#early lessons

September 9, 2025

Despite being the most decorated figure skater in history, with five Olympic medals, Tessa Virtue didn’t discuss her triumphs, but instead surprised Ivey’s HBA Leadership Day audience by admitting she didn't always love skating.

“I think there’s a misconception, especially with athletes, that they must love what they do. I don’t think you have to love what you do to be great, but I do think you have to have meaning," she said.

In her keynote to HBA1 students, Virtue didn’t sugarcoat the grind of chasing perfection, the systemic toxicity that can be present within sports’ communities and culture, or the toll of injuries and pressure. Instead, she offered a rare window into how she rebuilt her relationship with her sport – and, in the process, herself. 

The event was part of HBA Leadership Day, hosted by the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership, which helps students reflect on who they want to be as leaders. Dean Julian Birkinshaw reminded them in his opening remarks that Ivey’s emphasis on character is a key differentiator and especially important in today’s business environment.

“Elevating character alongside competence is not only a strategic imperative, but also a social responsibility,” he said. “Strengths such as courage, resilience, integrity, empathy and self-awareness, amongst others, can be activated at the right times and in the right amount to the betterment of the organization, the individual, and the community.”

Dusya Vera, PhD ’02, Professor of Strategy and Executive Director of the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership, emphasized that character is not fixed, but developed through practice, feedback, and reflection – the very processes students experience in the classroom and in events like Leadership Day. Beyond the keynote, the day included a morning panel, mini-case discussions on leadership crucibles, and a Leadership Café where students could engage with guests.

How does the world see you when you are not around? 

I remember being six or maybe seven when I began overthinking about what everyone else was doing while I laid awake, way passed my bedtime. 

I’m positive everyone’s mind goes thru this around the same age,  And depending on who we are around,  Or who surrounds us —  Our minds get shaped, just a little more than the day before. 

When I began to think of the infinite people and scenarios occurring at that same moment, I felt lost in an ocean of all of those minds. 

When I shut my eyes I could hear their thoughts,  Whether they were asleep in a dream  Or awake in a nightclub. 

It was too much  So I stopped the thoughts,  But that moment changed my life forever Because I understood  I wasn’t alone. 

That is the age That I believe  I learned empathy. 

After that day, I was able to recognize that astray gaze in other people’s eyes Whenever their souls felt lost. 

We’ve all heard the saying that  “The eyes are the window to the soul,” before. 

I knew the meaning of that saying long before anyone repeated it to me or I read it anywhere. I learned it young. 

Several lessons came very quickly at the start of these journey a couple months but I’m just starting to understand the importance of them. One thing people always loved saying around me was diversify; now it has adjusted to the phrase of 7 forms of income.

Most people when they try to build streams of income they think: investment, standard paycheck, rental income, royalities, or reselling something. Obviousily not 7 but some of the things people think of. The reason why people like the idea of having multiple income sources (or streams) is because if goes down, permanetly or temporarily, the others should still be there.  

The problem right now in the economy is the big, usually stable money makers are taking a hit. People are not getting their usual paychecks, which makes them late on rent (if at all), and they aren’t buying. This means the usual investments, reselling, and royalities are all going to take a hit till the market recovers. 

A lesson I suspected even before I began investigating entrepenuership is the concept of having diverse products. But that subject changed slightly in the digital age. What I mean is this- I like teaching/learning but I’m not great at reading. When I was young that meant I had to find a tutor or teacher to show me how. Now I go to YouTube or a specialized website; even colleges mostly have things online. 

So how do you diversify now? The answer I have found so far is take your content onto multiple forms. Ie: YouTube, Amazon (pyshical and downloadable)  , a teaching site, podcast and a download able site. If you can make content that is resellable in the same form on different sites then it should reach different audiences. 

I am going to start with 3 to manage the sites effectively while I am building. My goal is to have an audience building site (2 social medias sites for now), 1 content building site (that can earn money on its own in the future) and select the best download content site for what I plan to offer. 

I am going to start with saying people in business can be friendly, casual, or healthy parts of each other’s lives. But remember there is a line. It is when that line starts blurring that issues come up.  I’ve had two reminders of this recently:

1. Person A I have worked with an none for almost two years. We had gotten friendly to the point of giving birthday gifts and talking about family. We started together because of business. But when I approached person A about a buying option it was rejected. That was not initially a problem. The problem came up when I found Person A had gone to another person afterwards for the same thing. That sense of betrayal felt more like friendship than business for both us and all contact was lost. 

2. Person B a different person I work with. We had known each other for almost a year and they were with me during a small health scare. We became friends before any talk of business came up. Person B came to me with a concept they wanted to know if I wanted to join. We have discussed the business option 3 times since then. In one meeting we decided on our roles in the business and discussed money quickly with a more realistic timeline. Person B is now evaluating the options with other brokers they would need to make a fully informed decision about going through with the business option or not. Plus we are still talking and good friends.

Ok there are a couple things to look with this one. *ouch*

Professional if you are a at home or freelance business you should file quarterly with your estimates (state and fed) and do your yearly. I like having a tax pro for the yearly because well a bunch of things have changed for taxes. Estimates are a little easier and more reasonable to me. You make X amount pay X percentage. End of year make adjustments. 

The nice thing about having a regular salary job is that people do the taxes for you year round except for the once a year filing. If you pay attention to your numbers they should be consistent. I recommend keeping an eye because when one of the tax changes happened people didn’t notice and just saw their paychecks change. Without questioning it they got bite at the yearly filing. 

AFTER FILING:

I, being my crazy self, love filing as soon as possible. Tax people aren’t as busy. Agencies have a lot more time to tell me if I did something wrong to allow me to refile. I don’t have to stress about it longer. So forth and so forth. 

This time I got a refund and began wondering what I should do about it. Normally I don’t plan on a refund and always worry about paying. But since I never work into my budget getting a refund that means it is extra money I could put somewhere beside the normal budget restrictions. This year I have it down to two things: Going back to school to get a Bachelor’s or updating some of my tech. (All of my tech is either over 4 years old or hand-me-downs/referbs.)

Affiliate links are small links you can put up that connect from your page to a product. They are coming up a lot more often. You are not actually sponsored by said product but if people buy it through your link you even a small commission. I’m seeing usually in the single digit percentages. 

The big question is what to link, well it used to be to me. Now it is if you review a camera link to Amazon or where ever you bought the camera. Same goes for beauty products and other items. Most people think of Amazon for links. But!! Target offers them. BN has an option. Bunches of companies are willing to pay you to drive business to their sites. 

The recommendation I do have is that a lot of them require a social security number to register for affiliate links. Instead of giving your social to a bunch of companies that might get hacked look into getting an EIN. But EINs are typically for business so be careful in deciding when to get one for tax reasons. 

The second recommendation is to choose where you get your links from. A lot of people are not going to hold it against you to go with the big guys. After all everyone shops there and you want your money too. But new companies are coming up and trying to challenge companies like Amazon. If you believe in a smaller company it would be best to back them from the start so that your company’s brand and support of other brands is not brought into question. For example if you are saying about being a green company you would not want to side with a company with a high pollution reputation. Who you pick to do business with says something about you. Control your message. 

I am the first to admit that I watched the internet come into existence. The biggest thing that I admit though is that I have not learned to fully utilize it like someone who grew up with it. So the first month of this year was spent learning things I didn’t even know I needed to know. Here are a few:

-The difference between having a website, a blog, and a social platform.

-Realizing I probably already had a personal brand by just what I like and state

-That you can use your socials wrong, really wrong, soo wrong, or soo right.

-YouTube taught some while I was in school about math. It can teach more than you think but find the right person for you.

-SEO..