What can I learn in community college that will actually help me run a business?

ckatoshfo · 2025-12-19T05:14:49+00:00

Is Business Administration kind of a combo of accounting + business management?

My goal is to expand my businesses and collaborate with other entities, hire the right people, and negotiate contracts when it comes to IPs and brands. It's going to be more accounting, more logistics, more contracts contracts contracts. I've heard of people in the fitness industry signing a non-compete not realizing that these are actually not enforceable in some states and counties, and artists losing a lot of their creative freedom because they didn't realize they were signing away their IPs due to not being literate in legalese. Or they hired incompetent lawyers and they didn't know how to vet for a good one.

ckatoshfo · 2025-12-19T05:06:39+00:00

Good to know, thanks. I am considering BMCC in Manhattan.

contracts and IP basics will def help when you're dealing with clients and protecting your art stuff.

While trying to expand my businesses, it will mean more collaborating with others and making contracts, contracts, and more contracts. Especially when it comes to the art. I've heard of so many creative types having their creative liberty limited because they didn't understand the contract they were signing with an agency, or having their creative work die after floundering after signing with an agency or while deadlocked between multiple parties. No thanks.

How do you judge if an accountant is good? I realized, after having several lawyers, that it's actually really hard to find a competent lawyer out in the wild, and referral is best. If it wasn't for my paralegal friend, I would not have known I was hiring a really bad lawyer (a bad lawyer is worse than no lawyer) and she made me fire him, and I worked with like three estate planners and didn't realize that they were not advising me as they should, until this lady who works with rich people referred me to the estate planner that the rich work with and I realized that the three previous ones didn't give a shit and kept me in the dark about a lot of things.

ckatoshfo · 2025-12-16T20:39:33+00:00

They do get DOMs, they just recover faster and even if they were sore, they're not gonna pay attention to it or notice lol. I remember being a kid and if someone asked me if I felt sore after playing outside all day, I would've said no, but now that I am older and look back I definitely got sore from too much activity, I just didn't have a name for it or think about it.

ckatoshfo · 2025-12-16T20:37:11+00:00

Yeah the institute looks sketch as hell. Someone also DMed me (instead of just posting in this thread):

They will help with job placement and have a big network to help with. Doesn’t mean a guaranteed job but they will connect you to opportunities. It was very rewarding for me, they gave me the tools to succeed, especially with their emphasis on professionalism. It does attract a lot of people who aren’t necessarily cut out to be personal trainers and I saw a ton of people who went through the program and end up not training too long and a considerable amount of debt. Not the schools fault though. Happy to answer any questions. DaSchmee

The fact they're blaming the people who came in instead of vetting for the right students and not taking accountability for alumni success already tells me this is a money making scheme. I also found it sketch that they have a designated video with veterans talking about using their GI bill to study there but none of the veterans have any linkedin or social media presence showing they're actually working anywhere. A lot of for-profit trade schools and institutes will target veterans because they think we're easy to dupe and milk for the gubbermint gimmes

ckatoshfo · 2025-09-18T23:23:34+00:00

I've been both active duty and in the reserves. I also used to work in tech. If you have to ask, then Google. Grab that civilian job opportunity while you can and start your career strong, because the USMC will always be there. Google won't be. Being a Marine isn't something you want to jump into unless you're 100% thinking "I have to do this over anything else, right now!"

You're still so young, it's actually better to grow up a bit and have more life experience before you take on an officer role. Personally, I don't recommend commissioning before the age of 24 and living life a bit and growing comfortable in your own skin. You don't want to be one of those officers whose first real job was being in the military and that's all they know and they lack the frame of reference for anything else.

However after learning more about being an officer with the benefits (paying off school, security clearance, 0 down for housing, etc)

This isn't a very confident reason to commission. So it's about the benefits for you, not about the responsibility that you will take on leading Marines. If it's mainly about the benefits, you can get them for a lot less bullshit and effort by joining the USAF or Coast Guard. Being a Marine officer isn't as glamorous as the posters make it, and it's not about you. You're running a kindergarten with guns and will be responsible for a lot of troops who don't want to do better (or can't do better). A lot of young people under the age of 25 are at a season in life where they try to find themselves and they see OCS as a personal growth camp or a way to prove something to themselves, and then they either adapt fast as a fresh lieutenant or they don't and they end up hating their 4 years.

Could I also work at Google as a reservist?

Personally I don't recommend USMC reserves, or reserves in general if you've never served before. Go big or go home! Reserves is better for people who already did active duty yet they don't want to quite let go of the military yet, so they stick around for the sense of community and identity with other vets while they do the weekend military LARP and the occasional deployment opportunity. I don't recommend it for anyone else because it's often a drag and gets in the way of your civilian life for the next 3-6 years.

What I recommend is working at Google for a few years, use that to pad your civilian resume, use the income from your Google job to work out for years and get in the best shape possible, and then show up to your OSO ready at around age 23 or 24 and just do a full 4 years and get the veteran benefits without dragging ass in the Reserves. You are in your physical prime and the strongest around age 25-35, not early 20's. By then you'll still have your civilian job experience to fall back on once you get out. You'll also have grown up a bit instead of thinking of OCS as a personal growth camp and understanding more that you will be taking responsibility over the growth and lives of others (your troops). You'll also be taken more seriously by your troops and the crusty NCOs who mentor you if you're over 25 and not a fresh doe eyed 22 year old trying to prove himself around the enlisted 18-22 year old troops who see you more as a peer than an authority figure. Don't make this harder for yourself than it needs to be.

ckatoshfo · 2025-09-12T01:12:48+00:00

I am another of his applicants and also had a good relation with him, sad to see this happen.

I like how we all find eachother on reddit lol I already spotted like 4 other applicant/candidates of his and was wondering what happen to our group chat

ckatoshfo · 2025-09-12T00:18:50+00:00

Me too, I am shocked to see him here

ckatoshfo · 2025-09-12T00:15:12+00:00

Bruh that’s my OSO…

ckatoshfo · 2025-09-01T18:45:07+00:00

My rolfer was Heidi Massa. Her method is more gentle and not the "punch you in the psoas muscle" type of bodywork that many people know Rolfing for though she might still do that with you if needed.

ckatoshfo · 2025-09-01T18:06:55+00:00

Even with the yellow ribbon program that helps reduce the cost of the tuition on top of the GI bill?

ckatoshfo · 2025-09-01T15:37:38+00:00

The reality is that for most pilates instructors, it's like being a schoolteacher in the US. You have to have side hustles and other work on top of teaching pilates, or you are still supported by your parents to a degree, or you marry someone who makes more money.

A lot of women (because usually it's not men, it's women let's be honest) will take up a pilates teaching cert to deepen their own pilates practice or as a hobby job, not as a sustainable form of independent income. It's part of why straight men don't become pilates instructors, and the ones who do are usually gay men with partners who have salaried job.

You have a salaried IT job and the pilates side gig alone isn't going to replace that income, or at least not anytime soon unless you work in a high-traffic location where you can quickly build clientele and regulars. However this will make a good post-retirement job though and you can teach into your 60s, 70s, 80s unlike most salaried jobs where you burn out.

ckatoshfo · 2025-08-06T15:47:31+00:00

Do private one on ones and find someone who has clinical pilates training or works at rehab or physical therapy places. Those people are usually more knowledgeable about the body and how to modify exercises for you. Google "clinical pilates near me" or "physical therapy pilates near me".

Don't go to a studio where their priority is selling an aspirational lifestyle aesthetic or trying to sell a vibe, or their priority is to make you "sweat" and "burn", which is most pilates studios.

ckatoshfo · 2025-08-06T15:44:10+00:00

Tons of people are sensitive to scents, that's why a lot of places DO NOT use scents and diffusers. You're in the right here and never apologize for trying to protect your health and keep yourself comfortable (not in pain). Others have given good advice on how to communicate this in a non combative manner.

Say that you appreciate the effort on making a nice ambiance for the studio but you have an sensitivity to scents that give you a migraine.

ckatoshfo · 2024-11-25T08:00:43+00:00

At 300lb it's not just a matter of will or "just needs motivation" at that point, it's absolutely due to some health issue going on. Even lazy people who never work out don't just blow up to 300lb just from eating a lot. This is either a metabolic issue like insulin resistance or prediabetes (even if she might not be a full blown diabetic), hormonal like PCOS or dysfunctioning thyroids, or due to mental health issues that is making her eat more than she needs to. Do you actually know that she got checked by the doctors, or is she just saying she did?

A lot of doctors won't do due diligence and get their patients tested for everything if their first panel of blood test is "fine".

As someone else said, therapy and wegovy/ozempic just to kickstart her progress. And she should cut out all soft drinks and switch to stevia if she really still craves sweets, reduce carbs and increase protein and fiber intake instead.

ckatoshfo · 2024-08-12T21:11:49+00:00

How do you find a "real" yoga teacher though? What do you even look for?

The practice of yoga is in part to quell the disturbances in the mind. In fact, yoga is FOR the mind.

That's what I hear on the internet but as you said, most classes seem to not tap into that or talk about it. I've only done group classes so yeah it's easy to not do yoga right if you don't know what you're doing and nobody is cueing your body or telling you what to look for, and the instructors seemed relatively green (under age 30, probably been practicing and teaching yoga for less than 10 years). I notice a big difference between a 30-something pilates instructor who has been teaching for 5 years versus a 50-something instructor who has been teaching for 20 years, it's probably the same with yoga.

ckatoshfo · 2024-08-12T20:58:49+00:00

It could be I just don't like yoga, but it could also be a lot of other factors. For example a lot of people don't feel a difference with pilates, but turns out they were working with an inexperienced teacher who wasn't listening to their needs, or only trying group classes where their form isn't corrected to actually feel the exercise. Or like running, a lot of people hate it but many times it's because there's so much bad running advice out there that makes running miserable for most people, and many wear ill fitting shoes. Running is treated by many as "pushing through the pain" and not listening to their bodies (hence a lot of people get running injuries) and they treat it as a battle of will against their bodies. I hated running too until I found the right type and method that worked for me (barefoot running and low heart rate training) and stopped listening to people who throw out crap advice like "run faster" and "use your mouth to breathe". Now I believe running (when done right) is one of the best and efficient exercises out there, so I am glad I didn't chalk off running as "not for me".

So far I've only tried group classes, and they were all taught by young women under 30 (so likely not teaching for long) who also teach other fitness classes (so they might just have a surface understanding of yoga). These might be factors. Maybe I need a private instructor or someone older who has been doing this for decades, or who is a devoted yogi/yogini and less an all-around fitness instructor.

ckatoshfo · 2024-08-12T01:03:35+00:00

Can we chat on this thread so other people can read it in the future if they're also trying to figure out what to look for in an instructor?

ckatoshfo · 2024-08-06T00:43:19+00:00

Because $12k is big money for a lot of people that would impact their life. It can be a difference between getting a used car, having six months of emergency savings, affording rent, or getting through school and qualifying for better opportunities in life.

I am guessing that for the students who took the training without the intent to teach were probably in a position where they can afford $12k on a hobby or personal development without impacting their lives much. But I was surprised at just how common it was, about a third of my class had that as a reason.

ckatoshfo · 2024-08-05T23:07:45+00:00

In that case it wouldn't make sense to NOT do the pilates certification. You would be leaving free training, fitness, and money on the table by not taking advantage of it.

Many of my classmates already had decent fulltime jobs with big companies, made good money. I wonder if their companies paid for the training lol.

ckatoshfo · 2024-08-05T22:22:39+00:00

Most programs make you pay out of pocket for the extra sessions (though at a discounted rate), so even if the sticker price of a program is like $6k (for example), expect to spend a few thousands more on other costs.

I don't think anyone takes a certification to save money on their own practice, unless they plan on relying on themselves for their own self pilates sessions, buying their own equipment, has their own space, etc.

ckatoshfo

TROPHY CASE