Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

Blog 7

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?  If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert?

• My mentor is Saab Shamas. He works as a restaurant owner of the Cantina Express. With 20 years of previous hands on experience as an entrepreneur in the restaurant business i firmly believe my mentor is a qualified expert.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1. What prompted you to go into the restaurant business and why did you choose it as a career?
2. In your experience as an entrepreneur, do you have any stories of challenged you've faced? 
3. In your opinion, what makes your line of work a good career path?
4. What businesses have you owned and what can you tell me about them?
5. Do you enjoy your job?

Blog 6 - Advisory Prep

Blog 6

1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year?  What has made it a positive experience for you?  

• The surplus of information regarding entrepreneurship of all subjects is vast. I have no issue finding information that is not the generic mundane article about "what entrepreneurship is." What's worked well for me is there are many tools at my disposal to use. However I haven't had much of an "experience" yet working on this project since we are only in the early stages. I have no negative nor positive experience to report about and feel this question is best suited to answer perhaps in the middle of the year or towards the end. 

2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project?  How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you?  How might the senior team help?

• What I find difficult about this project is how indecisive I am about what exactly I want to pursue. While I plan to do my topic on entrepreneurship I don't know what field I want to focus on. Corporate? Restaurant? Shop owner? I honestly have no clue, my only solution to this issue would be to do my topic on entrepreneurship as a whole covering all subject matters and fields. Even this though I feel uncertain about. 
• Insight from the senior team providing advice and alternative routes would be of great assistance. I'm definitely looking for suggestions, such an addition from the senior team would be welcomed. 

Blog 5 - Interview 1 Reflection

Interview 1 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?  Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?

• I would say the most resourceful material I obtained from this interview would be information regarding the experiences of an entrepreneur, i.e., the interviewee. I learned how in order to excel in the field one must be witty and be able to expand their business. Despite the fact that the interviewee did not give examples of successful entrepreneurs the personal input about his own experience did prove to be more valuable due to the coherency and in depth analysis of his experience.
• One thing I would want to do differently in other interviews is keep the interviewee more on task with the question itself rather than their own self. There were a number of incidents when my question was given a 10-15 second direct answer then escalated to something less related. I would have preferred direct answers over superficial ones.

2. Did I get additional resources and contacts?  What is the most useful?  Why?

• To my dismay I received no specific contacts. The interviewee listed no names or numbers to go after, however I was given a thorough explanation on how to find additional contacts via visiting businesses and conversing with the staff including the manager in the hopes of either volunteering there or doing an interview. 
• Considering the circumstance that I was given no specific contact nor given more than one example on how to find contacts the most useful information was of course the only one I received, how to find contacts....

3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me? 

• My interviewee also my father is a highly experienced businessman who engaged in the practice of entrepreneurship for over 35 years. Owning 5 hair salons in total in 4 different cities for 3 decades, I saw fit that Isaiah (the interviewee) was a suitable and more than qualified individual to interview. I was initially looking for someone with vast experience so I may learn how a business works in the real world, Isaiah had that experience which is why he was qualified to help me. 

Link to audio recording of the interview:

https://soundcloud.com/dawson-khoury/interview-2

Blog 4 House Advisory Prep

Blog 4 House Advisory Prep

 

The goal  hope to reach with this senior topic is to gain valuable work experience. I have never held a job before and I'm not sure if I will in the next year. However since I do volunteer at a restaurant performing tasks not too far off from that of actual employees I can say that I am gaining good work experience. This brings me to my main point, experience; I hope to accomplish developing work skills that I can use further on in my life whether it be at a restaurant or in a office, regardless of which I can still say I have held up a "job." Concisely put, I want to gain experience out of well......my experience volunteering for my senior project. This is the primary and for now only goal I am seeking to accomplish.

Blog 3 - First Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?

• I plan on interviewing my father, Isaiah Khoury. The nature of my choice is is based on who my dad is, a self made business man with 30+ years of experience as an entrepreneur. He has owned and managed several businesses successfully over the years granting him experience I find relevant to my senior topic, entrepreneurship. I know he has a lot to offer in advice, past experiences, and educated opinions in the field of business regardless of what specific field.

2.  Five questions will be assigned to all seniors to ask.  What additional questions do you plan to ask?  Ask open-ended questions. 

• How do you feel about raising minimum wage to $15 an hour?
• What are your thoughts on young people going into the entrepreneurship field?
• Do you think a college education is important to managing a successful business?
• Are you content with how your businesses turned out in the end?

Blog 2 - Summer Mentorship

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.

• Contact name: Saab Shamas
• Phone number: (323) 365-1444
• Organization: Cantina Express Restaurant 

2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?    

• My mentor is the owner of the Cantina Express restaurant. He has been in the restaurant business for over 20 years, owning multiple restaurants in the process. One of the restaurants include one situated in Hollywood Blvd.  

3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.    

• How can one get ahead of the competition in the restaurant business?
• What actions can be taken to ensure employee service is top notch and exceptional?
• Where are the best areas to open a restaurant in?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

• On a personal level the most important thing I have gotten from my experience is in fact experience itself. Working in the kitchen preparing food, cleaning tables, washing dishes, ect. has given me valuable work experience which can and likely will be put to use in the near future. This experience is the first and closest position to a job I have ever held. I believe I am better prepared to enter the work force i.e. the restaurant business. 

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did mentor ship help you make your decision?  Please explain.

• The senior topic is likely to be "How does one ensure their restaurant survives and thrives." My mentor assisted me in making this decision by providing me valuable input on how the food, environment, and containers must be clean and safe for the customers. Customer safety was at the highest priority for my mentor, many times did he make that clear to me. This was primary demonstrated to me in how my mentor washed dishes, making it clear that a sanitary environment can not be a half finished job.

Link to mentor-ship log down below

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xuJ7C4uc5NE8aspcKTXR7KL8NmlYp4pj_9k9n9k8480/edit