Chris Egelston - Corporate Entertainer, Infotainer, Magician

Name: Chris Egelston - Corporate Entertainer, Infotainer, Magician
Address: PO Box 255, Carterville, IL, 62918, US
Telephone: (618) 985-4384

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Chris Egelston - Corporate Entertainer, Infotainer, Magician

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04/08/2026

What if the most powerful economic development strategy… is already in your community?

We spend thousands (sometimes millions) trying to recruit businesses and talent from the outside.

Meanwhile, our own young people are leaving every year.

That’s not a recruiting problem.�It’s a retention problem.

The solution?

Start investing in the entrepreneurial potential already in your backyard.

When young people are:
�• Engaged early�• Educated through real experiences�• Empowered with real opportunities

They don’t just stay. They build. They lead. They give back.

That’s The Youth Advantage.

If you’re serious about long-term economic growth, this has to be part of the strategy.

04/03/2026

I’ll confess — I still know exactly where the Dairy Queen is in every town I visit. 😄

But that’s kind of the point.

Kids know the Dairy Queen. They don’t know the manufacturers. They don’t know the hospitals.

And they definitely don’t know that their local hospital might have dozens of different career pathways they’ve never even considered.

Doctors and nurses, sure. But what about the technology, the administration, the research, the community health work?

That’s the visibility gap we have to close — before they decide to leave.

Honored to share The Youth Advantage at the Icahn - Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network Economic Development Summit!

03/04/2026

Empowering young entrepreneurs isn’t easy — and it was never supposed to be.

But when a community comes together to help young people start, launch, and grow real businesses? The impact lasts for decades.

It takes all of us. And it’s absolutely worth it.

I was thrilled to lead this conversation at the IEDC Leadership Summit in Washington DC this week!

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03/03/2026

Had an incredible time speaking at the IEDC Leadership Summit in Washington DC yesterday!

Young entrepreneurs are your community’s secret weapon for economic growth — but we have to Engage, Educate, and Empower them first.

And empowering them means MORE than pointing them to resources. It means actually doing business with them.

Who’s ready to unlock the entrepreneurial magic in your community?

02/25/2026

I just read about a programmer who’s leaving his career to become an electrician.

Why? AI can’t replace the trades.

While artificial intelligence disrupts white-collar careers - programming, writing, analysis - skilled trades remain AI-proof.

You can’t automate welding a pipe, wiring a house, or fixing a transmission.

But here’s what most people miss: Trade skills + business skills = wealth creation.

I know a young man who loved working on engines and cars. As a high school senior in CEO, he started doing repairs as a business. Less than a year after graduation, he opened his own auto repair shop in his small rural community.

Now his neighbors don’t drive 30-40 minutes each way for basic maintenance. When a car breaks down, he fixes it locally - saving them hundreds in towing costs.

He’s not just employed. He’s a business owner solving problems for his community.

This is why CEO matters for trades students. It’s not just about learning to weld or wire - it’s about learning to build a business around those skills.

Understanding your community. Developing your network. Managing time and money. Having the confidence to hang your own shingle.

The electrician who left programming? He made the right call about job security.
But if he understands business, he won’t just have a job. He’ll build wealth.

02/23/2026

It’s National Entrepreneurship Week, and I’ve been reflecting on why this work matters so deeply to me.

I have five grandchildren, ages 4 to 12. I want them to grow up in a world where people don’t say “I can’t do that” - but instead ask “How can I do that?”

That shift from limitation to possibility? That’s entrepreneurial thinking.

Entrepreneurial thinkers see problems as opportunities to create solutions. They see challenges as chances to deliver value.

They solve problems in their own lives, their families, their communities - and sometimes they start businesses to serve others.

Communities that thrive embrace new ideas and out-of-the-box thinking. Communities that struggle stay closed to change and innovation.

The country - the world - is full of problems and challenges. We need people and leaders who care about others and are willing to be problem-solving value creators for the greater good.

We all were born with the entrepreneurial mindset. Society just has a tendency to push people toward conformity. Our education system rewards test-taking over creativity, innovation, and risk-taking.

But we can change that.

We can engage, educate, and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs who will solve tomorrow’s problems.

That’s the world I’m working to build. One where my grandchildren - and yours - realize they’re capable of becoming and doing anything they want. Where they know they have value to give to their community and maybe even the world.

That’s the magic we unlock when we invest in young entrepreneurs.

02/22/2026

It’s National Entrepreneurship Week, and I’ve been reflecting on why youth entrepreneurship matters more than most people realize.

The youth in a community are the greatest asset.

Keeping them is easier and less costly than recruiting new businesses and workforce. I often compare it to business: it’s easier (and less expensive) to keep a customer, even an unhappy one, than to get a new one.

But it’s not just about trying to keep youth - you need proven systems that show young people they can have the careers, life, and success they want in their hometowns.

Youth are already connected to their communities. Their families are there. Their friends are there.

Programs like CEO help them see the opportunities and get so engaged that they become invested in the community themselves.

Young entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs have 40+ year careers ahead. They attract their peers back from college. Their peers do business with them.

The economic impact compounds over decades.

And here’s what surprised me: CEO doesn’t just transform students - it transforms entire business communities. Leaders of all ages become more engaged and involved.

The uniting factor is youth. Helping young people is something business leaders can rally around - they’re philanthropic, care about the next generation, and want to retain youth for future workforce and economic growth.

Investment in youth entrepreneurship isn’t just good - it’s the smartest economic development strategy available.

02/21/2026

It’s National Entrepreneurship Week, and I’ve been reflecting on what it takes to scale CEO from 75 to 150+ communities.

As a community-driven model, CEO doesn’t just need one champion in a new community - it needs a coalition.

You need business, community, and educational leaders who see the value AND are willing to do the work to build it.

You need educators willing to break from traditional curriculum models to embrace business-community-driven learning.

You need 35-50 businesses, organizations, and individuals committed to funding the operating budget annually.

That’s not easy.

I’m using everything I’ve learned over a lifetime: persuasive speaking, servant leadership, growth strategies, sales, marketing.

The focus? Solving a real problem - communities watching their best young talent leave.

CEO helps them keep the next generation for workforce and build future entrepreneurs for economic development.

The goal is to save communities time, trouble, and treasure.

The rewards? Seeing the excitement of local leaders. Watching their first class start the journey. Sometimes I even get to guest speak at programs I’ve built.

I’m thrilled to see the results at all levels.

02/20/2026

It’s National Entrepreneurship Week, and I’ve been reflecting on the decision to join the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship in 2019.

I’ve always believed in entrepreneurship - in teaching people to be problem-solving value creators.

By my early 20s, I was helping other entrepreneurs. Presenting success principles to students became a passion, especially principles they don’t get in school.

With CEO, I found a program that actually worked. So I donated my time as a guest speaker for years. The receptiveness of those students showed me I could make real impact.

Then my path crossed with Midland right when they needed someone with my skill set: speaker, connector, networker, marketer, and passionate CEO advocate.

I didn’t leave the road completely - I reduced my personal gigs to focus on launching programs.

Here’s the math that drives me:
30 programs launched. Each transforms 15-20 students per year. That’s 450-600 young people annually. Over 5,000 in the next decade - not counting new programs I’ll continue to launch.

Most of those students will never know my name or my direct involvement.

But I’ll know I made a difference.

Our society needs entrepreneurial-thinking future leaders to solve problems and make their communities - and the world - better.

02/18/2026

It’s National Entrepreneurship Week, and I’ve been reflecting on twelve years as a guest speaker for CEO classes.

The transformation is dramatic every single time.

Students go from “high school kids” to “young professionals with an entrepreneurial mindset.” They carry themselves differently. Communicate with confidence. Present with clarity. They’re easily 10 years ahead of their peers.

Entrepreneurship is the vehicle. But what they really learn are Craig Lindvahl’s 5 Pillars of CEO: they become learners, owners, creators, communicators, and connectors.

One moment stays with me:
I arrived early to a class. The first student who walked in immediately approached me, shook my hand, introduced himself, started asking questions. A little awkward, but he did everything right.

After class, the facilitator told me: “He’s always first to greet guests now. But the first 2-3 weeks, he wouldn’t talk to anyone. I had to force him to answer questions. Now he’s first every day.”

That’s what happens when you treat young people like the capable problem-solvers they already are.

Address

PO Box 255
Carterville, IL
62918

Telephone

(618) 985-4384

Website

http://www.ChrisEgelston.com/

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