An Entrepreneurial Mindset Blossoms Among Cleveland-Area Students
April 15, 2021
When homeowners look for outdoor improvements in Gates Mills, Ohio, they might choose Cutting Edge Landscaping, a company run by student entrepreneurs. A vendor looking for a product video or an athlete who needs a recruiting film might turn to Dunlevy Productions, a company founded by another high schooler. Or a nonprofit like the Cleveland Food Bank or Special Olympics might receive a monetary donation from a student donating proceeds from their business.…
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The Time Is Now, Read Our New White Paper, “Entrepreneurial Mindset Imperative”
April 13, 2021
Download the White Paper Here Im-per-a-tive (Noun): An essential or urgent thing; of vital importance Life today is filled with imperatives. Everything seems urgent and critically important in vying for our attention daily. As such, when we sat down to write our new white paper, we did not decide to call it the Entrepreneurial Mindset Imperative lightly. Between the pandemic, political strife, social strain, and massive changes in education and the workplace, the world…
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Tips for Conveying Your Brand to the World
April 8, 2021
Many years ago, a young boy named Clifton Taulbert had a rare opportunity to go to a circus in Jackson, Mississippi. It was a two-man road trip, just the boy and his relative and mentor, Cleve Mormon. As Taulbert shares in the book Who Owns the Ice House? Eight Life Lessons from an Unlikely Entrepreneur, the two bought their tickets, found their seats near the front of the circus tent, and dug into hot,…
Read moreWhat’s the Secret in the Eight Life Lessons?
March 31, 2021
We often share how the eight life lessons at the core of the Ice House Programs were “distilled” through observing hundreds of entrepreneurs. For some, this calls to mind a magic elixir that only a few special people are privileged enough to sample. Spoiler alert: There is no magic elixir. These eight life lessons flow like water all around us—we just held out the cup and let entrepreneurs fill it up. Choice The ability…
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Solutions Are Entrepreneurs’ True Currency
March 10, 2021
After interviewing hundreds of entrepreneurs, ELI’s Founder, Gary Schoeniger, has found one commonly held assumption that drives their behavior. They assume that by solving problems for others, they can empower themselves. Solving others’ problems is the deceptively simple logic from which all other entrepreneurial attitudes, behaviors, and skills arise. It is also the underlying logic that enables them to recognize opportunities that others overlook. From this perspective, entrepreneurs learn to see problems as opportunities.…
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Spreading the Power of Entrepreneurial Thinking Statewide in North Carolina
March 4, 2021
This piece was written by ELI contributor Sarah Williamson. She is working on interviewing some of our most accomplished partners and facilitators. Daisy Magnus-Aryitey doesn’t love public speaking, but you would never know it from her enthusiastic demeanor when she starts to talk about the importance of an entrepreneurial mindset. Magnus-Aryitey, an Ice House Facilitator, is the program director for the NC IDEA Foundation. The foundation fosters North Carolina’s economic development by supporting the entrepreneurial…
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The Choice Is Yours: How Do We Respond to Adversity?
February 10, 2021
The ability to choose the way we respond to our individual circumstances is perhaps the single most powerful ability we have as human beings. Yet it is often misunderstood and under-appreciated. Some may see this topic as diminishing the difficult circumstances many people face. The goal of this post is to unpack the ability to empower ourselves by tapping into this powerful human ability, to respond rather than react. It is also a fundamental…
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Are You an Employee or an Entrepreneur?
January 14, 2021
If you’re like most, you probably think of an entrepreneur as someone who organizes and operates a business. Meanwhile, the rest of us think of ourselves as employees. And yet the world has changed in ways that now require everyone to think like an entrepreneur. As such, the distinction between employee and entrepreneur is rapidly becoming obsolete. A brief history It’s worth noting that the term “entrepreneur” emerged at the dawn of the industrial…
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Gary’s Top Ten Resources for Understanding the Entrepreneurial Mindset
August 11, 2020
My interest in entrepreneurship comes from a behavioral perspective. I see the entrepreneurial mindset as a way of thinking that optimizes engagement in ways that extend beyond those who endeavor to start and grow new businesses. My goal is to understand the controllable cognitive, motivational, and situational factors that give rise to the development of entrepreneurial attitudes, behaviors, and skills. I believe that if we can understand these underlying causes, we can create more…
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