Kristi Gustafson

The article in our reading that I learned most from is titled, "Identifying and exploiting the right entrepreneurial opportunity..for you." This really got me thinking about my dreams and how to turn them into real, attainable goals. The first goal is to identify an idea that addresses some social need. I can see the value in this concept, because if the idea does not connect with or elevate with someone, than you will not gain any traction in your idea. I am a hand letterer that can do calligraphy, chalk lettering, sign lettering, and digital lettering. I opened an Etsy shop with products that followed all of the current trends and I thought I would do so well. But I didn't because I was in a sea of the exact same fish. Nothing set me apart. My product did not elevate anyone or meet a social need. This is where I need to dig deep and ask what can I offer to the world, and what does the world need from me. There are two other parts of the equation w...

Virtue and integrity are vital to an economy because the laws that the markets are governed by depend on these virtues. If they do not stay intact, then the entire structure of the market will become so unreliable that no one will trust the system. If this happens the markets will empty. We are getting dangerously close to this scenario. The main reason for our increasing distrust is because business leaders are putting enormous amounts of priority into the shareholder value. Playing the game with these new rules motivates companies to make decisions that center around a company's share price. These decisions could increase profits like cutting expenditures, but at what price!? We are seeing that businesses are putting more value in taking care of itself before caring for others. Now is where virtue and integrity need to insert themselves onto the scene if we want to prevent a deteriorating market. We are seeing a surge in this somewhat within the last ...

What is your attitude toward money? It is interesting that this question comes up this week because after visiting Utah for Thanksgiving, I realized how much my attitude toward money was influenced by my family. My family consisted of seven children and a stay at home mom and my dad whose income fluctuated quite a bit. We had enough, but not a lot. Money was seen with spite and prejudice in my home. I guess not having money is an easier pill to swallow if it is seen as evil. Even now, my siblings and parents all have good incomes but conversations I heard this week made it obvious that their attitude toward money has not changed much. I truly have a fear of money, but have been able to change a little thanks to a husband who has a healthier relationship with money. How can your view of money affect the way you live? With a healthy attitude toward money, you are more knowledgable about how it can not only benefit you but also those around you. If you are scared of it ...

This week's reading assignments were super inspiring to me. As I look through my notes taken, I chose five main concepts that I would like to implement into my daily routines.  I will include some ideas on how I can integrate them successfully in order to work towards my goals. -Charity is something one becomes.              President Oak's talk, The Power to Become, has always been a favorite of mine because I love the concept of progression and process. I would like to focus my time and thoughts toward becoming more charitable. I will do this by including this in my daily prayers, and integrating charity in everything that I do. -Make a practice of innovating, taking risks, and showing creativity.              I am going to make a goal to come up with a new piece of artwork every week. I have not been creating much at all since I started school and I can tell that my soul is starving for some cr...

One of the readings that really stuck out to me this week was Elder Bednar's address to BYU-I titled: A Disciple Preparation Center. He compared the similarities between the campus of BYU-I and the MTC. Some of the similarities includes that it is isolated from the world, it is a focused and intense time of study, there are specific requirements to attending there with a standard of worthiness, and temple learning is present. I could not help but think that this comparison could also be applied to creating this Disciple Preparation Center in our homes. I think these were such valuable steps that should be applied to help create an atmosphere of learning for me and my family. The very next reading we had was titled, "A Message to Garcia". The powerful truths found in this text was a great bridge into how to implement these previous ideas into our homes. Some of the main take aways I learned from is that the ability to execute is more valuable than education nor talent. T...

The content for this week's entrepreneurial class is all about overcoming challenges is business. I think for most of us in this class, our biggest challenge is to find the courage to start. I watched a youtube clip this week from one of my favorite youtube channels called The Bucket List Family. This is a family from Provo who travels the world and documents their journey. This is all I had known of them. I had no idea the journey or the reasons behind this decision. I figured they were a beautiful family that could pull off the trend of youtube stardom but I learned more of their story this week. The dad of this family just spoke at BYU about his entrepreneurial journey and it was fascinating. He talks about his start up company he created in his small provo apartment and his journey from selling that to creating this youtube channel. I was so impressed with his confidence and willingness to move forward with what in his heart felt right. Here is the link  https://www.youtube.com...