How your entrepreneurial DNA can drive your career

Do you think of yourself as an entrepreneur? When looking at your own unique characteristics, is being entrepreneurial one of them? Joe Abraham, entrepreneur, author and keynote speaker at ASDA’s National Leadership Conference (NLC) this November, believes that an entrepreneurial mindset is something that’s in all of us.

Writing the music to your life

When violinist and composer Kai Kight was in his last year of college, he started to envision the future he wanted for himself. His vision: to combine his musical talent and his background in innovation (he has an engineering degree from Stanford University’s d. school) and speak to companies around the world, using music as a metaphor to inspire creativity. To do this, Kight realized that he had to rethink how he spent the remainder of his time in school — he had to “create the sounds of tomorrow” in order to bring his unique idea to fruition.

The connection between emotional pain and addiction

The prescription drug epidemic, specifically opioid abuse, has been all over the headlines and likely on the minds of dentists and dental students across the country. Addiction treatment expert Austin Eubanks, who is also chief operating officer of The Foundry Treatment Center and a featured member of Speakers for Change, spoke at this year’s National Leadership Conference (NLC), held Nov. 17–19 in Chicago. A survivor of the Columbine High School shooting, Eubanks shared his story of how the injuries and emotional trauma he sustained drastically affected his life, leading to years of substance abuse and, ultimately, a recovery that prompted his efforts in patient advocacy. His biggest message was this: We need to transform the way we think about prescribing pain medication, specifically for patients who may be experiencing emotional pain.