- Midland Institute
- August Alumni Newsletter
August Alumni Newsletter
August Alumni Newsletter
Where in the World are CEO Students?
Have you ever wondered where your fellow CEO students are? Are you looking for connections for this upcoming year? Take a few minutes to check out our CEO Student Collaborative Map which pins locations of CEO Alumni for this upcoming year. While you’re looking, take a minute to pin YOUR location. We can’t wait to see where our alumni network has spread!
Why is it so Hard to Do the Little Things?
Looking for a little motivation? Thank you to program alumn Damian Hoke for sharing one of his favorite resources with the Midland Institute Alumni on CEO Connect! Each month we will be showcasing something that all of you are reading, listening to, or getting involved in. Join the CEO Connect Alumni Group today and begin sharing!
Haaaave you Met Craig?
Some of you are preparing for another school year, others are beginning another month of work. Some of you may even be figuring out what the next few months hold. Here's a reminder from Craig to take it all in, be curious, and sort it out later.
Alumni Highlight
“Shake Their Hand, Show Yourself, and Put Yourself Out There”
The CEO Program is in the business of creating opportunities for the next generation of innovators and creative thinkers- thinkers like Daviess County CEO Alumnus, Blaine Fuhs, who, in a nutshell, is the reason behind how Daviess County, Indiana became home to its first drone.
At the age of 14, Blaine Fuhs was just a small community kid with a killer work ethic and a penchant for going against the grain.
“I went to my grandpa and asked for $2000 to buy the drone with the stipulation that I would do anything he wanted with it….We started off by doing real estate of farm lands,” Blaine remembers, “We were the only ones, so it was a great market.”
With a change-maker mindset and a desire to try new things, the CEO Program was a natural choice. “CEO was the opportunity to do something in high school that not everyone was doing.”
And prove to be an opportunity, it did.
“One of the business men we had visited in class remembered what I was doing for my business. He called me up and asked me to make a film for his company, where they would need me to travel to Missouri and Tennessee.”
Since the company would cover travel and food expenses, Blaine started price negotiations for the rest of his work at $200.
“He (the owner) fired back with, ‘how about $2000?’ and I was like, ‘wow.’”
Blaine remembers, “That experience really showed me my worth. It showed me that something that I loved to do, I could make a living by. It could be something more than just a hobby. I could do this full time.”
And from there, each video has built on the former. Since his time in CEO, Blaine has grown his business significantly, using his drones to shoot films and videos in places all over the world, from Hawaii and New York, to Ghana, Ireland, and England.
It’s clear this CEO Alumnus is not stopping anytime soon. A growth that he attributes, as well, to the skills he learned CEO program.
“I think CEO gave me a foundation to grow both financially and economically and really helped me structure myself. The biggest thing was interaction with people...a lot of people stay inside their shell. I learned that if you don’t ask questions, people aren’t going to answer. With CEO it gave me that grounding of, you need to become more of who you are. Shake their hand, show yourself, and put yourself out there.”
Though he’s currently in college, it’s that foundation of real life experiences has proven to be in essential in his success.
“I take one class right now. I’m in college part-time. I look around, and I’m talking to peers who are my age who are studying business and I’m like why? What do you want to do? Go for it.”
And “go for it” he continues to do, “CEO gave me that understanding...if this fails, I am an entrepreneur, I’m gonna make this work.”
If you’re interested in learning more about the work that Blaine is doing, check out his business Fuhs Video online!