David Schottenstein to Deliver Keynote Speech at Business Conference

There are times in life when, unfortunately, we make the wrong choices. On Sunday, January 15th, 2:30 pm David Schottenstein will be sharing valuable lessons he has learned from a bad decision he made years ago in a much-anticipated keynote address at the Chosen Business Conference https://www.thechosenexpo.com/ in Crown Heights.

David Schottenstein is the founder and former CEO of Privé Revaux sunglasses. He is also a serial entrepreneur and activist investor who has started and sold multiple companies and has ownership interests in a number of successful ventures including OneWheel, Mizzen & Main and his latest venture 7th Heaven Chocolate Co. In his upcoming talk entitled, “There is Only One CEO…Important Lessons I Learned the Hard Way,” David will go into detail about some of the challenges he has faced and how he has emerged from them stronger than ever before.

The focus of Schottenstein’s keynote will be on bitachon and why entrepreneurs must cultivate their trust in Hashem. Bitachon enables entrepreneurs to operate at all times in an unfailingly ethical and legal manner, which will spare them a great deal of financial and legal trouble.

“The most important message I hope to get out there is to always remember that blessings come from Hashem,” Schottenstein said. “As frum Jews, and especially as chassidim of the Rebbe, we pride ourselves on our bitachon. Many of us follow the Rebbe’s directive to learn in depth Shaar HaBitachon in Chovos haLevavos. And yet we too can fall short if we’re not careful. It’s not enough to know that God is in charge – that God is the CEO. You must internalize it. It’s easy to lose focus. When you forget that God determines your parnasa, that’s when you create the space for making bad decisions. You may think that you are being clever cutting a corner here or there but it will catch up with you sooner or later. If you remember where your blessings come from, you won’t do things that are remotely questionable or unethical in business.”

In his talk, Schottenstein will speak candidly about his own past struggles and the lessons he has learned from them.

“Hashem determined your parnasa on Rosh Hashana so doing anything questionable or even what some may call a “gray area” is never going to help. You’re going to still make the same amount of money that Hashem has allocated for you so you may as well stay far, far away from even the smallest hint of anything questionable or unethical. You’re not going to save or earn an extra dollar by doing something that isn’t 100% ‘kosher.’ Not only will you not gain more, but it’s likely to come back and bite you and cause you to suffer. Whenever you face the consequences, it’s painful for you, your business, and your family. Trust me, I know from experience.”

“Many frum business people are taught about the value of giving tzedaka, which is extremely important. In fact, I remember a talk I heard from a more experienced businessman when I was starting out about tzedakah and that speech had a huge impact on me. Since then, I have always made giving tzedakah THE priority. But we need to speak more about bitachon. We need to do a better job of teaching the next generation of entrepreneurs that God is in control and that not only will they not profit more by bending or breaking rules, but they will potentially pay a terrible price if they ever do business in a way that God does not condone. By operating from a place of true bitachon and recognizing Hashem is the source of everything you only end up doing things you would be comfortable with having printed on the front page of the New York Times.”

“And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, whenever we are confronted with hardship or challenges in life there are two ways we can respond – you can crawl into a hole and be miserable and play victim or you can use the challenge to strengthen yourself, your bitachon, your family, and your marriage. In my keynote, I’m going to talk about how I did that and how you can do it too.”

You do not want to miss this powerful and important keynote!

David Schottenstein will be speaking at the Chosen Business Conference, a shnas hakhel event hosted by Crown Heights Young Entrepreneurs (CHYE) at Beth Rivkah Rose Hall on January 15th from 2 pm to 6 pm. Registration is only $10.

Register now: https://www.thechosenexpo.com/