Source: Colin Cavalancia may not be out in the business world just yet, but everybody can learn a thing or two from this aspiring young entrepreneur. He has big goals and a solid plan for reaching each and every one.
Most high school students don’t put much time and effort into thinking about the future. Instead, they are more worried about the here and now. What am I going to do this Friday night? Who am I going to take to the big dance next month?
While there is nothing wrong with having a good time during your high school years, it is also the perfect opportunity to think about the future and begin to develop career related goals.
This is asking a lot of most students, but some have what it takes to get started early in life. It is often times these high school students that turn into the next batch of great business leaders.
Since my high school days are long gone and I grew up in a different era, I wanted to get in touch with a current student with big dreams. This led me to Colin Cavalancia.
Cavalancia is one of those students who never avoids a challenge. He is one of those students who knows what he wants (to become CEO of a successful company) and is willing to work hard to reach his goals.
Answers and Advice from an Aspiring Entrepreneur
As you know, many high school students have a difficult time expressing their feelings and opinions. They find it challenging to answer questions, especially those concerning the future.
This was not the case with Cavalancia. Here is our interview, touching on everything from goals to strategy to advice for others:
1. What intrigues you about becoming the CEO of a large corporation down the road?
I grew up watching my dad run his own business that he created. He was gone a lot and I knew he worked hard. At around 9 he started challenging me to find a problem and create a solution and make it a business. From then on I continued down the path of business. At the age of 15 I got into finance and investing. I bought every business, self-development and investment book I could get a hold of. I even asked for those books for my birthday and investment money in my (what was new) investing account. What really intrigues me about becoming a CEO of a large corporation is the ability to lead and know where I’m going. I’ve always liked having control and knowing where I was going. Business is the right place for me.
2. Do you have a strategy in mind to help you reach this goal? College, internship, etc.?
If anyone plans to become successful, they need a strong foundation. As soon as I started dreaming this I knew I had to have a very strong foundation about business, leading, finance, etc. So I got to work. I bought the books mentioned in the last question and grew from there. Recently it’s been starting to really pay off. I am doing quite a few things at the moment. For first, I’m starting a chapter of Future Business Leaders of America at my school next year, I will be attending the Free Enterprise Leadership Challenge this July 7-11, I will be interning at the financial department of my school next year, and have established relations with the head manager of Oppenheimer down here in Florida (a very possible internship when I’m 18). I’ve also recently started to help create a start-up company that sells ad space on a TV channel which will launch in October. I’m not too sure about college yet as I don’t have the best GPA in the world. Once I started learning business I focused so much on it that I completely pushed schooling away. It’s better now as I’ve learned how to manage both, but those early years have effected me.
3. Do you have any advice for others your age who have yet to set similar career goals?
Never let anyone tell you that you can’t accomplish your dreams. Your dreams and aspirations are supposed to be impossible. Never let anyone tell you different. I fought a lot to be where I am and I know I’ll continually have to fight to go further. My motto is to keep moving forward, never settle. You need to have a strong foundation for a big building to be built. There’s a quote I read in “The Intelligent Investor” right at the beginning of the book and it says “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. – Henry David Thoreau” and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since I was 15.
Final Thoughts
Now, let me ask you a question: does this look like the words of a 17 year old high school student? I think not.
Cavalancia is wise beyond his years and has a bright future ahead. It is my hopes that everybody can learn from this interview, particularly high school and college students.