Start Small, Dream BIG

Start Small, Dream BIG

By Milken Center for Advancing the American DreamSociety & CultureBusinessEntrepreneurshipEducation
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Start Small, Dream BIG episodes

  • S2, Ep 5: Super Good Super Store
    “…if it's a problem for our customers, we are going to be with them. We're not going to be on the sidelines, noticing that it's a problem and do nothing. We're going to be experimenting and using sort of our entrepreneurial gift to see if we can't come up with something to make things better.”
    Jeffrey Brown is a fourth-generation grocer and the Founder, President and CEO of Brown’s Super Stores, Inc. Growing up working in his father’s grocery store in Philadelphia, PA, Jeffrey learned the importance of knowing and respecting your customer, especially their religion, race, and heritage, to give them the best service possible. As Jeffrey continued to learn, he recognized the flexibility that smaller, local grocery stores had to change in order to meet the needs of their communities, especially those living in food deserts where many larger grocery stores tend to fail. It felt natural, then, for Jeffery to combine his knowledge of grocery stores with his desire to help others by starting his own grocery store that is dedicated to both the needs of his customers and also his employees, beyond the scope of a normal grocery store. His stores house independent local businesses, small banks and health clinics that provide vital services to the community.
    Listen in to this week’s episode of Start Small, Dream BIG to learn how Jeffrey melded capitalism and impact into his growing business and hear about his nonprofit, UpLift, as well as other initiatives that focus on supporting underserved communities and helping make the American Dream accessible to as many people as possible.
    42 min
  • S2, Ep 4: A New Kind of Handle
    “I think [values] lead to the culture, and the culture comes from the people that you hire. And so, bringing your values to your work is making sure that the folks you hire hear the values that you have… From our perspective, trust is everything.”
    While growing up without running water and using an outhouse in rural Kentucky, Kyle Green learned the importance of sustainability from an early age. This focus on reuse and recycling has followed Kyle into adulthood and informed the focus of his company, HANDLE Global, which works to buy and sell excess medical inventory (think PPE, gloves, and medical equipment) for healthcare systems around the country.
    Tune in to this week’s episode of Start Small, Dream BIG to hear MCAAD President Kerry Healey and Kyle Green discuss his childhood, his experiences in the United States and abroad, and his desire to make a big impact in communities across the nation by redefining the medical supply chain to make it more patient-centric.
    24 min
  • S2, Ep 3: Being Intentional
    “…we need to remain vigilant about ensuring that as we grow and as we grow profits, that we continue to keep in mind the question of who benefits from those profits and how it is that a more inclusive form of corporate governance can both drive growth and positive impact in a way that I think some more traditional corporate organizations are still grappling with.”
    After years of working in corporate America, Laura Clise decided to start a company to address her growing frustration with the lack of easily accessible information on small businesses, beyond the product or service for sale. Laura’s company, Intentionalist, is an online guide to intentional spending that supports small businesses and diverse local communities.
    In this week’s episode of Start Small, Dream BIG, Laura speaks with MCAAD president Kerry Healey about the origins of Intentionalist, the importance of using profits to grow sustainability and impact, and how each one of us can be more intentional with the dollars we spend in our communities.
    36 min
  • S2, Ep 2: Rethinking Food
    "I like the people. I love food, you know, I mean, but who doesn’t? Whether it's a Michelin star meal or a small meal at your home? What I love was the community -- really brilliant people, creative, interesting, driven from all different walks of life that came together.”
    In this week’s episode, we return to hear MCAAD president Kerry Healey speak with the founder and CEO of Rethink Food, Matthew Jozwiak, to discuss tackling the gap between the 70 billion tons of food waste every year in the US and the 42 million Americans experiencing food insecurity.
    As a college student, Matthew began his career in the food industry as a restaurant dishwasher. After working in France and various Michelin-star restaurants in the United States, Matthew founded Rethink Food on the fundamental idea that access to nutritious food is an essential human right. Rethink’s mission is to create a more sustainable and equitable food system in America. Today, with the help of partners such as American Express and Goldman Sachs, Rethink has developed a seamless process of taking excess food from restaurants, hotels, corporate kitchens and grocery stores and repurposing it into nutritious meals for those in need and distributed through community-based organizations - both during times of crisis and beyond.
    24 min
  • S2, Ep 1: Perfect Parking
    “So, my grandmother saved my father's life before they even knew each other. And that's what faith and destiny is about. That's why I believe that anything's possible in life-- that you never ever give up, miracles happen and when you have a chance to bring your humanity to the moment, you do it.”
    One of the greatest lessons Alan Lazowski learned from his parents, survivors of the Holocaust, was the importance of humanity and kindness and that momentary gestures of kindness can change history. Influenced by their example and story, Alan has instilled values of respect, integrity, trust, honesty and a commitment to his employees in his parking business, LAZ Parking. Under his leadership and focus on conscious capitalism, Alan's organization has spread across 35 states with 3,300 locations, all while staying rooted in these core values.
    On this episode of Smart Small, Dream BIG, MCAAD president Kerry Healey discusses with Alan Lazowski, founder and CEO of LAZ Parking, the philosophy behind and approach to implementing stakeholder capitalism and, how businesses can operate ethically and be profitable.
    29 min
  • S1, Ep 9: The Power of Film
    “Anything is possible as long as we can make dreams come true for other people. And, I think at the end of the day, that's the business we're in… we're making dreams come true for businesses, for enterprise, for nonprofits, for our team and, I wouldn't have it any other way.”
    Shezad and Hussain Manjee, two brothers moved to the United States with their family in 1990 from Karachi, Pakistan. Raised in Chicago, Shezad and Hussain grew up actively participating in their community. Despite initially diverging in their careers, while Shezad focused on photography and Hussain pursued business, their careers overlapped when Hussain saw an opportunity to grow and scale his brother’s company, DHD Films. The Manjee brothers, who are third-generation filmmakers, exercise their belief in the power of storytelling to tell stories that build powerful brands through their business. In early 2020, Dallas-based DHD Films experienced its best first quarter, but everything stopped overnight when the coronavirus paralyzed their business. The brothers had no choice but to innovate in order to survive and, as a result, developed contactless filming solutions. Listen to today’s conversation with MCAAD president Kerry Healey and Shezad and Hussain Manjee to learn more about their lives, their business, and their belief in the power of giving back.
    “Entrepreneurship is, and we've learned this from mentors that we've had along the way, but it's first focusing on our team members, focusing in the people that we touch every day and investing in them -- giving them a great opportunity to create whatever it is that they aspire to create. And then, when our team members are happy, they end up investing in the success of our clients.”
    31 min
  • S1, Ep 8: Good Hair Day
    "You can do it… you really can. I mean, you don't have to be a victim of your circumstances. Whatever you can come up with, whatever passion you decide to store down in your belly, you can make it - or whatever big idea you have in your brain - you can make it come true. And I think that it's just a blessing to be in a position where you can inspire other people as well."
    In pursuit of her life-long passion for doing hair, LaTarah Edmond left her marketing career to build Good Hair Day Salon in Duncanville, Texas. An alumnus of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, LaTarah speaks with MCAAD president Kerry Healey about her genesis story, her difficulty in raising capital in a high-risk industry, the importance of mentorship, and her challenges during the coronavirus pandemic.
    "…in the Black community, unfortunately, the Black salons have a stigma of being unprofessional. I personally had not seen an upscale Black salon… So, I started visiting all of the upscale salons that were Black-owned in Dallas and I was like, “Oh my gosh, I'm your client! I'm your demographic! How are you letting people know that you exist?””
    24 min
  • S1, Ep 7: Savoring Seattle
    “What we've really discovered is our new calling in this COVID space. We are really purveyors of local pride and, people who buy our boxes, aren't just buying it for this functional need of feeding their families, but of course that is important. They really believe and supporting small business and making sure that their communities look the way that they look before COVID.”
    When Angela Shen’s parents immigrated to America, despite not speaking English, they were able to open a Chinese restaurant in Minneapolis when a member of the community co-signed a lease with them. From an early age, Angela was drawn to the ability food has in bringing together a community. This power was particularly significant when Angela moved to Seattle, Washington, where she knew no one. Inspired by Pike Place Market, Angela started her food tour business, Savor Seattle, as a way of showcasing and supporting her community by highlighting the small businesses that shape and define the Seattle food scene. In this week's episode of Start Small, Dream BIG, listen to Angela and MCAAD president Kerry Healey discuss how she found a way to continue supporting her community during COVID by pivoting to distribute food boxes, highlighting different vendors with whom she has spent the last 13 years building relationships.
    “I grew up seeing hospitality through the lens of food and what that can do to people together in the community.”
    28 min
  • S1, Ep 6: Food for Thought
    “I realized that most busy professionals struggle with eating clean - not because they don't know what to eat, but it's the time, right? Your time, your life, your health. That's kind of the mission statement as to how to DeliverLean evolved was to create a model that focused on transparency of ingredients, not diet food, just healthy food, and making it convenient for people to eat this way consistently with the variety and the transparency.”
    Scott Harris has built one of the largest food manufacturers in the nation, DeliverLean. The company, unlike many other businesses, has seen growth during the COVID pandemic because of his unique business model that involves safe, economical and streamlined delivery of prepared but fresh food during quarantine. Even before the pandemic resulted in an increased demand for delivery of healthy meals, DeliverLean was experiencing rapid growth after a decade of trial, error and dedication, and his story is inspirational for all budding entrepreneurs. In this week's episode, the DeliverLean co-founder and CEO and Endeavor Miami entrepreneur speaks with MCAAD president Kerry Healey about how he entered the “healthy food” industry and how he is now sharing his success by partnering with community organizations to provide free meals to those in need.
    “You look at certain entrepreneurs and, most that have been wildly successful, they have failed so many times before they hit. Look at my story. … I'm in a better position than I've ever been in and it happens for me just before my 50th birthday. So, it takes time, right? 11 years of hard work. And I'm here today.”
    38 min
  • S1, Ep 5: A Wynning Idea
    “For us, we came to Miami not knowing one single person here, launching a business in an industry and education technology that we hadn't been in before -- with a business plan in hand, a coworking space rented, and a website up. And here we are, six years later, with nearly a thousand graduates, maintaining amazing jobs support, working with over 450 hiring partners who hire from the program.”
    Married co-founders Juha and Johanna Mikkola lived in Finland and Canada prior to moving to Miami, Florida, to start their business, Wyncode Academy. The Endeavor Miami entrepreneurs saw the power of technology to reinvent careers and better prepare people for the jobs of the future. They launched without any direct experience and without any connections in the city. Now, their coding bootcamp graduates are joining top technology companies in the country, including Microsoft and Amazon. Listen to Juha and Johanna speak with MCAAD President, Kerry Healey, about learning as they grew their business, personal success stories, and the mentorship they’ve received along the way.
    “What we're seeing over and over again with our graduates -- the fact that technology and technology careers are really the way to live out that American Dream in modern America. I think entrepreneurship is a huge part of that in technology.”
    45 min

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Small businesses comprise over 99% of the companies in America and, before COVID-19, they provided nearly half the jobs in the country. Small business is one of the most trusted institutions in…