Our mentors are invaluable to our program - whether they are helping us think through our setup for the Trade Show, or acting as sounding boards to bounce ideas off of.

Tuesday we had a Mentor Coffee at Broomtown Cafe in Arcola. We like our bi-weekly Mentor Coffees, because they are opportunities for mentors to drop in on class if they are available, but they know that if they cannot make it, there will probably be other mentors there to help us.

And it's beginning to feel like mentors have a sixth sense of knowing when we need their particular skill set or expertise. Example, at our last Mentor Coffee, Alex & Aiden were trying to drill down on the model of pressure washers they would need for our business. In walked Kevin Conlin and Mike Taylor of Mid-State Tank, both with knowledge and experience our students could tap into.

Today our focus was on making a list of our next steps - the supplies we need to order, the promotional social media posts we need to get ready, the practice we will need, the documents... everything! And who showed up? Leslie Karcher & Brian Beachy from the CHI marketing team, and Hannah Myers from the City of Arcola and former CEO facilitator.

The trio helped us think through our staging at our Trade Show and other events, how to package merchandise, how to make our social media posts stand out, how to get the promotional photos and materials we need, and all of the other things on our to-do list.

Illini Prairie CEO is fortunate to work with the generous mentors who take time out of their busy days to counsel us. We cannot thank you enough!
- Leslie Karcher, CHI
- Brian Beachy, CHI
- Beth Wiley, The 200 Acres/The Great Pumpkin Patch
- Kevin Conlin, Mid-State Tank
- Mike Taylor, Mid-State Tank
- Hannah Myers, City of Arcola
- James Aikman, Aikman Wildlife Adventure
- Jennifer Perrine, business consultant Camelot Virtual Solutions
- Dan Krieder, Broomtown Cafe and Kuhns Equipment
- Kevin Monahan, Monahan Partners
- Jared Blaudow, Dimond Bros. Insurance and entrepreneur