Small Business Stories

Sachin Jhangiani co-founded Elevate Money after learning a thing or two on Wall Street. He wanted to find more purpose in his work so he created a platform where individuals can pool their resources and grow their assets together. Fractional everything is the current trend, and he's fully dialed into it to do good in the world and move towards equality. Sachin offers some extremely wise - and candid - tips about entrepreneurship that ever founder should take note of.

Dr. Valeria Kogan is the co-founder of Fermata diagnosing plant health. Each year, millions of crop harvests are wasted and the world is increasingly seeking foods grown without chemicals. AgTech is not the industry you'll typically find young, female founders - but Valeria isn't letting that hold her back. She's got the grit and talent needed for startup success and shares what she's learned along the way.

Claire Gunter has extensive experience in customer support, leveraging emotional skills to build relationships that last. She's worked at ZenDesk and is now the Latin America global manager of sales at eBanX, which is Brazil's first unicorn. Claire shares some tips on how to connect with customers and how to speak up to create opportunities for yourself. And she's vowed to never wear uncomfortable shoes again!

The Grit Files (formerly known as Like a Boss) gets into the gritty backstory of US Army veteran, Luke Ryan, a war poet and author. Luke recently published his first novel, "The First Marauder." His day job keeps him hopping as the social media manager for the fastest growing coffee company in America. Tune in!

Kanika Wahi took over the responsibility of developing a topical product originally designed by her father to better manage her sister's allergies. Since then, Trutek Corp. has grown and Kanika talks about the dynamics of being an executive - and a relative - in the world of formulation chemistry and business.

The Grit Files (formerly known as Like a Boss) with Loralyn Mears & Guest Brittany Woyma features the Startup Stories of WhereToBuy.io which offers the modern way to find the products you love on retail shelves. As a mother of three and former advertising agency executive, Brittany has embraced entrepreneurship and shares some tips on why she ditched advertising for startup tech.

Dr. José Morey is on a mission to make STEM accessible to everyone. As the Intergalactic Doctor, born in Puerto Rico but traveling the world supporting amazing projects like Elon Musk's Hyperloop, NASA, artificial intelligence for health at IBM Watson and more, his message is that STEM is for everyone because, in his words, "representation matters."

Ryan Walker founded one of the most successful social media management companies on the planet: TSMA. As in, "The Social Media Agency." His team pioneered the influencer economy engaging in celebrity social media management long before it became trendy to do so. He offers listeners some valuable insights and tips into how to grow your social media presence.

Need some inspiration? Maybe along with a side of motivation? Dr. Tommy Watson faced incredible hardships growing up with his five siblings and parents who were drug addicts and repeatedly incarcerated. He moved around a lot from one foster home to another, lived in motels, and lived apart from his siblings, but he grew strong fueled by the desire to be free to make choices. Check out his story here: https://www.tawatson.com/

Carole Burton isn't afraid to tackle big initiatives within an organization. Like equity. She thrives on helping create lasting change. At her core, Carole understands people. And she's developed a model that helps people evolve their thinking and behavior to be more inclusive towards meeting the global goal - and need - for equity and cohesion.