HALFWAY REFLECTION

1.    Tenaciousness is a competency

Throughout this course I have learned how important time management skills are. This class is not one where you can save every assignment for the week until the day of. It takes a lot of discipline to buckle down and decide what ones are necessary to do first and create your own schedule. Sticking to that schedule is the hardest. You really have to be dedicated to wanting a good grade. What keeps me going is knowing that I grade myself; if I do all the assignments and extra credit I will receive an A.

2.    Tenaciousness is also about attitude

The only moments when I felt like giving up were when I was on a week long vacation.  I thought, “I can miss these assignments for the week”.  The reality is, I definitely could have but that would have resulted in an impact on my grade.  Instead of watching TV in the hotel at night, I would just take the time to work on the assignments.  Knowing that you grade yourself is also something that helps pull you through, because at the end of this you want to look back and be able to say that you gave it your all and put in the effort for the A. I definitely have developed a tenacious attitude throughout the course and I think it all boils down to knowing that if I complete the assignments I will receive an A. You just need to be willing to work hard and be determined to put in the required time and work into the assignments.

3.    Three Tips

·      Create a calendar aside from the one on canvas, and set your own due dates so that you meet the required deadlines.  Unlike the other classes I have taken at UF, there is usually an assignment/quiz per week and that is what you focus on. In this class there are around 3 and then 2 posts that you need to comment on; by giving these assignments each their own couple of days where you focus on just that one, it will help with managing time and making sure you meet the deadline.

·      Try not to skip assignments. It is so easy to read an assignment and think “I do not want to have to find 5 people to interview”, when in reality, it is not as difficult as one might think. Also, pay attention to the deadlines. Not all assignments for the week are due on the same day. I accidentally missed a set of commenting on others’ posts because I thought they were due on Friday’s and not the beginning of the week.  Catching this early was beneficial so it did not happen again.

·      Shoot for completing all assignments. If you do, you get an A. There are not many classes at UF where you have the opportunity to grade yourself. At the end of it, you will look back and be proud of yourself that you were able to be determined and discipline enough to do all of the assignments. If you miss a couple, do all of the extra credit. It will quickly make up for those few missed assignments.

TERREDY

Terredy– adjective. Describes a fatal event caused by an act of terrorism

Terror and tragedy

In light of recent events, I changed my portmanteau, a couple days in, to something more relevant. Terredy refers to a tragic event caused by an act of terrorism. Being from Orlando, that is the talk of the town at the moment unfortunately and is in the title of about every news article. At my internship I started throwing this word into conversation during our lunch break. For the first two days, people did not really react because they thought it was a real word. After about 4 days my coworker asked what I was saying. After I slowly said “Terr-e-dy” they thought it was so unique. While they let me humor myself and use the word quite often, I would say they only said the word about 4 times total. After they said the word it usually ended with a stare at me.

(My first portmanteau was siespa, a combination of siesta, the Spanish word for nap, and nap. I put my Spanglish to work and my family caught on right away.)

Need Awareness and Information Search

Interviews:

https://soundcloud.com/jayme-bryant/wheelchair-1

https://soundcloud.com/jayme-bryant/eddie-herrera

https://soundcloud.com/jayme-bryant/ashley-cousin

I interviewed Debbie who has been in a wheelchair for years, I interviewed my Uncle whose best friend from church is confined to a wheelchair and I interviewed my friend Ashley (she was uncomfortable during interview but managed to pull through for me) whose cousin is in a wheelchair and she’s of the younger generation so it was great to get her input as well.

Summary:

     Need Awareness: From these interviews in particular traveling and airports are the times and situation when their need becomes the most salient.  They have time constraints and need to be at places at specific times and they might not get these times far in advanced, so they need a place where they can order it on the spot and it be ready that day and not have to plan so far in advanced.  Debbie mentioned that even bus stops, specifically park and rides, would be a great place to have access to this. Many of them have always known this need has existed because they have experience traveling at a very young age and nothing was every easy, quick or cheap for them.  Their families have also fully supported that this has been a need that needed to be solved more effectively years ago.

     Information Search: The very first thing that most of them do is google, and they find the competitors out there that are not near airports and just spread out sporadically around states. They will try and see if they will deliver to them.  Some of them mention yellow cab taxi service and I brought up the law that was just passed in New York which they believe voices their need that much more. Uber does not accommodate wheelchairs with a button it is something you have to call about and only 1 interviewee had used that before. Many of their needs are specific to what their disability requires whether that be a lift or hand controls, etc. Their friends and family have always been the ones they call as a last resort to come pick them up from the airport so they have first handed seen the inconvenience aspect of it.

Conclusion:

Traveling is where this need is the most prevalent.  The idea of putting this company at Orlando International Airport they think is so convenient and helps end having to plan so far in advance. While they all believe this is a need, they do not think it is a need in every city, specifically small towns.  Cities they specifically mentioned were Orlando, D.C., Philadelphia and Austin.

Reading Reflection No. 1

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson 

What surprised you the most?

Reading the book, about every page surprised me in some way. Most of my preconceived notions about Steve Jobs were proven wrong and it also showed just how exaggerated some parts of the movie are. I think some of the most surprising parts of the book include how he came up with the name apple. I always thought there is no way he is talking about the fruit when indeed he is. When he had to give it a name, he was walking through an apple orchard and deemed the name “apple” appropriate. I believe that it is a shock to all that this apparent tough, successful CEO cried, cried a lot. For some reason I just do not link business man with crier.

What about Steve Jobs do I most admire?

This one is easy, and may seem repetitive.  One of the most successful companies ever is Apple. He turned Apple from a thousand dollar company to a multibillion one in just three years. He has made everyone change their initial thinking when they hear the word “apple” from the fruit to the technology. Almost all of Apple’s success can be credited to Jobs because he was always determined to be in charge and took full responsibility regarding anything and everything about the company.

What about Steve Jobs do I least admire?

I believe I can account for about every Apple fan when I say that I do not admire his reputation. Everyone thought and still thinks of Jobs as a grumpy, angry and just flat out not nice person.  When you own a successful company, your reputation plays a major role in the feedback and even reputation of the company as a whole.  I believe that Jobs solely was responsible for the negative reputation that he holds.

Did Steve Jobs encounter adversity and failure?

I believe one of Jobs biggest failures and successes was the success of Apple. Failure in the sense that it took him away from his family and he regrets not spending time with them, even the way he treated them was poor and when he realized this it was almost too late to try and fix. He also experienced years of horrible illnesses, but those never got in the way of his company. He was always determined to push through and a lot of that motivation stemmed from making Apple even more of a success.

What competencies did you notice that Steve Jobs exhibited?

His motivation as a whole was one of his best qualities whether it was motiving himself to make greater and greater products, motivating average people to being as big of a success story as himself, or motivation his employees to execute his vision.

Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing.

Walter Isaacson does such a great job throughout the entire book maintaining attention and telling a well-written story. The part I find most “confusing” was Job’s view of Android and how that whole scenario led to him believing it was a stolen idea. This part just consciously made me have to focus more.

If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur what would you ask and why?

I would ask Job’s how he kept his motivation high in the beginning and why he always wanted to be in charge of everything.  It is so easy for an entrepreneur to get the success they want and hand it off to employees or others, but throughout his entire time he maintained a major role throughout the whole company.  I would also ask him what he saw the future of Apple to be? I am curious to know what his vision for the company was before he died and if he had any other secret projects that he was working on that were kept under wraps.

The entrepreneur’s opinion of hard work?

I think Steve Job’s epitomized hard work.  It is failing, conquering, and coming back even stronger. It is crying over work and proving to people just how good of a product you have created and why they need it. It is taking full responsibility for any mishaps and always taking charge of their work. I would completely agree with his opinion of hard work because I desire to have his drive.

Idea Napkin No. 1

You

My name is Jayme Bryant and I am currently a Junior studying Finance. A few of my skills do include analyzing statistics and mathematics along with having a lot of knowledge about cars (because my dad owns a car business). My goals and aspirations include but are not limited to, working for one of the Big Four Accounting Firms and starting my own business.  Because my business concept involves all of these skills I can see it coming to life. While it will take a lot of effort and money, I believe it can really benefit a significant amount of people.

What are you offering to customers?

The unmet need is transportation for the handicapped, specifically those confined to a wheelchair.  I am beginning to solve this unmet need by providing a rent-a-wheel chair van at the convenient location of Orlando International Airport, the vacation capital of the world. My goal is to provide the same quick and easy service that everyone receives when it comes to renting a car, and mirror that with a rent a wheel chair van company.

Who are you offering it to?

My demographic is very specific; the nearly 3 million people in the United States that are confined to a wheel chair. Not only that, but they need to have the ability to drive and be visiting/live in the Orlando area.

  Why do they care?

The amount of average people that rent a car on a daily basis is thousands. Myriads of people travel everyday for business, vacation, family, etc.  This includes people that are handicapped.  They need to have the accessibility to rent a wheelchair van at their convenience when they want.  If they are traveling to Orlando and have no mode of transportation a rental van is a necessary need, resulting in people paying for the product.

   What are your core competencies?

What sets me apart from competitors is the location; the number one vacation capital of the world lacks a rental van company in the area. Not only that, but one at the airport.  What I have that no one else has is the same products as every other rental car company except they offer solely wheelchair vans.  Around the clock service and delivery always sets us apart from the others.

All of these elements, if executed correctly, all make for a potential successful company.  The weakest part of this business concept as a whole is my demographic, small and specific since I am not targeting the entire population.  A majority of my interviews and internet research show a proven need for this type of company.  The hardest part is going to be making sure that every aspect of the company is effectively executed.