The Entrepreneur Way

Salena Knight is a Retail Strategist and founder of The Retail Academy - a marketing agency that specialises in helping independent retail and ecommerce store owners to scale their stores into profitable, thriving brands. She’s passionate about delivering highly effective strategies that improve the five core pillars of a retail business! “it depends on what they need to hear at the time. Sometimes it’s just take action, sometimes it’s… This is not what you want to hear though… What’s the worst that can happen. Probably the big one in our business is done is better than perfect… Maybe not in heart surgery but in business is that whole imperfect action, it’s the whole minimal viable product, it’s getting your thing out there and getting the feedback so that you can make the tweaks. But the more you just sit on it then who are you helping? You are not helping anybody. You are not helping anybody if nobody knows that this thing exists. And maybe that thing is just an idea, maybe it’s a product or maybe it’s a service but if you don’t get it out there then no one gets helped. So done is better than perfect”…[Listen for More] Click Here for Show Notes To Listen or to Get the Show Notes go to https://wp.me/p6Tf4b-lGZ

David Aquino grew frustrated by a barrage of news stories that health care workers and people on the front lines couldn’t get PPE. He thought, how can I create a solution by providing this product? That motivation, in combination with his background of leading apparel companies and global supply chain management, was a natural fit. David Aquino set out and founded Certain Supply, the ethical PPE company. “if you are not passionate and not willing to kind of, go all in don’t do it. And that focal point is if you have the choice to do something else but you feel that there is no other way but to do the work that you are excited about then you are going to be successful”…[Listen for More] Click Here for Show Notes To Listen or to Get the Show Notes go to https://wp.me/p6Tf4b-lGT

Kelsey Moreira, founder & fearless leader over at Doughp Cookie Dough. After getting sober in 2015, she came alive again. With her newfound clarity in life she rediscovered her love of baking and took life by the horns! She ditched a 10 year career in product marketing at Intel to follow her cookie dough dream - launching Doughp in 2017. Four years later, they've served more than 250,000 spoonlickers and continue shipping thousands of boxes every month! “my best advice to other entrepreneurs is to just go do it, stop thinking about it. I think this hesitance or over planning that can happen sometimes where you are spending years and years thinking about what if your what it might be like. And just getting out there and starting something and seeing how it sticks. You can continue to learn and evolve and pull back or push forward with whatever information you start to get but if you don’t start you are working off a very limited set of info to keep working on it so I just encourage entrepreneurs to give it a go”…[Listen for More] Click Here for Show Notes To Listen or to Get the Show Notes go to https://wp.me/p6Tf4b-lGN

Joel Trammell is a pioneer in the field of CEO education as the CEO and Founder of Khorus Systems, a business management system that empowers CEOs to lead high-performance organizations. He's also the owner of Texas CEO Magazine and currently serves as the CEO and Chairman at iGrafx. “understand it’s a difficult journey, be prepared just like if you are going to run a marathon you know it’s going to be hard, you know mile 21 or 22 it’s going to be very difficult so you mentally prepare for that. I think assuming that an entrepreneurial journey is going to be easy and everything is going to go right will leave you set up for failure. So, understand it is a journey, it’s a marathon, it’s a long run, it’s not easy, there are going to be many times when you feel like you are facing a brick wall and you’ve got to figure out a way around, up, over, under that brick wall. And I think going in with that idea of persistence and understanding that if you don’t enjoy that journey, that part of it maybe you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur is critical to success”…[Listen for More] Click Here for Show Notes To Listen or to Get the Show Notes go to https://wp.me/p6Tf4b-lGH

Howie Zales is an Emmy Award winning Camera Operator who turned his passion for television broadcasting in to several entrepreneurial endeavors. Howie created HJZ Productions, Inc in 2000 to address the need for professional level sports crewing/staffing in the New York market. Under his leadership, HJZ Productions grew to a multi-million nationwide provider of top talent in the broadcasting field. In 2019, Howie and his team founded Viridity Entertainment Services, Inc. (VES) which initially focused on staffing in non-union markets. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, they quickly pivoted to offering best in class, broadcast quality livestreams of professional sports shows and interviews, corporate interviews and meetings, and religious services. In addition, Howie took his love of the television production business and created The TV Sports Course, a hands-on training boot camp for the next generation of television crew professionals. Howie is a graduate of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh’s Mass Communication program. Howie is a big believer in that overall wellness, including healthy eating and exercising, are key to both personal and professional success. He lives in New York with his family “be grateful, operate from a place of how you know your business can help other people. Obviously, money is important to you and your business. The money will come if you have a good product and service. Don’t do anything at 50 percent, give 110 percent and everything that you do… Be smart and simply know that failure is a big possibility and let not wanting to fail motivate you ”…[Listen for More] Click Here for Show Notes To Listen or to Get the Show Notes go to https://wp.me/p6Tf4b-lGy

Patrick Colletti is a leadership and organizational culture expert, champion for “refounders” and author of the upcoming leadership book Refounder. He draws on his experience as a technology executive, his business-growth expertise and a passion for company culture to share growth-oriented guidance that challenges social and cultural norms, both in the workplace and in the community. Patrick is passionate about creating flourishing businesses and empowering the next generation of Refounders — business leaders and entrepreneurs who revitalize the places where they live, work and play. Patrick is the founder, president emeritus and a current advisor of the healthcare software company Net Health. When he began his tenure as company president in 2001, Net Health was experiencing significant financial turmoil resulting in laying off all but 2 employees. Collaborating with a growing team, he grew the company that now helps heal millions of people each year. In concert with a team which included 4 private equity partners, he completed a corporate turnaround — Refounding and reinvigorating the already established organization. By utilizing a Refounder mindset as a framework for success, Patrick was able to spur rapid business growth and cultivate a flourishing corporate culture. In his debut book, Refounder (slated for publication in early 2021), he shares the experience, insights and moments of enlightenment he gained over two decades serving in multiple leader positions at Net Health, including president, chief revenue officer and chief operating officer. Through stories about well-known leaders, cities and organizations, he explores how society often reinvents for the better and reveals how individuals can assess what needs to be Refounded in their own life. Patrick infuses the Refounding spirit into everything he does, helping to Refound companies such as Think Native and Grayscale through redemptive investing, guidance and counsel. In addition, he exerts his Refounding expertise for community initiatives, recently partnering with the Pittsburgh International Airport and the organization Free the Music to display pianos designed by local artists. An innovative leader and advocate in the healthcare industry, Patrick is a frequent speaker and in-demand consultant. He has served on many boards, including Net Health, Careform (ConnectiveRx), National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), Near Health, Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation and the Pittsburgh Technology Council. Patrick also received the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2010, and has been featured as an expert in a variety of healthcare and business outlets, including Pittsburgh Business Times, Smart Business Network and Healthcare IT. The company’s culture has won local, national, and industry awards for culture from Beckers, PBT,and Modern Healthcare. Patrick began his career as a strategy and sales leader for Dorland Data Networks, a healthcare data company, as well as American Lawyer Media (ALM), a business-to-business information and intelligence media company. As Director of Sales at ALM, he worked alongside the team that launched an online marketplace and content portal, known now as LAW.com. Patrick graduated from Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio, with a bachelor of arts double major in business and philosophy. He currently resides with his family in Pittsburgh, Penn. “determine the just purpose of your organisation. Whether that’s a not-for-profit or for-profit organisation. Get to the heart of what the just purpose of your organisation is and why it exists. What brokenness in the world are you healing? What problem in the world you actually focusing on and making better? And then drill into that and make sure everybody in your organisation understands the part they play in solving that problem”…[Listen for More] Click Here for Show Notes To Listen or to Get the Show Notes go to https://wp.me/p6Tf4b-lGo

Stacy Kirk has championed for software quality and process innovation for over 20 years. In 2010, Stacy founded QualityWorks Consulting Group, a quality-driven app development firm recognized for accelerating software delivery, social impact, and building diverse future-ready teams. In 2020, she launched Posture, a platform for Small and MidSize Enterprises to affordably and quickly establish and mature Compliance and Cybersecurity programs. “you may have heard that entrepreneurship is a journey, it’s not a destination. I add to that its who you are, it’s not your company. And just remember that if you are an entrepreneur that’s your profession, you are an entrepreneur. And your company will undoubtedly have its ups and downs but if you can say as an entrepreneur, I am successful at that, I am successful at learning how to be a successful entrepreneur then you can find a happy place that’s not necessarily tied to an income statement. And I think that’s a good place to be because you are developing yourself for this company or maybe your next one ”…[Listen for More] Click Here for Show Notes To Listen or to Get the Show Notes go to https://wp.me/p6Tf4b-lGh

As CEO of BOAZ Enterprises, LaTonya J Pegues, known as The Unconscious Bias Trainer, brings a wealth of experience and non-traditional solutions to BOAZ Enterprises clientele. After working in the aerospace and telecommunications industries in a variety of positions; including satellite and mission systems engineer, low temperature physics researcher, & communications/ PR expert. She founded & started BOAZ Enterprises a training, consulting, and communications firm in the year 2000. Under her leadership, BOAZ Enterprises has provided services for clients in Africa, Asia, Europe, and throughout North America. “think like a star. Not rockstar but think like a star. Get off of this planet and go up past the moon and just think like a star. Your thoughts and your ideas, just get not out of the box, get off the planet… As far as your ability to just soar and to think different. Think differently, be in a place where you can change your perspective. And sometimes Neil just being in different locations… when we can or even just online”…[Listen for More] Click Here for Show Notes To Listen or to Get the Show Notes go to https://wp.me/p6Tf4b-lGb

Jonathan Goldhill is a masterful business coach and personal strategist specializing in guiding next-generation leaders of family businesses to scale up their business as they take control over the leadership and ownership of the family business. Jonathan left New York for California at age 20 after his family’s large, privately-held men’s apparel manufacturing company—started by his great-grandfather—sold to a conglomerate in its third generation of family ownership. Within ten years, Jonathan had established himself as the go-to expert for entrepreneurs looking to find their version of freedom. Today, Jonathan brings thirty years of experience to his clients advising, coaching, consulting, training, and guiding entrepreneurial and family businesses. “reach out, find the kind of support that you might need and enter an accountability group, a peer group so you are learning from others and don’t try to go it alone. Entrepreneurs need to mitigate their risk and you do that by getting the input and feedback and advice of others. You may have a coach in addition to that but listening to other people. My business School Professor when I was there at school 30 years ago had an eleventh commandment which he said ‘thou shall not bullshit thyself’. So, my best advice is so yourself with other people so they call you on your bullshit”…[Listen for More] Click Here for Show Notes To Listen or to Get the Show Notes go to https://wp.me/p6Tf4b-lG5

After emigrating from Morocco at a young age, Mokhtar Jabli (MJ) made his way to the top of the real estate industry, founding The Nightfall Group- a multi-million-dollar and world-wide luxury hospitality company specializing in dream, curated getaways and rentals whether it be homes, cars yachts or private jets. “set a goal. If you don’t have a goal finds something that you like. If you don’t know what you like keep trying different things. So, once you find that put a goal and write it somewhere and track the progress and don’t quit”…[Listen for More] Click Here for Show Notes To Listen or to Get the Show Notes go to https://wp.me/p6Tf4b-lFx