Students, faculty and campus guests can look forward to “turning lemons into lemonade” with renowned philosopher Tom Morris at BGSU’s upcoming Sebo Series in Entrepreneurship.

The world class keynote speaker expects to be inspired by young entrepreneurs on April 22 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The 2022 iteration of the Sebo Series and E-Week prepares for a panel of speakers to teach students how to start “turning lemons into lemonade” with Morris’ writings from his book “Plato’s Lemonade Stand”at the forefront. Morris will present for Sebo in the Schmidthorst building’s Paul J. Hooker Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

A self-proclaimed “public philosopher,” Morris is assured that he can find welcome eyes and ears ready for the message “of the ages,” wherever he goes. He hopes to enjoy a room full of diverse individuals who are prepared to both inspire and become inspired, a scenario Morris believes to be critical for early creative exploration.

“This is an ideal for how education should be. I mean, Plato hung out with Socrates. There have been clusters of great people just hanging out with one another,” he said. 

Marking the end of one of the fullest weeks of professionalism, camaraderie and inspiration on campus, the Sebo Series serves as a grand finale to wrap up the BGSU’s Entrepreneurship Week. The E-Week tradition has managed to reach thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs through a routinely sold-out itinerary of events, ranging from the Hooker Center Hall of Fame induction, The Hatch presentations and the Sebo Series are spread throughout the week.

Morris believes in the power of having meaningful support from a group of like-minded individuals. To him, opportunities like E-Week are crucial to force small aspirations into big action. Oftentimes, he says, students will consider the journey of becoming a successful leader, product innovator or market mogul to be lonesome. Morris disagrees.

“Greatness is rarely purely a solo endeavor. It involved networks of people inspiring each other and so a week like this that brings people together to inspire each other, will do so in amazing ways,” Morris said.

Alongside Morris’ team-oriented philosophy, featured speaker and BGSU Business Hall of Fame Inductee Julie Brandle wants students to understand that both individual commitment and key business partnerships helped her build a brand from the ground up.

The Metis Construction CEO has spent the last three decades crafting customer service and a personal brand image. She looks forward to giving the audience perspective on what successful leadership can look like down the road.

“People think that it’s easy, entrepreneurship. Of course we are blessed, having our own business, but with that comes sacrifice,” Brandle said. “You have to give to get.”

Morris invites all excited to participate and to do so knowing that events like the Sebo Series have been integral for innovations since the beginning.

“Entrepreneurship is always about starting something new. It’s about building on what’s been done before, but it’s about doing a new thing and that’s what the great practical philosophers have always been excited about,” Morris said. “People in partnership for a shared purpose, that’s when great things happen.”

Attendees can expect a rich variety of experience to draw from. BGSU Business Major Geizi Amon, a freshman, hopes to attend the event to hone in on team ethics that he thinks should be essential for all young business people to cultivate.

“If people learn how to collaborate early, working together in higher education, they can learn to ask for help later on,” Amon said.