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.