KENNESAW, Ga. | Oct 16, 2019

From entrepreneurs running multi-million-dollar businesses to college students still finding their way, everyone is capable of being a leader. A Kennesaw State University senior hosted a leadership panel recently that he says will convince his fellow students of this.

Entrepreneurship student Christian “CeeJ” Brown hosted the Your Visionary Leadership Panel on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 5 pm in the Carmichael Student Center University Rooms. The event was co-organized by the Kennesaw State Enactus team, which hosted a summit the same day. 

Brown is host of the Your Visionary Podcast, which sees him interviewing local entrepreneurs and other leaders to encourage young people to pursue their dreams. He invited some of his most popular guests to participate in the panel discussion and share their inspirational stories with a live audience.

The five presenters include:

• Mike Russell, president of international technology consulting firm ETS Solutions, and an alum of the Michael J. Coles College of Business Master of Business Administration program,
  
  
• Austin Morris, a 23-year-old entrepreneur whose clothing and lifestyle brand Retrovert earns more than $1 million in annual revenue,
  
  
• Mecca Day, owner of Dayfit Personal Fitness. With 100,000 followers on Instagram, Day has become a social media influencer in the fitness space,
  
  
• Kayla Price, whose YouTube channel Kaypable – featuring vlogs, makeup tutorials, and other videos – has more than 15,000 subscribers, and
  
  
• Mason Dubose, a Kennesaw State sophomore studying biology.

“It was very important to me that each of the speakers be in different areas of their lives,” says Brown, “because I think there are things you can learn from anyone. I like the fact that they are all going different ways, but they are all going in the right direction.”

The event is a live recording of Brown’s podcast, which has released 23 episodes since launching in December 2018. Produced alongside the Kennesaw State chapter of socially responsible entrepreneurship organization Enactus, Your Visionary Podcast has more than 2,500 unique listeners.

As with each episode of his show, the goal of the panel is to help people realize that the ability to be successful is not something they are born with, but something that they can learn.

“I hope they take away that leadership is a universal skill that is invaluable in any industry,” he says, “and it is something you can intentionally get better at. It’s just about getting the right information and taking the right actions.”

Brown’s decision to host a live event came from his desire to create a more “community-focused” episode of the show, and to help raise money for Enactus. Tickets are available for a minimum donation of $1 to the Enactus team, though attendees are free to donate more. The proceeds will help support the development of sustainable student-run businesses.

The panel was the same day as the Enactus Fall Collaboration Summit. Enactus students from 20 colleges across the Southeast were on campus learning best practices to enhance their teams’ success and participating in a career fair featuring top regional employers. The Your Visionary Leadership Panel served as a bookend to that event.

“The summit brings together like-minded students to hone their leadership skills and exchange best practice ideas,” says Enactus team faculty advisor Dennis Loubiere. “The summit and the panel reinforce the entrepreneurial spirit that most companies are looking to hire.”

Brown says that attendees will leave the panel with a better understanding of what kind of leader they want to someday become, as well as the kind they can be today, adding that his favorite quote from author John Maxwell illustrates his goal for the event.

"Leaders must be close enough to relate to others" the quote says, "but far enough ahead to motivate them."