cc  >> Welcome back to  "Entrepreneurialism in Society,"  this is of course, it's offered  through the University of  Wisconsin School of Human  Ecology.  As we begin I'd like to extend  thanks to our partners in  supporting this course, the UW  office of corporate relations,  the UW College of Engineering  for their technical support, and  financial support from the Ewing  Marian Kauffman Foundation,  which is committed to advancing  academic education in  entrepreneurialism.  In addition, we'd like to thank  our media partners, Wisconsin  Public Television and their  University Place crew for taping  today's lecture.  I am very pleased to introduce  our guest today, Laurie Benson,  she is CEO of Inacom Information  Systems, founded in 1984 Inacom  has grown to over $80 million in  revenue, and 150 employees who  live and work throughout the  state of Wisconsin.  Inacom Information Systems is a  state-wide, women-owned business  specializing in technology  consulting, education, and  procurement.  Laurie serves on a number of  advisory boards, among them  Hewlett-Packard One, Wisconsin  and National Girls'  Collaborative, Stem Pipeline  Champion, Great Madison Chamber  of Commerce, philanthropically  the Henry Vilas Zoo, and Visicom  board.  She also serves the UW-Madison  on both the School of Business  Weinert Center advisory board,  and she serves as co-chair of  our School of Nursing board of  visitors.  She was selected as sales and  marketing executive of the year  in 2004 and Laurie's philosophy  has centered on the golden rule:  living our core values, enabling  others to realize their  potential, and giving back to  their communities.  And that is actually how I first  got to meet Laurie in her role  as leader with United Way.  I've asked her to talk with us  about what it takes to be an  entrepreneur, and there is, I  think, perhaps no one better  than Laurie Benson to tell us. 

 Please join me in welcoming  Laurie Benson.  (applause)  >> Thank you all very  much for having me here today.  When I first heard about this  class when it was organized and  I met with Janan, I wanted to be  a part of this.  And I can tell you that I  congratulate all of you for  deciding to take this class and  for the experiences that you are  having.  We really need innovation and  strong leaders in the non-profit  sector and I'm so excited to be  here with you as we're making  history in the first year of the  program, so congratulations.  First of all, I want to tell you  that when Janan and I first met  it was through United Way, as  she mentioned, and this class to  her is so important.  So when she brings in different  speakers to come into the  classroom, she has such a wealth  of contacts in the community,  but I also want you to know that  it would be impossible to tell   her no.  So as much as I want to be here,  all of us want to support the  good work that you're doing.  I think of myself as a voice of  the ordinary, common person,  without really any special  talents or abilities.  But what I have is I've been  given many different  opportunities, and I have an  unquenchable belief that  everything is possible. 

 So as I speak to you today, it's  in that context.  You don't have to remember my  name, you don't have to remember  what company I work for you, but  I do hope you hear some of the  things I share with you in the  back of your mind as a voice  that encourages you to pursue  your highest hopes, to pursue  your dreams, so that you can be  the most successful.  And that's really the spirit  that I'm here today.  I really don't live in the past,  I've never been more excited  about the future than I am now,  but I'm gonna use the past as  examples only in order to give  you some insight into some of  the lessons we've learned.  So as we get started today, I  thought, as I was preparing for  this, what are you gonna be  interested in?  So I sat in on one of your  classes a couple of weeks ago,  and I want to thank some of your  classmates here who, I said,  "What are you most interested in  hearing from speakers?"  And they told me.  They said, don't tell us all the  details of what you do, tell us  why you're doing what you're  doing, and how you're doing what  you're doing.  So I took that advice.  I also spoke to my stepdaughter  Emily, who's 20 years old, going  to college in Connecticut, and  she gave me very direct feedback  as she always does, so I  promised her I would not be  boring.  As we get started, I have an  agenda prepared, but I do want  to ask, is there anything in  particular that anyone wants to  call out to me to make sure I  cover in my time with you?  Is there anything important?  Okay, well then I'll get started  with the agenda.  The expectations. 

 I expect that you all fully  engage and participate in the  discussion.  And what you can expect from me  will be, I'm going to share  openly, honestly, and completely  with you, so that you can learn  the most from this experience.  I also want to make sure in  expectations that we agree that  this is gonna be a fun  experience for all of us.  I'm gonna learn from you and  you'll be learning from me.  In terms of expectations, I will  also stay on topic.  I'm going to go through the  presentation, my prepared  remarks, they're not very long.  Most CEOs have very short  attention spans so we're very  good at communicating succinctly  and completely and there's gonna  be lots of time for questions.  If you're not clear about  something as I'm going through  it, please raise your hand, call  my attention to it.  Otherwise, we'll wait for the  break that I have for you, the  questions and answers.  And then the next section is,  what is an entrepreneur?  I want to take a few minutes and  get your feedback on this. 

 I'll give you a brief overview  of Inacom Information Systems,  just so you understand the  perspective.  And then Seven Lessons Learned.  "I took the good, the bad, the  ugly, and came up with seven  lessons I've learned along the  way.  I hope you enjoy that and then  we'll have our question section.  And at the end of that, I want  to close, I want to save five  minutes to close, with the  "Secrets to Being Lucky," so  you'll all leave here today  knowing how to be lucky.  Okay.  So let's get started.  Inacom Information Systems is a  business solutions provider,  specializing in technology  consulting, education, and  procurement.  Now, what does that mean?  We really focus on medium and  large-sized companies throughout  the state making sure that their  networks are safe, reliable, and  secure.  We're founded in 1984 by myself  and two partners. 

 We're still involved in the  business today, that makes us 25  years old, and we've evolved  from selling hardware to  business to high-end services,  which is what we primarily do  today.  Janan mentioned what our  revenues are, and we have 150  wonderful employees who live and  work in the Madison, Milwaukee,  and Fox Cities area.  So we are definitely focused on  Wisconsin.  I want to speak for a minute  about our core values.  In the introduction Janan  mentioned that I live the golden  rule, I try to live the golden  rule, and am guided by our  values and we hire people based  on our core values.  Our company is very grounded in  this is how we do our work.  It is, the technology is  important, but our reputation  has come from, I believe, so  strongly, living these values.  We created our values together  on a Saturday morning many years  ago in the late 80s, and our  people are very anchored in,  this is what we stand for.  If you know our core values, you  know Inacom.  So we expect exceptional  performance. 

 We act with integrity.  We share a passion for what we  do.  We recognize the impact of  maximizing the varied talents of  our employees.  We treat each other with  dignity.  We always get better.  We are inspired by each other.  We deliver high levels of  customer and employee  satisfaction.  We have fun.  We actively work to make a  difference in our communities,  which I know is important to all  of you.  In terms of maximizing the  varied talents, you are working  in a team environment in this  classroom. 

 We don't have any prima donnas.  We hire the best and brightest,  but they all share and we do it  for our shared goals, helping  our customers be successful.  So that's how we work.  Now, what is most important at  Inacom?  It can be summed up in three  things.  Our strategies.  The first is attract, retain,  and develop exceptional  employees.  If we're gonna live out those  values, and have happy  customers, we've got to have the  best.  And this requires focus and  attention on an ongoing basis.  Secondly, develop long-term  successful client relationships.  You do things differently if  you're going to be there for 25  years in the end. 

 And you do them with long-term  and short-term implications in  mind.  Then leverage our top industry  standing, which Janan also  mentioned.  We do work very closely with our  national partners in order to  bring better solutions and  leverage back for our customers.  So we leverage that standing to  provide integrated technology  solutions to businesses, to  increase the business success of  our customers.  And I thought you'd be  interested that one of our  largest customers is the  University of Wisconsin-Madison.  We were selected six years ago  to implement the Morgridge  Grant, where this whole network  on the campus was updated to the  21st century network.  And the intention was to make it  the fastest network in the world  in order to support the research  that is transferred around the  world.  So you're our very dear  customer, as well as we work  together in many ways.  So that's just a little history  about our company.  Now I'd like to talk for a  moment about, what is an  entrepreneur?  This is interactive, and I would  like to get, today, I'm supposed  to talk about the topic of what  it takes to be an entrepreneur,  I'd like to ask you, what are  the adjective that come to mind  when you think of an  entrepreneur?  What are some of the adjectives?  You can just shout them out, I  don't think we need a mic. 

 What's an adjective that  describes an entrepreneur?  That would be great.  Can you think of one?  You can just speak it out.  Creative.  We're just gonna make a list of  these.  Pardon?  Passionate.  Organized.  Innovative.  What else?  And all the qualities of  entrepreneurs aren't always  positive qualities.  There's some interesting things  about us.  What are some other ideas when  you think of entrepreneurs?  Go-getter. 

 Ambitious.  Risk-taker.  And two more.  Optimistic.  One more.  Resourceful.  Excellent.  Well, thank you for sharing with  me.  That's a great list, we'll save  that.  And I love the words you chose. 

 It's really the range of an  entrepreneur.  I have to tell you when I was in  college, I didn't know what an  entrepreneur was, and if I knew  what it was, I would not have  gravitated to that form.  Because I really wouldn't have  thought that I had those  characteristics.  Yet, all of us have them to a  degree.  It's whether we choose to act on  them.  Those are qualities a lot of  people have, it's to what  degree.  I thought you'd also be  interested in what the, I asked  this question of the MBA  program, the MBA students at the  UW Weinert Center in the School  of Business and I asked them  this question.  And I got a lot of similar  answers and there's a couple of  fun ones here that I'll just  share.  They like control over  circumstances.  Independent. 

 Not very good employees.  They like to work for  themselves.  And they're able to see  opportunities, which you  mentioned.  Eternally optimistic.  You said that.  Also, calculated risk takers.  There is such a big difference  between risk taking and  calculated risk taking.  Problem solvers.  And in the right place at the  right time.  So I love your list. 

 And I'm just gonna share that  one more time.  Creative, passionate, organized,  innovative, go-getters,  ambitious, optimistic, and  resourceful.  Wow.  That describes an entrepreneur.  We did a fantastic job.  And you can think about that  list now personally and say,  which of those qualities do I  display?  And which ones do I need to work  at a little bit in order to be a  better and stronger leader and  entrepreneur.  And as we talk today, I'm gonna  share my experiences, but I want  you to know I entered a field  that I had no background in.  Starting a technology company.  So, what did that make me do?  That made me ask a lot of  questions.  And I will share this tip with  you that's not on my list, but  the very best leaders know they  do not have to have all the  answers. 

 They have to ask very good,  strategic questions.  And those leaders get their  power from listening.  The answers to others' questions  are really how they learn how to  lead.  So I'm excited to be able to  tell you that.  And it really, really works.  Sometimes you work so hard to be  expert that we forget to ask as  though we didn't have the  answers.  Okay, so now, this is a great  transition into "Seven Lessons  Learned."  I think I'm gonna go back and  just leave "What is an  Entrepreneur?" up.  Because you know I have the  seven lessons all written down,  you don't have to do that, but I  want to keep you in suspense  about what some of those are as  I cover this briefly.  Okay, so first of all, I got my  first job selling cheese at an  oasis along the roadside, the  interstate here in Wisconsin  when I was 16 years old.  I sold life insurance when I  went to college, and I attended  this university and got my  degree in nursing in 1975. 

 While I'm not in nursing, the  nursing is still in me.  I incorporate that into  preventive health into our  business and like Janan said,  the School of Nursing.  But I clearly was interested in  business.  And as I was, when I graduated,  I went to work for the Red Cross  blood-mobile.  How many of you have ever given  blood, if you don't mind?  Okay.  Awesome.  This is so exciting.  I worked for the blood-mobile  for a whole year, and I'll tell  you, it is so inspiring, that  every single person I met every  day was doing something for  somebody else, giving the gift  of life.  Isn't that incredible?  So all I saw was this positive  side of people, every single  day.  Well one day I was working at  the blood-mobile, and a woman  had a little bit of trouble. 

 And they sent me over to spend  time with her.  Well she happened to be the  branch manager secretary from  Xerox, and she said to me, you  know, you should come in for an  interview.  We've had a hire increase for  three years, and we are gonna  hire salespeople that don't have  a background in business and  kind of do this pilot.  You should come in.  So I thought, what do I have to  lose?  So I want for an interview, in  my nursing uniform.  And I got hired.  So I ended up taking the job  with Xerox, and at that point, I  was gonna go back and get my  master's in psych nursing or go  to business school, I mean this  is what I thought I was gonna  do.  And I thought, I'm gonna give  this a try.  Well, I was at Xerox for eight  years.  I started out as a business  salesperson, then I did the  hiring and training for all the  salespeople for Xerox in the  state of Wisconsin, and then my  last job there was running the  branch here in Madison and you  know, I absolutely love that. 

 But lesson number one, did I  think I was gonna be working at  Xerox in those roles?  Absolutely not.  So lesson number one is be open  to opportunities that come your  way.  And by that I mean, you need to  have goals.  All of us need to have goals.  But we've gotta be awake, we've  got to be alert.  You can't have your head facing  forward and not hear what's  going on around you.  By being open to that  possibility I ended up on a  career path that I would never  have dreamed of on my own.  So being open to those  possibilities.  Now, in 1984, we were approached  by a friend of ours who worked  at Wang Laboratories.  And Wang isn't in business  today, but at that time in 1984  they had the highest return on  investment of any corporation in  America. 

 And they had the University of  Wisconsin as one of their  largest customers in the world.  And they approached us about  opening a business to sell PCs  to businesses.  Now at that time, if you wanted  to buy a PC, you had to go to a  retail store.  Can you imagine having to go to  a store to buy equipment for  your business, didn't make  sense.  Well I came from Xerox, and I'm  saying, we sold copiers to  businesses, why can't we sell  PCs to businesses?  So really, that's how this idea  was born.  And in two weeks I submitted by  resignation, took the job to  start this business, and my  partner and I and Lorne  Mortensen started the company.  Lorne was our investor and our  landlord and I understand he  spoke to the class so you know  Lorne.  We were strangers to him.  He took his money, put it on the  table and said, you're hired.  So it was a pretty exciting  start. 

 But I have to tell you, there  were three employees, and I had  never touched a computer, but I  understood the strategy.  And I knew we needed some help.  So we started with 12 advisors  on an advisory board  immediately.  I still remember Tom -- from  Foley and Lardner saying to me,  how are you gonna make a profit  with this model?  Well we talked about it, and  Wang had great products.  But they were selling to this  university and American Family  for the same cost we were buying  it at.   They had a problem with their  model for people like us selling  these products.  So we knew we had to do  something.  I'll tell you, our business  wasn't going very well, and I  remember driving back from an  appointment with my partner, and  I pulled into the parking lot at  American TV and I said to him, I  think I should step down.  This isn't going very well,  there's a lot of people counting  on us, we just don't have this  working.  And I will step down. 

 Well he encouraged me to  continue.  But he said, let's just roll up  our sleeves and revamp our plan.  So we came up with a plan and we  started turning it around.  But lesson number two that I  want to share from that  experience is, use your  resources, that advisory board,  learn from others, there are  many willing to help you if you  ask them.  And lesson number three, put the  success of your business and  your customers ahead of  yourself.  When I was willing to walk away  that day, I was doing that.  That's an example of saying,  maybe I'm not the right person  at the right time.  But always you need a plan to  get through times, and always  put the needs of your  organization ahead of yourself.  It will always serve you well.  Lesson number four. 

 Be objective.  If what you are doing isn't  working, change it.  So we immediately changed our  plans.  Exciting news after that, we  started growing, our business  really took off, we added other  products and services.  We knew that we were gonna be an  organization that was selling  quality products backed by great  service but we needed to expand  our offerings so we got to work  on that.  We weren't gonna change Wang's  model so we came up with other  ones.  And our business really took  off.  We had substantial growth each  year, and I'm excited to tell  you that our biggest year, we  moved from 22 million to 42  million in one year.  And do you know what's  interesting about that year?  We had zero customer and  employee complaints.  Everybody was on fire. 

 Isn't it a lot more fun to be a  part of a winning team?  When things are going great?  You're so busy you don't have  time to think about, we could  use a better process, we could  use healthcare, whatever.  Everybody was on fire.  I hope you all experience that  kind of, this is so  overwhelmingly positive, how can  we handle it?  'Cause guess what, you will, and  you will many times over and  it's very very exciting.  So we needed to get some  funding.  And I walked up the hill,  Lorne's office was on -- street,  he owned all those buildings out  there off the beltline, and I  had to make this walk up this  hill, and I felt like I was  going to visit a king or  something, and I'm going up  there to ask him for money  'cause we need more money to  fund this growth.  And he said, well, what are you  spending all this money on?  And I said, we've got to have  more space, we've got have more  people, and I started listing  all this stuff.  And he said, you know, Laurie,  that's a lot of stuff.  I'm gonna give you this check,  put it in your account, but the  next time you come here, I  expect it to be for an  opportunity.  So what do you think the next  lesson is?  Everything can be viewed as an  opportunity.  Very important lesson, and  actually pretty exciting. 

 We talked about the  characteristics of an  entrepreneur being optimistic,  that's very optimistic.  And you know, we never had to  fear for getting a new order  that was bigger than we could  handle.  Because we knew it was an  opportunity and we could go to  Lorne and ask him for more  money.  It was great.  It was absolutely great.  I don't know if he knew how  powerful that was when he told  me that.  So I do want to say how grateful  we are to Lorne for believing in  us.  We had an idea, and he helped  make that dream a reality.  But so many people, I was  talking to Janan before the  class, so many people in their  lives that's a total stranger  that believes in them.  Someone outside their family,  outside their comfort zone, that  in a few minutes  believes in you. 

 Well, Lorne was that for us.  And he has an endowment at the  university at the business  school today, he gives back to  the university.  He not only believed in us, and  helped us make our dreams come  true but he also instilled in us  the importance of giving and  sharing with others.  So he was a total stranger and  he's literally changed the lives  of all of our customers, our  employees, and certainly myself.  Making sales calls has always  been my very favorite thing to  do.  And I went on a call that did  not go very well.  And I had called on a company  here in Madison, and I said, if  you could just take a few  minutes to tell me a little bit  about your business.  Well, the president of this  organization just looked at me  blankly.  He didn't say anything, just  folded his arms, I knew that  wasn't a good sign.  And it was dead silence. 

 So obviously, I had to figure  out what it was.  So I sat there, but it was  uncomfortable, and obviously  memorable for me.  I need to call him and tell him  he had this impact on me.  And so I said, obviously there's  something wrong, I'm sorry, did  I say something wrong?  And he said, no, no, no, you  just asked me to tell you about  my business in a few minutes,  and I had to figure out how to  do that in a few minutes.  He said, typically, that would  take me much longer.  I said, take all the time you  want.  So the lesson there is, lesson  number six, is listen to your  customers.  Let them tell you everything  they are willing to share.  So that you can listen  strategically like we talked  about and take that information  and do a better job for them,  bring better solutions to them.  Make a difference to them. 

 And they know if you are  listening with that interest  that we talked about.  Plus, it's interesting how many  things you learn letting the  customer talk.  You know one of the ways I could  score today when we do pre-call  planning, is to say, what are  our objectives for this call  before we go on it?  And then, I say, whoever talked  the most in that call has really  benefited the least.  So if we do the most talking, we  didn't win.  We need to make sure the  customer does the most talking.  And you know how you can do  that?  So many people are guilty of  asking closed-ended questions.  Is it this or is it this?  I could've said to him, are you  in a hurry?  When I asked him about sharing  information with me.  No, I just said, is there  something wrong?  Ask open-ended questions.  Don't give them either-ors  because they're gonna give you  either-ors even if it's not  really what's on their mind.  And also when I ask customers  questions, I always say, is that  the most important to you?  Because you'd be surprised, this  has been proven over and over,  the comment they make last is  the one that's most important. 

 It's not one they said right at  the beginning.  So always say, what is the most  important to you?  So make your list, review it,  and then ask, what is the most  important.  Very powerful.  So I hope you can tell I do have  a passion for customers.  I cherish the customer  relationships we have, but I  will never forget that lesson of  listening to them.  I can tell you most of the  lasting decisions, sustainable  decisions I've made at the  company have been based on  information our customers gave  us across a period of time,  across a variety of markets, and  across a variety of sectors.  So I absolutely believe in the  power of that.  And lastly, lesson number seven,  your intentions count more than  your technique.  I will say that no matter what  you do, what roles you play, I  love this generation.  I love working with your  generation. 

 The thing I love most about  being around you is you keep me  relevant by remembering you want  to change the world.  I firmly believe you're gonna  change the world.  You are changing the world.  And I want to go with you.  I think it's so inspiring.  But the only way this happens is  if you let your own sincere  intentions shine through.  So there's all kinds of, there's  classes, there's methodologies  for doing things better, I  believe in learning and getting  the most expert you can be, but  always, no matter what you're  doing, be yourself first, you're  the only one that's expert at  that, and your intentions do  count more than your technique.  I hope today as I'm talking to  you, you know I am here, this is  all about you.  I am here to help you.  I hope that my intention comes  through regardless of how I  explain this or what I'm doing. 

 You know I support you,  so I encourage you to remember  that as well.  So those are quick seven lessons  learned, and let's just review  those.  Be open to possibilities that  come your way.  Look what happened to me, and I  didn't even know what was  happening.  And I'm still open to  possibilities.  I don't know what's next, but  I'm excited about it.  Use your resources, like our  advisory board, like your  customers, like your employees.  Listen.  There are so many willing to  help, but you do have to ask,  and a lot of people hate to ask  for help and I'm one of them, so  learn that one early.  Ask for help. 

 You can ask me.  Ask others.  Put the success of your business  and your customers ahead of  yourself.  That might be hard to do, but it  feels really, and you know it's  right.  It's living those values.  Why would you want to be a  problem?  And in the few instances you  are, it takes a very strong  person to recognize that so you  can contribute in the best  possible way.  Be objective; if what you're  doing isn't working, change it.  Everything can be viewed as an  opportunity.  I think you know I believe that,  and I hope you all believe that.  Listen to your customers, we've  talked about that, and then your  intentions count more than your  technique. 

 So those are seven lessons  learned from my experiences.  You know, you think about, I've  been living for 55 years and I  take everything I know and  whittle it down to a couple of  minutes per decade, but isn't it  cool, you think about your life  story, what are your lessons?  Just take a minute and think  about, what's one lesson I've  learned, each of you, in your  own life?  Just write down that word.  One lesson you've learned from  somebody.  'Cause sometime you'll be up  here giving this talk and you'll  have a head start on your  lessons learned.  I think some of the most  difficult things, or maybe some  of the things I'm not proud of,  are when I've learned the most,  and that's something to  celebrate.  It will really serve you great  as you go forward.  One of the things I'm most proud  of in our business is absolutely  our involvement in the  community.  You know, giving back at Inacom,  you saw it was one of our core  values, it is one of our core  values.  It's not something we do in  addition to our business, it's  an integral part of our  business.  So when we talk to customers, we  say, what can we do with you  together in the community to  make a difference?  Can you imagine how much  different it is to go into a  project with, let's say,  American Family, their team and  our team are working together,  they're talking complex  technologies, say, what can we  do together in the community?  Are we gonna be in a walkathon  on a weekend, are we gonna do  something to get our  manufacturers to give us things  to have giveaways at one of  their social, community  outreach?  To partner with your customers  is something really I hope you  think about doing. 

 The work that many of you will  be doing is out in the  community, but there's  businesses that think like we do  that want to help you, so that's  a two-way street.  Another thing that I'm most  proud of is we have a group,  it's a committee that decides  where our charitable dollars go.  We don't have a lot of money,  we're not wealthy, but we are  generous.  We want to give what we have.  We want to share, to show our  gratitude for our success along  the way and people that have  helped us.  So this committee that wants to  allocate where our dollars go,  our primary giving is United  Way, and we do that because we  clearly want to make sure that  those dollars are spread across  the greatest needs in the  community.  The other thing that we do is we  have employee matching.  We have a diverse culture.  We have all different kinds of  people.  We have core values in common,  but beyond that, it's a variety  pack, and we want that. 

 We want all the stimulation from  diverse ideas.  So, are all these people wanting  to give to the same thing?  Of course not.  So what we've done to accomplish  that is, we allocate dollars  that we match.  So if you give a hundred dollars  as an employee at my company,  our company will match that with  a hundred dollars to double your  gift to whatever you feel is  important.  So it's just a small way to give  people flexibility and choices.  Now, something that I'm very  excited about is, our employees  give over a hundred pints of  blood a year.  Gee, I wonder where that idea  came from?  So, actually it wasn't my idea,  and we give them a day off of  work, full pay, if they donate a  pint of blood.  We have the blood-mobile come to  our office and every other  month, and then, they get a day  off of their choice, so that's  just something we built in.  We have something called the  Monica Martin rule, and this was  in the 80s, one of our employees  came in and she was just  wrought.  She'd just left the state, she  worked for the state, she had a  wedding of her best friend out  of state, and she wanted to be a  counselor at a muscular  dystrophy camp. 

 She didn't have enough money to  go without pay, and she didn't  really want to say no to either  one of those.  So I said, we can't do something  special for you, let's make it a  system.  So now we have the Monica Martin  rule, where any of our employees  can ask for a week off a year to  do community service work.  And that is, we will pay 50% of  their salary over and above  their vacation time to do this.  And the only thing that we ask  is that they check with their  manager so we're not negatively  impacting the workload of their  teams, etc.  But I know a lot of people have  gotten involved at our company  doing AIDS ride, to being camp  counselors, doing things they  never would have done if we  didn't have this program.  So what we're trying to do is  encourage people to have good  habits for life.  And what we've found is, the  more hands-on that experience,  the more memorable it is.  And they want to get involved,  and they feel great about it.  So for me, of all the things our  company does, it's the people  that we're creating, it is  absolute belief that we can do  anything, that we are fervently  dedicated to the needs of our  customers and the needs of our  community, and that we want our  name associated with nothing  less than giving it our best  with our heads and our hearts in  alignment. 

 Making a difference through a  company.  Now I've discovered through the  years that I'm an economic  philanthropist, and by that I  mean, I love to give back but I  believe the best thing we can do  as entrepreneurs is to create a  funding stream to pay for a lot  of the things that we need for  the less-privileged in the  world.  So as an entrepreneur, it's a  privilege and a responsibility  to lead an organization, and I  feel so strongly that if we can  redirect people's time, people's  talents, and people's dollars to  help other, then our business  serves a societal function.  So that certainly ties in with  our entrepreneurialism in  society talk here.  So those are my overall initial  comments.  I hope that by listening to me  I've encouraged you to pursue  your dreams, that you can do  anything, and I'm gonna open it  up to questions now, and then  when we finish that, I will come  back at the end to do my closing  remarks on, I promised you the  secret of being lucky.  So you've been so attentive,  thank you.  >> They are attentive, and they  also know that I'll walk around  with the mic so that anyone  who's got a question just needs  to put their hand up and then,  and you can introduce yourself  to Laurie, and then go ahead and  ask your question.  >> I'm Mitch.  And I'm just wondering how long  it took, when you said you were  having hard times, how long it  took to turn around?  >> Well, that's a great  questions, Mitch, in some ways  our business is still evolving. 

  I will tell you that one of the  ways to measure that, how long  it took, is measuring  profitability.  Our company wasn't profitable  for two years.  And I remember our banker  calling us, he was so excited  when we had our first plus  $10,000 month, it was Valley  Bank, which was then US Bank,  but he called us and said, we  are so excited here at the bank.  And I thought, oh boy, they're  really watching us every month.  But it took us two years, and I  remember that day very clearly.  I will tell you, on getting the  business model right, that took  us longer.  And working in our industry and  a lot of these boards, I went to  the industry and said, what's  happening here?  Help me see the idea, what's the  desired outcome, so we can start  shaping that?  And it was clearly to migrate  from a hardware to a services  business, because as you all  know, technology's pretty  inexpensive, right?  The price of hardware keeps  coming down, and the chips that  are available through Intel and  AMV, I mean, you can hardly  discern the differences today,  it's become so, the computing  power itself.  Really has never has so much  technology sold for so little.  So in terms of the technology,  we had to get off of hardware  and on to services.  And that was a ten-year  migration. 

 So today we have one of the  largest service organizations in  the Midwest, and we also added  education to our offering,  which, we were Microsoft's  worldwide partner of the year in  2004, so each geography in the  world competed for this.  We really evolved that to be the  best.  And I would tell you that that  journey took us eight to ten  years.  During that time, we were  profitable.  We adjusted our headcount, we  adjusted our business model, but  I have to tell you that we did  not skimp on brining on the best  people.  So this is something we learned  from Lorne, always find A  players.  Don't say you can't afford them,  don't say you're too small.  I laugh today because we have  150 people, we get referrals all  the time, almost all our  employees are referrals.  And I hear people in the  community all the time saying,  I'd love to go work for a small  start-up.  When we were a small start-up, I  didn't know people thought that  would be fun to come and work  for a start-up. 

 So if I knew that it probably  wouldn't have taken us quite as  long.  But it's exciting to be part of  a start-up organization and our  evolution continues.  But we have a replicatable model  now, and we did not go into  other markets like Milwaukee or  Appleton until we figured out  that model.  I didn't like to be too long,  but I guess it was just fine in  the long run.  We kept going till we got it  right.  Did I answer your question?  Okay.  Thanks, Mitch.  >> Laurie, some people come and  talk with us as entrepreneurs  who've started their own  business or enterprise, it could  be non-profit as well, and have  really just done it on their  own.  But you had business partners  that you worked with and at  least a start-up team.  Can you talk a little bit about  the different kinds of assets or  even weaknesses that each of you  brought to the table?  Because developing the team that  you're working with and building  with can really be a huge piece. 

 >> I see that right now I'm  working with Merlin Mentors and  that's an organization funded  through the UW office of  corporate relations, where  entrepreneurs can come in with  ideas and ask us for help.  And then we assign them three  mentors who will give them help.  We have people who are in the VC  world, we have business leaders,  we have a whole potpourri of  what you would call advisors.  And what I notice, Janan, most  frequently is, people have a  great idea, they may have an  invention, they may have an  innovation, but they may not  necessarily learn who to put  together on that team.  So that is something that every  business needs to deal with.  I would say it's the top  priority.  Get your partners right.  And talk about core values with  your partners, regardless of  skill sets.  Make a list of what you're good  at.  My passion is helping  organizations and people realize  their potential. 

 So I would put that in the  category of leadership.  So I probably shouldn't be  second in command because I want  to communicate to my people, I  want to communicate to my  customers.  It's an inspired vision.  Where we're going, and how we're  gonna get there.  So given that, who's  complementary, well my partner  Gary Hoffman was very technical.  And he was an engineer by trade.  And I would say, when we gave  the list of characteristics,  optimism, I am eternally  optimistic.  But I am pragmatically  realistic.  If I wasn't realistic, somebody  needs to call me on that.  If you're gonna spend your money  and your resources on a dream  but you're gonna trip because  you didn't anticipate problems,  shame on you. 

 So I look in a leadership team,  even back then, for people to  challenge my thinking.  I don't need people to agree  with me, I need people to  challenge me in a supportive  way.  And then I'm informed and we're  gonna be more successful.  So I looked at my partners very  much, this is why this is a bad  idea, this is gonna go wrong,  I'd be like, great, let's listen  to him.  We'd listen to him for an hour.  He didn't get unlimited time.  But it's really important to  listen to the things that could  go wrong.  So you can anticipate them and  say, "Oh, gosh, let's, thank you  for pointing that out."  So in a leadership team you  need financial expertise.  Clearly, that was not my forte  although today I love reading  ballot sheets.  I can take a ballot sheet for a  company and tell you just about  everything about them without  ever talking to anybody. 

 Lorne taught me that.  And of course, just years of  experience.  You need marketing, somebody has  to go out and package this so  you have a consistent brand.  You need sales.  One of the greatest areas that's  often overlooked is sales.  You know more businesses don't  make it because of insufficient  sales than anything else.  Cash flow is second, but  insufficient sales.  Who's gonna tell your story?  And don't compromise there.  A lot of leaders feel somebody  else owns that responsibility.  I will tell you the top  salesperson should always be the  CEO even if they're not  outgoing, extroverted, their  mere presence says to a  customer, "You are important."  Right?  And there's nothing more that  makes people feel good about  working with you if you say  they're important. 

 So whatever organization you're  in, whether you're the leader of  the CEO, in building that team  don't delegate customer  attention.  It's really, really important.  So in the team, there is no one  right or wrong way, but I would  tell you, make sure you have a  balance of people that will  challenge your thinking.  And that people are able to  execute.  There's no room for anybody on  the team today that can't be  accountable and execute.  You don't want to trip over  yourselves.  So ask questions, find out track  record of success, that's why  what you're doing is so  important.  You're developing a track record  of success and behaviors, things  you've been involved in, to give  you that credibility.  And that's very important in  picking a leadership team.  Today as an employer, we want to  know, what have you done in the  community outside your jobs or  outside your education to  specifically help somebody else?  We want to see people that are  other-focused and I think that's  becoming more of a trend and  it's very positive. 

 Especially in our leadership  team, especially in our  leadership team.  >> Hi Laurie, my name's Tyler.  I was just wondering in today's  downsizing economy, with  everything the way it is right  now, if Inacom was at all being  affected with what's happening  and as a CEO how you, what you  kind of outlook you take on that  and what steps you take in  situations such as this, as  well, I was wondering what kind  of priorities do you have as far  as cutbacks go when you do have  to downsize, what kind of  priorities do you take in a  situation like that?  >> Tyler, that is a question  that's probably on everybody's  mind.  He asked how the current  economic climate is affecting  Inacom, and I'm gonna take the  liberty of just stretching a tad  about that and saying how we  view our peers, too, because  this is an opportunity for you  to hear about that.  It's interesting because people  always say Wisconsin is kind of  "inflation-proof" or  "recession-proof," and this is a  good place to be.  How many of you know somebody  who lost a job?  Almost everybody.  I do, too.  So that's about as  up-close-and-personal as it  needs to be for any of us,  right?  But they won't be stuck there.  There are opportunities.  And at our company, we are not  laying anyone off. 

 We did eliminate one position  that was unnecessary, that would  be a decision we made anyway,  because we're always optimizing  what's our structure, what's our  process.  But we don't have any layoffs.  We're still doing the 401K  match.  We're still giving raises to our  people.  Although, I will tell you,  that's not common.  And we're doing that, not  because we have a lot of extra  money, but because we don't want  to mess with the asset that's  most important, as everything  you hear me say, that's the last  place I'm gonna cut.  Now what we're seeing is  hardware purchases are less.  So if we're gonna implement a  voiceover IP implementation, so  we're combining voicing data, I  always say, like the phones you  see on the show "24."  That's, Madison Area Technical  College here is implementing  Sisco's telepresence, that's the  work we're doing.  Well, the equipment costs are so  large that instead of the CIO or  the IT director signing off on  those, now it needs approvals at  a higher level and the CEO may  get involved in that.  So we're seeing a lengthening of  the turnaround time in  decisions. 

 So we adjusted our budget to  say, hardware, 80 million, I  always say, revenue is vanity,  profit is sanity.  We have a profitable business,  in that 80 million, that number  is gonna come down that year,  we're not gonna do 80 million  this year.  But the profitable piece, which  is our services sector, that is  in higher demand because  companies don't have the  expertise on their team.  They have requirements in IT but  they maybe have laid off people  and they don't have the support,  or they certainly can't afford  to take a project over a  two-year timetable.  They need it down now, so they  bring in experts.  So for us there's opportunity.  You know me by now, I'm an  eternal optimist.  I will tell you, I cannot wait  to be on the other side of this,  which is gonna happen, and hear  some of the phenomenal  innovations that have come out  of this period.  They're, and you people can be  some of the ones that come up  with these.  There are incredible  opportunities, let me give you a  quick example. 

 I just made a call on WPS bank.  Now I called on WPS bank to  connect them to a statewide  resource called WWBIC.  Wisconsin Women's Business  Initiative Corporation.  I'm on their board, what we do  is provide resources to people  that want to start a business.  Men and women.  65% is women, 35% is men.  So they partner with banks, and  I said, well, here's a new bank,  they don't know about us.  They can give loans with very  little collateral.  This is very important to  people, isn't it?  As far as being able to get  access to money in their  businesses.  There are resources that are  giving money. 

 Here's this new bank, I have  never seen a guy so on fire and  so psyched up.  John Hect is his name, from --.  He moved here from Rockford.  I said, that's plenty of reason  to be excited already.  Anyway, he talked about the fact  that they had no bad loans.  And I'm sitting there going,  well, this guy is like out there  with enthusiasm and excitement  about the opportunity.  They can be proactive.  You can start a business right  now, in a niche that is  struggling.  Because if you focus on the  opportunity side.  I thought that was a fantastic  example. 

 Over the noon hour today I just  clicked on CNN for a few  minutes, and do you know what,  they were interviewing  a new bank  out east, and they said, new  banks, community banks across  this country are going to blow  away performance of anybody else  because of this.  I think that's a fantastic  example.  So at our company, it's business  as usual.  We are blessed that we can do  that, we have no long-term debt.  Do you know how, back to Mitch's  question, do you know how long  it took us to pay off our debt?  20 years.  But I'm okay with that.  I can tell you today we don't  have any debt.  So we're able to proactively  build our business.  So it's really important when I  talked about long-term approach  to things, get yourself prepared  for good times and bad times,  'cause I don't want to  compromise making those  decision.  There isn't a call I'm making  that's any different because of  this, other than empathy. 

 And I also want to make sure  that we are listening, 'cause if  one of our customers said, you  know what?  One of our employees said it at  our town hall meeting.  "I'm scared.  I know this company will take  care of me, but I'm in an  account, and they're losing all  their customers.  I'm scared."  So Mike came in and we talked  about it, Mike just got promoted  into our customized education  for different customers.  We need to be in tune.  They got to be telling us what's  going on.  And we need to be able to  interact.  I believe we're gonna get  through this.  I'm really encouraged by the  president's message today.  A trillion dollars can go a long  way, up till now, I'm like,  please don't just throw money at  things, you've got have a plan. 

 Wouldn't it be fun to take these  lessons and apply them to that?  To the economy?  And how our country is  approaching this?  That's part of a challenge I  throw out there.  Let's think about these things,  what lessons are we learning?  Some I don't agree with the  approach, but I believe we're  gonna get through it.  And I want to be one of those  businesses.  I was just interviewed, they  said, what's your number one  goal?  I said, I want to be one of  those businesses that's on a  very short list of companies    that found a way to thrive in  this challenging time.  And in the meantime, we've got  to help people that are out  there and our families in the  community, if they need help, if  the need a place to stay, if  they need food, if they need  help finding a job.  That's the other part, is we  want to help the others because  everybody's not in this  situation.  Did I answer your question okay,  Tyler?  >> You know, I'm gonna ask a  final question unless I see  another hand, and I don't mean  to be ageist about this, because  as I was contemplating the  question I was realizing, it  isn't just something at impacts  young people like those that we  have in this class this  semester.  But because of the changes in  the economy, it really impacts a  variety of people in our society  who are transitioning out of  long-term careers and into  others.  But if you were to contemplate  how your professional world has  changed over your lifetime,  Laurie, you started out in  nursing and you moved into other  areas that hadn't even been  conceived of when you maybe  started your nursing career.  How would you recommend to this  group that they prepare for what  they don't even see as  opportunities out there right  now?  Is it networking, is it  additional education?  How do you look for the  opportunities when you don't  even don't even know how to  spell them right now?  >> Wow. 

 I could answer that in a number  of ways.  If I was in a classroom when I  was in college and heard that  question, I don't even know.  I was just worried about, what's  my next class, when's my next  paper due.  But I did know the word  opportunity, and it always had  appeal.  So a promise I know I made then  was, I didn't want to be boring  to myself.  Or to anybody else, but I didn't  want to be boring to me.  And I know, you might all have  certain days when you're, oh my  gosh, what am I doing, this is  boring.  So I would say get outside your  comfort zone.  There's a very good, academic  answer to your question, but I'm  gonna try to challenge people's  thinking a little bit and say,  get outside your comfort zone.  Go to something almost by  accident. 

 I laugh, if I'm in a hotel, and  there's a conference and it's on  NASA scientific research, I'm  like, I'm going in there.  Because there's no way I know  anything about it, but it's  gonna be interesting to me, and  I can just sit there, I'm  totally freed up, I don't have  any responsibilities, I can just  hear things.  So, and I've done things like  take salsa dancing, which I  don't care if I'm uncoordinated  and trip over myself, I love the  music.  So it's great to do different  things.  So I would say one of the best  things you can do to prepare to  be open to opportunities, don't  go looking for them.  Because if you have it as an  expectation, you're not gonna  find it and you'll always be  disappointed.  That doesn't mean don't have  goals.  But I would say, what you're  interested in, go to a class, go  to a lecture, go to a place,  take a something, the university  is filled with those  opportunities.  I just saw in the paper this  weekend African dancing.  To drummers, here at this  university, you can sign up for  that and people are loving it. 

 Go do something that you say, I  don't want to, I'm not  interested, and I challenge you  just to try it.  Because it's amazing what  happens through the networking,  people you wouldn't meet  otherwise, and have fun doing  that.  But do it in tiny doses so it's  not a project.  So do it in an hour.  Go to something, try it once.  Don't make yourself say, I'm  gonna go for six weeks, I'm  gonna go for six months.  But just go in a room where you  absolutely know you don't  belong, and stay there for an  hour.  Take a class, do whatever.  And something will come from it.  If nothing else, you'll have a  good story to tell. 

 >> I think that's great advice,  Laurie.  On behalf of the students I'd  like to thank you for being with  us today.  And we just have a little gift  for you.  >> Excellent, and can I do my  little secret thing?  >> You bet you can.  >> Excellent.  Thank you, I have a feeling I  know what this is.  Well, you've been fantastic, I  really really hope that the  stories I shared, forget my  name, forget my company, just  hear my little voice saying, you  can do anything.  And I'm gonna close with the  secrets of being lucky, so we'll  be right on time like I  promised.  The secret to being lucky, I  don't have this memorized.  I got this from an -- leadership  newsletter and I can't find it,  but I've saved this, so I always  want to give them credit, but I  don't know who wrote it. 

 So whoever they are, talk about  influencing without the person  knowing who it is, this happened  for me.  Do you know some people who seem  to have all the luck?  They're always in the right  time, the right place, how do  you explain it?  Well, I think that you create  your own luck.  People who do this have certain  traits in common.  Here are some of the secrets for  bringing luck to your lives.  This kind of answers your  question.  Be proactive.  Lucky people put themselves in a  position to win by continually  taking action in pursuit of  their goals.  Have a positive attitude.  It has been proven that we  attract what we think most  about.  People who get the breaks in  life believe in themselves and  they believe in their abilities. 

 They picture themselves reaching  their goals and are sure they  can meet any challenge that  comes their way.  Be prepared.  Lucky people are physically,  mentally, and emotionally ready  to perform at their maximum.  They are learners and hard  workers.  Whatever they are involved in,  they are reaching, practicing,  and listening to others who are  successful in their field.  They realize that preparation  must be done before a fantastic  opportunity comes along.  Display incredible persistence.  Most people want a lucky break,  and they want it now.  If you look at the lives of  highly successful people, you  will find many who have overcome  years of frustration and  setbacks.  In any profession, it is usually  the ones that refuse to quit  when success is nowhere on the  horizon who are the ones who  eventually achieve the  impossible. 

 Pay your dues.  Lucky people are willing to  start small and work their way  to the top.  Create crystal-clear objectives.  Clarity and focus is power.  Lucky people know what they want  to accomplish and visualize it  happening.  Demonstrate flexibility.  No matter how prepared you are,  you can not anticipate all the  setbacks and detours you'll  encounter.  Lucky people monitor their  progress and they make  adjustments.  When a strategy isn't working,  rather than complain, they make  changes.  In addition, they are extremely  open so they are able to take  advantage of new opportunities  which may arise on the way to  their original goal. 

 And be a risk-taker.  Phenomenal success is usually  reserved for those who will  venture into unknown territory.  In the end, successful people  create their own luck.  In the end, the people who do  well are those who look for the  circumstances they want and if  they can't find them, they make  them happen.  Many of these are the words you  used to describe entrepreneurs.  Aren't they?  So you really can create your  own luck.  If we all follow these  principles in our work and in  our lives, I'm certain that the  future will be very bright.  You've been fantastic, I can  tell that you're very attentive.  I hope I kept my expectations,  my commitments in sharing with  you so that in some small way I  can shine that light back on you  and say, please know that you  can do anything.  And these are some of the  lessons that we've learned that  you can apply to your own lives  so that you can realize your  potential and you can live your  dreams. 

 And I will be here cheering you  on.  So count your blessings along  the way and thank you so much.  >> Thank you, Laurie.  (applause)