shared some of his tips with us.
