Mastermind Your Launch: Recent Episodes
Stefanie Diaz Sheehan
Every successful entrepreneur had a starting point in their journey. Mastermind Your Launch interviews inspiring entrepreneurs to uncover the story of passion and perseverance, providing YOU ideas and resources to take action towards your own dreams. No one does it alone. Learn about the key influencers that helped these entrepreneurs achieve their success and allow THEM to be part of YOUR journey to the top.
On this episode, Stefanie Diaz closes out the Mastermind Your Launch Podcast series with a special episode recap highlights from the two and a half year run. With over 100 episodes and over 130,000 unique listeners per episode, it’s a bittersweet end to a transformational endeavor.
Listen as Stefanie shares how the radio platform impacted her life and business, and what projects she has on the horizon.
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Kimberly Barnes/ContentPark
An advocate for social justice. A tireless volunteer. A wannabe hacker. An honest and thoughtful friend. A weekend karaoke singer. A serial entrepreneur.
One thing that can’t be said about Kimberly Barnes is that she’s one dimensional.
Kimberly is the founder of ContentPark—a tech-driven content agency that specializes in the production of premium content for large brands and mid-sized businesses. ContentPark provides its clients with content that’s narratively compelling, culturally attuned, and SEO-smart.
Their work can be seen on web assets managed by Fortune 500 companies, such as Macy’s, AT&T and Southern Company.
Prior to ContentPark, Kimberly spent more than a decade putting her marketing expertise to work in higher education, at Fortune 500 companies and at globally-recognized, privately-held small businesses across the country. She guided company and campaign strategies and improved organizational efficiency as a data analyst. And as a creative director, both in an agency and in-house, Kimberly led teams through marketing campaign design and execution.
In her last corporate role, Kimberly was an SEO analyst where she worked with some of the more influential leaders in the industry on national telecom accounts, including Verizon, DirecTV and Frontier Communications.
Kimberly is a proud graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where she began her post-secondary education as a chemical engineering major. She discovered, however, that marketing was a better fit, as it exercised her high aptitude for creativity and her desire to be challenged technically and analytically.
After graduating at the top of her business class with a bachelor of science in marketing, this self-proclaimed technophile taught herself HTML, CSS and PHP and received formal training in Ruby on Rails. She has since used this knowledge in a variety of her roles.
Overall, Kimberly desires to improve the content world and the community as a whole. She passionately dedicates her time to eradicating hunger and homelessness and is a staunch advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
A lifelong learner, Kimberly is rarely seen without a book. She invests energy in self-study topics, such as self-improvement, marketing and consumer behavior, or cutting-edge tech, including artificial intelligence and machine learning.
To learn more about her and her team at ContentPark, visit their website (www.contentpark.co) or social media; Twitter (@_contentpark) and Instagram (@contentpark).
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Gene Hammett
Gene Hammett works with companies to discover new strategies for growth. From small businesses to large corporations, he presents his ideas on becoming THE choice, not a choice and unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit by activating internal brand ambassadors for companies. Gene’s podcast, Leaders in the Trenches, has been recognized by Inc. and Entrepreneur for its insight on marketing and sales leadership.
Gene is also the author of The Trap of Success: A Brutally Candid Guide to Overcoming Your Fears, Finding Significance, and Achieving Profound Success. A regular contributor to Entrepreneur, Gene has also been featured in Forbes, Success, Business Insider, and Inc.
Contact Gene via email directly at gene@leadersinthetrenches.com or via the Contact page.
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Kimberly Graver, Susan Smith and Maranda Bennett/E-Transform
The team at E-Transform began with one simple goal in mind; to revolutionize the call center business. So many of us had seen business done the wrong way, and they have set out to change it. They are proactive, instead of reactive. Their internal corporate culture reflects the way they do business – with respect, communication, and a positive and energetic attitude. This successful model has transferred to their other related lines of service as well. They like “e” words. One of their favorites is execution. They truly believe that the secret to a successful business model is exceptional execution, all the time. And that is what E-Transform gives you. They push themselves to go the extra mile, provide the same level of service they want to receive, and think out-of-the-box by providing flexible pricing models.
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
6pm – 9pm
The Metropolitan Club
Alpharetta, GA
W.O.E. (WOMEN ONLY ENTREPRENEURS) is a night of galvanizing unstoppable women to be empowered and comfortable in their own skin while being united and uplifted in sisterhood.
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Johnathan Hessing/Shouty
Jonathan is a firm believer and advocate for manifesting realities through positive thinking and energy. Through his life he has found that faith and confidence… and consistency will bring happiness to the mind, body, and spirit. Using this outlook he works with his co-founders to build a company whose platform enables users to make money, as well as view exciting live-streamed content.
Shouty
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Jocelyn Robinson/Intuitive & Psychic Channeler
Jocelyn Robinson is an Intuitive and Psychic Channeler. Jocelyn was first introduced to her connection with the divine in her early twenties through her exploration of different energy healing techniques, spiritually conscious literature, and focusing on the mind-body connection. She traveled down this path due to her health issues such as chronic migraines, allergies, food sensitivities, recurrent candida, and autoimmune disease and related symptoms. By working with her own support team, she was able to align her emotional, spiritual, and physical bodies to reach true healing. Through these events, Jocelyn became aware of her gift of intuition. Jocelyn has the psychic abilities of claircognizance, clairvoyance, and clairsentience that allows her to connect with her clients’ spiritual guides and channel messages.
Jocelyn has been working with her gift for more than two years assisting her clients by providing strategic clarity for their businesses and guidance for physical, emotional, and relationship challenges. She also supports her clients in aligning their own emotional, physical, and spiritual bodies to gain more clarity, direction, and healing within their own lives.
Jocelyn is able to provide in-depth business strategy due to her extensive background in marketing. She has had more than ten-years of experience in marketing with SMB organizations, corporate, startups, and entrepreneurs. Her wide ranging skills include strategy, branding, public relations, integrated marketing, content marketing, and social marketing. Through her professional marketing experience, she is able to provide an accurate and strategic approach for her clients’ intuitive business strategy readings.
Jocelyn believes we all have the power to heal ourselves and tap into our intuition, since she has experienced profound healing in her own life. She now is able to help people with some of the same challenges she went through, and feels a great sense of purpose and fulfillment to help others feel supported in navigating their own challenges.
Jocelyn has helped motivate and support her clients taking action in many different areas of their lives. After working with Jocelyn, clients have started writing the book they were putting off, began pursuing their passion of tarot card readings as a career, and created exact targeting methods for their lead generation.
Jocelyn lives in Atlanta with her cat, Fini, and enjoys spending time hiking in nature, meditating, practicing yoga, dancing, and spending time with friends while practicing a healthy lifestyle.
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Campbell Brudi/Flop
In a world where time moves so fast, modern dating services seem to stand still – well not anymore – Flop is the first truly time sensitive dating app where their focus is to get people in and out! Matches lock after 48 hours and the girl is given the option to ‘Keep Talking’, ‘Meet-Up’ or ‘Flop’. At any time during the match, any party can ‘Flop’ on the other ending the conversation. This creates an atmosphere where things like harassment will get you ‘Flopped’ on! Flop believes that all forms of human interaction are very important so they include picture messaging with captions and voice messaging along with your typical text. Say goodbye to those old matches and dry conversations because every match made on Flop ends up in a ‘Meet Up’ or a ‘Flop’. #dontflop
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Eva Jane Bunkley/Eva Jane Beauty
Eva Jane Bunkley is an Atlanta-based two-time Emmy Award Winning Makeup Artist and the inventor of “The Makeup Bullet™ – HiDef Cosmetic Finger Sponge,” the most innovative design this decade in a makeup sponge applicator and blender. Eva Jane was makeup artist for Fox 5 GoodDay Atlanta for seven years and NBC 11Alive’s makeup artist for five years. Her anointed hands have touched many celebrity faces including President Jimmy Carter, Usher, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jennifer Holliday, Charles S. Dutton, Cicely Tyson, Jamie Foxx and Randy Jackson and served as personal makeup artist to Creflo and Taffi Dollar and Judge Hatchett for several years. Eva Jane considers herself a creative that doesn’t limit her artistic endeavors; in fact she is also an award winning filmmaker with two first place documentary film projects to her credit and continues media production as a creative passion through her production company Eva-Lution Studios, LLC. Eva Jane loves to give back, frequently mentoring young artists in the business and was recently awarded the “2016 Maqui Award for Philanthropy” by the Atlanta-based Professional Makeup Artist Conference for her fundraising efforts for “Kate’s Club of Metro Atlanta” a charity that helps children and teens that have experienced the death of a parent or sibling. Their cause is near and dear to Eva Jane’s heart in that her own mother passed away when she was six years of age which happened to be the topic of her first award winning film, “My Mother was a Butterfly.” Right now, Eva Jane is working diligently at building her brand, “The Makeup Bullet™” through her company “Eva Jane Beauty, LLC” and continuing to create innovative beauty products. She presently holds four total registered patents and trademarks. Her “finger sponge” is found in several stores worldwide including the U.S. based Dillard’s department store chain. Eva Jane earned a bachelors degree from The Ohio State University and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She is wife to “Terence” and together they are raising with two young men to follow their own God-given missions. They are members the Buckhead Church branch of Northpoint Ministries pastored by Andy Stanley.
Eva Jane Beauty, LLC(770) EVA-JANE / (770) 382-5263
http://TheMakeupBullet.com
http://Instagram.com/TheMakeupBullet
http://Twitter.com/TheMakeupBullet
http://Facebook.com/TheMakeupBullet
http://Youtube.com/EvaJaneBeauty
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Alex Han & David Choi/PupWalkr
Alex started his career as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions group at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey working on buy-side/sell-side transactions across the healthcare, industrials, technology, and media verticals. He now runs the customer side of the PupWalkr platform.
David began his career with H.M. Wallace, a firm started by the same guys as Hypepotamus, and worked in multiple functions gaining experience in management, operations, and business development. David now runs the provider side of the PupWalkr platform.
www.pupwalkr.com
@pupwalkr
Alex’s personal: @PWAhan email: ahan@pupwalkr.com
David’s personal: @PupWalkr_David email: dchoi@pupwalkr.com
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Stefanie Jewett/Activvely
Stefanie Jewett is the founder and CEO of Activvely, the premiere social-pairing app that connects you with platonic fitness buddies. Stefanie’s path into the tech world isn’t a conventional one by any means. A recovering journalist, she spent five years covering hard news at CNN, until her creativity breached the spillway and Activvely was born. A Miami native, Stefanie grew up in a Spanish-speaking household, her Cuban roots never too far from her heart.
Living in Central Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. inspired her to pursue a journalism career in earnest. This passion for news would see her at the U.S. Congress, National Republican Senatorial Committee, WSET, the Alliance to Save Energy and eventually landing a job at CNN. Working on several projects and shows including Crossfire and the Situation Room, she held her own among the most elite journalists at the World Headquarters and the Washington D.C. bureau
Stefanie returned to Atlanta with three goals: to lift the stigma off swipe platforms solely being used for dating, to help the people of this vibrant city connect and to enable everyone, from startups to established corporations alike, to effectively use technology to create meaningful customer interaction and growth for their business.
http://activvely.com
@Activvely
@StefanieJewett
stefanie@activvely.com
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Diamonde Williamson/BuiltxWomen
Since graduating college, Diamonde has dedicated her work to serving the needs and creating opportunity for women of color. From being an assistant to photographer, Drexina Nelson, style influencer, Mattie James and money maven Patrice Washington to working in television as a producer for the Oprah Winfrey Network, USA and TVOne, Diamonde has utilized her talents to serve. Now, as Diversity Coordinator at TechSquare Labs and Founder of her own digital media startup, Blossom, Diamonde is committed to creating an opportunity for women to build tech companies and disrupt the representation of women in media. The #BuiltbyWomen’s Initiative, presented by TechSquare Labs, is on a mission to pair 100 minority women, 50 technical and 50 go-to market, in an effort to build technology products that people and companies are willing to pay for by solving the toughest problems that face industries in Atlanta and beyond.
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
James Oliver/WeMontage
James Oliver, Jr. is Co-Founder of the world’s cutest twins, Thaddeus and Zoe, and CEO and Founder of WeMontage.com, the world’s only website that lets you turn your digital images into a custom collage on removable wallpaper. James is author of the book, The More You Hustle, The Luckier You Get: You CAN Be a Successful Parentpreneur. James has been featured in Money Magazine, Forbes.com, and on CNBC’s reality TV show, West Texas Investors Club. James has an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill, and a B.S. in Accounting from Morehouse College, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude. James lives in Johns Creek, GA with his wife, Ayana, and twins.
WeMontage.com
www.TheMoreYouHustle.com
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Adam Steinberg/Fetch
Prior to co-founding Fetch, Adam served Director of Emerging Apps at Silverpop, which was acquired by IBM. Adam was also co-founder and CEO of PlacePunch, a location-based marketing platform. PlacePunch was acquired by Silverpop in 2011.
Adam believes in serving the customer and and creating an effortless experience for every product.
Starting PlacePunch as a 20-something, working with multi-national brands and selling to Silverpop.
fetchtruck.com
@fetchtruck
adam@fetchtruck.com
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Kevin Mobolade & Nick Chandarana/Drofika
Automated Aerial Intelligence. Drofika builds software solutions for drone data optimizing construction, mining,energy, and other complex industries. Using your drones to give customizable, actionable data and allowing you to perform analytical annotations to your maps.
Grow your knowledge with 3D models, 2D models, Orthomosaics and NDVI analysis. Maps are processed in real time and with the ability to add, edit and manage your maps in a dedicated portal.
Website: www.drofika.co
Twitter: @DrofikaHQ
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Brad Stevens/Entreholic
Brad is a lifetime entrepreneur and has committed himself to the discipline, creativity and constant innovation required to achieve success. He has helped build multiple seven figure businesses in numerous domestic and international markets including B2B, B2C, physical products, software, and professional services.
His most recent company, Entreholic, provides an affordable, entrepreneurial approach to helping small to medium businesses implement and execute innovative growth strategies. Entreholic is also the creator of the Top 200 Tools To Fuel Your Business Growth and the weekly Addictive Tools Series. Brad also enjoys teaching on the topic and conducts educational seminars throughout the year.
Brad serves on the board of the Atlanta Chapter of the Global Entrepreneurs’ Organization where he co-chairs the Accelerator Program to help emerging companies achieve $1 Million in annual revenue within three years. He is a graduate of LEAD Atlanta Program, serves on the High Point Civic Association, and co-founded an annual charity event for breast cancer.
Brad is a native of Atlanta and lives in Sandy Springs with his daughter and wife, an inspirational third grade teacher. Brad graduated Magna Cum Laude from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with concentrations in Finance and Marketing.
www.entreholic.com
https://twitter.com/_entreholic
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Hogan Bassey /Livful, Inc.
Hogan Bassey is Livful, Inc.’s, CEO and co-founder. Although Mr. Bassey brings his experience as a business analyst and management consultant to the Livful team, some would argue his most important contributions to Livful are his experience fighting malaria as a child in Nigeria and his passion for using science and technology to save lives and transform communities.
Traditional methods for repelling insects and preventing mosquito-borne diseases aren’t fully effective and are difficult to use. Mosquito netting, chemicals like DEET, household sprays, burning coils and vaccines don’t provide the full protection, easy application or pleasant experience that people need to guard against insect bites and diseases.
Livful created a plant-based, micro-encapsulation technology to deliver a repellent that insects hate and humans love to use. Families, governments and health organizations can stop wasting money and start saving lives.
https://twitter.com/LivFulinc
http://www.livful.com/
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Jacqui Chew/ATDC
Jacqui Chew is ATDC’s marketing catalyst where she provides customer and channel strategy as well as investor relations counsel. She is an award winning digital strategist and principal at iFusion, a go-to-market collective. Jacqui’s experience spans well-known brands and high-growth startups including Cycloramic, eBay, IBM, Stainmaster, PeopleSoft (now Oracle), and Venture Atlanta. As the senior marketing executive at Silverpop, a marketing automation pioneer, she oversaw its debut and supported the Series B round venture capital raise of $30 million.
Jacqui has spoken at TED and is a sought after speaker on digital strategy, disruptive business models, and entrepreneurship. She has been featured on FOX 5 Atlanta and quoted in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today, and Fortune.
Jacqui is active in the technology and social innovation communities. She organizes TEDxPeachtree, the largest TEDx event in Georgia and contributes to the TAG Hi-Growth Industry Task Force. Previously, she served on the boards of the Atlanta Press Club, Women in Technology and the Atlanta chapter of the American Marketing Association. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from the University of Hawaii, Manoa and speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and Taiwanese.
http://atdc.org
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
I can’t believe it’s been two years since I took the leap to share my voice with the world in a big and scary way. I had no expectations for how far this road would take me which is why I feel so blessed that I have the opportunity to celebrate TWO YEARS of giving Atlanta entrepreneurs a platform to tell their story in a unique and authentic way.
On this very special episode, we are going to shake things up… Turning the tables is my good friend and fellow lady boss, Becky Berry, who will interview yours truly. Yes, it’s time for me to tell my story in a way that I never have before.
Listen as we pop the champagne and talk about the high and woes of#startuplife.
And make sure you stick around because Michael Cowherd, Founder of On The Way!, and co-organizer of W.O.E. (Women Only Entrepreneurs) woeatl.eventbrite.com will also be joining me in studio to talk about an incredible upcoming event for Atlanta’s trailblazing women.
Becky Berry/Becky Berry Career Coaching
Infinite possibilities exist at the intersection of women, technology, and education. My belief in those infinite possibilities and my experience in varied careers, including technology, enable me to help clients gain new, unimagined perspectives on their careers. How? By helping clients rediscover, reclaim, and re-imagine their talents, skills, strengths, work experience, and life experience so they can identify their ideal careers and go after them! I know how to help women bridge the gap between their perceptions of what tech work is and the reality of the broad range of career opportunities in technology.
Here’s the thing. I’ve had several careers including magazine publisher, software entrepreneur, stay-at-home mom, and social entrepreneur. Now, as a Certified Professional Career Coach, I use my extensive and varied work experience to help women take action to embrace change with excitement to reach their dreams. Clients learn how to dig down and unearth their hidden talents. They also learn how to talk about their talents and skills as we create strategies that will lead to the success they have been looking for. We re-imagine their current careers or imagine and explore better ones. Along the way, we develop a picture or their lives that they could never have dreamed of. We take all of the work we do together and create a personalized, achievable career path.
Website: http://beckyberrycoach.com
Twitter: @beckyberrycoach
Michael Cowherd/On The Way! Michael Cowherd is an entrepreneur who aims to serve the Atlanta startup community as a mustard seed continually propelling others towards their success. Stumbling into entrepreneurship after a rough stint in the corporate world, he’s taken his extrovert personality and passion for helping others and has become a super-connector for people and ideas within the startup ecosystem. Cowherd serves as the Community Organizer for Tech Talent South, a woman co-founded and led Tech Ed company. He is also a founder in residence at Atlanta’s premiere B2C startup community Switchyards Downtown Club, a community he credits for playing a vital role in helping further his efforts to see OTW! through. Cowherd is the Founder of OTW! a car-sharing app best described as Airbnb for cars. Cowherd’s affinity for the sharing economy comes naturally as someone who’s never been one to hoard his resources or knowledge and looks for ways to share what God has blessed him with. Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelCowherd Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Al Meyers/TiE Atlanta
Al Meyers, the Executive Director of TiE Atlanta, is an entrepreneur and media executive with more than 25 years of experience across Fortune 500 companies, for-profit and nonprofit startups. Meyers has launched two award-winning, sustainable, Atlanta-based nonprofit organizations: TEDxPeachtree and the Atlanta Music Project. Both are successful community assets that have made a significant social impact in Metro Atlanta. TEDxPeachtree has become the premier TEDx event in Georgia and one of the leading TEDx events in the world, with several talks garnering millions of views. The Atlanta Music Project is the first music program in the state of Georgia inspired by the globally acclaimed Venezuelan youth music program, El Sistema. AMP is an intensive music program for at-risk youth right in their neighborhood and now serves hundreds of at-risk youth across several locations in Metro Atlanta who are now on a path to college and career.
Previously, Meyers ran his own boutique consulting practice, Saisei Consulting, a provider of strategy and corporate development advisory services to early-stage, growth-stage and mature digital media companies around the world. Al has advised several startups in the areas of digital media, 3D technology, online games and games for K-12 education. Al has spoken to external audiences on such topics as disruptive innovation in education, and the role of online games outside of the “purely entertainment” arena.
Meyers accumulated more than two decades of experience in the media and entertainment industry with several Fortune 100 companies. Meyers served as Vice President of Strategic Planning at Turner Broadcasting where he was a founding member of GameTap, and facilitated the sale of GameTap to a French company in 2008. Meyers spent nearly 13 years at the company (1995-2008), and spent considerable time on M&A transactions and strategy development for Turner (and across Time Warner) and its portfolio of businesses, with an emphasis on Cartoon Network.
Al received his Bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and his Masters in Business Administration from the Leonard Stern School of Business at New York University.
Amyn Sadruddin/ TiE Atlanta
With a “how can I help you” mentality, Amyn serves the entrepreneurial community by bringing together over 80 educational programming annually & connecting movers & shakers to the TiE Atlanta ecosystem of mentorship. Amyn has years of experience in helping early stage startups and aspiring entrepreneurs to get connected in Atlanta and utilize its rich resources. His passion to help people grown which can be seen and felt, when you meet him at TiE Atlanta and around the community.
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Kashi Sehgal is Co-Founder & CEO of Gigabark, an integrated mobile solutions company rooted in phone and text messaging technologies. She is also Director of Strategic Initiatives & Business Development for International Greetings, a UK-based company that specializes in design and has creates products for celebrations, stationary and creative play, and giftables. She also serves as Executive Director of SuperNova South, the largest multi-disciplinary technology conference in the Southeast.
Previously, Kashi spent time as a management consultant at Accenture where she worked with both government and Fortune 100 clients in areas such as visioning and gap analysis, cost reduction, communication plans, training, performance measurement, incentive structures and more. She also has experience in strategic planning and brand strategy – especially as it relates to early stage companies and non-profits.
She has started several non-profits including Music For Tomorrow which provided immediate financial assistance to jazz musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina and currently provides economic opportunities for jazz musicians around the country. MFT is now housed as a program of the Afro Cuban Jazz Alliance in New York. She also works with the Campus Community Partnership Foundation which promotes education through a student-centered approach focused on social responsibility and runs their Mentor Walk program.
Kashi is actively engaged in the Atlanta community serving on various boards such as WonderRoot, Andrew J Young Foundation Advisory Council, Fulton County Career & Technical Education, Amplify4Good, WINGS for Kids, and Georgia’s WIN List and with groups such as the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s Mobility Leadership Council, ChooseATL, Atlanta Regional Commission’s Innovation Committee, The Lovett School’s Sustainability Committee and as an Advice For Good Advisor.
Kashi is a native Atlantan. She attended The George Washington University for her undergraduate studies and Georgia Tech for graduate research. Kashi was selected as a member of Outstanding Atlanta’s Class of 2015, as one of Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under 40 in 2014, and as a member of the 2013 LEAD Atlanta and LaunchPad2X classes. She volunteers her time mentoring and with CARE, Acumen, and other organizations in her community.
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
John Mamon/mPowered IT
John Mamon, CEO of mPowered IT has 20+ years of experience in I.T. Engineering/Sales/Executive working in startup companies/divisions. He helped build a successful MSP in Atlanta which was acquired in 2011. His technology related specialties Include service design, team creation and oversight, Increasing operational effectiveness. and harnessing cloud and data center services.
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Kelly Burton/Bodyology
Kelly Burton is an accomplished entrepreneur with greater than a decade’s experience launching and scaling start-up companies.
As Founder and CEO of her most recent venture Bodyology, a high-tech apparel company which infuses performance technology into women’s innerwear, Kelly is revolutionizing the way women dress. Since its launch in 2014, Bodyology has been identified as a high-potential apparel line by Macy’s Incorporated and featured in national publications like Inc. and Essence.
Kelly is also a social scientist having earned her PhD from Emory University in 2009. She went on to work for Emory University as a senior researcher and ultimately left to start her own consultancy, Nexus Research Group.
As the CEO of Nexus Research Group, Kelly advises non-profits, foundations and government agencies on how to improve their social programs and maximize their philanthropic investments. She has served on more than a half-dozen boards and received the Visionary Leadership Award for her efforts to increase access to opportunity for individuals and communities throughout the South.
Kelly Burton is a sought after speaker whose unique life experiences gives her powerful insight into the range of issues and topics relevant to the modern-day business leader. Her love for entrepreneurship is infectious and she is passionate about sharing her story with others looking to blaze their own path. Kelly is a veritable renaissance woman and evidence that women can lead in multiple areas of life, all at the same time.
www.kellyburton.net
www.bodyologystore.com
www.nexusresearchonline.com
https://twitter.com/@iamkellyburton
Daniel Sabio/TechSquare Labs
Daniel Sabio is the Minister of Awesome at TechSquare Labs, and Director of Atlanta Startup Battle. He holds a BS in Computational Media from Georgia Tech and is both an experienced developer and artist. Currently, his passion is helping tech startups and entrepreneurs succeed in their ventures.
atlantastartupbattle.com
https://twitter.com/techsquare #atlantastartupbattle
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Carole Williams & Gina Gentilozzi/48in48.org
Carole Williams comes to 48in48 with six years of experience in nonprofit management. She has worked with large-scale and recognizable nonprofit brands. Most recently Williams worked in Major Gifts with United Way of Miami-Dade while building corporate campaigns in the legal industry. Previously, Williams also worked in nonprofit fundraising and events with the American Diabetes Association. Currently, Williams has moved back to her roots in Georgia and has taken on running the start-up nonprofit, 48in48, as Executive Director, bringing marketing and technology to nonprofits in, now 4 cities across the country.
Gina Gentilozzi has worked in hospitality and entertainment for three decades. Gina has started several small businesses in entertainment management and event logistics. Her most recent launch was Whiskey and Redheads Music, specializing in songwriter resources, brand creation and career management. Gentilozzi has joined 48in48, as Manager of Events and Development, to aid with the worldwide expansion of their mission to impact citizens in need everywhere through the skills of digital/technology professionals. Gina looks forward to working with each new city to make a difference.
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Becky Berry/Becky Berry Career Coaching
Infinite possibilities exist at the intersection of women, technology, and education. My belief in those infinite possibilities and my experience in varied careers, including technology, enable me to help clients gain new, unimagined perspectives on their careers. How? By helping clients rediscover, reclaim, and re-imagine their talents, skills, strengths, work experience, and life experience so they can identify their ideal careers and go after them! I know how to help women bridge the gap between their perceptions of what tech work is and the reality of the broad range of career opportunities in technology.
Here’s the thing. I’ve had several careers including magazine publisher, software entrepreneur, stay-at-home mom, and social entrepreneur. Now, as a Certified Professional Career Coach, I use my extensive and varied work experience to help women take action to embrace change with excitement to reach their dreams. Clients learn how to dig down and unearth their hidden talents. They also learn how to talk about their talents and skills as we create strategies that will lead to the success they have been looking for. We re-imagine their current careers or imagine and explore better ones. Along the way, we develop a picture or their lives that they could never have dreamed of. We take all of the work we do together and create a personalized, achievable career path.
I also help clients re-frame their “problem” traits—like ADD and dyslexia—and develop strategies to turn those problems into solutions – good ones. I’m known for my outside-the-box strategies for helping clients jump their internal roadblocks to move forward.
So, a little about me and my qualifications. I have a Master’s Degree in Special Education with an emphasis on ADD. I’m also a Certified Professional Career Coach. As I said before, I’ve had several careers, including owning a software company and working with startups.
I have 3 grown kids, so it’s hard to get them together all at once, so when I do, I’ve hit the jackpot! I love to read – anything that has words – books, magazines, cereal boxes, you name it. I love hanging out with my friends, having a good meal, going to the movies.
But here’s why I’m really qualified to help you. I get you. I get people. All kinds, sizes, and flavors of people. Crowds of people, or one-on-one. I love people.
When you love people, there is no greater rush than helping them succeed. You’re ready to get a new perspective on your career, so let’s do it.
Website: http://beckyberrycoach.com
Twitter: @beckyberrycoach
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Lauren Patrick/PrettySouthern.com and Terminus
Lauren Patrick is the Editor of PrettySouthern.com and the Storyteller at Terminus: Account-Based Marketing. She’s a graduate of UGA’s Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication, where she served as Editor of The Red & Black. Since her graduation from UGA in 2007, Lauren worked for Naylor publications, Jezebel magazine, AutoTrader.com, and RaceTrac convenience stores before making her “pivot” to the startup world.
Lauren is passionate about helping early-stage technology companies launch their marketing programs. As Storyteller for Terminus, Lauren manages PR, marketing communications, and social media for the brand. 2016 was a big year for Lauren, as she helped Terminus win Best Place to Work from the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Startup of the Year from the Atlanta Chapter of the American Marketing Association, and the TAG Social Savvy award. Terminus is her fourth startup in addition to Pretty Southern, and helping her husband, Kevin, with his car company Exomotive.
Twitter: @Pretty_Southern / @Terminus
Website: www.PrettySouthern.com / www.Terminus.com
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Melanie Romanaux/Somedia Solutions
Melanie leads a team of social media specialists who are passionate about connecting brands with their existing audience and reaching new audiences to:
– gain top of mind brand awareness
– provide excellent customer service
– share valuable information and remarkable content
– crowdsource to improve products and services
– develop community and loyalty among fans and followers
– establish credibility, trust, reliability, and consistency as a brand within social communities
– develop and nurture relationships with influential community members and every customer or client
Here’s how it works:
Somedia Solutions helps you form a strategy (based on their Discovery of your brand) that will place you in the right places (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Youtube, etc…) and attract prospects who will not only buy what you’re selling but who also will talk about you and recommend you to their friends, family, and colleagues.
When the strategy has been drafted and your goals are aligned – they help you execute that plan in 1 of 3 ways:
-
Training – they’re passionate about empowering business owners, athletes, entertainers, and authors to successfully and proactively navigate the social media waters
-
Consulting – your marketing team wants to work with Somedia to hear new and innovative ideas and strategies to create an even more engaging and remarkable brand experience for your fans on social networks. Bring them in for the day, pick their brains, and then your team can take those ideas and run with them.
-
Management – they’ll do the heavy lifting for you and manage all the points of a successful social media strategy:
– listening and monitoring
– responding to questions, customer service inquiries, and reaching out to new opportunities
– building your audience
– managing the conversation
– creating and publishing original content
– creating your social media policy
– reporting
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Candice Campbell/Nimble. Design Company
With nearly a decade of proven experience bringing connected brands to life in the built environment, Candice brings a strategic, thoughtful eye and holistic, experiential approach to every new engagement. Known for her relentless drive, meticulous attention to detail, and connected design approach, Candice has developed a reputation for delivering powerful brand experiences, and an undeterred level of Client service.
In 2014, Candice formed Nimble. A Design Consultancy to help clients realize and extend brand stories beyond the logo and into the built environment to differentiate, inspire and influence audience behavior.
Since formation, Nimble. has grown from one to an established team of four, producing award-winning, multi-disciplinary brand experiences for clients in real estate and hospitality. In under three years, Nimble. has launched over 75 new brands, led nearly 50 property repositioning campaigns, and traveled 1,000’s of miles to bring innovation and consistent brand exposure to projects in 13 core markets.
With a love for real estate, and a relentless drive to perfect the connection of brand to place, Candice leads strategic vision, art direction, and all signage and interiors work on behalf of Nimble.’s property repositioning projects and key accounts. She directs a growing internal team, and works closely with the firm’s external collaborating creative partners, to craft holistic brand experiences, spanning the gap of branding to built environment.
She is a proud Savannah College of Art and Design grad, holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design. Outside of the studio, Candice enjoys spending time with her husband and son, Landon, endlessly renovating her 50’s ranch and experiencing design through travel.
https://www.nimbledesignco.com
https://twitter.com/nimbledesignco
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Mark Wyssbrod has intertwined quality of work with small business economics, the importance of financial position and a tax strategy. He is referred to as a Small Business CFO™. As an Eagle Scout, he understands the significance of being prepared and, as an economist; he understands the worth of being efficient.
Mark has lived in the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast. This diverse background allows him to communicate well with individuals with different backgrounds, as well as understand their motivating factors. Mark has integrated improv in his business, which allows him to be a better active listener and to think creatively for “outside the box” solutions for his clients.
Mark earned his Bachelors of Science in Business and Economics with a concentration in Accounting at the University of Kentucky. He earned his Certified Public Accounting designation from Georgia in January 2002.
With an entrepreneurial spirit Mark has started several successful small businesses. A past business venture was the award winning Pro@ctive CPA. After attending a retreat in the spring of 2013 he made a decision to sell this company in order to spend more time with his family and community. Mark is a “local capitalist” and is a part owner of a local payroll company, sign company, water-collection and reuse company and development company.
Mark believes it is important to give back to his community and he does so with both his time and resources. Mark has been a temporary foster parent, a volunteer at a halfway house, supporter of numerous community activities and events (including the Alpharetta Veterans Memorial in 2015) and just completed his term as the co-chair of Leadership North Fulton. Prior to 2015, Mark volunteered over 180 hours per year; in 2015, Mark volunteered 494 hours; and in 2016 Mark volunteered over 600 hours. The increase in time invested in his community is a result of following a calling to selling his CPA firm and surviving a near-death event.
Mark has been recognized as a Business Person of Excellence by the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce honored him as the 2013 Small Business Peron of the Year. This award was achieved for his focus on quality and commitment to his clients, team members and community. He has also been awarded the Five Star Wealth Manager Award for tax services since 2009 to 2013. In 2015, Mark was honored by the Georgia Society of CPA with the Public Service Award.
Jason Binder is a small business owner and independent financial planner for the firm Acolyte Advisors. He and his wife, Nicolette, have two daughters, Cecilia and Maggie. They enjoy attending local events like Food Truck Alley or taking the girls to the parks and greenway.
Jason has a passion for service within Alpharetta and the greater North Fulton area. Never one to sit back, he takes responsibility and works with others to make a difference for the community. His activities in the areas of community service, civic responsibility and economic development include the following:
- Working with area nonprofits and organizing projects as the Community Service Director for the Alpharetta Rotary Club. Jason was recently honored as the 2014 Alpharetta Rotarian of the Year.
- Appointed to the Alpharetta Design Review Board in 2012. The Design Review Board’s responsibility is to preserve Alpharetta’s historical and cultural character and enhance the city’s aesthetic value.
- Worked to bring Alpharetta’s community together as a co-organizer of multiple Day of Service events. Over 500 volunteers have gathered together to help beautify Alpharetta and support our local non-profit organizations.
- Led the development of the Alpharetta Business Academy for the Alpharetta Chamber of Commerce.
- Serves on the Board of the Alpharetta Public Safety Foundation to support our city’s First Responders.
- Completed the Georgia Academy for Economic Development in December 2014. Selected by the Alpharetta Chamber of Commerce, the Academy’s multi-day regional program provides participants with an understanding of the complexities of economic and community development.
Guest: Brian Srikanchana/WorkReadyGrad
Brian Srikanchana is the Founder and CEO of WorkReadyGrad. He is an Atlanta native, graduate of Georgia Tech (Biomedical Engineering, 2008), and EdTech entrepreneur. While in college, Brian co-invented two medical devices: a piezo-electric gait monitor to help post-stroke patients re-learn how to walk, and a modified bronchoscope for use with quantum dots (quantum dots are fluorescent and bind to cancer cells, helping surgeons know where to cut when removing malignant tissue).
After college, Brian spent four years as an analyst within a long-short equity macro hedge fund. Inspired by his participation in Mentor Jackets, the alumni mentoring program at Georgia Tech, both as a mentee and later as a mentor, Brian founded WorkReadyGrad to scale mentorship to many more students while helping close the US Skills Gap.
WorkReadyGrad connects students with mentors to help them navigate their educational experience. Students will be better able to plan their futures so that upon graduation they are the ideal candidate for the job they’re seeking.
Joining Brian in the studio for the interview is Doug Rhoads, the COO of WorkReadyGrad.
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com.
Jonathan Hessing
Jonathan is a firm believer and advocate for manifesting realities through positive thinking and energy. Through his life he has found that faith and confidence… and consistency will bring happiness to the mind, body, and spirit. Using this outlook he works with his co-founders to build a company whose platform enables users to make money, as well as view exciting live-streamed content.
Austin Schmidt
Austin is a creative thinker and marketing innovator. Family and friends play a big part in his life. Surrounding yourself with the right people is necessary. He believes that positive thinking and hustle are the keys to becoming successful. Believe in yourself to achieve something, but put in the work and hustle to earn it. Him and his co-founders are utilizing their complimentary skill sets to change the game in live streaming.
Zunair Ukani
Zunair is wanting to copy and paste Jonathan’s biography #twins. He also believes in the concept that everything happens for a reason, and that every occurrence serves a particular purpose into molding an individual into the way he or she is at in their present state. He also believes that the core of human spirituality stems from universal energy in which the manifestation of a desired reality can actually develop. He, alongside his co-founders, aspire to become one of the largest tech leaders from the East Coast. There are only “W’s” for winning, and “L’s” for learning… there is no “losing”.
On this episode, Stefanie had the pleasure of sitting down with Andrew Egenes and Phillip Naples of Unbrokerage. Listen as they share why Unbrokerage is the easiest way for business owners to purchase and manage their business insurance.
Phillip Naples and Andrew Egenes/Unbrokerage
Phillip is a 15 year veteran of the insurance industry. He has worked with hundreds of companies and realized the challenges they faced when buying commercial insurance. He is now a recovering broker that is redefining the way companies purchase and manage their insurance. When he’s not flipping the insurance industry on its head, he enjoys spending time with his family, riding bicycles, and coaching run club at a local elementary school.
Andrew is a 10 year marketing and technology veteran with experience in a wide range of areas including e-commerce and business process automation. Andrew has an affinity and love for taking on the challenges faced by many of today’s Internet-based businesses. In his spare time, he enjoys obsessing over the Atlanta Braves, traveling the world with his wife and daughter, and disconnecting in the North Georgia mountains.
www.unbrokerage.com
https://twitter.com/unbrokerage
Stefanie Diaz/Mastermind Your Launch
Stefanie Diaz has always had a keen ability for developing marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, but it’s her ability to position startups for accelerated momentum through personal branding and content marketing that has become the cornerstone to her professional success. Her background includes being a strategic adviser to CEO’s spanning startup phase to over $100 million in annual revenue. She has led strategic partnerships with global retailers and Fortune 500 companies, as well as facilitated multi-million dollar government contracts. There is something magnetic about the energy of startup founders that draws Stefanie in. They’re hungry, driven, and committed to making positive change for themselves and the greater community. After conducting over 60 interviews to date, Stefanie is excited to bring Mastermind Your Launch to the Business Radio X platform. Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
An economist by training, Andrew began his career in financial services sales and marketing. Andrew and his close friend Gareth explored a number of ideas before identifying the unparalleled potential of Trust Stamp. Although Trust Stamp is Andrew’s first startup, he has immersed himself in the lean-startup environment by completing incubator programs through Founder’s Space in San Francisco, QC FinTech in Charlotte and NAR REach in Chicago. Each of these programs has provided a different perspective and honed a different set of startup skills.
Since Trust Stamp founding in November 2015, he has worked with Gareth to develop the core functionality of Trust Stamp as the CEO. His daily focus is on business development. Andrew believes he has fantastic team members who are experts in sales and marketing and it is his task to coordinate them into a cohesive strategy that drives revenue!
He is a firm believer that, “the geek shall inherit the earth” and Trust Stamp has greatly deepened his knowledge of technology including blockchain, machine learning, and cyber security.
In his leisure time, he and his wife are amateur foodies. On Saturday mornings, he can often be found watching Premier League soccer and in the evenings he and Gareth enjoy sampling new whiskeys and cigars.
Website https://truststamp.net/
On this episode host Stefanie Diaz gets a peek at the driving force who is stimulating innovation and investing in the Atlanta and Alpharetta tech communities. Listen as Arul Murugan, CEO of Eleven Eleven Investments, shares his vision for bringing startups, seasoned investors, and new investors to the table to accelerate success for all.
Arul Murugan/Eleven-Eleven Investments
Arul Murugan is the Founder and CEO of the innovation-driven venture capital firm, Eleven Eleven Investments (11-11i). Prior to 11-11i, he founded the technology company Enrich which ranked on the Inc 500 list for 5 consecutive years. During his tenure with Enrich, Arul was named a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award – South East Region. He also received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from B2B Magazine and was named Top 10 Tamil Entrepreneur by The Federation of Tamil Sangams in North America (FeTNA). As the visionary behind 11-11i, Arul created the 50-30-20 model to increase the value and approachability in venture capital investing. Portfolio investments include startup teams in advanced manufacturing, fintech, IoT, and augmented reality who are transforming industries through emerging technologies. Learn more at 11-11i.com
Nick Santora is the founder and CEO at Curricula. Curricula is a cyber security company that helps teach other companies how to not get hacked. The Curricula team develops short animated stories that teach organizations and their people about cyber security. The Aware platform tracks the entire learner experience including analytics on learner behaviors. Curricula’s mission is to put an end to “death by PowerPoint” by providing a turn key cyber security educational experience for its customers.
Nick founded Curricula after a 7 year career at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as their cyber security advisor. As the federal regulatory for our nation's power grid, Nicks role at NERC was to help ensure the security and reliability of the power grid in North America as well as advise utility organization on the threats and vulnerabilities relating to cyber security. Nick holds a Bachelor in Computer Information Systems as well as an MBA from Rider University. He is an accredited CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) as well as CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor). MISSION: Nick shares the story of just what sparked the idea for Curricula. It was during a meeting with someone who has major responsibility for our nation’s power grid that he realized how disengaged the organization was from their annual security training. Knowing the power of stories and gamification, he saw an opportunity to more powerfully deliver this important content. MINDSET: Don’t burn bridges, but burn the boats… Nick is all-in on Curricula. Listen as we discuss just what going all in does for your mindset and likelihood of success. MARKETING: Curricula is an education platform that is gaining fast momentum because their team understands that how you deliver the message is just as important as the message itself. With a focus on visual branding, story-telling, and good-old-fashioned-face-to-face-networking, they are picking up great momentum at an early stage. MASTERMINDS: Curricula is comprised of a virtual team living across the country, which makes community and culture even more of a priority. For Nick, joining Atlanta Tech Village allows him to work alongside like-minded startup founders to get new ideas and encouragement. MASTERMIND CHALLENGE: Are you sharing your story? During our convo, Nick and I chatted about how stories engage an audience on a much deeper level. Take some time to think of how you are telling your story, especially the aspects that inspire the work you do today. You may find that rather than telling people what you do, telling them how you got here lays the foundation for a deeper connection and opens new doors for opportunity.
In today’s podcast we talk to Christian Zimmerman, Founder of Qoins. Qoins is a new way to conquer your debt. Use the spare change from each checking account transaction to automatically pay off your debt. Christian, only 23 years old, has worked in the startup world for the last 2 years. Today he shares his journey to leverage his experience to launch an app of his own.
Not featured in the interview, but another important member of the Qoins team is Co-Founder Nate Washington. Nate is 25 years old and an award-winning programmer.
I had the pleasure of connecting with this dynamic duo at Atlanta Tech Village’s Startup Village where they did an amazing job of pitching and demoing the platform.
Mission: The average household carries nearly $50k in student loan debt alone. With statistics like that, you can imagine that today’s college grads have to be more focused than ever on managing and paying down debt. Christian is no different, except that he saw an opportunity to make it easier to tackle this big problem.
Mindset: Christian has always been pretty tenacious. At the age of 23, Qoins isn’t even his first business venture. Blend that fire with his experience and network in the startup world and it’s easy to see why he’s all in on making Qoins a success. Marketing: This part is a must listen. From leveraging press (Qoins was recently featured on a segment of the Clark Howard Show) to social media advertising, Christian and I basically have an on-air strategy session for various ways to generate quality leads online. Check it out towards the end of the interview. Masterminds: Community is everything. From Atlanta Tech Village to Switchyards, Christian shares the local startup communities that have helped Qoins gain so much momentum so quickly.
Named Top 5 Agent company wide at Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, with awards such as “Best Realtor in Atlanta,” Jereis a highly sought-after real estate agent who speaks and inspires others to reach their full potential. While overseeing her growing real estate business in the prestigious areas of Buckhead and Brookhaven, Jere speaks to, teaches, enjoys and is energized by assisting other real estate agents reach their own goals.
Mission: Jere has experienced some turbulent times in life. She found herself, 13 years ago, rebuilding personally and financially. She started her career in real estate at a rock-bottom time in life. With no car, few connections, a pair of jeans, a tank top, flip-flops, and $65 in her pocket, Jere rebuilt herself and her business and, within two years, became the No. 2 selling agent in a top Keller Williams Atlanta office of over 150 real estate agents. Mindset: I’ve always been fascinated by people who dig deep and find their greatest strength during the hardest challenges. As entrepreneurs, we know about digging deep all too well. Listen as Jere shares the key mindset that allowed her to move forward and rebuild. Marketing: Knowing your unique value seems like it should be easy, but for many this is the hardest part of developing a winning marketing and business strategy. In the podcast, Jere shares how living with her grandmother actually sparked the unique approach to real estate which took her from $10k to $250k in less than 3 years. Masterminds: Jere values her community highly. She hosts events and is even in the process of launching her own podcast to add value and continue bringing people together. Mastermind Challenges: One part of the our conversation that I especially loved was Jere’s advice that your biggest weaknesses can actually be your biggest opportunities. Carve out some time to think about the things that you believe hold you back. Then, begin to look at the weaknesses from a different angle… How can they present an opportunity that you can leverage to your advantage?
Samantha Hodgkins is Founder & Chief FireStarter of SparkFire Active, a new line of performance activewear clothing designed exclusively for teen girls in just-right styles, colors and custom-sizing to fit & flatter their developing bodies and to support life in motion. From working out to adventuring out, SparkFire Active helps girls move freely and feel strong so they’re always ready to step off the sidelines, get into the game, and PLAY HARD, DREAM BIG! There is a fire within every girl, ready to ignite with strength, confidence and passion. Let that light shine bright and BE THE SPARK!
Mission: Being the mom, Samantha has a front row seat to the challenges teen girls face and just how sensitive their self esteem can be at such a critical time. She also watched as her wardrobe of athletic wear was constantly disappearing into her teen daughter’s closet… It wasn’t long before she soon connected to the mission for SparkFire Active.
Mindset: As her idea began to grow, Samantha knew she needed a sounding board. She approached several people close to her and was encouraged by what she heard. The idea was resonating and that sparked the courage to begin taking real action.
Marketing: The ideal client for SparkFire Active is someone who is as inspired by the clothing as they are the social impact that this company is making. Listen as Samantha shares how she connected and aligned with to international organizations that are giving teenage girls the education that would otherwise be out of reach.
Masterminds: Samantha has quickly placed herself in the middle of the movers and shakers of Atlanta’s startup scene. SparkFire is one of only 15 companies selected to participate in the City of Atlanta’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative. She is also a member of the consumer-focused Switchyards coworking place.
Mastermind Challenge: I loved Samantha’s story about connecting to the right manufactures and suppliers. She could have easily handed over the reigns to those who were more knowledgeable about the process, but she stayed close to the process and even educated them on what was possible. If you’ve started to let go or outsource part of your process, take some time to check in and make sure things are running as if you you intend them too. Getting help is wonderful, but not an excuse to take your eye off the ball.
Drew Massie is the founder of AttorneyFone, a service for generating new business for lawyers. He has been an entrepreneur for 17 years and is a graduate of the Chicago Booth School of Business. He currently lives in Denver with his wife and 3 children.
Mission: AttorneyFone is the result of an evolution of technology that Drew created many years ago. Seeing the opportunity and value for this new vertical, he launched the new platform.
Mindset: Keep it simple. After working with over 20 startups, Drew has been behind the scenes and had a front row seat to enough successes and failures to know that the biggest pitfall is trying to do too much. Listen as he shares his perspective on where people misinterpret the goal of the minimum viable product (MVP).
Marketing: Content marketing has been key for the growth of AttorneyFone. I love how Drew describes the shift in mindset that’s required here. Rather than keeping all of his experience and expertise hidden, Drew’s found that sharing what he’s learned and accomplished along the way to work in his favor for building relationships and growing the business.
Management: Being a tech guy a heart, it can be a challenge to master all of the aspects of running a business. Drew shares in detail his methods for staying connected to the bigger picture and staying on track execution.
Mastermind Challenge. Keep it SIMPLE. What big project are you working on right now? Take a second look and ask yourself if you’re overthinking it, or making it more complicated. How can it be refined down to it’s more powerful and concise form?...
Kimberly Lexow is an entrepreneur and full-time adventurer. After working in the tech space for a decade, Lexow co-founded Sifted, an experiential lunch provider for startups. Lexow expedites the sales process by identifying destination workplaces like Lyft, Salesloft and Eventbrite that see chef-made lunches as a universal perk. When she's not growing the business or networking at the Atlanta Tech Village, the full-time hustler is centering her work and personal life by backpacking Big Sur or Yosemite.
When Jess Legge co-founded Sifted, she led branding and design. Today, she drives growth by doubling everyone's goals and building models that have allowed the company to hit $1.5M in ARR in under two years. She manages the cash as a bootstrapped company, positioning Sifted to add 20+ employees and enter two markets in 16 months, all while remaining profitable. She's most proud of the team her and partner have created and the tech communities they support.
Mission: The idea for Sifted was still a work-in-progress when Kimberly and Jess began taking it to prospective clients. Listen as they share the story of how one client’s feedback provided the clarity needed to solidify the business model they have today.
Mindset: I was in shock when I heard that Sifted when from concept to first sale in ONE WEEK. It’s obvious that these women are action takers and have a mindset of focused effort to execute on ideas.
Marketing: As you can imagine, food prep and catering can be much more complex than a simple, service-based business. Hear about the early days of Sifted and how they create an M.V.P. model (Minimum Viable Product) in order to deliver an amazing product without a huge upfront investment.
Momentum: Often times the key to getting momentum comes from having the right idea from the beginning. Kimberly and Jess knew just how much startups value company culture. It was the connection to this core focus that made them the obvious choice for companies like Lyft, Salesloft, and Eventbrite.
Mastermind Challenge: Take the fast track. I loved the story of how Sifted went from concept to first sale in one week. Today, they’ve reached $1.5M in less than 2 years. It’s obvious that Kimberly and Jess are ready to roll up their sleeves and make things happen quickly. If you’ve got an idea that’s been rolling around, or a to-do list that never seems to move the needle, take a cue from these incredible women and find the fast track. Get in front of clients and investors, build the systems, and make yourself known. Time is money, so don’t waste one day not giving your business your 100% best.
Brittni Adams is the founder and designer of Whitby Handbags, a socially conscious luxury handbag line dedicated to preventing the exploitation of girls around the world through education, namely: Haiti, Iraq, Peru and Thailand.
Brittni founded Whitby in 2014 after two years of extensive research on the topic of modern-day slavery and its correlation to the widespread problem of girls not having access to educational opportunities due to gender discrimination, religion, or poverty.
Brittni has B.A. in mass communication, public relations from Georgia College and State University, and a master’s certificate in nonprofit management from the University of North Carolina. Brittni lives in Brookhaven (Atlanta) with her husband Jeremy and golden retriever puppy Magnolia. Apart from Whitby she is the co-founder of Atlanta Women Entrepreneurs and mentors high school girls at Passion City Church.
Mission: It’s no small task that Brittni has taken on… I loved her statement about always having the “capacity to dream”. This is so often what holds people back - not being able to visualize the possibilities right in front of them.
Mindset: Can you imagine someone launching a fashion company with no fashion experience? With so many firsts and lessons learned along the way, Brittni shares how she was able to keep moving forward putting one foot in front of the other.
Marketing: “Throw a party”. That was the advice that Brittni implemented during her launch and it turned out to be a great success. Listen as she shares the story of the launch party and why it made all the difference.
Masterminds: Community makes all the difference… Brittni shares the impact that Atlanta’s Plywood People community has made along her journey.
Mastermind Challenge: I love Brittni’s story about the launch party for Whitby and how it really changed the momentum of her business. Having hosted many events for MYL, I know that there’s nothing like the energy of bringing people together. How can you create an event around your business that allows people to enjoy an experience that forever reminds them of you and your mission?
Tres Crow is a Business Consultant with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the CEO and Co-Founder of City Data Company, creators of the event mapping technology Walkabout, writer, and advocate for sustainable design, architecture, and economic policy, and the small businesses that make it all possible.
He’s an experienced professional with 10 years of sales, marketing, and management experience. Tres has a BA in History from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, and finished his MBA at the University of West Georgia, where he was inducted into the prestigious Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society.
Mission: By observing how communities and event organizers and attendees were limited by the functionality of Google Maps, Tres began working on an idea that would make finding event specific information (like parking, concert stage locations, and food options) accessible from your smartphone.
Mindset: Seeing the unique value and opportunity to impact his community, Tres got busy assembling the team to being Walkabout App to life.
Marketing: The challenge with Walkabout App is the many players involved… there is the event organizer, vendors, sponsors and more. Tres and his team have made a focused effort to make the end user experience for the event attendee as seamless as possible in order to drive usage and create a viral element to the app.
Mastermind Challenge: I love that the inspiration for Walkabout App came from noticing the limitations of the platform as big as Google Maps. How can you take a look at what the big guys are doing to carve out your own niche in the marketplace?
In episode 55, we hear from Connor Ford, CEO of Spirit App and soon-to-be freshman at Georgia Tech. That’s right, this edu-tech CEO hasn’t even taken his first college course yet...
Connor share’s his journey to develop the tech company Spirit App at the age of 15 and all of the early signs that predicted his success.
It’s so inspiring to watch a bright, young person like Connor execute his vision with such precision and confidence.
Mission: As a 15 year old high school student, Connor noticed a pain point in the way that his school tracked student participation at events. Connecting the dots, he discovered that he could leverage technology to create an app that would solve the problem. With that, Spririt App was born.
Mindset: Connor attributes his curiosity and love of tinkering with giving him the confidence and base of knowledge to tackle a project like Spirit App at such a young age. Listen to hear a hilarious story of one project that actually had him tearing up the walls in his house. A fun surprise for his mother, no doubt!
Marketing: Being that his demographic of users are school-aged, Connor wisely took to social media is gained an online marketing presence. He’s recently launched a blog as well with hopes that providing value to teachers and administration will lead to increased leads and users.
Momentum: Like so many, Connor marks getting his first client as a big milestone in his journey to launch. There’s definitely something special about getting that first taste of validation and proving that you’re idea has value in the marketplace.
Masterminds: Connor has made an intentional effort to get connected within the Alpharetta tech community. Alpharetta, Georgia is the Technology City of the South and offers incredible resources to local startups, including Alpharetta Technology Commission's Innovation Center.
Mastermind Challenge: I’m completely in awe of Connor’s confidence to take action at such a young age. Do you know a young person that’s revealed a certain talent, leadership ability, or curiosity. What if you carve out some time this week to listen to their ideas and desires and offer insights to help them along the way? Imagine the impact that one conversation could have! Let’s create a world with more Connors :)
Since his adult life Dan has refused to accept the concept of limitation and strives to help others to discover the limitless possibilities that life has to offer whilst assisting individuals and businesses to take charge of their destinies. Dan is recognised for his selfless contribution and ability to motivate and create positive change within individuals and business. His high-energy, passionate delivery inspires and engages audiences to step beyond any perceived limits, empowering them with the motivation to become an UNSTOPPABLE ENTREPRENEUR.
After 7 years of working with one the world’s largest financial services organisations and working alongside thousands of businesses, Dan identified patterns of behaviour that either leads to business success or failure. Dan has also had the privilege of modelling the strategies of some of the global authorities in the fields of network marketing, internet marketing business growth and the psychology of peak performance.
Dan’s experience, coupled with his undeniable thirst for constant and never ending improvement and the most up to date practical knowledge in the areas of business growth, leadership and peak performance, is rapidly making him a trusted and highly sought-after advisor and consultant to a new generation of entrepreneurs, leaders & inspired thinkers.
Mission: Dan is on a mission to push his boundaries and create something innovative. Inspired by trailblazers like Steve Jobs, he’s constantly studying entrepreneurial pioneers to gain inspiration and ideas.
Mindset: It all boils down to how much you believe in yourself. You will achieve as much as your mind believes. Dan shares the story of the moment he realized that he was sabotaging his own success and the root cause was his own lack of belief. Luckily, he also shares he turned it around and how you can too.
Marketing: Dan shares that “Clarity is Power”. Getting clear on your talents, who you serve, and then engage the market to confirm. It’s the part of engaging that will give you the feedback you need to move forward. The answers won’t come from thinking over the plan, they come from taking action.
Momentum: Serving his first clients gave Dan the confirmation and momentum he needed to move forward with full force. Seeing firsthand the impact and shifts he helped his clients achieve, it became obvious that he was on the right path.
Masterminds: Listen as Dan shares his the story behind his first mastermind experience which consisted of a group of men who all thought the same way and within the group felt understood.
Mastermind Challenge: I love Dan’s story about putting pen to paper and being truthful with himself about what he desired and his belief in himself to get there. This is a great exercise for all of us at any point in our lives and business.
http://Unstoppablepodcast.com
http://Unstoppablepodcast.com/webinar Register to learn how to create your own signature program
http://www.danjgregory.com/
http://www.howtofascinate.com/ - A resource mentioned during the show
Yaystack is word-of-mouth referral marketing in a digital platform that reaches further faster than traditional methods. We simply reward sharing. Our native app and online e-commerce tool enable sellers of nearly any product or service to offer "thank-yous" (promotions, freebies, and discounts) to their buyers only once they have been shared via text or social media. This share-to-get model empowers advertising through buyers to their friends (and their friends, etc.) in an automated viral system. (What business doesn't want to easily reach their buyers' friends?) Gone are the days the age-old discount incentivizes merely one buyer per transaction. With Yaystack, businesses can now leverage the same value to purchase the Holy Grail of marketing (WOM) and get more than 10x return on their investment - now in their buyers, not banners! We monetize trust for both parties. Our mission is to strengthen economy by elevating quality business. Not only do we accomplish this in our model, but we also make it easy to donate to charities that build struggling economies globally.
Mission: As a music producer, Trey found that his business grew organically through referrals. It was actually a Target commercial that reveales to him just how powerful sharing is to marketers; however, no one had a way of rewarded the sharer with a piece of the pie. Enter Yaystack…
Mindset: When Trey first connected to the idea for Yaystack, he knew that in order to pursue the opportunity, he needed to leave the music world behind. Amazingly, when he announced his retirement from the industry, his dream clients began to come forward asking to work with him. His faith was truly tested, but he stuck to his decision and moved forward with developing the platform.
Marketing: Trey actually shares that the name Yaystack came through his work with an Atlanta-based branding company, http://matchstic.com/. The first name, Community Commerce, while fitting of the goal, wasn’t the best marketing play for the long-term growth of the platform.
Masterminds: Hear as Trey reveals a power-packed team that has joined him to launch Yaystack. I think it just goes to show how much potential this platform has to revolutionize how businesses, large and small, market to consumers.
Mastermind Challenge: I loved Trey’s story about being approached by his dream clients just as he was leaving the music industry. I’ve seen it so many times… when we lock onto a big idea, our commitment will be tested. What roadblocks seem to be coming up for you? Do you feel differently when you view them as not a block, but a test of your commitment?
Erez Weinstein is a lifelong entrepreneur in diverse industries, tech and non-tech. Currently, Erez is working on new ways to create hospitality brands in the sharing economy space and a new approach to define schools position in the community. By challenging the current business model and structure of private schools, Erez aims to create a tuition free, self-funded education hub providing new opportunities for students, teachers, investors and entrepreneurs.
Mission: Being a father himself, Erez is invested in the educational system that is molding his children's minds. Seeing a large gap between the way that kids are taught and the skills needed for adults to succeed, Erez connected to an idea for making a shift. Developing a strong base of knowledge for what is currently being done, he connected to the idea for a new educational system and a path to bring that idea to reality.
Mindset: It's easy to see how passionate Erez is about this innovative idea. While he's not blind to the road ahead, he's focused on building a team of like-minded influencers that can share in the vision and bring it to reality.
Marketing: Once launched, Erez envisions that the success of the students will drive demand for enrollment. Imagine a high school graduate accepting a $45k offer from Google upon graduate. That could become, not the exception, but the norm, when project-based learning is implemented on this level.
Masterminds: I love Erez's description of the value and relevancy behind project-based learning. His comparison between the current day focus on individual achievement in school, versus the real-world success of building the right team.
Mastermind Challenge: Project-based learning has a lot of similarity to group masterminds. Do you have a specific goal that your working towards? Revenue target, number of blogs to create, number of clients to onboard... what if you stop leaning on just yourself and your own self-motivation and great an amazing group to hold you accountable and become your sounding board? This is your mastermind, and it will make all the difference. Click the link below to check out our upcoming FREE masterminds happening here in Atlanta.
Kristen Stocks is the founder of Kids Boost, a non-profit organization designed to help kids give back to the world using their gifts, talents and passions.
Mission: To empower kids to give back to the community while learning business skills and experiencing entrepreneurship for themselves. In this episode she shares the story of Jared, a former patient at the children’s hospital where she works, who inspired it all.
Mindset: Kristen actually had the idea for Kids Boost for several years before taking action. Hear her describe how starting small helped her to finally launch her big idea.
Marketing: “What I didn’t think I was ready for was all that I needed and more.” Kristen shares the marketing moment she did quite feel ready for and how it helped get the word out in a big way.
Momentum: Now out of the launch phase, Kristen is enjoying hearing the stories and feedback from some of Kids Boost’s first graduates. Seeing her idea come to life and impact kids is giving her and Kids Boost momentum for the next chapter.
Masterminds: From the inspiration for it all, Jared, to her board members, and friends and family. Kristen shares what it means to surround yourself with a dream team and why it’s so important.
"When they forget about you, you introduce them to something you've been trying to give them the whole time"
Rasa Don, together with former Arrested Development band mate Headliner, are the masterminds behind the artistic experience, Creative Royalty. Bringing together music, art, literature, and so much more to give fans an experience like no other.
Rasa Don is best known as the drummer for the Grammy award winning band, Arrested Development. You will quickly hear that his artistic expression goes far beyond drumming. Ras has spent his career making music and art. In this interview, he shares the lessons learned with Arrested Development and the challenges of launching a new project. Rasa Don says, "Trust me, it's worth the wait".
Ofelia de La Valette, owner and founder of Dance 101 didn’t find her calling to the dance world until the age of 35. A successful insurance agent with her own company in Atlanta, Ofelia had been pounding away on the treadmill at her gym when the sounds of a cardio dance class caught her attention. Though humiliated at her own lack of skill, Ofelia jumped right in. Despite her embarrassment at being the worst in the class, Ofelia found a strengthened sense of self and scorched 20 pounds in the process. She was hooked.
After 10 years of intensive dancing, she was asked to teach a class at Emory University, and after two years there, she took a huge leap. At the request of five of her students, Ofelia dropped her lucrative career and opened the original Dance 101 location off of Miami Circle in Buckhead. The first studio of its kind in the WORLD, Dance 101’s unique offerings and accessibility made it an instant hit.
Ofelia teaches weekly dance classes and manages all aspects of the business. Currently, she is working on expanding her studio both locally and nationally. Driven by a passion for dance and an innate need to make the world a better place, Ofelia has picked up numerous awards in her years at the helm of Dance 101. With the advent of her new Alpharetta location, Ofelia is looking to develop Dance 101 into a franchise—so fellow dance fanatics can reap the benefits of adult beginner classes nationwide.
Her efforts have been featured in several local as well as national publications, webisodes, podcasts and recently in CNN Small Success Stories, Passion to Portfolio, Making It In America (both CNN domestic and International) as well as Headline News. In July, 2011 Ofelia was invited by the White House to deliver the afternoon key note speech at the Atlanta Urban Entrepreneurship Forum and was presented with The Phoenix Award by Mayor Kasim Reed. She was recently featured in the top 10 Atlanta Best Self magazine’s Over 40 and Fabulous Atlantans and was one of 50 women profiled in Marlo Thomas’s book, It Ain’t Over…Till It’s Over.
Ofelia is providing the public with an opportunity to do for themselves what, until now, they could only watch others do on TV: to make their own leap — from their living room to a classroom, from the audience to the stage. Listen and prepare to be transformed by the power of dance at Dance 101!
Calvin Wayman is a social media entrepreneur. He's a sought after speaker, featured guest on business-, entrepreneur-, and social media podcasts, contributor for Entrepreneur Magazine, and founder of Cobbes – a social media management company. He is also the creator of the YouTube show "Millionaire Case Study," where he is documenting his journey from zero to his first one million dollars as it's happening.
After quitting his day job to pursue his dream of working for himself, Calvin Wayman relocated from Salt Lake City to sunny southern California. He sold door to door to stretch his comfort zone, pay the bills, and fund his online business. Calvin’s passion is helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses by taking advantage of modern tools and technology.
Mission: Calvin admits that he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur, but had no clue exactly what his business would be. Inspired by the success of early adopters on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, Calvin saw an opportunity to get in early with Periscope. Just by taking action towards this idea, he gained momentum, earned his first dollar online, and found his calling to help more businesses market in today's digital marketplace.
Mindset: This is a must listen. Calvin shares his incredible perspective on taking action and crushing fear. Listen as he describes with total transparency how he made the decision to take the leap into entrepreneurship.
Marketing: Calvin gives his 4 C's of social media success.
1 - Content: "Without content, you do not exist". Share your story and let people know who you are.
2 - Context: The way you frame a certain message is hugely important.
3 - Consistency: In both your story and your frequency, staying consistent is what will help you to be remembered.
4 - Connection: This is the reason we do social media. Make an effort to build a real relationship with your audience.
Mastermind Challenge: Calvin shares that the magic happens outside your comfort zone. From taking cold showers to laying down on the floor at Starbucks, he is constantly running experiments to test his own limits to go outside his comfort zone. This week, find something that makes you uncomfortable and just do it knowing that your ability to push through fear on the little things will 100% impact your ability to push through fear on the bigger things.
Valerie Shoopman is a Facebook Ad Expert, Online Business Strategist, and the host of the Entrepreneur Power Hour Podcast. She is the co-author of the #1 Amazon Best-Seller “The Book on Facebook Marketing”.
Valerie has worked with and consulted clients such as John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur On Fire, Nick Unsworth of Life On Fire, Joe Polish of I Love Marketing, Brian Tracy, John Assaraf, Mary Ellen Tribby, Sue B. Zimmerman, and Daymond John from Shark Tank on their Facebook ad campaigns including helping them strategize the campaigns from top to bottom and giving detailed feedback to fully optimize their ads and funnels.
She has been featured on Life on Fire TV, The New Business Podcast, Solopreneur Hour, ConversionCast, The Cerrone Show and many other podcasts and online business summits where she willingly shares her depth of Facebook marketing and advertising knowledge.
Mission: As she was working at a small private school, Valerie became the go-to person for all things technical and social media. Things quickly evolved as Valerie began being approached by other business owners to help with their social media marketing. Having had a desire to go out on her own for some time, she saw an opportunity to make it happen.
Mindset: While Valerie considers herself an introvert and feels much more comfortable behind a computer, she knew that she needed to get out of her comfort zone if she was going to grow, both personally and professionally. Listen as she shares the story of the first big event she ever attended as an entrepreneur and how it changed her business and network.
Marketing: Even as a Facebook Ads expert, Valerie has never run a Facebook ad for her own business. Networking has been the biggest driver in her business by allowing her to connect with clients as well as referral partners.
Momentum: After following the advice of her business coach, Valerie went from being an online marketer to a Facebook Expert. It was this decision to niche down that boosted the momentum for her business. From there, she implemented the Anchor Client Strategy to run Facebook Ads for big names like John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire and Nick Unsworth of Life on Fire. The positioning these relationships created
Masterminds: Listen as Valerie answers amazing questions from YOU, the Mastermind Tribe. She covers video posts, retargeting pixels, reactions, and more. Join our Facebook Group for your chance to submit questions for future guests.
Mastermind Challenge: Up your game with Facebook! First, make sure you have a business page that you are activity updating and engaging with your audience. For extra Brownie Points... If you don't already have a pixel on your website, this is a great way to start capturing warm leads and retargeting.
Kristy Dickerson is a small business speaker and advisor, co-founder of StartPlanner.com, CFO of all things organized, lifestyle photographer, mom of three boys and a wife that is never wrong...never. ;)
Upon completion of her degree in finance and business management she started her first business after having her first son in 2008. Merging her business sense with her passions, Kristy has developed ways to help small business owners balance turning passions into a career all while still playing her most important role...being a mom. Giving tips on business, balance, organization, photography, health, and the occasional DIY projects to inspire, direct, and lead others to success and happiness.
Mission: It was a fortunate conversation with her graphic designer that sparked the idea for Start Planner. Kristy had aspirations to one day create a book that would help business owners with organization and finances. Her designer, Jenny, had ideas for a planner. They joined forces to put their ideas into one product and Start Planner was born.
Mindset: Kristy shared, “I had no business starting another business.” With her 3rd son just being born and already putting her efforts towards another business, Kristy had a lot on her plate. Still, she followed her instincts to create something that felt much bigger than anything she’d ever done.
Marketing: If you are launching a physical product, this is a must listen for you. Kristy shares the strategy behind both the grassroots beta launch and the 2016 launch, which was executed on a much larger scale with a national Facebook video ad campaign. Scroll down to see the video.
Momentum: Start Planner is still in the launch phase and enjoying plenty of momentum along the way. The 2016 planners have sold out and three new styles for mid-year are being launched now. Be sure to check them out! I <3 my Start Planner...
Masterminds: Listen as Kristy answers questions from the Mastermind Tribe. Be sure to join the Mastermind Tribe Facebook Group for your chance to submit questions to future guests and hear them answered on the show.
Mastermind Challenge: I love how Kristy and Jenny stumbled upon this idea by combining their individual passions. How amazing that your life can change with one conversation! Today, I challenge you to share that BIG idea you've been putting on the back-burner with someone new. You may be surprised at what the next year will hold for you when you do :)
Under Mayor David Belle Isle’s leadership, Alpharetta has become Georgia’s hometown, the 6th fastest growing city in the country, the Technology City of the South, the nation’s 7th friendliest city according to Forbes, and has consistently maintained the lowest unemployment rate in Georgia. This has been achieved by a focus on reinventing Alpharetta’s Downtown and the drive to be the number one technology city in the Southeast.
In 2015, Alpharetta was also named The #1 City in America for Women Entrepreneurs, and the #1 City in America to Start a Business.
Mission: Mayor David Belle Isle shares that each leader needs a "vision worth the chase". Seeking a downtown that could bring the community together, he first ran for city council in 2006. Despite two failed attempts, he eventually was able to make the progress needed to bring the project to life. A thriving downtown led to thriving businesses, which sparked a surge in entrepreneurship. Today, Alpharetta boasts over 600 technology companies; the highest concentration in the Southeast.
Mindset: Branding Alpharetta as the Technology City of the South was a challenge at first because it required gaining the respect among its city neighbors as the leader in tech.
Marketing: Mayor David Belle Isle shares the story of when he say Governor Nathan Deal speak about Alpharetta's contribution to the technology sector. It was in that moment that he realized that the branding and messaging was striking a cord.
Momentum: Under Mayor David Belle Isle's leadership, Alpharetta's Technology Commission was created and has opened an Innovation Center for local tech startups. The Center has already gained momentum by graduating its first company. Moving forward, he looks to offer opportunities on a higher level, such as venture capital, industry conferences, and much more.
Masterminds: Several members of the Mastermind Tribe submitted questions for the Mayor. Listen as he answers YOUR questions and join the Mastermind Tribe Facebook Group for opportunities to submit your own questions to future interviewees.
Mastermind Challenge: I love Mayor David Belle Isle's comment about a vision worth the chase. Today, I encourage you to dream just a little bigger and stretch outside of your comfort zone to imagine what vision is worth your chase. Just as his journey was executed one step at a time, yet has touched thousands, how can you take step today towards your big impact?
Born in Toledo Ohio and a current resident of San Diego (via Philly, Boulder, Denver, and Brussels), Michael Oneal's grammar school report cards always read: "Doesn't live up to his potential" and "Talks too much." One of those pieces of feedback would come in handy, as he is now the founder and host of the award-winning and much acclaimed business and entertainment podcast, "The Solopreneur Hour with Michael O'Neal."
The show, in 2 years, has already garnered more than 6 million downloads and monetized to over 500k, features lively and highly engaging conversations between Michael and his various (and often much sought-after) guests, who share remarkable stories, advice and practical tips for an audience that badges itself as "proudly unemployable" and highly motivated to finally take charge of their own lucrative business pursuits.
Mission: Michael O'Neal worked behind the scenes of a high-profile podcast focused on personal transformation called "The KickAss Life." After several years, it was a lunch with Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income which sparked the inspiration to step forward as the face of his own brand as he interviews entrepreneurs to talk about all of the non-business aspects of their life.
Mindset: Two words... SAY YES. Michael shares his recent trip to the Super Bowl as a guest of former Super Bowl MVP, Hines Ward. This opportunity came last minute and required Michael to shift things around on his calendar, but he said yes and enjoyed a once in a lifetime experience.
Marketing: When it comes to launching a successful podcast, Michael compares it to producing a TV pilot. You have to test, produce, and entertain. If you're podcast is educational, remember someone of your favorite teachers and how they made learning fun.
Momentum: The average podcast episode gets 160 listens in the first 6 weeks. Michael O'Neal knew he was on to something when he saw his downloads grow far above to upwards of 20,000 downloads per day. Even more, he knew that the Solopreneur Hour Podcast hit a unique cord because new lookalike podcasts were nowhere to be found.
Masterminds: Michael runs a group coaching mastermind called the SoloLab. Listen as he shares how this idea found him when he wasn't even on his radar.
Mastermind Challenge: I love how Michael joked about creating a podcast around the conversations you have after a couple of shots of tequila. Today, take a few minutes (with or without the booze) and think about how you can bring more of your PERSONALITY into your business and content. Better to be yourself... everyone else is already taken :)
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
Thad Oviatt is the Founder and CEO of ParkENT Cycles, an electronic bicycle rack that locks the wheel and frame of your bicycle. These devices will be located on college campuses, on business properties, along bike trails, and in parks. The device was the concentration of Thad’s senior design and masters’ projects. ParkENT Cycles was founded in Georgia in 2013 and is manufactured in America. Thad was born in and raised around Atlanta, GA. He studied Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech. Thad has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, a M.S. Applied Engineering Management, and a M.B.A. from Georgia Southern University. He has worked for Delta.com and LexisNexis. Mission: The idea for an outdoor electronic bicycle rack came about when a friend of Thad Oviatt had two bicycles stolen in one week. When the second bike was stolen the thief left a sticky note attached to the cut bike lock chain that had a smiley face and “THANKS” written across it. How rude?!
Mindset: What I love about Thad is that he’s gone ALL IN to make ParkENT Cycles a success. From moving in with his parents to setting up shop in their garage, he has his eyes on the prize.
There is a quote that says, “Entrepreneurship is living a few years like most people won’t to live the rest of your life like most people can’t”. Thad epitomizes this spirit quite possibly more than anyone I’ve ever met.
Marketing: Thad’s willingness to get out of his comfort zone has opened many doors along the way. Listen as he shares the story behind landing a rare opportunity to display his invention at TechCrunch.
Momentum: Thad has just launched a crowdfunding campaign via Indiegogo.com where he is seeking to secure $50,000 to complete the app development and manufacture bike racks for a metro Atlanta pilot program.
Masterminds: That is a regular attendee of the Alpharetta Startup Circle where he and I met. It’s a weekly meeting for local tech entrepreneurs that has connected him with fellow startups as well as serial entrepreneurs.
Mastermind Challenge: When I hear Thad’s story, he inspires me to get out and get in front on a new crowd. Is there a group, organization or meetup that you’ve been thinking about attending, but haven’t? Let Thad’s story be the push you need to get out of your comfort zone and into a new environment. You never know what opportunities exist just outside of your comfort zone…
Learn more at mastermindyourlaunch.com
Nikki is an international photographer and speaker. Her platform is entirely about Being Seen. She is An Entrepreneurs Solution to reaching The Perfect Client!
She specializes in helping her clients step into the power of who they are, as their best self, in order for their light to shine for the world to see. She gives her clients a true view of their beauty, up levels their brand and creates an easier way to reach more people and make the money they deserve.
Mission: In today's world, "your connection is your currency", as Nikki shares. Oddly enough, it was an uncomfortable sales call with a client that uncovered her purpose to not only photograph her clients, but to bring out the best in them.
Mindset: Once connected to her bigger purpose, Nikki found that it gave her the confidence (or at least the gumption) to play on a higher level. In order to make a bigger difference, she knew that she had to step into bigger challenges, one being public speaking. Listen as she shares the story of one of her first public speaking engagements, plus 3 tips on raising your vibration and improving your mindset.
Marketing: In early days of her business, Nikki leveraged social media to grow an international following. Much more than just posting her photography, she shared personal stories which allowed her audience to get to know her and the connect with the person behind the camera.
Momentum: Nikki credits mentorship and coaching to playing a large role in her ability to gain fast momentum and take her business to new heights. Today, she has three coaches, all serving to propel different aspects of her business.
Masterminds: Here we tried something new! Listen as Nikki and I mastermind the marketing strategy for two Atlanta-based photographers. We talk social media, pricing, and networking. I'm so thrilled that she shared not only her journey, but great wisdom for other entrepreneurs.
Mastermind Challenge: I love Nikki's advice to always have a high-tiered pricing package that (1) scares you just a little bit.. and (2) allows you to serve your most enthusiastic clients in a unique and special way. Today, take some time to evaluate your offerings. Are you pricing based on what you believe your clients can afford versus how you desire to serve them? If money were no object, what is the platinum package you'd offer for your highest level clients? Dream big, write it down, then make it happen.
Brian Johnson is the author of the new book entitled “How To Live Your Dreams Out Loud: 6 Steps To Overcome Your Fears and Achieve Your Dreams”. An inspiring leader and in-demand speaker, Brian has inspired thousands of individuals to overcome their fears and achieve their dreams.
Most recently Brian served as the Talent Coordinator for The Arsenio Hall Show for season one where he worked along side celebrities such as Kanye West, Eddie Murphy, Kevin Hart, Magic Johnson, Simon Cowell, Ken Jeong, Tony Goldwyn, Andrew Dice Clay and many more. Brian holds a bachelors degree in International marketing and a minor in Spanish from The University of Alabama.
Mission: After hitting rock bottom, Brian sought the advice of his mentor which ended up opening the door to a career in Hollywood and the platform to launch his book Live Your Dreams Out Loud. Had he never hit that low point, that phone call would likely have never occurred. Listen as he and I discuss the power of going through hard times in order to get enjoy the abundance on the other side.
Mindset: Something shifts within your mindset when your back is against the wall and you have nothing to lose. Brian shares that sense of "desperado" as he calls it. It was this low-point that brought the clarity to connect to his mission to be a beacon of hope for anyone thinking of quitting on their dreams.
Marketing: When it came to executing the book, Brian worked with a book editor to get the task done in roughly 90 days. His biggest advice for others is to find people that are more experienced than you to help you move faster. With the book writing done, he was able to move forward and focus on the launch and promotion.
Momentum: Working on the Arsenio Hall Show brought a lot of exciting opportunities for Brian. Getting to meet and be photographed with celebrity guests of the show began to position Brian, who is originally from Skipperville, Alabama, as someone who had made a big shift in his life. This definitely created anticipation for the release of his book because people were excited to hear about the journey that led him to his success.
Masterminds: Brian has a great network of support and influence, but when it comes to the people he relies on the most, he calls out a close group of friends that meet every Sunday for prayer. Of course he shouts out to his mother and brother as well :) but the commitment and fellowship that those friends have provided has been equally impactful on his journey.
Mastermind Challenge: I love how Brian shares that because of the exposure he received during his time with the Arsenio Hall Show, people were eager to grab his new book when it launched so that they could uncover the journey that got his there. What are people waiting to hear from YOU? What's the story that they would love to know more about? Let THAT answer drive some of your next steps... whether it's a social media post, blog article, or book.
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
Jason "J-Boom" Legaard is an inspirational speaker and entrepreneur with a mission to inspire the fire within those pursuing their dreams. After a childhood near death experience, he was crippled by guilt for years. Now his Attitude of Gratitude has allowed him to serve others in breaking free into their greatness.
Jason is co-host of The Mindset Mountain Podcast and Co-creator of the personal development training, "Climbing the Mindset Mountain." He also provides one on one coaching to guide clients past their B.S. and into bringing the BOOM back into their life!
Mission: It was the decision to attend an entrepreneurship conference in 2011 that changed everything for Jason and sparked the passion to exit his 9-5 and own his own business. He returned from that conference a new person with a deep focus on building a purpose-driven business and never looked back. He didn't act is hast and quit his job, but has spent the last several years growing his business on the side. In December 2015, that side business became his full-time job and he is officially a full-time entrepreneur.
Mindset: Jason credits self-awareness as being a key turning point in his journey to develop the mindset needed to successfully achieve his dreams. When we become aware of the truth and stop lying to ourselves (either by painting too rosy a picture or too dark a picture) that's when we're able to gain the clarity to make significant change. How does that resonate with you? Have you ever been in a situation where you were weren't able to see the truth because you were projecting overly positive or negative thoughts? Share in the comments below.
Marketing: With a film-making background, Jason went all in with video to help spread the message and grow his network. Being authentic in front of the camera has allowed him to create a connection with his growing audience while serving them with inspiring content.
Momentum: The moments that have brought the most momentum for Jason have both come from sharing his personal journey in an effort to serve communities and inspire transformation. This sparked a great conversation about the importance of connecting to a deep sense of purpose and how doing THAT in the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey is what allows for moments that create a deep connection with your community.
Masterminds: From the Jonathan Budd, the host of that 2011 conference, to the Team at Results 513, to his friend and business partner, Eddie Aguilar; Jason shares that he wouldn't be where his is together without bringing these people and communities along his side.
Mastermind Challenge: Jason shared a powerful exercise that we can all benefit from. Look at yourself and your current situation as if you're looking at someone else. From this 3rd party perspective, what do you see? Are there areas where you would advise this person to step up their game? Are are there areas where you would offer encouragement that this person is doing a great job and to stop being so hard on themselves? Be honest with yourself about where you're at and make a plan to get where you want to go.
We're all in this together! Share your photos with the hashtag #mastermindchallenge
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
My dear friend and fellow masterminder, Laura Lilly, has over 10 years of experience working with non profit organizations. After working for a traditional consulting firm for the past eight years serving mid-sized nonprofits (like YMCAs, independent schools, hospitals, and retirement communities), she started her own company, Spring, to offer consulting services to startup and small nonprofits. Listen as Laura shares her journey and advice for gaining fast momentum as a new business.
Mission: The best entrepreneurial ventures blend your WHY for you and your WHY for the world. With Spring, Laura has done just that. She paired her desire to create an online business and have flexibility to stay home with her young family, with the desire to help smaller nonprofits get the resources and momentum they need to make the impact they envision.
Mindset: Inspired to make the year ahead one of joy, Laura became much more intentional with where she spent her time and energy. While at a yoga class, she heard the lyrics, “Be strong, be kind, be brave. Know that it’s alright to be afraid.” Adopting those lyrics as her mantra, she found the courage to do more big and scary things to create more meaningful success.
Marketing: Interviewing prospective clients has been the most eye-opening activity that Laura has done within the business. Gaining a true understanding of the pains, needs and even the exact words that her customers are using, is propelling Spring forward much faster.
Momentum: At the time of this interview, Spring was only 1 month old but already experiencing so much momentum. Laura shares the even in that short time, the biggest momentum to date has been the overwhelmingly positive feedback that she’s received from those within the nonprofit industry.
Masterminds: Laura and I have been masterminding together for several months. I love how she relates our mastermind to the feeling of having co-founders. We truly have all been in the trenches together for both the big decisions and the small details. She shares the courage and bravery that having a mastermind has provided.
Mastermind Challenge: So many entrepreneurs rack their brains trying to figure out what their clients want and need. As Laura has shown, you just need to ASK. Send out a survey using a platform like Survey Monkey or Google Forms. Even better, invite a few of them out for coffee or lunch. You’ll be surprised how forthcoming they are with information that not only helps YOU, but helps you better serve THEM.
We’re all in this together! Share your photos with the hashtag #mastermindchallenge
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
Jenn Newton of Mugs on Milton shares the story of how this quaint little coffee shop became the best kept secret of downtown Alpharetta. Mugs on Milton is a locally owned and operated coffee shop and bakery with locations in Alpharetta and Crabapple/Milton. With core values of Great Coffee and Great Food, this neighborhood coffee shop quickly became the go-to meetup spot for locals.
Mission: Prior to opening Mugs in Milton, Jenn worked in downtown Alpharetta with a marketing agency. She knew she business ownership was in her future, but didn't know exactly what business. With her eyes open to new opportunities, Jenn saw a need for a coffee shop, even thought she isn't a coffee drinker... The idea lingered in her mind and began to gain momentum.
Knowing a talented baker, she sat down her friend and now business partner Gretchen Smith to create a vision for what would eventually become Mugs on Milton. Once they realized just how aligned they were in their visions, they took the leap and opened just two months later!
Mindset: With no experience in the coffee industry, there was a learning curve to getting going. Jenn and Gretchen addressed this by aligning with vendors that allowed them to execute their vision thanks to the experience and knowledge of a bigger community.
Marketing: Coming from a marketing background, you could assume that Jenn created an elaborate marketing campaign to get the word out about Mugs. Not the case at all. Mugs on Milton grew organically with no paid advertising and not even a sign outside the shop for several months! It became the best kept secret of downtown Alpharetta and something that happy customers would want to share.
Momentum: Two to three months into the launch, Jenn and Gretchen realized that the volume was growing so fast that they needed to bring on additional staff. This happened well before their projected 6-9 month time frame for expansion. Hiring new employees brought its own challenges as they had to determine what tasks their new hires should take over and how to maintain the high standards of the Mugs customer experience.
Masterminds: Being a downtown Alpharetta business owner means you are immediately brought into a community of business owners excited to watch you thrive. Jenn shares that in the early days, neighboring businesses like Sis & Moon's helped to spread the word, give advice or simply offer encouragement. How beautiful to know that just steps outside your door is someone who knows exactly what you're going through and wants to see you succeed.
Mastermind Challenge: I love how Jen talks about those early days and the people who thought she and Gretchen were just silly girls. Her quote, "I've never been a silly girl". LOVE it!
How often do we enter a new challenge and allow our inexperience in one area to bring down our confidence. I love how Jen stood strong and resilient in those moments. I challenge you to look at the areas of your life or career where you are venturing into new and unchartered territory. Are you being timid or allowing others' opinions to define you? Are you keeping your head held high with the knowledge that you will soon master this new challenge? I hope it's the latter.
We're all in this together! Share your photos and posts with the hashtag #mastermindchallenge
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
Don Friedman has spent the last 13 years creating and producing “first-of-its-kind”, buyside investor-focused finance conferences, webinars and roadshows as well as running a conference company.
Don founded Joint Venture Events Group in May 2014 by creating a unique conference format which immediately catapulted the firm to the top of investment professionals’ “must-attend” events list with “best-in-breed” programs such as Investing in Liquid Alternatives and Investing in MLPs.
Don is a lifelong “Wildcat” having received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from the University of Arizona. Don is also an avid runner, with three marathons to his credit and has skydived once. He and his wife and two daughters live in Milton, GA.
Mission: In mall, ran into is freshman year college roommate who shared with Don an opportunity to create events for the financial industry. With a background in finance and day-trading, Don jumped aboard, learned quickly and has never looked back.
Mindset: Having an open mind to new opportunities, Don was excited to take on a challenge that allowed him to created something from scratch and see it through to its finish. In his experience follow up skills, a true passion for the job, and differentiation have been critical to his success. His advice for other entrepreneurs... be willing to accept rejection.
Marketing: Having the right partnerships has been a critical piece of bringing awareness and credibility to Don's business since its launch. When it comes to maximizing the opportunity to get your message out there, how can you leverage partnerships to bring value and new momentum for all?
Momentum: I loved hearing Don tell the story of the momentum gained from the 1st event his company coordinated. It wasn't until the end of the event when all of the sponsors, participants and attendees shared their positive feedback from their experience that he knew he'd gotten it right. You have to put yourself out there in order to know if you are on the right track.
Masterminds: Don views his community as the industry as whole. With this perspective, he stays aware of the needs and trends within his industry. In tune with the need for more female leadership in the financial advisor industry, Don is partnering with organizations that champion this mission as well as doing his part to feature more women speakers and panelists at events. Check out one of his upcoming conferences, Invest in Women: A Conference About Women In Wealth Management.
Mastermind Challenge: I love Don's perspective on viewing his role within the industry as a whole. Take a step back and view the big picture of YOUR industry. What are the trends? What are the needs? How can you bring value by filling in the gaps? We're all in this together! Share your photos with the hashtag #mastermindchallenge
Chris Estrada considers himself a connect-apreneur and coworkaholic on the mission to: Influence and Drive 1 Million People to pursue their passions and develop success through joining a local coworking community.
A graduate of Kennesaw State, Chris is a rare native Atlantan. Chris hosts a weekly podcast, Coworking Success where he features coworking success stories mixed in with other amazing business success stories. Chris’ background includes 5 years of marketing/brand strategy consulting, 10 years event management and 3 years of coworking industry experience.
When Chris isn’t opening a new coworking space as a coworking consultant with the Operation Spot, you can find him riding his mountain bike on one of the many mountain bike trails or riding his road bike on the silver comet.
Mission: Sometimes a setback is truly the best setup for success. After being turned down for a job, Chris set out to launch his own business. Eight months later, he has surpassed the income he would have received working for someone else. How did he gain so much momentum so fast? Coworking. And with that, a new passion and mission was born.
Mindset: Chris poses the question, "What are you willing to give up in order to gain what you truly desire?" Looking at life and business from this prospective creates a complete mindset shift and can open our eyes to the superficial instant gratification we fill our days with, in comparison to the long-term, massive impact we have the potential to create.
Marketing: "Networking is everything and relationships are everything". Chris shares 3 tips for getting the most out of networking
- Know your pitch and value proposition
- Give value first
- Be genuine
- Show up to the right events
Resource mentioned - Honoree Corder's Mini eBook of Business by Referral
Momentum: Earlier this year, Chris had the opportunity to partner with an industry conference. He attended knowing very few people and was pleasantly surprised when people came up to him having recognized him from his Coworking Success Podcast.
Masterminds: Community has been a huge driver in Chris' business. From gaining advice and encouragement to generating referrals and new clients, getting out of isolation and surrounding himself with like-minded people has allowed Chris to grow his business so quickly.
Mastermind Challenge: I've worked from home since 2011 and know firsthand the ups and downs that go along with it. It's hardly the glamorous life that people make it out to be. Taking a few days a week to work from a coworking space, while it may seem like a small change, has brought so much joy and new energy to my endeavors. If you are working from home, I challenge you to find a coworking space in your area and visit for a day. Most offer a free day pass to first time visitors. You have nothing to lose and so much to gain. Happy coworking!
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
Rick Fossum is a creative and critical thinker with a passion for people. He’s a problem solver who’s had unique opportunities to work alongside talented Designers and Developers, experienced Brand Strategists, Marketing Managers and Management Consultants. With over 20 years of agency experience, Rick has lead design or brand marketing efforts for major brands including General Mills, Glock, Major League Baseball, and Newell Rubbermaid. He believes that an effective brand and consumer relationship shares the same qualities of a meaningful human relationship—authenticity, value, trust, and endurance. Rick lives in Roswell, Georgia with his wife Susan and their sons Alex and Sam.
Mission: Rick found himself at a crossroads with a choice to either take a job or change the world. He chose the latter and connected to a newfound passion for doing work that he loves.
Mindset: As a new entrepreneur, Rick still has a focus on creating financial security for him and his family. However, his mindset is much more than just numbers. He describes his new role as offering a sense of freedom he never had before. "Like a lid has been removed". I love that description.
Marketing: A big driver in generating new business has been networking and word of mouth. After 2 months of networking, Rick created a infographic outlining his entrepreneurial journey. He sent the infographic to his network and the buzz generated new business!
Momentum: Rick shares that his biggest moments of momentum have come when an unexpected call or opportunity pops up where he wasn't expecting. When was the last time you had an unexpected opportunity come about from a seed you planted long before?
Masterminds: The community Rick credits with overwhelming support is his family. His wife and teenage sons are cheering him on and giving him the courage to keep making this dream come true.
Mastermind Challenge: How can you boil down your journey into an infographic that tells your story and connects with your network? Check out Rick's infographic for inspiration and try creating one of your own! Use PiktoChart or Canva for an easy to use template.
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
Brad Stevens, Entreholic, is a career entrepreneur with experience in manufacturing, product development, supply chain, sales team development, operations, financial modeling, marketing automation, digital marketing, SaaS, and growth hacking.
His most recent company, Entreholic, provides an affordable, entrepreneurial approach to outsourced digital and traditional marketing services for small to medium businesses.
Mission: Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, Brad saw firsthand what it takes to run a business. After college, his experience spanned many industries and business functions, but marketing stood out to him as an under-served yet fascinating area. It was that passion that sparked the idea for Entreholic.
Mindset: Having an entrepreneurial family, launching a business wasn’t as scary for Brad as it may be for others. Still, he makes focused effort to maintain a mindset for success and attributes his fitness routine for providing the discipline needed to follow through on what it takes to launch and grow a successful business.
Marketing: If you are intimidated by the sales process, you have to hear Brad’s explanation of how he secured many of his first clients. Approaching meetings as a way to educate clients on the opportunities and resources available to them, versus trying to “sell” them was key to helping him build relationships and a reputation as the go-to source for all things digital marketing.
Momentum: Brad shares that the biggest momentum boost has come from referrals and a focus on continuously seeking out feedback in order to improve.
Masterminds: Along with the insights Brad gets from his entrepreneurial family, his decision to join Entrepreneurs’ Organization or EO has been a game changer for his personal and professional development.
Mastermind Challenge: Hearing Brad speak about the impact his fitness routine makes on his entrepreneurial work ethic reminds me of the quote, “How you do one thing is how you do everything”. Today I challenge you to look outside your business for areas where you can begin upping your game. Whether it’s a more consistent morning or fitness routine, being more present for family time, or making the intention to do random acts of kindness, hold yourself accountable and follow through on your commitment. Watch how those actions outside of your business make you even more focused and effective inside your business.
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
Sara Lamond, Owner of the Atlanta boutique Fig & Flower, connected to a passion for health and wellness as a way to cope with the pressures of law school. As she adopted this cleaner way of life, she became aware of a need in the marketplace for stores offering all-natural beauty and skin care products. With that, the idea for Fig & Flower was born.
What inspires me about this episode is Sara's transparent account of the ups and down of entrepreneurship. I got chills as we were recording, so I'm hoping that you love the result as much as I do.
Mission: As Sara knew that she wanted to give back in a positive way. Being able to impact individual's personal wellness as well as positively impact the environment played a major role in her decision to make the leap.
Mindset: Sara openly shares that her career as an attorney left her soul-searching for something more. She knew very clearly that she did not want a career in law and from that place she connected with the idea for Fig & Flower and the courage to bring it to life. She says, "If it didn't work out I'd never regret that decision."
Marketing: The early days of Fig & Flower found the store growing simply through word of mouth from friends and family. As cash flow increased Sara partnered with a PR firm to help bring new attention to the store and she shares her lessons learned from that experience.
Momentum: Finishing her first holiday retail season brought a new sense of momentum for Fig & Flower. Sara shares how the new growth in the business allowed for a period of reflection and strategy.
Masterminds: Sara shares the different groups of people she turns to for advice and support, some from unlikely places.
Mastermind Challenge: In life and entrepreneurship, we get what we give. Today's Mastermind Challenge is to support local store owners and help keep someone else's entrepreneurial dream alive and well. Talk to the store owner and learn more about what inspired their journey. If you have a great experience, share the word with friends and family. We're all in this together! Share your photos with the hashtag #mastermindchallenge
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
In this episode, Hogan Bassey, Founder and CEO of LivFul, shares his mission to have 200,000 lives by preventing mosquito borne illnesses in 3rd world countries. His story has garnered national attention as he was recently named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List and he's currently working with global brands to bring his mission to life. Prepare to be inspired and empowered by this awe inspiring, entrepreneurial journey.
Mission: Amazingly Hogan survived 4 different cases of Malaria as a kid growing up in Nigeria. Watching his mother's pain when he fell ill, coupled with the fact that he was missing out on his childhood favorites gave him an itch to find a solution. It was at an early age that he connected to the mission to launch a pharmaceutical company dedicated to preventing mosquito borne illnesses.
Mindset: Starting to take action as a young person may have worked in Hogan's favor. He had taken on a big mission and took action before truly knowing the large challenge ahead. As he went on, he developed a fear of failure, as we all do, but Hogan truly believed that this was not only a mission, but God's calling for his life. Listen at minute 10:00 as Hogan shares one of the most powerful messages I've ever heard.
Marketing: Networking had played a large role in the advancement of LivFul's mission and progress towards making it a reality. As Hogan shares, "results don't happen in a vacuum". He advises entrepreneurs to get out there, share their needs, find the right people to connect with and talk to your customers.
Momentum: When asked about momentum in his business, Hogan makes a powerful point that it's not just gaining momentum that's important, but having the system in place to capitalize on that momentum. He recommends learning to attach the momentum of one event to another in order to keep driving the business.
A budding partnership that is bringing new momentum to LivFul today is with the global pharmaceutical company, Merck. As they combine technologies and leverage Merck's mosquito repellent IR3535 it's opening a new chapter for the company.
Masterminds: From encouragement from friends and family to advice from experienced entrepreneurs, Hogan leans on the energy and insights of those around him to keep him moving and focused on his journey.
Mastermind Challenge: I was deeply moved by Hogan's words around knowing his life's calling and imagining the day he would one day have to look back and answer whether he achieved it or not. Regardless of what you are currently pursuing, I urge you to dig deeper and explore what you believe is your true calling. Are you living up to your challenge or have you chosen a different road? If so, what steps can you take to get back on track?
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
Re Perez is a Brand Strategist and CEO of BRANDING FOR THE PEOPLE, a leading branding agency that helps emerging entrepreneurs and established small businesses achieve rapid growth, whether it's doubling, tripling or quadrupling their income.
In today's interview, he shares just how to get inside the mind of your ideal client to create the brand that perfectly communicates your value in a way that speaks to them.
Mission: After traveling the world working with some of the top global brands, Re felt a stirring to create more impact. After taking time away to clear his mind, he connected with the powerful mission to bring his knowledge of branding strategy to the everyday entrepreneur and small business.
Mindset: Like so many at the beginning, he wondered if his new business would work. Re shares that "even the best of us have some sort of fear of the unknown." His advice for anyone in this place is to see the big picture, connect with your "why" and know that you have nowhere to go but up!
Marketing: I love the value that Re brings as he shares exactly what hi did to launch BFTP. So many entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and money on things like their logo and website. I've been there too! Ironically, this branding expert spent his energy in other areas and it paid off in a big way. If you're launching your business, you will be inspired to rethink where you spend your time and resources during these early days.
Momentum: It was the bold move to host a branding workshop that began to launch the momentum behind BFTP. Re shares the steps he took to launch that event and how it led to his first wave of clients.
Masterminds: Re is a member of a high level mastermind and not only credits the community with offering support and ideas for his business, but it's also given him another platform to connect with clients. The relationships that are developed in mastermind groups go much deeper than your average networking group. Re credits his mastermind with introducing him to opportunities he would not have had otherwise.
Mastermind Challenge: If I could pull one word from this interview it would be passion. How can you add more passion and heart to your business? Is it through the people you work with? Or perhaps it's the mission you are impacting? Just like Re found his calling to leverage his branding expertise and help small business owners, how can you be more intentional about not just making a living, but making a meaningful impact?
Learn more at mastermindyourlaunch.com
Laurie Sluser, bizHUMM Co-founder & CEO, has successfully managed or owned 5 different companies over the past 25 years. Most recently he served as General Manager of a software engineering staffing firm, which he led to ten-fold growth in revenue with over 25 million dollars in gross sales.
Laurie co-founded bizHUMM.com in 2014 to help small businesses and entrepreneurs find everything they need to start and grow their business. He recently co-authored a book entitled How To Start A Business: The Ultimate Free Guide.
Mission: Laurie took on the mission of bringing bizHUMM to life with the experience of 5 previous startups under his belt. When it comes to his advice to new or aspiring entrepreneurs, he enthusiastically says, "Do your homework!" Do it once now or twice later. Be intentional about your actions and resist being lazy in your thinking.
Mindset: Even with Laurie's entrepreneurial experience he maintains a healthy fear of the unknown and launching bizHUMM was no different. Building a great team and creating a well-thought plan help to provide peace of mind, but at a certain point you have to do your best and see where the cards fall.
Marketing: A deep understanding of your business and customer is essential for crafting the marketing and promotions that not only sell your business, but attract supporters and partnerships. If you are struggling to nail down the right words to match the ideas in your mind, take Laurie’s advice about laying the foundation. He recommends not forcing it, but allowing yourself time each day to write, reflect and communicate with trusted advisers. As you hone your message gradually, you will see your ability to communicate and gain followership improve.
Momentum: After a year of development, bizHUMM launched their site and the How to Start a Business Guide bringing a lesson in the importance of promoting your content and drive traffic. Leveraging Facebook and Google advertising, bizHUMM went from 50 to 10,000 visitors a month! Laurie shares exactly what he attributes the fast growth to and the traffic sources that brought the most engaged visitors.
Masterminds: Listening to Laurie speak about the bizHUMM team and his approach to working was personally a touching moment as an interviewer. We all have experiences (good and bad) of working with a team in an organization. Laurie shares his philosophy to “treasure, respect, love, give to the people you work with.” What a beautiful way to approach workplace collaboration. I hope more people will be inspired to bring such a positive and nurturing attitude to their workplace, regardless of their title.
Mastermind Challenge: There are moments for every entrepreneur when you get the flash of an idea and feverishly jump into action. While fast action can be courageous and is a trait to be commended, there is something to be said for the benefit of giving the seed of an idea fertile ground to grow organically. Today's Mastermind Challenge is to take that one big idea you have and write it down with pen and paper. Set aside time for the next 3 days to come back, read your words and hone your idea. Watch how it evolves and improves. THEN, with a well-crafted vision, jump into action.
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
Scott Williford is a serial entrepreneur, consultant, writer and speaker who is passionate about helping others succeed in whatever they are called to.
As Founder and CEO of vLink Solutions, Scott helps businesses and professionals use the power of video to enhance their online brand. Video blogs, video profiles, product demos and customer stories are examples of the types of video they help clients produce. vLink also provide the services and tools to manage and monitor how the videos are used with their proprietary software tools.
Mission: Scott wasn't looking for a lifestyle business. He pursued entrepreneurship to take control of his own destiny. However, the real joy for Scott is being able to create a valuable solution that serves the needs of his clients.
Mindset: When it comes to the necessary mindset for each entrepreneur, Scott focuses on the power of the pivot. Being able to read the market, see trends and listen to clients has been the key to success for many of his ventures. Listen as he shares one such pivot that led to the success of prior venture, NetSurfer.
Marketing: Content marketing is being used by companies of all sizes and all industries. Hear Scott's takes on content marketing and how vLink Solutions helps their clients make the most of the time and money they invest in their video content marketing.
Masterminds: From mentoring to masterminds, Scott shares the importance of connecting with people outside your company for new ideas and inspiration. He also shares a lesson in making the most of the advice your given.
Mastermind Challenge: vLink Solutions has become a must-have strategic partner thanks in large part to providing a comprehensive solution for clients with video marketing needs. When it comes to your industry, are you solving part or all of the problem? How can you be more holistic in your approach of the program AND the solution?
Highly sought after due to his candid counsel to both startups and Fortune 1000 companies alike, he has been requested by organizations such as IBM, Coca-Cola, UPS, Cox Communications and Autodesk. K.P. has spoken at universities all over the U.S. including: Harvard, Georgia Institute of Technology, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Emory, San Jose State, University of South Carolina, and Cleveland State.
According to Crystal Knows: "He is ambitious, critical, and moves quickly to make progress, but understands how to support others in the process."
Innovative and witty, K.P. speaks to leaders with intriguing topics such as: Your Culture Sucks Because You Suck, Why Big Companies Can’t Innovate, Disruption Is Not A Marketing Campaign, Why You’re Not a CEO, Yet… and Why Every Recent Grad Should Work at a Startup.
In 2012, K.P. published BIM for Building Owners and Developers, a book on the adoption of advanced technology in the infrastructure space employed by leading companies and universities.
K.P. is a Startup Catalyst, helping organizations accelerate through coaching and programs such as: Startup Weekend, Customer Discovery Classes, Accelerators and Hackathons. These can range from one day to six week cohorts, depending on your needs and timeline.Kristen Stocks is the founder of Kids Boost, a non-profit organization designed to help kids give back to the world using their gifts, talents and passions.
Mission: After reaching a certain level of success in his career, K.P. and his business partner in CTW were on a mission to do something bigger and better. With an intimate understanding of the startup landscape they knew companies with bold, market-changing innovations would have the highest likelihood of fundraising, grants and ultimate success.
Mindset: K.P has seen is all when it comes to entrepreneurs and their ideas for changing the world. I asked him the one trait that he looks for when meeting new entrepreneurs and his response may surprise you. It has to do with our biggest resource: time.
Marketing: If you are looking to differentiate yourself in the marketplace, you must listen to K.P.'s perspective on market-risk companies versus technology-rick companies. CTW focuses solely on technology-riska nd for a very important reason. Listen and K.P. distinguishes the two and see how your wheels begin to turn as you reflect on your own business model and offerings.
Momentum: Gaining momentum, growth and expansion are everything when it comes to the goal of creating a sustainable company. K.P. shares extremely valuable insights for any startup that is struggling to gain momentum and meet benchmarks. Hear his advice for a change in terminology that could get you on your way faster.
Masterminds: K.P. shares his method for closed group collaboration and how it's evolved over time. As businesses reach different levels, the information they need changes. Listen as he offers insight that applies to business of all levels on how to seek out the right people and the lens through which you should receive their advice.
Mastermind Challenge: I found K.P.'s words on market risk and technology risk very thought provoking. I challenge you to take a step back and evaluate the innovation that you bring to the marketplace. Could your business generate more momentum if you allow yourself to get creative and think outside the box? How would new innovation serve your existing customers and enhance your product or service?
Learn more at mastermindyourlaunch.com
Bella Cleaning began as a passionate feeling of entrepreneurship so strong, Juliet Pocali Tenaglia couldn’t ignore it. She made a snap decision to leave the corporate world, and was loosing sleep at night as ideas and inspiration flooded her mind. Despite other people’s opinions that she needed to “stay in the corporate world and just start a little business on the side”, she knew she had to fulfill what her heart was yearning for. Since then, it’s been a ride like no other and on today’s podcast episode she shares why it’s worth every penny!
Mission: As is the case with so many entrepreneurs, Juliet’s journey to launch a business began when a “safe” job suddenly dissolved. Having watched a friend build a similar cleaning business in Florida, she reached out to learn more and quickly found her thoughts consumed with ideas for her own cleaning business.
I love Juliet’s how Juliet describes those early days of being so excited and focused on making her dream a reality. I know so many entrepreneurs and small business owners can relate to that moment you connect with your big idea.
Mindset: Juliet had many well-meaning friends and family encouraging her to get back into corporate and trying to convince her that being an employee would be a safer route than being an entrepreneur. Listen as Juliet shares the focus and dedication it took to believe in herself when those closest to her were trying to steer her down a different path.
Marketing: The ability to make quick decisions and capture opportunities is crucial when you’re growing a business. As luck would have it, Juliet received a call from a closed networking group looking for a cleaning company to round out their chapter. Juliet agreed to attend their next meeting and immediately signed up. Six years later, she is still of member of that group and credits it for creating the launchpad for her business.
Momentum: Now that she’s out of her launch and running a growing business, hear what Juliet has to say about scaling operations, hiring employees and what it means to move forward in her business.
Masterminds: Just as Juliet leaned on the advice of someone that just just a few steps ahead, Juliet shares what SHE would say if she encountered a young women looking to take the leap. Insightful words and amazing advice from someone who knows the journey all to well.
Mastermind Challenge: Juliet credits her closed networking group for providing the momentum through referrals that launched her business.
Are you laying the right foundation for your referral network? Here is a simple exercise to help you develop a solid referral strategy that is sure to generate an abundance of leads.
Create a 12 x 12 table. Along the top, create columns based on the different types of professions that work directly with your ideal client (CPA, lawyer, insurance agent, etc.) Save one column for miscellaneous.
Next, begin listing in each column the people you know from that category that are or could be a referral source.
Once complete, you will have a clear picture of the right connections you need to seek out and foster so that you can spend your time networking wisely.
After you have your table filled in, you will have 144 referral sources sending qualified, warm leads your way.
Learn more at mastermindyourlaunch.com
Ramon Gonzalez and Daniel Burnett are the founders of Thrive Coworking in Alpharetta, GA where they are bringing entrepreneurs together in a unique community.
Mission: It’s easy to see how Ramon and Daniel connected as business partners. They both share their personal journeys that sparked their passion for creating work that centers around a meaningful purpose. While they had different paths, they both ended up in the same place looking to create something great.
Mindset: Jumping into a new industry meant that there was no playbook from which to work. Ramon and Daniel are driven by a deep sense of purpose and the potential impact of creating a community driven co-working space. Their biggest advice is to focus on having the courage to explore your ideas.
Marketing: There’s nothing like word of mouth and leveraging your warm market. Ramon and Daniel got clear on their business model, created a soft launch and began reaching out to their immediate circle of influence to begin getting the word out. They also are big on adding a sense of humor to everything they do and letting their personality shine. Listen as they share an fortunate accident that actually turned into their biggest opportunity to do just that.
Momentum: When you lock into a business idea rooted in a deep sense of passion, magic begins to happen. Prior to Thrive launching, Ramon and Daniel met with a bookkeeping company and happened to share their idea for a co-working space. Their idea connected with the owners of that company so much that they walked away from that meeting with the opportunity to secure the space which now houses the first location for Thrive.
Masterminds: This section is a must listen. Ramon and Daniel share the mentors that have helped them along the way and share inspiring wisdom about the value of collaboration as business partners. Listen as they share how embracing conflict has helped sharpen each of them.
Mastermind Challenge: Ramon and Daniel shared several examples of how they have added personality and fun to their marketing. Reflect on the aspects of your personality that your friends and family enjoy most. Perhaps even ask them to describe you in a few words. Then, see how you can incorporate these traits into your brand and marketing.
Learn more at mastermindyourlaunch.com
Jayna Thompson is the founder of Alexis Suitcase, a contemporary consignment boutique with 3 locations in the Atlanta area. With everything from Gap to Gucci, Alexis Suitcase offers its customers the experience of an upscale boutique at a fraction of the cost.
Mission: Jayna knew from a young age that she wanted to one day own a clothing store. At the age of 25 she took the leap with the help of her mom. In today’s interview she shares the journey of those early days and the key moments and people that helped create this thriving boutique. (01:50)
Mindset: As with many entrepreneurs, Jayna experienced fear of failure and the unknown. Listen as she shares the mindset that helped her push through and how her young age actually worked to her advantage. (03:17)
Marketing: In the beginning days of Alexis Suitcase, Jayna spread the word through networking events, print advertisement and friends and family. Hear her discuss what worked and what didn’t, plus her biggest advice for anyone looking to open a brick and mortar business. (05:14)
Momentum: Roughly two years into her entrepreneurial journey, Jayna was faced with a big opportunity and decision. Listen as she shares her thought process and the immediate results of doubling her store size. (05:45)
Masterminds: From her mother and mentor to her first employees, Jayna shares the key people that have helped make Alexis Suitcase what it is today. Hear her advice for any entrepreneur trying to do it all themselves. Is that you? (08:53)
Mastermind Challenge: I love Jayna’s story of doubling her storefront and the immediate results it brought about in her business. Making that investment wasn’t easy, but it was integral to moving the business forward. Have you been presented with an opportunity to expand, but find yourself holding back? How can you move beyond surviving to thriving?
Share at mastermindyourlaunch.com!
Darria Long Gillespie, MD MBA FACEP is a national health media expert, SVP of Clinical Strategy at Sharecare, practicing ER doctor at Emory and Assistant Professor at the Emory School of Medicine, wife, and Mom.
Dr Darria appears frequently on TV, on CNN, FoxNews, CNBC, NBC, and The Dr Oz Show, writes “The Busy Woman’s Guide to Health…and Sanity” for Sharecare.com, and is a featured blogger on DoctorOz.com and The Huffington Post. In addition, she hosts a weekly radio show and podcast on iHeart Radio’s RadioMD, called Sharecare Radio.
Mission: The mission for Sharecare Inc, as Dr Darria explains, was born from a meeting of the minds between founder Jeff Arnold and Oprah. (I love it!) Dr Darria shares her personal mission which is to help busy moms take better care of themselves and their family. To that end, she's using multiple platforms to provide the information these ambitious women need.
Mindset: Her role in Sharecare has brought more on-camera time then your typical ER doctors might expect. I love how Dr Darria describes her mindset during those first few television interviews and what she believes is the key to overcoming fear when getting your message out in the press. A must-listen for anyone that feels shy, nervous or scared about spreading the word about their cause.
Marketing: Dr Darria has taken to multiple platforms to create meaningful content for busy moms. She's been featured on Dr. Oz, writes for the Huffington Post and also hosts a LIVE radio show called Sharecare radio. As we talk about the world of podcasting, she shares the unique dynamics of hosting a live show.
Momentum: Hear Dr Darria's biggest advice for gaining momentum in your career and business. Entrepreneurs at every stage need to make sure they have this piece of their message dialed in.
Masterminds: Surrounded by an incredible team at Sharecare, Dr Darria credits her female mentors for having a significant impact on her growth. Listen as she shares what they have meant throughout her journey.
Mastermind Challenge: Have you been hesitating to get the word out about your business in a bigger way? Is there a podcast, television station or news resource that you know would benefit from your point of view? Challenge yourself to reach out to them TODAY to inquire about opportunities to collaborate. Be sure to report back with your wins!
mastermindyourlaunch.com
Honoree Corder makes her second appearance on the podcast to talk about her new book, Prosperity for Writers. Whether you're looking to write a book or take your business to the next level, her philosophies on commitment, follow-through, abundance and money mindset can be applied to us all.
Mission: The inspiration for Prosperity for Writers was born at a writer's conference where Honoree heard writers doubting their ability to create and publish a highly successful book. It was then that she sought out to explore the steps that authors can take to create a living from their passion for writing.
Mindset: "It's not about what you're doing, it's about who you're being. And who you're being is based on what you're thinking." Listen as Honoree covers the 4 mental hurdles to being a prosperous author. "If you can't think it, you can't ink it", she says.
Momentum: Commitment over interest. I love Honoree's description of commitment over interest and how important commitment is to gaining the momentum you need to get going with your writing (or any other project you're working on!). Plus, she shares her exact process for writing daily and how she keeps from "breaking the chain".
Mastermind Challenge: In her book, Honoree says "If you want something, give it away". Whether it's money, love, or guidance, challenge yourself to give that which you are looking for to someone else. Watch and see how the universe returns it to you.
Kevin and Devona Stimpson are the husband and wife team behind Strive & Grind, a global online brand dedicated to empowering others to unleash their inner greatness.
Mission: After losing several friends during high school and college, Kevin and Devona felt a responsibility to be a positive influence in their community. After early jobs and internships left them feeling uninspired, they worked to turn their passion for helping other succeed into a profitable business.
Mindset: Devona jokes that Kevin is a walking self-help book! Listen as he shares the mindset shift that happened when he took a deep-dive into self-improvement.
Marketing: After growing an online business for several years, Kevin and Devona share the ups and downs and what has had the most success in generating the right kind of leads.
Momentum: Reflecting on several events that brought momentum to their business, there is one common thread that connects them all... people.
Masterminds: Kevin shares just how you can begin today masterminding with history's most successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders. Devona shares the biggest lesson she's learned from forming mastermind groups and what to consider in order to get the maximum value for all.
Mastermind Challenge: When creating content, imagine what your ideal client might search for online. These key words could be the ticket to your next viral post!
Gary Griffiths is the founder of Three Sides Inc, a company on a mission to Amplify, Inspire and Do more good in the world. In this episode, Gary shares his journey to create a business that not only provides for his family, but also gives back to the community.
Mission: Gary knew that a Facebook marketing business would allow him the lifestyle he dreamed of, but listen as he shares the moment the idea became a deep passion.
Mindset: Like so many, Gary struggled with the mindset that a corporate job was what he needed to provide for his family. I love how he describes the mindset shift that finally broke him free of this belief.
Marketing: Gary shares exactly how he got his first client and why he actually doesn't use Facebook ads! Word of mouth referrals alone have grown Three Sides Inc at lightening speed. Listen as Gary shares a big revelation for his business and how you can use the "Anchor Client" strategy to drive fast growth.
Momentum: It's usually a good thing to have momentum in your business, however, Gary shares his lessons learned from having perhaps a little too much momentum. Hear how he addressed the growth in order to prep for the next phase of Three Sides.
Masterminds: Gary is actually part of three masterminds and credits them for the fast success in his business. He shares great advice for ensuring that a mastermind is formed for the benefit of all involved.
Mastermind Challenge: One of my favorite moments from this interview is when Gary passionately shares his belief that everyone is deserving of the best life ever. However, the responsibility rests on your shoulders alone. For today's challenge, imagine what your best life looks like to you. Write down your vision and what you can do in the next 30 days to move you closer. Dream big. Start small. But most of all, start.
Katie VanBuskirk, Ph.D., teaches women how to leverage the Law of Attraction to increase their sales conversions and meet their performance quotas faster.
To every single client, Katie brings her unique blend of science-backed expertise, universal spiritual principles, and belief in unlimited human potential.
Along with publishing in top academic journals, such as the Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Katie has worked with hundreds of clients in individual and group settings, targeting improvement in health, relationships, and earning power.
Katie also enjoys searching for the best almond croissants (top favorite located in Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA) and fostering kittens in her beach house in sunny San Diego, CA.
Mission: After living a double life, one as a science-based psychology student, the other as a deeply spiritual student of the universe, Katie shares how she came to blend the two and why it's important to be a "whole person" in your business.
Mindset: Hear about the common misconception Katie had to overcome in order to launch her dream business. Plus, amazing tips about what the Law of Attraction is and how to incorporate it into your life.
Marketing: Katie shares how she began creating leads and momentum leveraging Facebook groups, before even launching her website.
Momentum: Katie has studied the best to create systems for engaging her subscribers and continually bringing them value. Hear how all about what she's doing and her method to create this approach.
Masterminds: As Katie prepares to launch her 7-day mini course, she shares the mastermind inspiration that gave her the idea. Plus, a great resource for anyone launching a business; Kate's Take: The Entrepreneur on Fire Audio Blog hosted by past guest, Kate Erickson.
Mastermind Challenge: Follow the link to find Katie's bonus audios just for Mastermind Your Launch Podcast listeners. Affirmations, Meditation and a Sleep Aid. Big thanks to Katie for taking the time to create these for us. I've listened and they are beautiful.
Kristen Stocks is the founder of Kids Boost, a non-profit organization designed to help kids give back to the world using their gifts, talents and passions.
Mission: To empower kids to give back to the community while learning business skills and experiencing entrepreneurship for themselves. In this episode she shares the story of Jared, a former patient at the children’s hospital where she works, who inspired it all.
Mindset: Kristen actually had the idea for Kids Boost for several years before taking action. Hear her describe how starting small helped her launch her to finally big idea.
Marketing: “What I didn’t think I was ready for was all that I needed and more.” Kristen shares the marketing moment she did quite feel ready for and how it helped get the word out in a big way.
Momentum: Now out of the launch phase, Kristen is enjoying hearing the stories and feedback from some of Kids Boost’s first graduates. Seeing her idea come to life and impact kids is giving her and Kids Boost momentum for the next chapter.
Masterminds: From the inspiration for it all, Jared, to her board members, and friends and family. Kristen shares what it means to surround yourself with a dream team and why it’s so important.
Mastermind Challenge: Do you have a big idea that has been rolling around in your head for years? Kristen felt overwhelmed by her big idea, but when she thought small, she found the courage to take action. Is there a small way that you can bring your idea to life? Share in the comments at mastermindyourlaunch.com
The Green Room camp is a program of re:imagine/ATL.
re:imagine/ATL is an innovative and relationally-driven 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that empowers young people from all backgrounds to reimagine a flourishing Atlanta through creative technologies, collaboration and sustainable, holistic programs. re:imagine uses a project-based educational approach that combines film and music, storytelling, and entrepreneurship as a means of activating young people to positively impact their community. We believe that under this creative vision, the next generation can come together to form a single, vibrant voice that will change the world.
Mimika Cooney is on a mission to empower others to realize their full potential. South African Mimika is the host of MimikaTV, an interview web show that shares the journeys of successful entrepreneurs. She is on a mission to help entrepreneurs build a sustainable business doing what they love! As a digital marketing and branding strategist, Mimika helps solopreneurs attract their perfect clients and build a brilliant business. Mimika has been a pro photographer for 12 years in two countries (UK & USA), and has authored two books on the business of photography. Mimika teaches online courses in branding, marketing and video marketing. When she is not listening to audio business books and podcasts in the carpool line, she enjoys jazz dancing and gluten free tea parties with her three kids. Grab her Free Branding+Marketing Toolkit here www.mimikacooney.com
Kate Erickson is a creator, engager and implementer over at EntrepreneurOnFire, a 7-day a week podcast that interviews today's most inspiring and successful entrepreneurs. She is also the host of Kate's Take: The EntrepreneurOnFire Audio Blog and author of The Fire Path: A Beginner's Guide to Growing Your Online Business. Kate is passionate about helping entrepreneurs create freedom in their business and life through developing systems and processes that can help their business scale and grow.
Simon Smart has a resume thick enough to be used as a weapon.
After growing up all over the world, getting a law degree and then running away to study combat-oriented martial arts and meditation in Japan, Simon now resides in Tucson, Arizona.
Simon Smart believes that effectiveness in our business, our relationships and our lives comes from powerfully integrating our mind, bodies and spirit.
Meeting his wife while training thousands of soldiers in close-quarter combat skills before they deployed to the Middle East, he moved to the US just weeks before the economy crumbled. His journey took him through real estate, working with crime scene victims and delivering death notifications in the middle of the night, to working for a national Google partner where he somehow achieved national sales leader recognition while battling suicidal depression. Recognizing how incompatible a corporate role was with his desire to live as a free, independent powerful and present man, he walked away to became a sales and marketing consultant, creating millions of dollars of value for his clients on his own terms.
Simon’s primary mission now is Warrior Protocol, a training program and community based on ancient and modern warrior technologies, which connects male entrepreneurs with their full, Level 10, Kick-Ass Warrior selves - so that they can 10x their success in business, relationships and life.
You can connect with Simon on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/simon.smart.5) or through www.WarriorProtocol.com)
Celebrity artist Sonia Rodriguez reveals the true beauty of her clients through a clean and modern approach to makeup, with a hint of glamour. She has honed her craft for well over a decade by working with an array of artists that has led her to develop her very own signature look.
A NYC-based artist for many years, Sonia has had the pleasure of having her work featured on The View, TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Live! With Regis and Kelly, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Oprah Presents Master Class…the list goes on and on. Her ability to connect with her clients and really target what they want has broadened her client list to include Kate Upton, Terrence Howard, Kristen Wiig, Robin Thicke, Soledad O’Brien and Shaquille O’Neal to name a few. Sonia is currently Head Makeup Artist at The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore on Comedy Central.
Sonia is the founder of the Beauty Mastermind which is a coaching program developed specifically for beauty professionals. The Beauty Mastermind allows Sonia to provide one-on-one coaching/mentorship services as well as hands-on workshops.
Ryan Walsh is a coach who teaches business owners how to double their productivity so they can work half as many hours. Using proven strategies from positive psychology and personal development, he shows business owners how to work less yet achieve more. Before becoming a coach, he graduated from Princeton University and then worked at Bridgewater Associates (the world’s #1 hedge fund), advising multiple departments to achieve 25% efficiency gains. He's also helped start and grow some of the top tech companies in California.
Clever, straightforward and true to herself, Dulce' Sloan is an Actor by trade and has been doing Stand Up Comedy for six years. Her credits include FOX NFL Sunday's "Riggle's Picks" and ABC's "Resurrection". She recently won 2nd place in the 2015 Laughing Skull Comedy Festival. This year she also performed at the Women in Comedy Festival, the Cape Fear Comedy Festival and the Bridgetown Comedy Festival.
In this episode, Dulce shares her journey from starting at open-mics to winning 2nd place at The Laughing Skull Comedy Festival. Like Rocky getting ready for the fight, Dulce put everything on the line to give her best and tells us all about how her career has changed since taking that top spot.
If you are working towards a next level in your life or career, lessons from her journey apply to so much more than comedy. Get ready to be inspired and entertained. Watch for great things from this rising star.
Christie Mims is the Founder and CEO of The Revolutionary Club, the number one destination for smart women who are unwilling to settle for anything less than career happiness. Compassionate, caring, and a little kick-ass, Christie is here to make sure that you love what you do (note: life is too short not to love what you do). A certified professional coach and recovering consultant with a background working for Fortune 500 companies, Christie has been there, done that, and worn those uncomfortable shoes. She's dispensed career advice for Forbes, LearnVest, Brazen Careerist, Yahoo! and many more, and can be seen speaking at the University of VA, The Daily Muse, Women for Hire, The US Army, and at a variety of other organizations. She recently did a happy dance when her website was named a Forbes Top 100 for careers, because her goal is to start a career happiness revolution.
Despite being born with a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy that was expected to take his life by age seven, nearly 40 years later, P.J. has not only lived a full life but in 2015 he launched his entrepreneurial journey. Listen to how he connecting with his life's purpose and how he's growing his business with the help of his friend and business coach, Nick Unsworth. Warning: Tissues may be needed.
In today's episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with personal transformation expert, Honoree Corder. Honoree is a coach, author, speaker, wife and mother. She has built a business and lifestyle that she loves and she's here to share how you can too.
Listen to exactly how she started her coaching business with only 6 clients. (Her strategy is one that anyone can implement today to begin gaining momentum as a coach.) The phrase, "Will work for food" is about to take on a new meaning!
Honoree also shares an incredible transformation story of a client who went from rock bottom to millionaire thanks to her focus on a new money mindset.
Would you like to spend the summer wrapping up work at 10am and spending the day with your kids? Take a peek behind the curtain to how she is able to grow her business while increasing quality time with her family.
Susanna Spiccia is giving voice to communities through its youth.
Armed with a powerful idea—reimagine your voice, reimagine possibilities—Susanna Spiccia has helped to empower youth from all backgrounds to reshape their communities. Through creative technologies, collaboration and sustainable holistic programs, re:imagine/ATL is not only developing our youth, but also changing the city of Atlanta.
Megan is a graduate of Auburn University and earned her Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Health Promotion and is also a certified ACSM Health Fitness Specialist. While at Auburn, she was a member of the Gymnastics Team (o6-07) and the Track & Field (09-10) team. After graduating and completing her athletic eligibility, she decided to pursue her athletic career further and tried out for the US Women’s Bobsled Team. She competed internationally for the US for 3 years, 1 year as a brakeman and 2 years as pilot. However, she ended up having two back to back crashes during training which resulted in a severe concussion that ultimately ended her bobsled career and has landed her back in the beautiful state of Georgia.
Megan went to work as an office assistant at Hill Company, Inc. While working in the office on a daily basis, she was quickly reminded of what sitting at a desk all day will do to one’s body and how harmful it can be to one’s health. With her passion for health and fitness, she incorporated a Fitness Incentive Program for the employees. The program was very successful and helped the company and employees in so many ways that she decided to take the program to other businesses and launched A Stronger Workplace.
Ofelia de La Valette, owner and founder of Dance 101 didn’t find her calling to the dance world until the age of 35. A successful insurance agent with her own company in Atlanta, Ofelia had been pounding away on the treadmill at her gym when the sounds of a cardio dance class caught her attention. Though humiliated at her own lack of skill, Ofelia jumped right in. Despite her embarrassment at being the worst in the class, Ofelia found a strengthened sense of self and scorched 20 pounds in the process. She was hooked. Today, Ofelia is providing the public with an opportunity to do for themselves what, until now, they could only watch others do on TV: to make their own leap -- from their living room to a classroom, from the audience to the stage. Listen and prepare to be transformed by the power of dance at Dance 101!
Nick Unsworth, CEO and Founder of Life on Fire, is a business coach with a focus on helping entrepreneurs build a business around their purpose. After achieving his dream of selling a business by the age of 30, Nick was surprised to find that reaching his long-time goal somehow didn’t have the lasting fulfillment he expected.
On a search to find more meaning in his career, he connected with a business coach that set his business and life ON FIRE. He’s now paying it forward by helping entrepreneurs break through fear, discover their purpose and build their legacy. Listen as he shares his 3 S Strategy that helped one recent client leave his full time job in only 5 months!
Nick also takes a deep dive into the power of mastermind groups and just how he incorporates them into his coaching program to help his client break through to the next level in their business. You do NOT want to miss this.
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
Susan Shepard founded CauseMatch after being inspired by her daughter's passion for giving back to children in need. The idea to connect the every day philanthropist to people in need within their own community sparked the idea for this one-of-a-kind online matchmaking service for charitable donations. Currently in the midst of a crowd-funding campaign, Susan shares step by step just how to launch and grow a non-profit. Listen in for her advice on taking a seed of an idea and how to turn it into your next venture.
Learn more at MastermindYourLaunch.com
Bryan Scott, Owner of two Title Boxing Club franchises, shares what it means to be a Renaissance man and serial entrepreneur. A successful NFL star whose career spanned 10 seasons and allowed him to play for the Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills, he is also a self-taught musician and Founder of the non-profit, Pick Your Passion Foundation for the Arts. With Title Boxing locations in the works and a visit to the Shark Tank airing April 24th, is there anything he CAN'T do?! Find out just how he keeps reinventing himself and his biggest advice to anyone with a dream.
Sheryl Clay prepares to celebrate 40 years of dancing at Douglasville School of Dance. From building a school to performing in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies, listen as she talks about overcoming fear, stepping into the unknown, and the one thing that makes it all worth it.
David and his wife, Suzanne, own a charming wine and cigar shop in downtown Alpharetta, GA called Tinderbox Vino 100. With a focus on having fun, connecting with customers and giving back to the community, David and Suzanne have created a business that people LOVE to shop in. Learn about the life-changing event that started their entrepreneurial journey and his advice for anyone looking to do the same.
Stefanie Sheehan, Founder and Host of Mastermind Your Launch, shares her personal journey and the driving force behind the Mastermind Your Launch Podcast. If you have a dream, but have hesitated to take action, do not miss her words on why you absolutely have to go for it.