According UTRGV Student Involvement: “The Distinguished Speaker Series is a signature program under the leadership of Student Activities, that aims to provide the university and surrounding community with world-class speakers and lecturers.”
Cindy Mata is the director of Student Activities at UTRGV she said that “The distinguished speaker series provides an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to listen to world renowned speakers at our university…through speakers students can learn and obtain different perspectives on a variety of topics, be motivated by the stories and lesson learned and see how they, too can make a difference.”
As part of the Distinguished Speaker Series, UTRGV hosted keynote speaker Daymond John on March 7th. Daymond is an entrepreneur, star of Shark Tank and author. He is best known for his clothing brand FUBU. He has written several books including his latest book “Rise and Grind.” In addition to this he was promoted by former President Barack Obama as Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship. The event was a free event that was not only open to students and faculty at UTRGV, but to the community as well.
John spoke for two hours, during these two hours he talked about his life, and how he became a successful entrepreneur. He focused on his failures rather than his successes and explained how he was able to overcome these failures in order to be successful. In addition to this John revealed his tips for being a successful entrepreneur. He used Shark as an acronym; Set goals, do your Homework, Amor, Remember you are the brand and Keep swimming. Throughout his talk there were also many lighter moment, where he poked fun at his fellow sharks and made jokes. After his talk, John there was a short ten minute Q&A with him. Several students and other guests in attendance were able to ask the shark for advice, and answers to their questions.