#masteryjournal

So, when I decided to change my degree program and return to school at the beginning of this year, I didn't know what to expect. I just knew the direction I wanted to go. My goal coming into this course was to find a way to apply what I learn to my planned business venture. 

This course met my goal by providing me with some great information from some great sources. From finding a great podcast to follow in the Startup Therapy Podcast, to the John Crossman interview. Reading Change by Design, I feel this course really sets the tone for what I should expect from the remaining courses.

I learned the traits that successful entrepreneurs have and why they are important to have. Also reasons I should start my own business and how being flexible with my schedule is very valuable. I also learned how I should build first before using social media to brand myself. 

Being in the planning stages of what I’m trying to build, I can use the information I learned from this class to avoid the overplanning of my venture and the most valuable bit of information I got from this course is The Lean Startup. This method I think is the most important to me. It helped me stop and think, reminding me that most products fail due to over spending. Now, I the biggest change I need to make is find a way to provide the service in a way to showcase the void within recreational and school sports media. 

Mastery Goal Reflection

My original goal for this course was to understand how work environments influence creativity and collaboration, and how those insights could be applied to my professional path. As someone building The Next, an artist focused agency centered on collaboration and launch strategy, I wanted to know whether workplace design actually affects creative output or if it is mostly a secondary consideration.

How the Course Met My Goal

This course answered that question clearly. It shifted my view of work environments from being purely functional to being strategic. Through course readings and examples, it became clear that space, flexibility, and culture directly influence how people work, communicate, and generate ideas. The course showed that environments are not neutral. They either support innovation or make it harder.

Most Helpful Course Content

The most helpful content was the discussion of intentional workplace design versus convenience driven setups. Learning how organizations structure spaces for focus, collaboration, and recovery helped explain why some teams stay productive and engaged while others struggle. Research connecting employee well being to performance reinforced that creativity depends on how people experience their work environment, not just on talent or tools.

What I Learned

One of the main lessons I took from this course is that innovation requires structure, not chaos. Creative work benefits from environments that provide clarity, autonomy, and flexibility. I also learned that hybrid work is not just a trend but a practical response to how people actually work best, especially in creative industries.

Applying This Knowledge

I plan to apply these ideas directly to The Next as it grows. Rather than adopting a traditional office model, I will prioritize a hybrid environment that supports independent work while creating intentional moments for in person collaboration. I am also applying these concepts now by adjusting my own workspace to better support focus and creative thinking. This course made it clear that environment is a strategic decision that affects performance, sustainability, and long term success.

This month’s reflection is all about “Growth through structure”. In my Business Model Management course, I learned how to turn Smart Wealth from a vision into a living, breathing business model; one that adapts, evolves, and delivers real value. Here’s what I discovered about building a model that grows with your mission, not apart from it.

When I started the Business Model Management course, my goal was simple but ambitious: to turn Smart Wealth from an inspiring idea into a structured, scalable business model. I wanted to go beyond just offering financial education and insurance solutions. My mission was to design a model that could grow, adapt, and deliver lasting value for families who want to build and protect generational wealth. This course gave me exactly what I needed. Through frameworks like Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas and insights from Kotler and Keller’s Marketing Management, I learned how to map out every part of Smart Wealth,  our value proposition, customer relationships, channels, revenue streams, and key partners (Kotler & Keller, 2022; Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010).

That process helped me see how all the moving parts connect and where refinement was needed. It made me realize that successful ventures aren’t just powered by passion; they’re powered by structure, testing, and alignment. One of the biggest lessons I’m taking away is that a business model should never be static. The financial industry evolves rapidly, and staying relevant requires being willing to test new ideas, learn from feedback, and pivot when necessary. For Smart Wealth, this means staying ahead of technological advancements, market shifts, and evolving customer expectations, all while keeping our mission at the forefront.

Moving forward, I plan to apply these insights by conducting quarterly business model reviews to ensure every part of Smart Wealth, from client onboarding to digital education tools, remains aligned with our long-term vision. On a personal level, this course changed how I think about entrepreneurship. I now see challenges as part of a system, not obstacles. Every problem is an opportunity to refine the model, not just fix a moment. This journey didn’t just help me meet my original goal; it helped me see Smart Wealth as more than a business. It’s a living, evolving model designed to empower people to build the financial futures they deserve.

References

At Smart Wealth, we believe true growth doesn’t happen by chance; it’s built by design. Structure creates clarity, and clarity fuels momentum. When you commit to disciplined systems and intentional strategy, success becomes not just possible, but inevitable. 🌟💼 "Keep building. Keep growing. The foundation you lay today determines the freedom you’ll enjoy tomorrow". 🌱

This month’s reflection is all about "Growth Through Structure". In my Business Model Management course, I learned how to turn Smart Wealth from a vision into a living, breathing business model, one that adapts, evolves, and delivers real value. Here’s what I discovered about building a model that grows with your mission, not apart from it. 

When I started the Business Model Management course, my goal was simple but ambitious: to turn Smart Wealth from an inspiring idea into a structured, scalable business model. I wanted to go beyond just offering financial education and insurance solutions. My mission was to design a model that could grow, adapt, and deliver lasting value for families who want to build and protect generational wealth. This course gave me exactly what I needed. Through frameworks like Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas and insights from Kotler and Keller’s Marketing Management, I learned how to map out every part of Smart Wealth, our value proposition, customer relationships, channels, revenue streams, and key partners (Kotler & Keller, 2022; Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). That process helped me see how all the moving parts connect and where refinement was needed. It made me realize that successful ventures aren’t just powered by passion; they’re powered by structure, testing, and alignment. One of the biggest lessons I’m taking away is that a business model should never be static. The financial industry evolves rapidly, and staying relevant requires being willing to test new ideas, learn from feedback, and adapt when necessary. For Smart Wealth, that means staying ahead of technology, market shifts, and customer expectations, all while keeping our mission at the forefront. On a personal level, this course changed how I think about entrepreneurship. I now see challenges as part of a system, not obstacles. Every problem is an opportunity to refine the model, not just fix a moment. This journey didn’t just help me meet my original goal; it helped me see Smart Wealth as more than a business. It’s a living, evolving model designed to empower people to build the financial futures they deserve. Moving forward, I plan to apply these insights by conducting quarterly business model reviews to ensure every part of Smart Wealth, from client onboarding to digital education tools, remains aligned with our long-term vision.

References

When I started this course, I set a timeline goal for myself: to strengthen my multimedia storytelling skills while building a consistent workflow that could balance grad school, professional growth, and my personal brand. I wanted to do more than just complete assignments—I wanted to create work that merged creativity with credibility and could carry over into my career.

This class gave me exactly that space. I practiced the balance between factual reporting and digital storytelling, learning how visuals, audio, and interactive elements can elevate journalism when used intentionally. It reminded me that in today’s media landscape, journalists aren’t limited to one medium—we’re expected to move across platforms, bringing stories to life in different ways. As Pavlik (2019) explains, today’s media professionals must be both storytellers and innovators, blending traditional skills with digital strategies.

One of the most valuable lessons I took away is that audience engagement drives everything. Understanding who I’m speaking to shapes not only how I deliver a story but also which tools and platforms I use. Accessing trade publications and research databases also expanded my perspective on how emerging tech continues to reshape storytelling, from mobile-first design to interactive content.

Moving forward, I’ll use these lessons both academically and professionally. In school, I’ll continue to integrate multimedia into projects to make them impactful. Professionally, I plan to apply these skills to Kayla Walton Media, making sure my stories are not only creative and engaging but also credible and authoritative.

This course didn’t just help me meet my timeline goal—it gave me confidence in my ability to use multimedia journalism as a tool for meaningful storytelling.

Reference

When I hear the word “thesis,” I get so nervous because before I decided to go back to school, I would hear good and bad stories from friends and family about writing a thesis. According to Oxford dictionary, “a thesis is a statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved. “

In this course, not only did it teach me how to write a thesis but having me put my focus on how I want my website to be for the future. I did get stuck on the intro and lit review of my thesis. When I made the outline of it, it seemed as if I had it all together, but once I put it down, I became distracted.

With this course, it put my mind into perspective of what I want my goals to be for my website and my career. When preparing my capstone project in weeks prior, I had to jot down a few ideas and weigh the pros and cons of each subject to see if it would be newsworthy. The topic that stood out the most was the one about misogyny. When it comes to misogyny, that can be looked at in different parts and I had to see what parts that I was going to touch on. At first, I wanted to speak about misogyny in hip hop, but that would not have been a newsworthy story, and I had to look at from a different angel. I took a deeper dive into how misogyny started, what women have had to go through from getting the right vote, to running for President and more and that is where the title “Misogyny Unmasked: Power, Politics and The Industry That Silences Women.”

Preparing for the distribution of my article started out difficult because during this course I had to come up with a plan of how I will bring my audience to my website. I posted my article on June 24th, 2025 and I came up with a plan to distribute on multiple platforms by putting together one minute clips of the interviews and put them as teasers on my YouTube channel, Instagram, Tik Tok and Facebook fan page. I reached out to those that I interviewed, Mr 365, DJ Kire, Theo and Delequai and sent them the one-minute clips to post on their pages as well. When you have the people involved post on their platforms, that will get more traction to the website and to the social media platforms.

With this course, I thought it was going to be just about the website and to speak on the capstone project. As stated at the beginning, I saw the word “thesis” and I got nervous. Having the templates is a good way for guidance on how to do each chapter of the thesis.

Everything that I have learned not just in this course, but this past year I will use in my professional life. I will use all the tools from adobe that I have learned to make my content on my website and my social media better. By making sure what I post is newsworthy for my audience and to make sure that I site my sources. I will make sure that I add more to my site and come up with a plan on when to post. When I start to bring in revenue, I can build a team of writers and social media managers to handle my pages.

Before decking the halls with boughs of holly during December, I dipped my toes into the world of investigating and researching during the Research and Investigative Skills Development online course. Throughout the course, I was challenged to go through public record websites to find valid information related to the beat of my website, which in my case is traveling and tourism. I will admit that while this is the fifth course that I have taken with Full Sail University, this has by far proven to be the most challenging of them all. However, it did force me to work harder than ever and use different delivery methods to help support the topic of the articles I have written. During my time on this course, the three aspects of the course helped me complete my assignments and reach the goals I had originally set for myself before starting the course. 

The first is creating an infographic graphic which fulfills my goal of making my articles more appealing to readers with visuals other than photographs and video clips. This has also allowed me to put my art and design skills to the test, as I have never created an infographic before, and I have found this a great challenge. I needed to figure out which formatting would be perfect for delivering my message to the world. The second is getting to know your interviewee while asking the questions needed for the data of the article. As a journalist, it is my job to not only gather information from the people I have interviewed but to also get to know them on a personal level. This has fulfilled my goal of making connections with others outside of this course. 

The final aspect that has helped me get through this course is the reliability of the many sources that I used to help me search for the information needed to write my articles. Throughout this month, I have used a variety of sources such as Google Scholar, Internet Public Library, and the Library of Congress. With these search engines, I was able to find articles with reliable and trustworthy sources to deliver accurate information to my readers, and with this aspect, I have fulfilled my third goal of delivering accurate information to my readers. After all, I cannot just base my story on rumors that have been circulating in the industry for weeks. 

I look forward to moving on to my next class and getting into the camera work, and learning ways to film interviews as well as still photos. I know it’s all about the lighting and angles among other things that make videos, films, and photos work. Already having my master’s degree in Creative Writing, I personally hold myself to a higher level of writing and creativity than others since writing is probably the most important aspect of journalism next to gathering the information to write and report about.

I want to eventually make videos and post them on my YouTube channel. I’ll also have the videos linked through my personal website. I want to upload one video a day, or at least every other day. I want to stay relevant with my audience. I plan on having topics that are interesting, but not always easily accessible.