Mansel 1 Kianga Mansel WII Seminar Amanda Informal Interview Asked to interview someone who drew my interest, I chose

Bjorn, who is the IT Specialist at NCPC. As an IT person, he takes care of things dealing with technology and system building. This includes maneuvering and setting up internet servers, building computers, controlling phone lines, to ensure that all calls are going out, and just make sure everything that is technology based runs smoothly and without delay. Bjorn has been employed with the NCPC staff for a total of seven years. His educational background includes him attending Texas Christian University, where he obtained his Associates degree. His major was business management and, as mentioned by him, he would have never thought that he would end up as an IT Specialist. When asked, what made him choose this career and stick with it, he replied, I didnt, it was chosen for me, the career chose me. Prior to working for NCPC, he was an office Manager for Social and Scientific Systems in Silver Springs Maryland. There he became bored with his work. This led to him being trained and promoted, for free, by someone in a superior position. After the training, he began traveling from company to company to assist them with their technological problems. Admired for his work at NCPC, he was asked to stay to be their permanent IT person, and, so, there he stayed. As mentioned before, he was offered the job and training to be an IT Specialist, by someone in a higher up position, whether he chose to accept this opportunity and continuing working here was totally up to him. Other than working in Silver Springs prior working at NCPC, he worked at three other places and attempted to start another. Bjorn had dreams of having a daycare that was stationed in government

Mansel 2 buildings, to assist those workers who had trouble finding an affordable and convenient daycare for their children. The only thing that was stopping him from completing this dream was someone who had a degree in Early Childhood Development. At the time his sister his sister was the one who obtained the degree. Promising her that she would not have to do much and he would take care of everything because he loves kids and has the gift to work with them, she declined, which led him to his next job idea. Bjorn also loved to cook so this led to him becoming a baker in a family owned Bakery that allowed him to practice, support, and build onto his cooking skills. Here he worked for three years and ended up leaving because he could not take it anymore. From this experience, he learned that working with his family was not such a good idea and he then advised me never to work with family because it may not end in a friendly matter. Following working in a family business, he then started another business that only involved he and his wife; and which consisted of them exploring their entrepreneurial skills. The two started an independent carpet cleaning business at which lasted for about four years. They juggled do this while working their daytime jobs. He was relieved that this job was not only successful but not as stressful as working with family members. And the third job of course was the Management position that was held in Silver Springs Maryland which was where he worked for four years until he was promoted. Being that I am in the Early Childhood Education field, in which I would like to pursue the ownership of a childcare establishment, I asked if someone was starting a new business and was not as technology savvy as himself, would he be willing to assist them in creating programs, security systems, and educating them on what may be needed based off of his expertise. He answered, Yes as far as my expertise goes, but there are some things that I dont do and some things I dont want to do; do you need me to elaborate? I answered yes and so he went on to explain, saying, Okay, I dont install security systems but basic security, I do, I do not create computer programs, and cyber prevention because it gets deep. I set up servers and networks but no programming. I was almost crushed when

Mansel 3 hearing this but the questions did not stop there; I was determined to find something that he did that would be beneficial to me. So I then asked what would be the recommended programs or technology services that he would suggest me to use since I am looking into having my own business. Bjorn said that he would definitely recommend a quick books account, accounting program, Quick in, and Internet. After telling him that I was looking into doing the Montessori way of teaching to support the unique facilities, he then suggested that, in that case, I would in fact need a computer server to ensure that there would only be one network. He also stated that the accounting program should be hard to find and they are available at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, and other places that have electronic or technology based materials. He also mentioned that I may need an accountant to handle, or at least to help me and educate me on paying taxes and managing money. He informed me that he had an accountant for about eleven years and he made everything so much easier for him. Going out into the world, planning to have a career in entrepreneurship, I wanted to see what advice Bjorn would have for me since he is filled with experience and knowledge. As perceived, he had plenty of great advice, to provide, based on his choices in life and happenings. For example, he told me to be careful of taking advice from just anyone because all advice is not good. He continued on elaborating, by saying legal advice is good, friends and family no. This was said because from his experiences with the different careers, he has learned that when taking the wrong advice can have you in a bundle that you may not be able to get out of. He also went on to add that I needed to be prepared to always have my business on my mind and know that it is stressful. Since I have not chosen a location to build and grow my dream establishment, I asked Bjorn what would be a good area or location to start my place of business. He then began to ponder on the names of cities, areas, and possible places that may contain a large number of children. Places, such as, Charlotte, NC, Atlanta, GA, and also urban areas came up, as being good designations. He also noted

Mansel 4 that I would not want to have a childcare business near an area that has large amounts of college or university students because theoretically, there may not be large numbers of students with children. Overall, I was given some great pointers and will be sure to keep everything that was said in mind. Because he was a man who had a number of career experiences which made him the ideal candidate to interview. His advice and wisdom was on telling and he helped me come up with a number of answers to questions and thoughts that I obtained, concerning starting a business.