What My Secret Sauce Is...

My Human Capitals:

1) My outstanding work ethic- I've always strived to be the best and to work the hardest and I also have had a job since I was fourteen. I love the feeling of accomplishing something and achieving my goals.

2) My Athletic Capabilities- Growing up with two brothers, I have always tried to be more athletic than them, so I have always played more than two sports per season throughout my school years and always had to succeed in every sport. I played track, volleyball, basketball, flag football, surfing, and wakeboarding. 

3) I always take a different route to be unique- Throughout middle school and high school, I never took the common second language, Spanish,  I always wanted to try something different and be unique, so with only four people in my class, I took Chinese and American Sign Language. Now I am also Bilingual in English and ASL.

4) I try to be a leader, not a follower-  Growing up I went to eight different schools and did not care to follow the schools my friends went to. I always tried to go to a different school to meet new people and eventually all my friends started following my lead. 

5) I think outside the box- I always try my best to achieve my goal and be the best teammate on the team. I am very competitive so I always try to think of a different way to go about things, especially issues and opportunities. I also have persistence when it comes to thinking outside the box which helps me achieve this.

Interview #1- My Father, Michael Sages

https://soundcloud.com/user-6693523/michael-interview

Summary: My father always said I am very loyal when working, I actually use to work with him so he knows my string work ethic the best. 

Interview #2-My Boyfriend, James McGrath

https://soundcloud.com/user-6693523/james-interviewww

Summary: My boyfriend of four years knows I much I try to achieve my goals and how I have to sometimes take a unique route to do this. 

Interview #3- My Mother, Colleen Sages

https://soundcloud.com/user-6693523/country-club-dr-3

Summary: My mom also pointed out some other skillsets, such as being persistent. I always try my hardest and can be very persuasive when trying to achieve a goal.

Interview #4- My best friend, Alex Harrison

https://soundcloud.com/user-6693523/alex-interviewww

Summary: Alex made some really good points. He knows how much I love playing sports and that I was MVP for every sport I played and can take this achievement and these skillsets learned by playing to my career path. 

Interview #5- My older Brother, Reed Sages

https://soundcloud.com/user-6693523/new-recording-2

Summary: This interview with my brother was very interesting just because I was curious about what he was going to discuss. I think he made some unique points and I am surprised with what he had said. I agree that I do try my best to be a leader instead of a follower when it comes to approaching a lot of my ideas, which is the best way to achieve certain unique goals.

Reflection: After hearing all their different responses, they all agree with some of my human capitals I listed. I think they all think the same things about myself that I do because they had similar responses. I did not notice any major differences and I would not change anything to my list that they said about me. I think they made strong points that actually correlate to my key points as well, so I would not make any changes to how I view myself and my skills addressed above.

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior 2

Service to prevent the spread of pollution in the ocean.

• For this assignment I still chose people who best fit the segment for my opportunity,  I interviewed two of my friends who visit the beach a lot, Alex and Christian, and then also my father, Michael. I asked very similar questions.

Interviews:

1) Michael- took the longest, with roughly 15 minutes

2) Alex-roughly 10 minutes

3) Christian- roughly thirteen minutes

The alternatives I came up with were helping this unmet need in other ways than my solution, a few ways, such as organizations and volunteering to clean up the beaches themselves. The best alternative they liked the most was the one that did the most to prevent people from leaving their trash. All three agreed that they were sick of cleaning up after people and that they liked my main idea to provide a service of banning all non-degradable items to be the most effective. They picked this to be the easiest alternative and the most effective and is why they chose it. Two people in my interview already did volunteer and they agree it is not the best way to take action towards this unmet need. There will be advertising to support this action and also fundraising to help gain peoples interest in this issue. These interviews opened my eyes to what the customer will want out of this, some might not be as interested that others and that is okay. As long as more people are knowledgeable about this issue and grasp how important it is to this Earth to keep it clean. Most of the people I interviewed think this is a great idea and a great start to help save people from polluting and think this service is the most effective way. 

In conclusion, based on these past interviews, the people who go to the beach on a daily basis understand why this issue is so important and also do not understand why people can be careless about their trash. My father, who I interviewed actually started an organization for this since he grew up on the beaches, and thinks this service will truly benefit everyone in the future. To summarize, the people I am trying to reach the most with this service are those who are not aware of this issue and actually interested in learning more about how each and everyone can help this process go a long way. Most of the people interested in buying this are those who have already volunteered and are knowledgeable about oceans and pollution so I want to reach farther than them, to the people actually creating the pollution. 

Halfway Reflection

Part 1. The behaviors I have developed to keep up with this class are to try to work ahead. I pretend every assignment is due Thursday at 12pm instead of Friday, that way I can always turn assignments in on time.
Part 2. I have had a couple moments when I wanted to "give up", although I really enjoy this class and want to become an Entrepreneur. It is hard being home while taking summer classes. There is a lot on my plate with family events and also taking four classes right now, so I try my best to make sure every assignment is complete before the day it is due. These past two months have been difficult because it is hard dealing with this virus while also focusing on what I want to do with my career in the long run.
Part 3. Three tips: 1) Always work ahead in this class to make sure you meet every deadline 2) Prepare yourself for the Cupcakes, make sure you have notes and listen to each and every video 3) Make sure to reflect off other people's blogs when reviewing them so you can learn from their mistakes and also their ideas.

Reading Reflection 1

For this assignment, I read "Miracles Happen" by Mary Kay Ash, I chose this entrepreneur autobiography because of I have heard of it before due to Mary Kay cosmetics and I actually use these skincare products and makeup. I am very inspired by Mary and how she always wanted to live life by the fullest.

• What Suprised me the most is how women back then were not allowed to be successful and start their own businesses but this did not stop Mary Kay from living her dreams. 
• What I admire most about Mary Kay was her positivity throughout her life that she can do it, that nothing stopped her, and that she didn't feel discriminated by anyone. I also admire her mother that encouraged her to become a leader and gave her the power she needed to start something so risky. 
• Throughout the book, Mary Kay discusses ways to become successful so others can do it too. I think what she is doing is trying to encourage others as well, but I think it is way harder in this generation so some of the ideas were a little hard to grasp. I admire Mary Kay in every way and her story from start to finish is both incredible and inspiring, but it is still very hard, as a women, to be a successful business owner. 
• Throughout the autobiography, Mary Kay inspired me with every story she told to get to her dream but I also found it scary and risky to start something so difficult in such a horrible time period for women. Most businesses didn't allow women to do what she did, but I admire her for doing it anyways. Mary Kay always wanted to live life to the fullest and to follow her dream, I believe that is why she became so successful. There was nothing to not admire about Mary Kay, she was a very successful and grateful human being. 
• Mary Kay did encounter a lot of difficulties, she put her whole life savings on the line to start her business and achieve her dream, which was a huge risk. She started by owning a shop with her son to sell the products. She also was a woman, which made it hard for her to get accountants and investors for her cosmetics.
• Mary Kay had a lot of competencies, such as strong confidence, work ethic, and also wanting to achieve her goal, nothing stopped her. The way she handled her business with not a lot of help, truly showed her optimistic character. With only her son working with her, she had a lot of pressure and worked tirelessly throughout her career. 
• Nothing was truly confusing about this book, I was more confused on why woman had such a hard time back then starting a bussiness and how this had such a huge impact on Mary Kay. Also, the whole adoptee program was a little confusing on how cosmetic business owners can recruit anyone from anywhere. 
• If I could ask Mary Kay two questions, I would ask, "How were you not discriminated by others to achieve your dream?" I would ask this because a lot of the times, I quit something I want to do because of how other people view me and I admire how Mary Kay was not bothered by these people who judged her and discriminated against her. I also would ask, "Was being a women in the workforce a huge impact on your decisions and other peoples decisions to work with you?" I admire how much time and effort Mary Kay had put into her work while still facing sexism and it must have been hard being a woman through all of it. I think her family truly helped her get through a lot of these obstacles.
• I really admire Mary Kay for achieving her goal and staying optimistic through it all. It encourages me to not get discriminated against what other people think and I believe that every woman is capable of achieving their goals as well if they work hard enough for it. 

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior 1

Segment:

• The segment I have chosen for this assignment is people who have both heard of this issue and those who have not, to find their interests. For this assignment, I interviewed three local people that live in my neighborhood, which is located near the Jupiter Beaches. These three people, Michael, Reed, and Julia visit the beaches on a daily basis and have grown up living near these waters. Each Interview lasted roughly fifteen minutes, Julia's was a bit longer due to the fact she did not know a lot about our oceans in regards to this issue,

Here is what I took notes on during these interviews:

• I started off with the same question for each person, "How much pollution do you see on a daily basis at the beaches?" When it came to this question, they all stated roughly the same response that it was too much trash and that they couldn't count but said around a hundred pieces. Then I started to discuss this unmet need to see if they had it. Each of them knew that pollution was a major issue but thought my service could seriously help in the long run. They wanted to learn more about this issue and when I told them about the marine life and the plastic ball located in the Atlantic Ocean the size of Rhode Island, they wanted to support my solution even more. They knew organizations had already existed but they think my service will have the biggest impact on our oceans and started to realize how much they truly desired this unmet need.  

Conclusion:

• Overall, when conducting these interviews, I felt more confident about this unmet need and want it to exist even more knowing people are interested. I know there will be a lot of obstacles when it comes to presenting this topic to people but I think it will be worth it in the long run, just like my interviewers had said. I believe in the future, this opportunity will have a huge impact towards many people and marine life in a beneficial way. As time goes on and more people get educated on our oceans, the more people will want to save our beautiful earth and understand this unmet need. 

Idea Napkin 1

1) Hi, My name is Mayson Sages and I am going to be a sophomore at the University of Florida. I am majoring in Public Relations and minoring in both Business Management and Innovation.  My main skills are communication, working with customer service, working as a team, and I am also a writer. My talents and also what I love most are surfing, playing volleyball, and wakeboarding. When I start something new, I always have to finish it and it has to come out successfully. This will be applied to starting my business because I never will give up on it and will learn from my mistakes throughout the process. My main goal is to start my own business whether it is working with this opportunity or not, I think these different skills addressed will help me achieve this in the future and it will play a huge role in my life. 

2) I am offering a service to my customers that will eventually help them enjoy the beaches in the future and also help save marine life along the way. I hope to ban or restrict restaurants, located on the coast of South Florida, to stop using non-degradable items to save our oceans. 

3) The demographic for this opportunity is all restaurant managers, employees who support this, residents located in south Florida, organizations, volunteers, people who go to beaches, and basically everyone who wants to help save and protect our oceans and rivers. The main people I want to address this opportunity to those who are not educated and invested in this matter. My service will hopefully educate more people to bring awareness to this issue. 

4) Customers will care about my service because it is something they will benefit from as well. With the amount of trash and plastics on our beaches and oceans, in the near future, there will not be a beautiful scenery to look at. Also, my customers will care due to the fact that many marine life will die off which will hurt our food chain system, affecting our planet even more.

5) The difference between my opportunity business is the advertisement and knowledge I will bring towards people. Also, that I hope to ban restaurants on the coast of Florida, which has never been done before. This service will also not be costly and will help benefit our earth more than ever, which is never the case when it comes to these circumstances and issues.

In Conclusion, I believe this opportunity will be weak in certain aspects, such as getting the word around. After viewing each element, the hardest process with this journey will be educating those who will maybe not be interested in saving our oceans. Overall, I believe these five elements will work hand in hand with each other but also think it will be difficult at the starting point of this process.

Elevator Pitch 1

Testing The Hypothesis, Part 2

My Hypothesis, Part 2

For part 2 of testing this hypothesis, I decided to interview random people along the beach, my neighbor, and also relatives that live near or on the coast of South Florida. Most of the people on the beaches did not have the same interests towards this opportunity as the others, and here are some key points for why. 

• Who: For most of the people I interviewed, they truly wanted the unmet need and new a lot more than I thought about trash affecting the oceans. My neighbor who lives on the Intercoastal, sees trash on a daily basis when looking at his window and definitely supports this opportunity. However, when approaching people on the beach and asking them a few questions, they did not seem to interested. Even though these people were residents living on the coast of Florida, They were outsiders because they were educated on this subject like most of the people I interviewed were. Also, They did not seem to care enough to learn more either. 

• What: My idea is different from others because it has never been addressed the same when coming upon this opportunity. There are many organizations run along the coast of Florida, however, it is not known and forceful enough as my idea is. With the banning of plastics and other non-degradable items at restaurants, allows people to gain awareness of this issue while also saving marine life. Or even advertising this issue more can help spread awareness. Even though there are many people who are trying to save our ocean, not many people know about them or factual evidence based on this subject. If people saw the marine life being hurt because of us they would care more about this opportunity and unmet need. 

• Why: The underlying need is different for the people in the outside boundary because they are not educated enough when it comes to our oceans. This may be the case because this problem is not addressed enough in the US. Also, maybe they do know that plastic and trash is killing off marine life, but they might just not have enough respect and are careless towards our waters. Some people even leave trash on the beaches because they don't think that one piece of trash left behind will cause any damage, even when it does. 

Inside The Boundary	Outside The Boundary
Neighbor, Family Members, Organizations, Friends, Residents on the coast.	Vacationers, Some people on the beaches, Some boaters
Protection towards our oceans and awareness that saves marine life and birds	Takes up time and also not important enough for people to express this issue
Many people do not understand the harm they are doing when using plastic and leaving trash on the beaches. restaurant owners and fishermen do not think they are affecting our oceans as much as they are.	Due to coronavirus, the beaches have been closed so when they opened there have been more people which means more trash. When coronavirus kicked everyone off the beaches and had restaurants close, there was no trash on our beaches and marine life started to come closer to the inland.

• My findings while working on this opportunity and interviewing more people on this subject encourages me to spread this opportunity to more people and also allowed me to have a better understanding of how people view this unmet need. 

Solving The Problem

The opportunity I have approached has to do with the issue of plastics and trash in our oceans and rivers, located on the east coast of Florida. over 10 trillions of plastic get dumped into the Atlantic ocean each year. Growing up in Jupiter, Florida, and being apart of the beautiful beaches in South Florida it is truly awful on how much trash I see on a daily basis. I work and volunteer with organizations to help clean up the beaches but it is tiring cleaning up other peoples' trash. Even though organizations do help, sometimes this major issue is not brought up enough. The marine life and our Earth is being affected because people are careless towards this matter. The solution I have come up with is creating a law that every restaurant located on the coast of South Florida needs to ban the use of plastic and other non-degradable items in their restaurants. There is a ton of plastic the size of Rhode Island in the Atlantic Ocean that fish cannot cross over. There are multiple ways to end this crisis, however, that is my starting point. Another idea, is it work together to start making items and advertising that grab people's attention to help donate to the organizations that help save trash from falling in our oceans. There are over 1,000 turtles dying per year because of plastic and a solution to this is to start representing degradable items all over the coast of South Florida. This service will spread the word and hopefully, people will start respecting our oceans knowing they are doing it to save our planet and beautiful marine life.