Jason Straughan is the CEO of Codeup, a career accelerator that uses an immersive approach to training software development to students with little to no prior programming experience.

Jason is the former CEO of Grok Interactive and continues to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. He also serves on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of Tech Bloc, is an active member in Vistage, a TechStars Mentor, and a Disney parks enthusiast.

*Throwback Bonus* Branding Your Business with Michelle Wintersteen by Bri Crow & Company

Developing, launching, and strategically building businesses is the

common thread tying together Tom Foley's 20+ years of professional

work.

In 2017, Tom directed his efforts to designing innovative, social

entrepreneurial models to close the gender and racial wealth gap.

Tom launched The Study USA, established through a public-

private partnership with the City of Irving, focusing on growing

women-owned businesses. Concurrently, Tom founded On PAR –

Parity through Access & Realism – to address corporate gender

parity and create courageous conversation, including engaging

men in the mission.

Tom is partners with Tiffany Derry, Top-Chef, in the Roots brand,

including Roots Chicken Shak and the soon-to-be opened Roots

Southern Table. Our “table” is welcoming and diverse, combining

culinary skills with social impact.

Tom also leads the entrepreneurial program at Paul Quinn

College, an HBCU in south Dallas, where Tom has the opportunity

to pilot disruptive educational models to enhance the student’s

opportunities upon graduation.

Tom regularly speaks on gender parity and facilitates workshops

for corporations aiming to advance their diversity culture.

Tom is a Fellow for the Dallas Economic Leadership Academy

through the Aspen Institute, adjunct faculty at Dallas County

Community College, and Of Counsel at Wright Connatser. Tom

earned his J.D. from the Villanova University School of Law and his

B.A. from Colgate University. Tom lives in Dallas, TX with his wife,

Roopa, and two children.

Megan Smith is a multi-faceted creative, working in community building, event production, digital design, and podcasting. She is the owner of In the Air Balloons and co-founder of The Hoppy Hound.

As the host of CreativeMornings/Dallas, Megan produces a monthly breakfast lecture for the creative community. CreativeMornings believes that everyone is creative, and aspires to shine a light on innovative and inspirational people within the local community.This is a joy- because Dallas is filled with amazing talent!

A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, in the field of education, Megan brings her love of learning to all her endeavors. She is always looking for a good book recommendation.

Leah Frazier is a 2-Time Emmy Award-Winning entrepreneur and was recognized as one of Dallas' most successful women for 2015. She is a multi-licensed attorney turned fashion and marketing guru, who unapologetically left the practice of law to pursue her fashion ventures. In 2020, Leah was recognized by Dallas Innovates as one of the Future 50 Leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth for tech, innovation and disruption.

Leah has built a multi-faceted empire as an award-winning fashion journalist, media personality, celebrity stylist, digital marketing expert, and in-demand fashion consultant to notable brands. She has been honored as one of the best wardrobe stylists in Dallas, and recently led the styling initiatives for the Emmy and 5-Time Addy Award-Winning #IAMUP campaign for WFAA Channel 8.

Leah is the CEO and proud owner of Think Three Media – a creative marketing agency focused in the areas of content marketing, social media marketing, and public relations services for brands spanning the industries of fashion, beauty, public speaking, the performing arts, food, lifestyle, and more.

Her work has been featured and mentioned on Vogue.com, NBC, CW, CBS Local, Chase TV, Fox TV, Good Morning Texas, Haute Living Magazine, and many other outlets as an expert in fashion and entrepreneurship. Leah has cultivated top-tier partnerships with Belk, Cantu Beauty, Marshall's, Via Spiga, Vogue, Brahmin, Neiman Marcus, Warner Bros., Shoedazzle, Yosi Samra Shoes, and more.

Leah co-authored her first book in 2018, The Success Factor, which reached #1 as a Best Seller for Women and Business reads, and was also awarded an African-American Literary Award. She is currently working on her second book to be released at the latter part of 2020.

Tarsha Polk currently serves as the Director of the LiftFund DFW Women’s Business Center. At the WBC, her team provides support and guidance to entrepreneurs seeking to start or grow their businesses, and connect them to business and financial resources in their community.

She is professionally known as The Marketing Lady. She is an experienced professional with over 20 years of combined marketing, sales, corporate training and entrepreneurial expertise. She is an engage member of the Dallas business community; has received numerous awards and held a variety of leadership roles.

In her free time, she volunteers with organizations helping high school students learn about entrepreneurship.

Erin Gregor is from the Entrepreneur world. Having sold a couple of businesses, she now focuses on helping companies grow through content and social media marketing. But she also helps expand their outside the box thinking by introducing innovating companies to the businesses that need them.

Syya Yasotornrat is a seasoned professional with 24+ years in technology sales, recruiting, and hospitality for companies including SonicWALL, Hewlett-Packard and Disney Corp. She has worked with a diverse range of customers from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies on many innovative technologies that are ubiquitous today. She has two great dogs, Ellis and Ripley (one of Erin’s foster dogs), and can be seen at many a local music venues in the DFW area.

Jonathan Chavez is a Dallas-based venture associate for Capital Factory, the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas. Jonathan spends his time sourcing tech startups for Capital Factory's accelerator program and fund. Prior to Capital Factory, Jonathan spent six years in banking, most recently with J.P. Morgan's Technology & Disruptive Commerce Group, and Wells Fargo prior to that role. Additionally, Jonathan was part of the founding team of Neu Robotics, an autonomous UAV robotics company; his roles included business development, fundraising, and operations. Jonathan graduated from The University of Tennessee's Global Leadership Scholars program with a degree in finance/economics/international business. He's an avid music fan who spends a lot of his free time (pre-Covid) attending live music events and music festivals. He is also a big gamer.

Start here for Volume 1 - This breaks down how this production came about, what we're passionate about, who it features, and who we serve.

*Updated this recording Monday, 6/3/2020.