The Entrepreneurial Mindset

Matt Slepin is one of the most widely known real estate executive recruiters in the country, and is the founder and Managing Partner of Terra Search Partners, based in San Francisco. Prior to his focus on executive recruiting beginning in 1998, Matt spent over 20 years in a variety of real estate leadership capacities, some of which included Executive Director of the Multifamily Housing Institute of Washington DC, Lobbyist for the National Association of Housing Cooperatives, and he helped lead the affordable housing program for the RTC. Matt is also the host of the podcast, “Leading Voices In Real Estate,” where he has interviewed well-known real estate industry leaders such as Sam Zell, Chip Conley, and Gerald Hines.

Joshua Kahr is a world renowned real estate consultant, professor, writer and investor. He currently spends the majority of his time as a managing partner at Metropolitan America, where he focuses on multifamily investments. Josh is also an adjunct professor at both Columbia and Georgetown. Josh has consulted and taught commercial real estate modeling worldwide since 2002 through the consulting firm he founded, Kahr Real Estate Services. Josh is also the author of two books, “Beyond the Bubble” and “Real Estate Market Valuation and Analysis.”

Clarke Ewart currently serves as President of Paradigm Contractors. Through Paradigm, a Washington DC area multifamily development company, Clarke has developed and managed over 9,000 apartment units, over $3 billion in market value, since the firm’s inception over 27 years ago. Prior to Paradigm, Clarke was with the predecessor organization, National Development Corporation. Clark also previously held roles in lending at Maryland National Bank and in strategic planning at Emerson Electric. Clarke received a Bachelors of Arts in Economics from Stanford University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

In 2013, Nicole Fitzwater Boyle and her husband purchased In Balance Yoga, a 1,800 sf yoga studio, and then in 2017 relocated and expanded the yoga business into a 4,000 sf state of the art studio in Blacksburg Virginia. Nicole has practiced yoga in studios all over the country and internationally, focusing on practices including Bikram, Barkan, Baptiste, Ashtanga, Dharma Yoga traditions and most recently – the Kunga Yoga School. Prior to running In Balance Yoga, Nicole worked in development at both Virginia Tech and UVA, and she also had an extensive career in sports marketing and also in advertising in New York City. Nicole currently teaches a wide variety of Yoga practices inside and outside of her studio, and has taught at Floyd Yoga Jam.

Bhavin Parikh is the CEO and Co-Founder of Magoosh, a 30 person online test prep company founded in 2009, which also seeks to make high quality educational material accessible to all. To educate the audience on the meaning of the company name Magoosh, the name is a play on the Persian word “magush,” one who is highly learned, wise, and generous. Prior to founding Magoosh over nine years ago, Bhavin worked in consulting at Deloitte. Bhavin also helped start and implement the Hansoo Lee Fellowship, named in memory of one of the Magoosh Founders. Through the fellowship program, Bhavin has helped support aspiring entrepreneurs at his alma mater, the Berkeley-Haas graduate school of business. Website for Magoosh: https://magoosh.com/.

Jim Crowell is the CEO of OPEX Fitness, a company that is a global leader in fitness coaching and education. The OPEX Fitness brand has over 50+ gyms worldwide and is rapidly growing. Prior to joining OPEX Fitness and eventually taking on the CEO role, Jim founded and ran Integrated Fitness gyms and successfully exited the business with over 500 clients. Jim has also published numerous articles on the subject of fitness, and prior to devoting his energies full-time to fitness, Jim was an oil commodities trader at Griffon Energy Capital, a hedge fund located in Columbus and Austin for over five years.

Jim also recently completed graduate business school at UNC Chapel Hill in only 17 months.

In 2010, Stephanie Guerra founded Puro Pinche, an online event platform to inform people about events happening in and around downtown San Antonio. Puro Pinche has over 55,000 followers and was recently named San Antonio’s best local blog in the SA Current Awards. Puro Pinche also won Reader’s Choice for Best Blogger in San Antonio Magazine. Stephanie is an expert in the social media space, and offers event planning and production, influencer marketing, branded entertainment, guerrilla marketing and other social media marketing services.

Terence O'Connell is the Chair of the Urban Land Institute Driverless Car Working Group, and for his primary job he oversees acquisitions and asset management for CCM Real Estate, a family based office in the Washington DC region, focused on investments on the east coast. Prior to working at CCM Real Estate, Terence was also involved in acquisitions and asset management in over $2bn worth of transactions in a variety of property types and investment structures.

Ike Mutabanna raises capital for multifamily investments focused on the Dallas real estate market, and he is the president of IHM Business Group. Ike recently completed two apartment deals where he raised $1.5MM. Collectively, Ike is now a partner in over 1,000 apartment units. Ike previously served for over a decade as a CTO for several tech company startups in Boston, and he is the host of the Podcast, “The Side Business Show,” where he conducts interviews focused on side business ventures. Ike was also raised in India, and he and his wife both have a passion for helping marginalized communities in his home country.

Sandra Reiman founded Sandra Cadavid, a company that creates globally conscious, luxury handbags and jewelry inspired by the city of Cartegena, with products designed in Pittsburgh and handmade in Colombia. The company is also dedicated to supporting and hiring women that face difficult circumstances living in dangerous cities within Colombia. Sandra raised over $37,000 on Kickstarter shortly after starting her company, with an initial Kickstarter goal of $20,000. Sandra Cadavid has been featured in media outlets such as The Today Show, Glamour, InStyle, Vogue South America, Good Housekeeping, and LA Fashion.