The recent Eccles Career Summit offered business students motivation and information to push forward toward their dreams. Students engaged directly with top experts on topics key to their success, gaining valuable and unique perspectives offered by the guest speakers. Check out the top five takeaways from the summit:

Keynote: Always be ready to fight one more round: Jackie Freiberg, author of NUTS: Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success.

  • Freiberg has been named one of the Top 30 Minds on Leadership by Leadership Excellence Magazine and holds a Ph.D. in Leadership from the University of San Diego. She shared a deeply personal story about the powerful support her father provided her early in life, repeating his mantra:  “Rest if you must, but never, ever quit.” That advice helped her overcome obstacles like being told she was not a great writer. She went on to write six books. “Always be ready to fight one more round,” Freiberg urged students.

Students also had the chance to participate in four Ted-Talk style lightning rounds:

Doing Well by Doing Good: The Cotopaxi Story: Lindsey Kneuven, Chief Impact Officer at Cotopaxi

  •    Millenials have a growing desire to work for companies that are not only profit driven, but philanthropically inspired as well. Cotopaxi lives by the 1% pledge, which provides transparency to investors and employees regarding charitable works, engages supply chain to maximize positive social and environmental impact and leverages the power of teams through high-impact volunteerism.

Be Present and Purposeful: Mike Sharp, Co-Founder at Jive Communications

  •    Sharp warned students to avoid complacency and to keep a growth mindset throughout their careers. Choices will shape your future: it is easy to get in a rut, take things for granted, and let some things slide. By being an active, purposeful mindful participant — in both life and career — students can avoid these pitfalls. Sharp stressed the importance of continually learning. Raw intelligence does not necessarily correlate with positive outcomes. By keeping a growth mindset, one can continue to improve, develop and succeed.

The Balancing Act of Survival: Lisa Callister, Vice President of Human Resources, C.R. England

  •    Lisa Callister discussed the enormous task of seeking a work/life balance in one’s career. In the middle of her father passing, fighting cancer and working through a custody battle, she managed to pull through stronger than before with these six lessons: Never Give Up, Find Meaning Every Day, Stay Positive, Take Risks, Work Hard and Take Care of Yourself.

Social Entrepeneurship: My Experience Building a “Double Bottom Line” Business: Greg Rosann, President of Graduation Alliance

  •   Founder of the Graduation Alliance, a company that helps at-risk graduate through non-traditional means, Greg Rosann defined a Double Bottom Line Business as one that measures social impact as well as fiscal performance. Rosann’s for-profit business is at its heart a philanthropic venture, and he outlined the importance of finding balance between responsibility to investors while maximizing the positive impacts.

In addition, the day featured six breakout discussions:

  •    Why Technology Matters with Glenn Seninger, Group Vice President NAA Edge Applications at Oracle
  •    Five Tips to Finding and Becoming your Best with Cody Broderick, CEO & Founder at inWhatLanguage
  •    Career Paths and Opportunities in Technology with Eric Stevenson, Technical Manager at Adobe
  •    Staying Young & Acting Mature: Everything I didn’t learn in School with Matt Mahar, Vice President of Consumer Experience at Vivint Smart Home
  •    The Importance of Women in Business, a panel discussion featuring Melissa Byington, President of CompHealth, Mike Weinholtz, Chairman of CHG Healthcare Services, Jennifer Danielson, President of Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Utah, and Allison Wistner, Managing Director at Mercato Partners
  •    Why be a Banker? A panel discussion presented by the Utah Bankers Association with Juanita Damon, Director, Quality Process Engineering at American Express, Kyle Brown, Vice President, Internal Audit at Medallion Bank, Mike Griffiths, Senior Vice President, Region Lending Manager of Zions Bank, and Sarah Holmes, Vice President, Commercial Loan Officer of Town & Country Bank

        At the concluding luncheon, students buzzed excitedly, exchanging lessons gleaned and action plans. Many thanks to the organizers from Business Career Services who presented this concentrated opportunity to engage with positive ideas, hear from some incredible speakers and inspire students as they move forward in their education and careers.