Student Success Story: Jacob + Briley on Preparing to Start a Business 💡
By Becky Pincince
Small business ownership statistics from Experian tell us that on average, American small business owners are 50.3 years old. That is almost four times the age of Briley Brooks, an eighth grader at Pleasant Grove High School. After being inspired by EJ’s message on the importance of seeking support from someone who is driven to help him succeed, Briley decided to give the Student Success Agency a chance.
Briley was paired with Jacob Smith, a business owner who joined SSA after being involved in supportive organizations in high school. Jacob thrives on supporting students like Briley who have a vision. Together, they are building trust, setting goals, and frequent communication to help Briley make strides towards becoming a business owner.
Building Trust 👊🏾💯
Jacob knows the first few conversations are always important, so he made sure to let Briley know he could trust him. Briley already trusted the program because he signed up through his school, but was inspired after hearing about Jacob’s work and getting to know him personally.
Briley appreciates that Jacob can mentor him and teach him about starting a business and other goals he’s trying to pursue. He also enjoys Jacob’s optimism, willingness to lift others up, and problem-solving attitude. As far as the program goes, he says it’s a valuable experience because “People don’t really get to have programs like this for free — people usually have books”.
Jacob has benefitted too — he said that talking to Briley has helped him clarify his own goals and what he needs to focus on. He’s taken more time to reflect on why he wants to do certain things. He also said that Briley helps him be a good agent by making sure both parties check in frequently.
Setting Goals 📝🗓
After learning about Briley’s goal to start a business, the two worked out a few short-term objectives to focus on. First, Jacob said, they talked about business operations and developing a leadership style. Because Briley is young, personal branding and personal development are both great areas to begin with. They worked backwards to determine what to work on: they both want to start businesses, so they made a list of questions about what they’ve been doing to work on those goals and how that ties into what they can do now.
In addition to that, learning about a business plan is an important step in starting a business, so they drafted a list of business plan questions. Jacob was excited to see Briley taking ownership of his future by scheduling phone calls to discuss the answers. He knows the questions can be heavy and difficult to answer even after college, and was impressed by Briley’s initiative and leadership.
Frequent Communication ☎️⏱
Jacob and Briley talk on a weekly basis and discuss strategies and goals. Briley said that every week Jacob sends a message reminding him that he’s there for him and can help with anything, and he also shares external resources like relevant YouTube videos. The relationship between Jacob and Briley is one example of setting students up for success through realistic goal setting and turning what seems like a far-fetched dream into an attainable reality. Jacob has said he’s excited about their future together, and we can’t wait to see what they accomplish!
