San Jose Walks & Talks

Specialties

San Jose Walks & Talks gives local students an opportunity to develop real job skills while running their own walking tour company and simultaneously serves the community by educating residents about the unique aspects of the city of San Jose.

San Jose Walks & Talks hopes to take the people and events that shaped San Jose off the pages of history books and place them in a conversation about our city. We also intend to make our tours relevant to a variety of audiences by introducing our guests to San Jose’s diverse cultures, its art scene and local business success stories.

A concurrent goal for San Jose Walks & Talks is to give students an opportunity to work within an organization that will give them real business experience and job skills worthy of putting on a resume. As student entrepreneurs they are following a trend that put Silicon Valley on the map but this time the outcome will be entertaining and educational instead of computer engineering. Come out for a tour !

History

Established in 2012.

The idea for this company evolved from conversations I had with some of my senior high school students over the years. Initially it was surprising to hear that some were spending more time working than studying. I knew their jobs at McDonald’s or in the mall were not going to be the catalyst for a great future career. Compounding their problems was the fact their grades reflected this prioritizing work over school. More recently due to the economic recession students found themselves without even these options when they began their job search. Finally I decided to start San Jose Walks & Talks as a business where students can earn a little money, play a hands-​on role in a company and develop skills that they can apply to any number of career paths they may choose.