Self Taught Or By The Book? Dr. John Torrens on Business Education

80% of the jobs that will exist in the next decade were not invented 5 years ago. So if you're a young entrepreneur, how do you know where to start? What skills do you need to get some skin in the game? The future of work will change the nature of business education, so in today’s episode, we’re hitting the books with our new guest Dr. John Torrens.

John is an award winning professor at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management. He has been teaching, mentoring and coaching entrepreneurs for 15 years. A perfect blend of business and education, John has also built two successful speech therapy practices. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Sprout Therapy Group, a multidisciplinary practice providing speech-language and specialized physical therapy for infants and children. 

From his own entrepreneurial path, to the core skills that emerging leaders will need, today John takes us on a journey to build the future of entrepreneurship. Together, we answer fundamental questions like: what practices are gaining traction in MBAs across the board? Where should we look for new opportunities? And what can we expect from the next generation of founders?  

Take out your notebooks and get ready for a lesson in business education with our host, Ari Marin, and John Torrens.  

Highlights:

• John’s background and professional journey (2:43)
• Early experiences with talent recruitment (4:27)
• “Every course I took, I used my business as the lab experiment.” (6:54)
• Business Education: from “doing” to teaching (8:14)
• A new growth mindset for entrepreneurship (9:56)
• Learning from the next generation of entrepreneurs (11:28)
• Current changes in cultural vision (13:52) 
• Enhancing well-being as a risk-mitigation strategy (16:08)
• How ADHD changed John’s approach to leadership (18:03)
• Encouraging entrepreneurial ideas inside your company (21:25)
• “Entrepreneurship is opportunity driven, not resource constrained” (22:47)
• Education through network building (24:17)  

Links:

• Cadence Bank Website
• Cadence Bank X (Twitter)
• Cadence Bank LinkedIn
• John Torrens Website
• John Torrens Instagram
• John Torrens LinkedIn
• John Torrens Syracuse University Website
• Sprout Therapy Group Website
• Ted Talk - “John Torrens: ADHD as an Entrepreneur’s Superpower”
• Research -  “Realizing 2030: A Divided Vision of the Future” by Dell Technologies

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com or Danielle.Kernell@cadencebank.com.