Bill Heinz has been around the running of businesses his entire life. He grew up in a small family business – initially run out of the home, with a telephone in every room (pre-cell phone era.) After graduating with an Electrical Engineering degree from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, IN, and going to work in the manufacturing sector for several years, he returned to New Albany, IN to a now grown-up, healthcare construction focused family business. While there, he completed an MBA from Indiana University. After 12 years, he ultimately decided to spread his own entrepreneurial wings, left the family business and worked as an independent business consultant. After going to work for one of his clients for a few years, Bill left and bought a foreign language instruction company. While it may appear inconsistent with his past ventures, Bill studied abroad for a year in college – Elektrotechnik at the Universität Stuttgart in Germany. While there and in his early manufacturing career, he traveled around the world, which sparked an interest in the field of International Business. Shortly after buying the language instruction company, he co-founded an international business non-profit company called Amazing Global Marketplace, that teaches high school students about International Business opportunities and skills. Through this experience and teaching college business classes as an adjunct professor, Bill discovered how much he liked to teach others. He has done so in corporate environments, school environments with AGM and Junior Achievement, and even Sunday School. He has worked in every size of business, both for-profit and non-profit, publicly- and privately-owned, service, manufacturing, and construction. Over the years, Bill has learned the value of learning from others, sharing with others and solving problems alongside others to enhance one’s personal and professional life.
This book is the culmination of some of the lessons he’s learned about business education, the risks and rewards of running and growing a business, and working with others. His dream is to inspire middle and high school kids to pursue their entrepreneurial and professional dreams with realistic expectations and preparedness.