We discussed a number of things including: 

1. Mark and Sonia's entrepreneurial journeys 

2. Mark's new venture, Creator Nova 

3. Sonia's vision for Signet Beauty 

4. Funding outlook for startups in creator space

 Sonia first launched @badgirlnails in 2014 as a way to break a lifelong nail biting habit. From there a passion for nail art grew, and before long she was sharing her designs with an audience of over 1 million followers on Instagram. 

In the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic, Sonia recognized the need for artisan quality, innovative nails in the press on nail space, and so she founded Signet Beauty - using her online community as a springboard to propel the brand forward.

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While living in China, Mark worked for Alibaba Group’s Tmall, Tmall Global, and Taobao marketplaces to build partnerships with U.S. startups looking to enter global markets. He has helped startups at every step: from supply chain, to government regulations, to marketing, to technology builds. He began focusing on how content creators are building the future of commerce after helping over 50 US startups enter the China market. 

He knows intimately the pain that content creators feel when building consumer products. Whether in China or the United States, from a poor or rich nation, young and old, Content Creators will play a vital role in building the startups of the future. Today, Mark leads Creator Nova which helps Content Creators build new global consumer startups.

We discussed a number of things including:

1.  Alfa's entrepreneurial journey and vision for Rising Tide Capital

2. State of the small business sector across the state and region

3. Funding outlook for startups and underserved entrepreneurs

4. Alfa's vision for Future Tide Partners

Born and raised in Ethiopia, Alfa lives in New Jersey with her husband and two boys. She is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Rising Tide Capital, a non-profit organization that provides underserved entrepreneurs with the resources they need to launch and grow successful businesses. Since 2005 the organization has operated the Community Business Academy, a 12-week course that provides intensive business management training coupled with year-round coaching and mentorship, now serving a network of more than 3,000 entrepreneurs in New Jersey as well as Illinois, South Carolina and North Carolina, with more in planning stages.

Corporate, foundation, and government funders underwrite the cost of tuition and services for all participants; 70% are women of color. By building successful businesses, entrepreneurs meet their families’ basic needs, create opportunities for social mobility, and help transform their local communities into thriving economies.

Alfa is also the Co-Founder of Future Tide Partners, which equips cross-sector leaders to shift capital, policy and culture in a rapidly changing world of work towards an inclusive, flourishing future economy. She was named a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2015 and has appeared in leading media outlets including CNN, O the Oprah Magazine, Essence Magazine, Bloomberg, Inc. Magazine, the Suze Orman show, BusinessWeek and Entrepreneur Magazine.

She has been recognized by President Barack Obama; received the prestigious 25th Heinz Award in the Technology, the Economy and Employment category; and was named a CNN Hero and one of the Most Powerful Women Changing the World in Forbes. She currently serves as a Commissioner on the New Jersey Future of Work Task Force and is a board member of the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund.

We discussed a number of things including: 

1. State of the #drones industry, regionally, nationally and globally 

2. Outlook for sector and funding forecast 

3. What's next in drones at Rutgers and at Dronedek 

4. Talent pipeline opportunities and challenges 

Laurent joined the Rutgers University Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 2019, after serving as a scientific researcher at ONERA, the French Aerospace Lab for 9 years, and as a "guidance and control" expert for 7 years inside the French DoD. He has thus collaborated with European Aerospace Industry leaders for around fifteen years. Burlion's research develops and applies advanced flight control algorithms to uncertain systems and is motivated by aerospace applications including spacecraft, aircraft, and drones. 

He led a project on vision-based landing of aerial vehicles, at the request of Airbus between 2013 and 2017. He also worked on advanced controls for the prevention of, and the recovery from, aircraft excursions from nominal flight regimes. At Rutgers, Burlion is setting up a new lab in which drones can perform indoor and outdoor flights. The drones are either directly bought "off the shelf " or "homemade" by graduate and undergraduate students. Innovative algorithms are implemented to both improve the reliability and enlarge the flight envelope of autonomous quadcopters and airplanes. He is also working on offshore floating wind turbines and nanosatellites.

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Dan O’Toole is a serial entrepreneur and business leader who is among the first in the United States to secure patents for a smart mailbox designed to securely accept packages delivered by drone. DRONEDEK holds a First-Position Patent Portfolio for the next-generation mailbox of autonomous and drone delivery. 

Two issued US Utility Patents, two additional utility patents are under examination now and two PCT’s. In all 111 patent claims already awarded or filed for. Dan is a Ball State University graduate and lives in Carmel, Indiana with his family.

We discussed a number of things including: 

1. State of #cannabisindustry across the state and region 

2. How are the state and investors helping fund entrepreneurs 

3. How is #diversity and #equity in space being supported 

4. Outlook for the sector in short and long term 

Bruce is a consultant, coach, author, and speaker on organizational development and performance management. Originally an architect, he was a pioneer in the use of computer-aided design and 3D modeling. He also hosts to two successful podcasts: Scaling Up Services provides insights and strategies for how to successfully scale service-based businesses and Thinking Outside The Bud explores #innovation in the business of cannabis. 

Seeing the need for a more fast-paced and innovative approach to technology development, Bruce founded of Cyrus Innovation in 2003, one of the first Agile/Lean development consulting firms. After more than a decade of developing products and coaching companies adopting Agile/Lean practices such as Extreme Programming, Scrum, Kanban, and other Lean methodologies, Bruce sold Cyrus in 2014 to focus on broader organizational development initiatives and served as interim CEO, COO, and other executive roles across a number of different high-tech and professional service companies. 

Bruce has been a member of the Entrepreneurs'​ Organization’ since 2007 and has served in many chapter and regional leadership positions including Learning, Forum, and Accelerator. Bruce has served as the US East Regional Forum Expert and the US East Regional Accelerator Expert.

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Sam is vice chair of the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission. He is a retired Vice President of External Affairs for Verizon New Jersey. During his 21 years with the company he held various positions in human resources, corporate procurement, and government affairs. 

During his last 13 years, he served as Vice President External Affairs for Verizon New Jersey, Inc. and was responsible for matters related for the company’s external environment including: municipal and county relationships, emergency management, public policy, customer service, public relations, and the Verizon Foundation. Sam is a retired Marine Corps Reserve Combat Communications Officer with 20 years’ experience having served during Operation Uphold Democracy (1994-95) in the Republic of Haiti. 

In Haiti, he reported directly to former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly monitoring human rights abuses; and mentoring and managing an international public security force. His military awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. In 2010 he returned to Haiti to assist in earthquake relief efforts acting as liaison for Doctors Without Borders, the Haitian Govt, and NGOs.

We talked about their entrepreneurship journeys and their current ventures in podcasting and healthcare. 

Ryan Estes is an American Buddhist entrepreneur. As the cofounder of Kitcaster, a podcast booking agency, he facilitates thousands of extraordinary conversations. The mission is to put the world’s top startup founders on the world’s top podcasts and let them share their stories with a wider audience. 

He has owned a media and marketing agency for the last 10 years. For eight of those years he hosted the founders podcast Talklaunch. Consistently ranked in the iTunes "Top 100" podcasts, he has recorded 300+ interviews with more than a quarter million downloads. He attributes $1M+ in revenue as a direct result from podcasts and believes the medium possesses a giant opportunity for entrepreneurs. 

He enjoys training brazilian jiu jitsu and capoeira, volunteering as a finance mentor, and is an avid sportsman.

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DeLon Canterbury is a Board Certified Geriatric Pharmacist. He founded GeriatRx, a telehealth-based senior care consulting company. GeriatRx combines Pharmacogenomic testing and Comprehensive Medication Management, and addresses the social determinants of health, such as food, shelter, financial stability, and health literacy. 

He helps patients who are struggling to achieve their healthcare goals and lowers their healthcare expenses. By reducing medication errors and advocating for deprescribing, consultant pharmacists like DeLon improve patient safety and save patients, their families, and the healthcare system money. 

DeLon manages patients across the state of North Carolina and demonstrates the value pharmacists add to healthcare delivery. DeLon embodies servant-leadership and places it at the forefront of GeriatRx. He is an active Executive Board Member for the African-American Minority COVID Task Force in Durham, North Carolina, a Formulary Committee member of Senior PharmAssist at the Durham Senior Center for Life, and served as Community Health Coalition’s Telehealth Director, helping older African-American patients with wellness and reassurance check-ups during COVID.

We discussed a few things including Kashif's entrepreneurial journey, personalized medicine, functional genomics, longevity trends and the future of healthcare. 

Kashif is an author, speaker, visionary entrepreneur and investor based in Toronto who has built, run, and scaled numerous businesses across various industries. He is the founder and CEO of The DNA Company, a digital health company that uses precision medicine and digital therapeutics to develop genomics-based health management applications that offer patients genetic insights tailored to their unique biology. 

Kashif is also the co-founder and CEO of Youtrients, a company providing personalized supplement formulations based on unique DNA analysis. In his career, He has advised everyone from early-stage startups to numerous Fortune 500 clients including some of North America’s biggest companies like Royal Bank of Canada and Cirque Du Soleil.

We discussed a number of things including: 

1. State of entrepreneurship in the entertainment and influencer marketing industries 

2. Funding outlook in media, blockchain and crypto/NFT sectors 

3. Diversity gains in startups from their vantage points 

4. Talent pipeline challenges; NAMIC efforts 

Always keeping ‘profit with a purpose’ in mind through various career roles as a hedge fund analyst, music producer & now investor / social philanthropist, Atul is founding partner of umbrella investment / advisory company, KMH Group, focusing on tech in media/sports verticals as well as various entertainment projects. 

Atul manages two portfolio companies, SAVA360 Ventures, a diversity driven platform connecting influential leaders with innovative entrepreneurs to share ideas and source deals, and the Results Venture, a social impact advisory group. Sava360 Ventures has partnered with NAMIC National the past few years to host and industry leading Entertainment Startup Showcase during the 2nd day General Session of the annual conference. 

Prior to this, Atul produced music for Sony Music artists & TV programming for all major US networks as well as two Bollywood films produced by the acclaimed Chopra family. Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girl , Girlfriends and Bernie Mac are just a few of many shows to feature Atul's music. Atul is frequent speaker at private and corporate events, sharing his views on investing in public and private markets, emerging technology such as AI, Crypto and NFTs, and culture. These discussions are often featured on a weekly podcast he co-hosts, “The Whiskey Hue”, and various Clubhouse rooms. 

He is a founding board member of philanthropy organization NEXUS Global India, an 1871 Entrepreneur/Tech Center Mentor, Board Member for Digital Diversity Network, 2019 NAMIC ELDP alum, past board member of NAMIC NY and Programming Chair for NAMIC National the past two years running, with a hyper focus on supporting Diversity, Gender Equality and Global Sustainability initiatives. 

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Angela Fisher has 10+ years of experience building and launching influencer-driven brands for MTV, VH1, BET, and AMF Media. Angela is now the Founder of a revolutionary platform called Neufluence - an inclusive online marketplace that is reimagining influencer marketing using technology and tools to help brands boost sales and expand their customer base through collaborations with the largest community of diverse micro-level creators. 

Angela has helped relaunch several digital brands and she served as a producer for VH1 awards shows including Hip Hop Honors, Divas, and Big Awards. Angela served on the senior team that launched a Viacom cable network now called BET Her. During her time with AMF Media, Angela has connected influencers with various brands ranging from McDonald’s to Patreon. 

Angela is also an avid runner who has completed 4 marathons and a 50K.

We discussed a number of things including: 

1. How the pandemic has affected our mental health 

2. The notable rise in depression, anxiety and stress across all populations 

3. How individuals, particularly young people, can improve their mental health 

4. How novel tech solutions are helping to change the script 

Mark Metry is a 23 year old entrepreneur, author, creator, mental health advocate, coach, teacher, keynote speaker, podcast host, and loving human being. Mark has interviewed over 300+ top leaders around the world from billionaire philanthropists, to neuroscientists, professional athletes, New York times bestselling authors, philosophers, and innovative disrupter’s on his Top 100 Humans 2.0 podcast, which NASDAQ, and Yahoo Finance placed in the "Top 21 Growing Podcasts you must listen to..” 

Now, Mark hosts the Social Anxiety Society podcast, and is the bestselling author of Screw Being Shy: Learn How to Manage Social Anxiety and Be Yourself in Front of Anyone! Mark has been featured in Forbes, TEDx, HuffPost, Mindvalley, Inc and many more. 

Mark‘s been mentioned alongside Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and can be found speaking at universities, conferences and high schools across the nation. 

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Bryan Noar is the VP of Client Success at Avidon Health, a leading provider of coaching solutions proven to break unhealthy habits for diverse populations. Originally from the small African country of Zimbabwe, Bryan grew up in a civil war and came to the United States in his early 20’s to seek a new future. Although he began his career as a CPA, he discovered his true passion after overcoming a lifelong battle with obesity. 

Bryan’s “Aha” moment came when some long-standing health issues disappeared following a lifestyle change, along with valuable insights into the mind-body connection. He has served as a senior executive in the health and wellness industry ever since. 

Over the last 30 years Bryan has shared his expertise about physical and mental wellbeing with numerous audiences, always with the goal of improving population health.

We discussed a number of things including: 

1. State of the robotics industry, regionally, nationally and globally 

2. Outlook for sector and funding forecast 

3. What's next in robotics at Ghost and Stevens 

4. Talent pipeline opportunities and challenges 

Jiren Parikh is the CEO of Ghost Robotics. He joined Messrs. Avik De and Gavin Kenneally in late 2015 to found Ghost Robotics to build agile, hardened and programmable legged robotic platforms for military and industrial applications. 

He has over 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, C-level and Sr. Executive founding, scaling and turning around technology businesses covering robotics, software, telecom, content and platform technologies. 

Past awards include AUVSI Defense Innovation Award, E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, NJTC Growth Company of the Year and SmartCEO Philadelphia Turnaround of the Year. --

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Dr. Brendan Englot is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology where he has been a member of the faculty since 2014. Brendan is the founder and director of the Robust Field Autonomy Lab, which develops robust autonomous navigation solutions for mobile robots operating in harsh and unstructured environments. 

He received S.B., S.M. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007, 2009 and 2012, respectively. At MIT, he studied motion planning for surveillance and inspection applications, deploying his algorithms on an underwater robot to inspect Navy and Coast Guard ships. 

During 2012-2014, Brendan was with United Technologies Research Center in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA, where he was a Research Scientist and Principal Investigator in the Autonomous and Intelligent Robotics Laboratory and a technical contributor to the Sikorsky Autonomous Research Aircraft. 

Brendan received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2017, an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award in 2020.

We discussed a number of things including: 

1. State of eSports in high school and higher education 

2. Future forecast for the sports tech industries 

3. Talent pipeline outlook: opportunities and challenges 

Scott Huston, Chief Information Officer, at Stockton University, is responsible for providing leadership to the Division of Information Technology Services team for the continued development of an innovative, robust, and secure information technology environment to support ubiquitous, integrated, and fully engaging learning experiences throughout the University. 

He has also helped inspire the growth of Stockton’s top ranked esports program Under his leadership, the Information technology team has taken a proactive and collaborative approach to deliver innovative, reliable, and sustainable technologies that optimize satisfaction and desired outcomes. 

Scott Huston has continued to develop an extremely talented management team who collaboratively approach, solve, and guide the technical staff within the division to meet the University’s technology needs. While acting as Chief Information Officer, he has been extremely successful in continuing to implement the new strategic vision for Information Technology Services by focusing the adoption of software as a service offerings and cloud technologies to provide more robust and reliable IT infrastructure. 

His leadership has been a critical part of the University’s operations during the covid-19 pandemic providing technology, resources, and support to continue University operations during a difficult time. He has also been appointed as a member of the NJEdge Board of Trustees. 

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Victor Gomez, Esports Manager at Seton Hall University, has been instrumental to the founding, creation, and growth of the University’s esports program. An accomplished alumnus of Seton Hall, Victor has been at the forefront of the university’s esports endeavors since 2013 – the same year that the United States officially recognized esports players as professional athletes. 

His expertise in the field has been integral to the program and its continued success. He has recently been appointed as the chair of the Impact committee for the Electronic Gaming Federation (EGF). In partnership with the University’s Department of Information Technology, Victor spearheaded Seton Hall's integration of esports into the strategic mission and the creation of a state-of-the-art esports lab, the base of operations for the University’s three teams: Rocket League, League of Legends, and Super Smash Brother’s Ultimate. 

The esports program has already claimed success as the first BIG EAST tournament champion in the 2018 ESL Rocket League Winter Invitational and the 2020 BIG EAST x ESL League of Legends Championship, 2020 Big East x MAAC Rocket League Challenge Champions, and most recently Ranking 5th in the East and top 10 in the nation in Collegiate Rocket League.