The day started off gloomy with a dose of rain as we were leaving for our picnic put on by Tierra Throne, who is the CEO of Blanket and Board as well as a Pitt Business EIR and social worker. During the picnic, we got to hear the backstory of Tierra’s business, which I found to be quite interesting. Tierra started blanket and board during the pandemic times when she realized that people needed to get together in ways that were outdoor and socially distanced. She also stated that while it was her original intend that her business has grown and developed drastically since then. One thing to note is that she did not use fancy marketing tools to accomplish this she used word of mouth and small little $10 adds on social media platforms like Facebook. This resonated with me because it relates to how our client the Town of carrigart does their marketing and business plan. They use facebook to promote events and then pretty much rely on word of mouth throughout Ireland which in turn results in having few tourist from other countries. This then ties into my teams project of finding out ways to increase the revenue in the peak season and the off-season. I also took away the fact that you want to stay true to your niche market when she was discussing how she is one of the small businesses on the list for the NFL draft this upcoming year and how she was not if she should apply at first because that is not necessarily her market but it can be as long as she sticks to the wives, girlfriends, and mothers of the player which is her market. This strategy in turn relates to Ireland because they have a niche market of tourists primarily those that like irish beaches and have holiday homes in the Town of Carrigart so we should in turn focus on exploring that niche market for possibilities that might not currently be used. The one thing that is meaningful to me about Tierra’s career trajectory is that she still has a full time job that is focused on helping underprivileged children. I personally think that in my future career I need to have some aspect of that job allow for community help because I think volunteering is a great way to help your community succeed. Furthermore I appreciated how she is always up to new ideas and is willing to work with students because not everyone is and being a Pitt Business EIR might be something I would consider doing in the future as a way to help others succeed.