Assignment 3A - The Day I Met Beyoncé

Growing up in Houston I had the opportunity of being surrounded by plenty of entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies alike. This was never more relevant than once a year when my high school held what was referred to as “Future Week,” a week filled with different colleges and companies coming to our classrooms to show what possibilities were outside of high school. Each year we saw the same colleges like the University of Texas and Texas A&M with companies like ExxonMobil and Baker Hughes, but my junior year had an electricity in the air. Friday morning rolls around, I showered after morning tennis practice and as I leave the locker-room I notice everyone is running frantically to the auditorium. As I make my way towards the horde of people waiting outside the door I glance over to see a security team walking someone inside the school into the back of the stage. People are screaming, and that’s when I see her Beyoncé, she was actually here in my school. Although I was not able to get into the auditorium to see her speech, peaking in high school had served me well and I found out I was going with the other student body officers to talk to her during lunch. In the time between my morning class and lunch all I could think about was what would I say, what would she say, would she actually want me to talk to me. If you did not know Beyoncé is a majorly successful entrepreneur creating her own fashion line, management and entertainment company, and much more. Beyoncé was born and raised about four miles from my high school in the heart of Houston, starting from having relatively nothing to being a global icon. Therefore, I was incredibly imitated to talk to her but the time had come and I could not squander this moment. When the meeting started there was a nervous energy in the room, most of us were meeting someone we adored so we wanted to make a good impression. As ten other students, myself, and Beyoncé all sat in a circle no one said a word. That was until Beyoncé laughed a little bit and said something along the lines of “I understand why it’s so quiet, but y'all I am just like you, I went to this school, sat in those sits, and had the same teachers.” After all of us let out a collective sigh of relief, we went on to discuss how Beyoncé became so successful. I learned two very valuable life lessons that day that has stuck with me ever since then. First, you must create a brand and always stick with it. When creating a company branding is extremely important because it shows new customers who you are while showing existing customers that there is a level of stability in your organization. Successful branding will allow your company to thrive and will allow you to show very clearly your mission and values to the public. Lastly, Beyoncé stressed the importance of self-reliance when creating a company. You must rely on yourself to make decisions, to motivate your employees and yourself, and to keep yourself accountable. Without being able to steady your own ship you can never be successful. Creating a company or a product means you have to be your own boss first, and you have to be able to push yourself to thrive for the bettering of the organization.

I enrolled in ENT 3003 in order to better push myself and learn the beginning steps of how to be a great entrepreneur. I think what I am hoping to get out of this class is the foundation of being a successful businessman. After school, I am hoping to go to law school to be an Environmental Lawyer and start my own firm. Therefore, I am hoping that this class will show me the beginnings of being my own boss. I am also hoping to filter my motivation and drive into outlets that are business-related instead of just going blindly into the world.