What business or tech classes did you take?
Sports Marketing, Economics, Statistics 

What degree did you get in college?
Finance 

Where did you attend college?
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Who do you work for?
Concord Development Partners

What is your job title?
Vice President of Finance and Capital Markets

What do you do in your current position?
As VP of Finance and Capital Markets my day to day includes contacting investors, lenders, and management companies to create new and foster existing relationships for the acquisition and development of commercial real estate assets as well as create and review financial metrics, underwriting assumptions, and financial reporting on those assets. 

What do you like about your current position?
It's a rewarding, entrepreneurial role within a small company where the team relies on me to execute my responsibilities. The goals of the company cannot be achieved unless I pull my weight and execute. 

What advice do you have for current high school students?
Create a plan for your future - 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, 30 years - where do you want to be and how are you going to get there? The end goal isn't going to be a straight line. There's going to be road blocks and speed bumps throughout your entire career from high school all throughout your professional career. Business takes tenancy, a positive mind, and a lot of luck. Don't be discouraged if you don't get into your dream college or don't land that perfect job immediately. Everything takes time and there's never a lack of development opportunities; you may just need to go outside your comfort zone to achieve it. There's always a lesson to be learned and there is no success without failure. 

What else do you want Leyden students to know?
Don't think that where you're from or your background is indicative of where you're going to end up. I am a first-generation American from two immigrant parents who traveled to the United States. English was their second language, neither went to college in the traditional sense, and although they supported me in my decision making, I was never handed anything. I went on to graduate top 10 in my class at East Leyden, achieved a Finance degree from one of the prominent business schools in the country, and landed a career in private equity investments. Whether you decide to go to trade school, college, the military, or any other industry, success isn't given, it's earned, especially for those in the Leyden community. My advice is to have a plan for your future,  make sound decisions, and never be afraid to have a first one in, last one to leave mentality  - that's where success is created.  

What business or tech classes did you take?
None

What degree did you get in college?
Bachelor of Arts Psychology and Masters of Social Work (MSW)

Where did you attend college?
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Who do you work for?
Head First Health, LLC

What is your job title?
Founder/CEO and Clinical Director

What do you do in your current position?
Head First Health is a group teletherapy practice specializing in supporting Millennial Women struggling with life transitions, anxiety, OCD, eating disorder and trauma.

Clinical Director role--I supervise my team of clinicians as well as seeing clients for therapy along with managing the intake of new clients.
CEO role-- I run payroll, manage our QuickBooks, look at P&Ls, create business plans, bill insurance, network, manage social media, create business documentation, streamline systems, and hire new staff.

What do you like about your current position?
I absolutely love my job! I love the variety, the constant stimulation, and time freedom. I cherish that I'm in an industry (psychotherapy) that has such a deep impact on the lives we work with. 

What advice do you have for current high school students?
I didn't take business classes because I thought "business isn't for me." I commend those taking these classes. I never wanted to work in the business world--it was so contrary to the field of psychology. Now I know that business is threaded in everything we do. Imagine being independent of an employer, whether that be a side hustle, or having your own company--you need to have business acumen to fully excel.  

What else do you want Leyden students to know?
1)There is a dream in your heart--hold onto that. You're important and you matter and why you're here on Earth really, really matters. There is always so much to learn, but the most important subject is YOU. Remember to take time to study it.
2) There literally is a business for everything you can possibly imagine. In HS I thought there were carved career paths, and that I had to choose one. Now I know--you choose whatever it is you want to do, and then get crafty and realize you can make that happen if you're willing to build the business skills you need to sustain your lifestyle.
3) In HS "Business" was such a loaded term for me. I thought it was out of reach-- that it was for cutthroat people who were born into money. It's not. It's honestly not that scary. Running your own business is a step by step formula like anything else out there, the main difference is you have to find the next step, vs. someone telling you what the next step is. Go for it! I believe in you!

Jenna@headfirsthealthcc.com 
IG: @headfirsthealthcc

What business or tech classes did you take?
Keyboarding, Office Applications, Networking, Computer Science AP, Economics

What degree did you get in college?
B.A. Economics

Where did you attend college?
Northern Illinois University

Who do you work for?
General Dynamics IT contractor for NCIS

What is your job title?
Field Computer Specialist

What do you do in your current position?
Manage 16 sites with 50+ users. Frontline support for any outages, issues, requests, special requirements supporting Special Agents in the central US. Responsibilities include Active Directory account management, network infrastructure, briefing leadership, Cisco device management, laptop/desktop/zero client/mobile device issuance and support.

What do you like about your current position?
About 20% travel when necessary to remote sites from Minneapolis to Houston. I manage my own hours and days - more project based. My management is very hands off as long as your assigned Field Office Leadership is satisfied. Great feedback from a good community. I get an inside peek at Federal Law Enforcement happenings.

What advice do you have for current high school students?
Explore as many facets of current tech as possible to find what you may have a stronger interest in. I thought I would need to be able to write code to be successful in this career path, but I was very mistaken. I have taken a liking to networking and cyber security. "If you don't use it, you lose it" - if you learn something, be sure to keep up on any industry news or developments to stay current. Cloud computing and Security will always be relevant.

What else do you want Leyden students to know?
Take those calculated chances. I joined the Navy with little direction after attending college, but I made the absolute most of my military career. I squeezed every single IT training course offered by the Navy and directly led to my current civilian job. Be motivated to improve yourself, whether that be health or career or education. You have to make the change to improve your life.
"Complacency is a killer"

What business or tech classes did you take?
Econ Honors, Entrepreneurship

What degree did you get in college?
Finance

Where did you attend college?
University Of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Who do you work for?
Hightower Advisors

What is your job title?
Senior Financial Analyst

What do you do in your current position?
Produce financial models to forecast revenue and total growth for up to 5 years in the future. Report how current financials stack up against the yearly plan, and provide support to understand +/- variances

What do you like about your current position?
Fast paced, nucleus for corporate decision making, future looking

What advice do you have for current high school students?
Keep an open mind, you may be interested / good in subjects + topics you would least expect. 

What else do you want Leyden students to know?
Ask the questions driving your curiosity. The questions may lead to opportunities you wouldn't be presented with otherwise

What business or tech classes did you take?
Accounting and IT / IS Related Courses

What degree did you get in college?
Bachelor's of Science in Cybersecurity

Where did you attend college?
DePaul University

Who do you work for?
Clarity Clinic LLC

What is your job title?
Systems Administrator

What do you do in your current position?
Maintain services and systems used by all employees, monitor network and device metrics, maintain operational workflows within our EHR to protect sensitive patient health information.

What do you like about your current position?
The ability to have a hat in numerous processes and see direct positive consequences for me and my team's decisions. Making a difference for patients and their positive experiences with the company.

What advice do you have for current high school students?
If you find yourself interested in a skill or hobby, try and make as much time possible to develop it. Those hobbies will eventually turn into passions and you will be able to do what you love every day and will become your livelihood.

What else do you want Leyden students to know?
Surround yourself with people who have similar passions so you can learn and grow together as a team.

What business or tech classes did you take?
Accounting (a few classes), Consumer Ed, Sports & Entertainment Marketing, Networking, Computer Repair, Entrepreneurship

What extracurricular activities were you involved in?
Future Business Leaders of America, Accounting Club

What degree did you get in college?
Accounting

Where did you attend college?
Northeastern Illinois University

Who do you work for?
Genesis Financial Solutions

What is your job title?
Staff Accountant

What do you do in your current position?
I work in accounts payable processing / adjusting invoices, verify vendors are paid on time, verify (or reject) checks through Positive Pay on Wells Fargo, process book transfers and ACH’s,  book the monthly bank fee, book monthly AMEX and AP accruals, run our inter company account to make sure it’s zeroed out (debits equal credits!), and other journal entries as needed

What do you like about your current position?
I work 100% from home! My company is based in Oregon, so yearly I will get to fly to Oregon for a week (paid for!) and see my coworkers. I love that I’m split up between AP and cash, it helps make my job less boring (ha!)

What advice do you have for current high school students?
Pay attention! These teachers are excellent and make a long term impact on their students. The reason I went into accounting is because of Leyden business teachers. I can still remember Mr. P telling us not to call him Steve from Blue’s Clues on my first day in keyboarding class… and it made me want to take every class he taught! Interested in Accounting? I’ve taken 15+ accounting classes to date and not one teacher / professor comes close to the knowledge, understanding, and passion that Mr. Haworth has! So… Take every class you can :) The business world isn’t going anywhere… there will always be a job for you!

What else do you want Leyden students to know?
I didn’t enjoy high school very much… I can’t tell you many classes I took other than the business classes I was in. That’s how special this department is. I graduated early because I was pregnant in High School and wanted to get a jump start at Triton to not become a “teen mom” statistic… It may have taken me longer than I wanted it to, but I am finally where I’ve always wanted to be. I can’t think of Mr. P and Mr. Haworth without smiling and being extremely thankful for them for setting me up for lifelong success in my career. THANK YOU! I now get to work from home and not have my kids in daycare… it’s a dream come true for me.

What business or tech classes did you take?
None!

What extracurricular activities were you involved in?
Student Council President, Class Advisory, Snowball Leader, Color Guard, Access Mentor, 

What degree did you get in college?
Bachelor of Arts in Marketing

What college did you attend?
Illinois State University

Who do you work for?
Gallagher

What is your job title?
Lead Recruiter

What do you do in your current position?
Lead relationships with internal hiring managers and candidates, sourcing/recruiting/phone screening candidates for open Gallagher Client Service Roles across the country, hiring

What do you like about your current position?
I love that I get to develop and maintain relationships with candidates looking for a job to help them find their next career "home", while also being able to use my expertise to advise internal leaders on who they should hire and why. It's so fun to be able to give someone a job offer and make their day!

What advice would you give to current high school students?
I didn't know that I wanted to go into business until after high school, and I am so impressed that Leyden students are smart enough to already know how valuable a business degree is and get started so early! It's so important to be able to better understand how the world works, because everything truly is a business. You're giving yourself an additional edge to learn about the business world that most future business majors don't get until they get out of their General Education classes in college - so absorb everything! 

What else do you want Leyden students to know?
Biggest advice going into college as a business degree would be how crucial internships are during college.

What business courses did you take in high school?
A lot of Accounting along with almost every business and technology class offered.

What sports or activities were you involved with at Leyden?
Baseball - Football - Snowbaording - Peer Leader - PE Leader - FBLA (President) - Choir - Theatre

What is you undergraduate degree in?
Marketing - Professional Sales Certificate

What college did you attend?
Northern Illinois University

What is the current company you work for?
Home Advisor

What is your job title?
Sales Consiltant - Sales Executive Leadership

Please describe what you do on a daily basis at work.
Cold Call 200+ Daily
Contact Business Owners
Create Public Profiles

What do you like about your current position?
I am able to contact business owners with a way to bring new business their ways and help them grow their owner base.

What advice do you have for current high school students taking business/technology classes at Leyden.
The material that you are learning in your business and tech classes is very useful to your future. These classes will help you exceed in college and ultimately in your career. Coming from a Leyden classroom you really are learning from the best and are exposed to what goes on in the real world.

What other information would you like to share with Leyden students? 
In high school the classes you take dont seem that big of a deal - but it really is. Of course have fun but be sure to actually show up for class and participate. The real world is a real culture shock and being prepared is important. Be sure to be in extra curricular courses as it helps when applying for Colleges. You define your future - no one else so make sure to do what it is you want to do! Dreams are merely a dream until it becomes a reality and dreams are accomplished every day. Be one of those!

What business courses did you take in high school?
Introduction to Accounting and Advanced Accounting

What sports or activities were you involved with at Leyden?
Volleyball, Basketball, Soccer, L Club, Spanish Honor Society, and Band

What is your undergraduate degree in?
Bachelors of Science in Finance

What college did you attend for your undergraduate degree?
University of Illinois at Chicago

What is the current company you work for?
Northern Trust

What is your job title?
Senior Fund Accountant

Please describe what you do on a daily basis at work.
I calculate and deliver net asset values for various fund products on the 3rd party unregistered team on daily basis. I deal with different types of assets such as bonds, equities, futures, currency contracts, etc. Performing data for individual manager portfolio by processing and reconciling on our accounting systems. Review transactions, perform maintenance on assigned accounts, checking and correcting discrepancies. Audit investment reports, cash statements, and supplemental reporting to verify data is posted correctly. Ensuring reports sent to client are accurate and sent within scheduled timeframes. Run daily valuation audits, investigate and resolve cash/position exceptions.

What do you like about your current position?
I really love that i get to see so many different types of assets that exist in the investing world. Seeing so many different funds and clients that each have their own strategy.

What advice to you have for current high school students at Leyden?
Definitely take advantage of the Business classes that Leyden has to offer. It's a good way to explore different options before deciding what you really want to do. The teachers there are amazing and helpful.

What other information would you like to share with Leyden students?
Take school seriously, take as many classes as you can, and challenge yourself. Leyden is a wonderful school to prepare you for college and life. They have great teachers and you will learn a lot from each one of them. Any advice the teachers give you take that advice because it will come up later in life. Lastly, make sure you network, it's very helpful to talk to others that have different job backgrounds. It's helpful on deciding what you what to do.

What business courses did you take in high school?
I mainly took IT courses such as digital literacy, Intro to networking, and TSI.

What sports or activities were you involved with at Leyden?
I was involved in athletic PE and the engineering club.

What year did you graduate Leyden?
I graduated in 2014.

What is the current company you work for?
I work for Grosvenor Capital Management, a company in downtown Chicago.

What is your job title?
I am an IT Support Engineer.

Please describe what you do on a daily basis at work.
I help monitor and maintain computer systems and networks. I configure computers, diagnose hardware and software faults and solve technical and application problems, both over the phone and in person.

What do you like about your current position?
There is a lot of things I like about my job. Great compensation, up-to-date technology, professional environment, and the resources and tools to help you move on up in your career.

In a short paragraph please give advice to current high school students taking business/technology classes at Leyden.
Best advice I can give anyone is to learn soft skills. You can't always be the smartest person around but you can stand out by the way you interact and communicate with people. Also, make it clear you are eager to learn and move on up. Coming from someone without a college degree, I managed to make my way up by showing the right people that I was serious about learning and working hard. Stay open-minded and never give up.

What other information would you like to share with Leyden students?
Get as much experience under your belt as possible. Whether it is through volunteer work, internships, contract work, etc. The world is competitive and having any type of experience will help you tremendously. In addition, have a positive mind and a great attitude and you'll do just great!