Earlier this morning, I was on a zoom call with over a dozen student entrepreneurs. I absolutely love doing those conversations, the Q&A and especially the energy that you can feel from their spirit and ideas. During the call, there were three of us talking about financing (I know, not your typically riveting topic) and we were asked about what would one of the key takeaways that we should leave the students with as they prepare pitches and their business plans. I thought for a bit then said, “Always talk in a positive manner. No matter what state you are in or what troubles you are facing, always leave your audience with the positive words and thoughts.” I remember having a college professor once say, “If you had 19 good things happen in a day and one bad thing, what do most people lead with that evening at the dinner table – that’s right, the bad thing.” I wanted to make sure that these budding entrepreneurs knew that being positive and keeping an outwardly facing positive message was key. You never want stakeholders or your competitors to latch on to the negative. It is too impossible to erase the damage from the negative. Every situation has another side and while it may take us an EXTREMELY long time to get to that side, we must always keep focused on where we are headed and not dwell on the negative. We will find the other side, so keep making those positive statements to help those around you through the storm of today. We will get Iowa #Back2Biz – I challenge you to stay the course of being positive and help others along the way.

-Lisa Shimkat