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Years ago I was asked on a podcast to name the most important quality I was looking for when interviewing new employees. I surprised myself when I immediately responded with “curiosity”.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. That is the quality I admire most in so many entrepreneurs. You always learn. They want to know how things work. In addition to working to build their business, they also read books, listen to podcasts, attend workshops, meet mentors, earn certifications and go to school – as full-time students, part-time students or in executive programs or participating in non-credit Courses.
As we all prepare to go back to school, it’s a good time to look at learning opportunities for entrepreneurs of all ages in our community:
Made for Knoxville
Perhaps most of us learn best by example. The Knoxville Entrepreneur Center recently launched the Made for Knoxville campaign to spotlight hundreds of entrepreneurs in our community. You can read how Mac Bartine built the fast-growing fintech company SmartRIA, and Eugenia Almeida, who creates amazing blankets at A New Hue, and Marcus Hall, who creates the latest styles at Marc Nelson Denim, and Jenna Johns, who does the motion -Amplification pioneer RDI Technologies scaled to #. 33 on the Inc. 5000 list. Check out the videos and stories at https://madeforknoxville.com.
Autobiographies
When I was little my mom told me that if I ever wanted to know more about something, that someone would probably have written a book about it. I could find this book and read it and then I could know what they knew. There are hundreds of great autobiographies and biographies about entrepreneurs. Fortunately, we have many excellent books by and about entrepreneurs in our community. Visit your local library or bookstore or Amazon to get your copies of “Co-Piloting: Luck, Leadership, and Learning That It’s All About Others” by Jim Haslam, “First a Dream” by Jim Clayton, and “A Father’s Son: The Developing an Entrepreneur “by Tom Boyd. These three books share the behind-the-scenes stories of Pilot Flying J, Clayton Homes, and Radio Systems Corporation. They are a good start to building a personal library of books by and about Knoxville entrepreneurs.
Junior achievement
The saying goes that you don’t really know anything until you’ve taught it. Or as Albert Einstein supposedly put it, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” Junior Achievement gives you the opportunity to truly understand entrepreneurship, willingness to work and financial literacy by teaching these issues to students in the classroom teaching from kindergarten to high school. Students have an insatiable curiosity about how credit cards work, what people do in different jobs, how to start a new business, and hundreds of other real-world topics. I highly recommend volunteering for Junior Achievement at your local school. I think it’s one of the funniest and most rewarding experiences to have. https://jaeasttennessee.org.
Muse training program
When it comes to understanding how things work, there is almost always more than meets the eye. That’s why Muse Knoxville launched the Muse Apprenticeship Program, an internship program that aims to recruit MAP experts to work behind the scenes at a children’s museum while building confidence, developing leadership skills, and combining curiosity with careers. Learning paths include Marketing and Research, Business, Education, and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math). If you are active in one of these areas, you can become a mentor from September 2021 to May 2022 and be matched with a student with an interest in your area of ​​specialization. Learn more at https://themuseknoxville.org/MAP.
Knox Ecosystem Startup Guide
Where do you start as an entrepreneur in Knoxville? Fortunately, our community has dozens of resources to help businesses get started and grow here. The free startup Knox Ecosystem Guide 2021 has been updated with a dozen new entries, including Spark Innovation Center at UT Research Park, Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator, Inflection.Point by KEC, AgTech Mentor Network, Life Science Network, Energy Mentor Network, Automotive & Mobility Mentor Network, BrandCamp, Ballard Innovation Award, Made for Knoxville and the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council. Download the PDF from http://www.startupknox.com. And if you’d like to hear interviews with local entrepreneurs, check out the Startup Knox Podcast at http://www.startupknox.com/podcast.
Startup Day 2021
Mark your calendar for Startup Day 2021 to see the latest Knoxville startups. It’s a great event for all ages. In fact, it’s a perfect after-school activity. You and your kids will see live pitches from local startups and can vote for your favorite startup to win prize money. Startup Day takes place on Tuesday, October 5, 2021, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at The Mill & Mine in Old City Knoxville. Register for free at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-day-2021-tickets-160238310099.
Brandon Bruce is Chair of the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, Co-Founder of Startup Knox, and Lead Partner of the 100Knoxville Initiative.
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