“I use the skills I learned through JA daily.” Dodie Rawlings-Toth is an Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase, so she uses her financial expertise every day at work — and she credits JA for much of the success she’s encountered.
Dodie first heard about Junior Achievement when she was a sophomore at Chandler High School. She wanted to learn more about business, so she joined an after-school JA program, where she and the other students got the chance to start their own companies. Her company, Deseret, sold beautiful crystal clocks. After promoting her product, she got orders, bought materials, and sold clocks to make a profit. She enjoyed the experience so much that she joined the program again the following year.
This time around, she came up with the idea of selling coupon books, which was very innovative since they weren’t nearly as popular at the time. She went to various businesses to promote her idea, letting them know they could potentially make a big profit if they paid to put a coupon in the book. Once she had enough coupon codes, she marketed the idea to potential customers, explaining that they could get great deals at local businesses if they bought a coupon book. Her idea was a hit and she was able to sell many coupon books. The process gave her valuable insight on how to come up with a creative product idea, effectively market and distribute that product, and make a profit.
But Dodie’s journey with JA didn’t end there — she went on to have a daughter who went to JA BizTown in 5th grade! Dodie chaperoned and got to see her daughter become an employee for a day in the student-sized town, earning paychecks, paying bills, and buying goods and services. She found the experience to be incredibly valuable for her daughter: “JA programs spark the conversation [about finances] that may not have been sparked otherwise.”
Dodie also volunteered for JA You’re Hired (which has since been replaced by JA Inspire), preparing high school students for their future careers, and the JA Stock Market Challenge, a fast-paced event in which teams buy mock stock in fictitious companies and compete to have the largest portfolio. Most recently, she attended JA Bottles for BizTown, an exciting event that helps us provide JA programming to even more Arizona students.
“When you have such a close bond with JA, you want to keep that going,” she said, adding that every time she sees JA, it warms her heart and reminds her of where she’s from.
She recognizes the positive impact JA has had on her life and believes JA makes a difference in others’ lives as well. She described our impact as a butterfly effect: students who receive JA programming learn important skills they can use no matter where they live or what job they have. Then they’ll share what they learned with their friends, family, colleagues, and so on, creating an even bigger impact on society by helping others learn the skills necessary to succeed in work and life.
“The most successful people are always learning,” she said.
It’s clear that Dodie stands behind her words because her journey from JA student to Executive Director at JP Morgan Chase is nothing short of inspiring. We aim to reach as many AZ students as possible so they can have the skills and confidence to reach their goals like she has!
