Member Since 2013
myFootpath LLC
Chicago Area
J.T. Allen is the co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, and driving force behind myFootpath, an Inc. 500 company located in Chicago. myFootpath provides marketing, enrollment, and retention services to college and university clients. Over the past 20 years, we have built deep expertise in recruiting adult, online students and in reducing the barriers adults face on the path to degree completion. The company's Operation Graduate offering brings new, supplemental, online, adult students to college partners through a unique set of corporate and association partnerships. The company's Operation ReEngage solution focuses on bringing back students that were admitted or enrolled at a college, but never completed their degrees. Mr. Allen currently leads myFootpath - defining its strategic direction, building its team, setting the priorities of the organization, driving growth. Mr. Allen excels at spotting market opportunities and creating products and services to fill a market need. He led the design and development of Prep HeadQuarters, or PrepHQ, a web-based product that assists high schools with all aspects of the college planning process. He and his team took the product from a concept on a white board to delivering daily service to just under 1,000 high schools serving over 500,000 students across the U.S. myFootpath sold the PrepHQ asset in 2008. From 2008-2016, he built a 100 seat call center focused on high volume inquiry generation to college partners. He led the sale of the call center in 2016. Mr. Allen also serves as a strategic and board-level advisor to select companies. He assists the senior team with leadership/talent development, market opportunity assessment, digital marketing initiatives, and general business strategy. He informally consults with a number of fellow entrepreneurs and loves discussing new business concepts whenever he has the chance. Prior to myFootpath, Mr. Allen was with Ernst & Young in the Strategic Advisory Services group.
There's no shortage of business masterminds offering their expertise, and there’s plenty of business-focused events billed as "must-attend" functions. However, no leader has time to access them all and, depending on your goals, many aren't even worth your time. But if you’re a high-achieving professional who is eager to learn and grow in your role or advance your business, how do you determine which events are right for you?
A healthy company culture is critical for fostering employee engagement, productivity and overall success. However, creating a positive culture is easier said than done, and even the best efforts can fall short.
Many aspiring entrepreneurs seek to get into business because they're passionate about their idea. However, strong passion for an idea may not always be enough to ensure profitability, and in order to succeed long term in the business world, making enough money to both survive and thrive is vital.
Researcher, author and speaker Brené Brown once said, “Daring leaders work to make sure people can be themselves and feel a sense of belonging.” When employees have the freedom to let their personalities shine and foster a connection to the company and their peers, what often follows is a strong sense of team loyalty and passion for their work.
As companies continue to face supply chain issues across the board, many are looking for solutions to help them get back on their feet and heading toward “business as usual.” Even when the current supply chain storm passes, savvy business leaders will be looking ahead and preparing for the next time processes go awry.
Entrepreneurship can be an incredibly rewarding endeavor, and many professionals one day hope for the opportunity to start their own business and live their passion. However, the entrepreneurial lifestyle isn’t for everyone. For many, it comes with long hours, missed activities and stressful judgment calls. But if you want to succeed, there are a number of small changes you can make that can have a major impact on your overall fulfillment and happiness.
Modern automation capabilities can free up workers’ valuable time to help them be more productive and focus on big picture tasks that will further a company’s vision. With so many tools available, how can you determine which automation technologies would be best for your company?
Every growing organization will experience role transitions at some point. Whether a project is changing hands, an employee is moving into a promotion, or you’re hiring someone to take on a new position, you will want the transitions to go smoothly.
Trust is key for any relationship to be successful, and this is especially true for manager-employee relationships. Managers rely on their employees to carry out the daily tasks necessary for the success of their business. Employees rely on their managers for guidance, support and leadership.
One of your most basic responsibilities as a leader is to provide your team with constructive feedback. Without feedback, employees don’t have a solid direction for moving forward, which can result in repeat mistakes and even low morale.
Partnering with another business in your industry on a campaign or promotion is an effective and mutually beneficial way to market your product or service. Not only does it bring brand awareness for your company, but you'll also expand your reach by tapping into your partner company's existing audience.
In all the excitement of opening a business and launching that first product or service, it can be easy for aspiring entrepreneurs to forgo a thorough audit of their finances in favor of speed to market. However, it's absolutely crucial for business owners to keep a close eye on their income and expenses—especially if they want to ensure their survival past year one.
When people hear the word "sales," they may think of demanding revenue targets, nonstop calls and long hours. While some sales roles can be challenging, this one-sided perception takes away from the fact that the field of sales is often a rewarding career choice.
At one point or another, most professionals face a crossroads in their career. Whether they simply want to change jobs, pursue a different career path or still don't know what their true calling in life is, there are a lot of questions a person can ask themselves before choosing a direction.
Technology can be an incredible asset for a small business when its uses are carefully considered and researched. Some business owners, however, may feel overwhelmed by the amount of technology they do or don’t need to succeed. To help you avoid making poor decisions around business tech, we asked Young Entrepreneur Council members to weigh in on the common business technology mistakes startups make that you should definitely steer clear of.
You have a great business idea that you're passionate about, and you're excited to get started, but before you do, you need to choose a business partner. This person can help you make complex decisions and guide your team through projects. They can be your best ally.
Major changes are often necessary for a company that wants to keep growing and scaling. When critical moments occur, however, (such as a merger or landing a major client) leaders need to set the tone for the rest of their employees. How they respond to them will trickle down and set the example for how everyone else will work.
Regardless of how many hours you work in a day, not all of that time is going to be completely productive. Sometimes it's because of procrastination, other times it's because you've been so bogged down in "busy work" that you haven't made progress on important tasks. Whatever the reason, it's important to find ways to optimize your to-do list to maximize your time for important strategy work as well as personal endeavors.
Cash flow -- the amount of money that comes in and goes out of a business -- is often a concern for many new companies. Generating a healthy cash flow requires careful planning and a commitment to a strong operational strategy. However, a lack of experience in cash flow management as a new entrepreneur can put you at a disadvantage.
myFootpath provides marketing, enrollment, and retention services to college and university clients. Over the past 20 years, we have built deep expertise in recruiting adult, online students and in reducing the barriers adults face on the path to degree completion. Our Operation Graduate (https://operationgraduate.com) solution brings new, supplemental, online, adult students to our college and university partners. Our student pipeline is “always on”, and reaches students through unique partnerships that can be difficult for an individual university to replicate on its own. Our team works with adult students from the first phone call all the way to graduation, often achieving retention rates 20% higher than existing cohorts. Operation Graduate is a no-risk, tuition share bundled service. Our Operation ReEngage (https://operationreengage.com) solution brings back students that stopped out from your institution – adult, traditional, transfer, graduate, any group that has a prior affiliation with your college or university. We help students re-enroll, get back on track, and graduate. Our solution consists of three components, (i) data management techniques and analysis to create a super-charged “house list”, (ii) our dedicated staff that specialize in handling stop-out students, and (iii) collaboration with you to develop and enhance the processes needed to successfully re-recruit students to your institution. Our goal is build capacity for re-recruitment at your institution, and to hand over Operation ReEngage to an internal team at the conclusion of our work. Operation ReEngage is a no-risk, tuition share bundled service. Operation Graduate: https://operationgraduate.com Operation ReEngage: https://operationreengage.com
Education Management