On the first day of his journey with Student Works, Hugo Geoffroy showed immense promise.
(Source: LinkedIn)
But unfortunately, the charisma and confidence that radiated off of him failed to overpower the mindset he held that the world owed him something.
After falling prey to many rookie mistakes that year, he turned it around and is now a coach and mentor to rookie operators just starting out.
In a recent conversation with Chris Thomson on our Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast, Hugo detailed the peaks, valleys, and everything he learned in between on his journey thus far with Student Works:
Power On
After that disappointing first year on the job, Hugo refused to let his failures define him. In a rush of ambition, he asked us if he could return again for the upcoming season despite his previous track record.
“At the end of the summer I was so convinced, it was so clear in my mind that there was no way I was not going back to prove to myself [that I could be successful], it was possible. So I asked you if I could come back and the deal was that I would have to help my new district manager during my recruiting season to show that I could work hard and do what I needed to do. So I did that and I think it was the second best decision of my life, the first one was entering this program in the first place,” he explained to Chris.
He then spent the following fall leveling up his weaknesses and doubling down on his strengths by reading every business and productivity book on the shelf in an effort to grow his raw talent into something tangible.
Invest in your People
One of Hugo’s innate strengths is his ability to connect with people, a skill that transfers across both work and life.
“[I invited my team] to work at my house, [and we ended up] having a great time and learning about each other. It really felt like a family. As I said from the beginning, I’m really huge on relationships. One of the mottos Student Works has is that relationships are everything. I really embed this. I just wanted to build my own family and be able to be the one who can guide them and make them shine more.” he explained.
It only makes sense that Hugo landed on his current role of coach and mentor.
“Seeing other people enjoy their responsibility in the business just made me think, ‘people want to do more, people want to feel valued’, so my role as the leader was to make them shine. I’m not the star of the show, they are. So I set everything up so that they can succeed, make clients happy and just feel good about themselves,” he detailed.
Shine on, Hugo.
Are you a student looking to further your development as a leader and enter the exciting world of entrepreneurship? Check out more stories from Student Works participants and alumni on our Leaders of Tomorrow Podcast!
