Business Fraternity Brings in OU Alum Self-Starters

Alpha Kappa Psi brought the success stories of two Ohio University graduates and one individual now employed by the Cleveland Indians to inspire budding business students at their annual Speaker Series Saturday.Brandon Logan, a 2012 graduate, is the CEO and co-founder of CreMedia Productions. He and two business partners began the company while still in school.“We did web design in our free time, we did video production,” Logan said, “And then we realized ‘Hey, we could make money doing this.’”Logan’s CreMedia team now works out of Athens with clients in areas around Columbus and Southeast Ohio.He stressed the option of self-starting a business that many graduates leave untapped, opting instead for working towards success through ladder-climbing within a corporation.“It might be scary. It might be something you’ve never considered before, but it’s not out of reach,” Logan said. “It’s not anything that anyone in this room could not do.”The opportunities Logan spoke about are what Alpha Kappa Psi hope to explore when bringing speakers to their fraternity. New perspectives as well as networking opportunities make Secretary Danielle Kelly believe such events beneficial.“It gives us more opportunities,” she said. “It gives us a chance to hear what we can do.”Ryan Robbins, the director of Premium Sales and Service for the Cleveland Indians, also spoke to the group. He emphasized how sales skills have helped him and his fellow speakers evolve their areas of interests from hobbies to careers.“Everything you do, whether it’s multimedia, websites, or presentations,” he said. “I sell every day. I’m not in sales; I’m in management. But I still sell every day.”Another common theme of all three speakers was the importance of hard work that is at times relentless, be it working in an already existing company or through self-entrepreneurship.“You’re never really ‘off,’” Robbins said.Ian Bowman-Henderson also graduated from Ohio University in 2012 and is now the president and co-founder of Flare Code Inc., creating web applications and mobile websites on a low-cost, enterprise-size scale.Liking what you do is imperative to success, Bowman-Henderson said, stressing that the business world is already tough enough that work without passion will fall flat.“You’re going to have to really fight to show that you are the best. And it’s going to be a real dog fight,” he said. “If you don’t like what you do, you’re going to fail.”A similar theme was weaved through Logan’s presentation as well.“The enemy to you and your life is boredom, because if you’re bored with what you’re doing, you’re not going to like it,” he said. “You’re not going to be invested.”