To start, it is something of a true honour to be able to say: “I have run a successful painting business for one year!”. Behind that statement, the amount of friends I have made, as well as lessons I have learned have given me an experience that has jumpstarted the success for my future. I cannot thank my mentors, painters, and clients enough for the opportunity and guidance they have given me to market, sell, paint, and do business.

Thank you to Jamie Wilson, a person whom I respect greatly and had the integrity to teach me his ways while bearing the entire business infrastructure on his shoulders, as well as Milton Chan and Galen Malthouse for giving me the excellent guidance I needed. Thank you to Denise, who had taken the heavy role of business administration and had helped keep us organized. Thank you to my competition, as well as my friends, the other student operators of Scholars Edge. Your drive and way of work has given me strength when I needed it the most.

It has been a long journey, despite it only lasting six months, and I have learned more in those six months than I could have ever hoped for. The reason why I joined Scholars Edge was not simply for the opportunity to make great money, but to heighten my senses of what the real world of business was like. And to that, I must say that my vision of the world around me has expanded to something of incredible proportions. I can relate with great confidence in several current topics that the world is facing, and can participate in conversations I would have had no prior knowledge on. I can generate plans and solutions out of a few seconds of thought, and can handle a greater deal of stress than before. These are just a few areas of expertise I have managed to acquire, with more to come as I carry on my role of Owner Operator into next year. With bigger goals in mind, I want to say congratulations to all the Operators and Executives of this year, as it was the best that Scholars Edge has ever had. Being part of this year gives me incredible pride and hunger for an even better next year.

To all the upcoming Operators, we will help you succeed like our mentors did to us, and we will make next year and even greater year than this one. I can’t wait to see how next year is like, and I wish all the new applicants the best of luck!

See you all very soon!

Stefan Klimach