Juan Aguilar believed his Arts education was of little use once out in the real work world, so he dropped out with one year left. Ten years of experience showed him differently. Now Juan speaks to the importance of Arts degrees in developing those soft skills so needed in business, leadership, and future jobs. Juan was born in Chihuahua, Mexico before moving to Canada at the age of six. He is currently a graduate student at SFU Beedie School of Business. His experience in hospitality management during an eight-year gap in his undergraduate studies led him to a love of all things leadership. From this interest stems his talk on the continued importance of Arts degrees as enrolment rates continue to drop, especially regarding leadership development. Between school and work Juan enjoys reading, surfing, good wine, and bad action movies This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx