“Rather than compete to get recognition... with social media, you can collaborate. And that’s how we propose traditional businesses can survive extinction.” — Jonathan Allen

Jonathan Allen is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of EQ. He is also the President and Co-founder of Longneck & Thunderfoot (L&T), a brand publishing company that incubated at the Columbia University Startup Lab in New York City. He moved to St. Louis in 2016 to open up a Midwest office after L&T won an Arch Grant. Find Jonathan and his companies on Twitter at @jc1000000, @Thundrfoot, and @EQSTL.

“Keep your scope small, and release your first product… that’s really what will get you in the door.” — TJ HughesToday’s guest is video game designer and digital artist TJ Hughes, who produces and publishes games as the independent game company Terrifying Jellyfish. Terrifying Jellyfish is “bent on escaping the mediocre and mundane forever through the exorbitant use of color, playfulness, and  a e s t h e t i c s.” His current project, the food game Nour, has brought him attention on the national level. InnovationCity.co

“There is strength in vulnerability.” — Jim St. Germaine

“When I was diagnosed with breast cancer I had to figure out who I really was. Because my whole life was dependent on what I looked like.” — Christine Handy

Welcome to Innovation City, powered by Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami.

Venture Cafe is the largest weekly gathering of entrepreneurs who are making things happen, with locations around the world.

Tyler Kelley and Michael Johnson of SLAM! Agency, a new media content marketing company, interview innovators, disruptors, and creators to see how business is changing in the modern world.

Innovation City gives you an inside look at how and why business and culture are changing so rapidly, thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, heightened creativity, and a stronger and better-connected business community.

This episode features two amazing guests; Jim St. Germain and Christine Handy, both authors with new books telling the stories of their personal triumphs over adversity.

Jim’s book, A Stone of Hope, is a memoir of his troubled youth in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights. Jim is the Co-Founder of Preparing Leaders of Tomorrow (PLOT), a mentoring program for at-risk youth between the ages of nine and twenty-one living in Brooklyn, New York.

He’s on the board of the National Juvenile Defender’s Center. He was appointed by former President Barack Obama to The Coordinator Council on Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention. Previously, Jim served as a youth care worker at a juvenile facility where he was once a resident. Jim has worked with countless local, state, and federal officials, advising on matters related to juvenile justice, mentoring, mental health, education, and substance abuse issues.

Find Jim online at JimStGermain.com and on Twitter at @JimStGermain89.

Christine Handy is a wife, mother, and breast cancer survivor. An accomplished model in both the national and international sphere, Christine began modeling at 11 in her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Christine’s first book, Walk Beside Me, is a fictional depiction of her illness and her long road to recovery. Christine has devoted her life to sharing her journey and educating and consoling others living with health crises. 10% of all book sales from Walk Beside Me will be donated to EBeauty. EBeauty’s mission is to enhance and strengthen the education, charitable and community support network for women undergoing cancer treatments.

Find Christine online at ChristineHandy.com and on Instagram at @CHandy71.

“We asked, ‘How can we improve the St. Louis tech ecosystem? How do we get more entrepreneurs off the bench?"

Today’s guest is Matt Menietti, one of the big names in the St. Louis startup scene. Matt is the Executive Director of GlobalHack. Before that, he was part of two nationally-ranked accelerator programs; serving first as the Director of Operations for Capital Innovators and then as Venture Partner at SixThirty. A former St. Louis Business Journal 30 Under 30 honoree, Matt is also a former AmeriCORPS VISTA member, and a cofounder of an online resource-sharing tool for nonprofits, GoodMap, that won seed funding through the YouthBridge Social Enterprise Competition.

“I actually make a list of 3-5 things that I need to do, and if I hit those… I know that I’ve won the day. And when I win the day, I just need to win a series of days to succeed. I guess that’s my whole strategy.” — Zach Hatraf

Welcome to Innovation City, powered by Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami.

Tyler Kelley and Michael T Johnson of SLAM! Agency, a new media content marketing company, interview innovators, disruptors, and creators to see how business is changing in the modern world.

Zach Hatraf is the Founder and CEO of Anchor Charter Services, which provides pier-to-pier boat charter services, allowing passengers to quick charter on demand rides around Lake of the Ozarks. Boat owners who want to be captains should visit: Anchor Academy. Customers looking to book an experience on the water in Lake of the Ozarks (and soon Tampa, FL) should visit anchorrides.com. Find the Anchor Passenger App on iOS and Android.

“I believe in the power of the pen. I believe crafting stories really does change people and change lives. That’s my favorite part.” — Jennifer Pierre

Welcome to Innovation City, powered by Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami.

Tyler Kelley and Michael Johnson of SLAM! Agency, a new media content marketing company, interview innovators, disruptors, and creators, to see through their eyes just how business is changing in the modern world.

Innovation City gives you an inside look at how and why business and culture are changing so rapidly, thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, heightened creativity, and a stronger and better-connected business community.

Jennifer Pierre is the founder of Melanites, a toy company that designs diverse dolls, toys, storybooks, and games that celebrate brown boyhood. Melanites’ mission is to show positive representations of boys of color to inspire kids to dream big, stand tall, and cultivate curiosity, adventure, and fun! Find them online at @BrownBoyhood on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Jennifer’s years of mentoring, tutoring, and volunteering with countless children showed her first hand the way that many boys of color maneuver through life, and the way that society cultivates children based on race and gender. She created Melanites to break through the glass ceiling society cultivates in the minds of young boys of color about what they can be when they grow up and how they are supposed to express themselves.

“Not everything is going to be sunshine and roses all the time, you’re going to have some hardships and failure along the way, and that’s ok.” — Ben Triola

Welcome to Innovation City, powered by Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami.

Tyler Kelley and Michael Johnson, Co-Founders of SLAM! Agency, interview innovators, disruptors, and creators, to discover how business is changing in the modern world. Innovation City gives you an inside look at how and why business and culture are changing so rapidly, thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, heightened creativity, and a stronger and better-connected business community.

Ben is a serial entrepreneur; he is the Founder and Developer of DogePos, co-owner of Mauhaus Café, partner and Director of Operations at Rampant Interactive (@TheRampant on Twitter), and a producer and game designer for Happy Badger Studio.

“With the platform we have today, the challenge really is the maturity of the AI. The technology itself has not found its maturity yet. Every single disruptive technology starts out this way. If you think about the cloud 5 years ago – nobody had anything on the cloud. I think it will take another 2-3 years to get to that mature level.”  — Mallesh Murugesan

Mallesh Murugesan is the Founder and CEO of Abeyon, and Co-Founder and CEO of Chirrp.ai. He’s an innovative leader with a passion for artificial intelligence and design. He’s currently working on several advanced technologies, including cognitive computing, business intelligence, and collaborative solutions. Find Mallesh on Twitter @malleshm.

Chirrp.ai is a multi-channel chatbot platform, powered by cognitive technology. Chirrp uses Artificial Intelligence technology to build automated chat services that respond instantly to customer questions in order to deliver next-generation customer service. Chirrp is currently working to build AI-managed automatic conversations in the healthcare, fintech and retail spaces.

Welcome to Innovation City, powered by Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami. Tyler Kelley and Michael Johnson, Co-Founders of SLAM! Agency, interview innovators, creators, and disruptors to discover how business is changing in the modern world. Innovation City gives you an inside look at how and why business and culture are changing so rapidly, thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, heightened creativity, and a stronger and better-connected business community.

“I realized that if a picture tells a thousand words, than a moving image must tell a million.” — Cami Thomas

Today’s guest is Cami Thomas. Cami is a marketing professional, a blogger, and a documentary filmmaker based in St. Louis, Missouri. She is also the creator of For The Culture TV – “The underground network for ground level culture.” For The Culture TV is an underground video blog that features interviews, freestyle sessions, dance videos, mini-documentaries, and short films from Cami and her team, as well as other creators. Find Cami on Twitter at @CamiCruzThomas and Instagram at @CamiCruzThomas. Find For The Culture TV on Twitter at @FTCTVOfficial and on Instagram at @FTCTVOfficial.

“But a calling is then answering that pain, that discomfort, and doing something about it… I think those are important starting places for a hero.” — Rodney Bullard

Today’s guest is Rodney Bullard, the Vice President of Community Affairs at Chick-fil-A. A U.S. Air Force veteran, Rodney is also a former Assistant United States Attorney, and a former White House Fellow at NASA. Rodney also serves as the Executive Director of the Chick-fil-A Foundation, where he leads the company’s corporate community and philanthropic strategy, which is focused on fostering youth and furthering education.

Rodney’s book, Heroes Wanted: Why the World Needs You to Live Your Heart Out, is available now. Find Rodney on Twitter at @Rodney_Bullard and on Instagram @Rodney.Bullard.