In this episode of TrepStarz, we're joined by Nick Fairman, owner and founder of Go Juice New Smyrna Beach and Go Juice Nosara, Costa Rica. Go Juice provides fresh juices, smoothies, banana coffee and, when available, a fresh poke bowl at the Costa Rica location. Nick was raised in Central Florida, but spent a lot of time traveling the world on surf trips. After college, Nick worked in sales for a software startup. After being on planes week after week, he was burnt out and decided to quit and move down to Costa Rica. Once there, the plan was to teach surf lessons and to figure out how to make enough money to stay down there. Things went in a slightly different direction. Nick made some friends that encouraged him to start a smoothie business. He scrapped together some equipment, learned how to make smoothies, came up with the name 'Go Juice' and dove in. The business was gaining momentum and the idea came up to expand back to the states. They decided New Smyrna Beach was the perfect location. After nearly a year of planning and waiting on permits, Go Juice NSB was born. Nick shares some great lessons he learned along the way, obstacles he's had to overcome and offers up some great advice on being present and taking chances. Tune in and be inspired!   

For this episode of TrepStarz we’re joined by Kevin Manley, Senior Catalyst with Florida Venture Catalysts and founder of the Exit Advisors. Kevin has founded, advised, and/or invested in a variety of companies in consumer electronics, medical technology, philanthropic technology, real estate development and many others. In 1995 Kevin co-founded Yesmail.com, an online e-marketing solutions company. He and his co-founders took Yes Mail public in 1999, and sold it to CMGI in 2000 for over $700M. This is one story you don't want to miss. Seventeen years later, Kevin is helping other companies reach similar heights. As Senior Catalyst with Florida Venture Catalysts, Kevin assists business owners, boards, executive teams and investors seeking to enhance organizational value. This interview is chalk full of practical advice and lessons learned that you can apply to your own ventures. Tune in and be inspired!

In this episode of TrepStarz, we were joined by Stephane Kabadi, Founder of Mokonzy IT. Even though Stephane had dreams of playing professional soccer, he ultimately fell in love with technology. Stephane studied computer science in college and started in the late 90s as an IT consultant preparing clients for Y2K, among other things. He eventually climbed the corporate IT ladder to a senior systems engineer position at Microsoft. In the beginning, he never had aspirations of starting his own company. Then he met his future wife, an entrepreneur, who encouraged him to launch Mokonzy IT after he moved from his home of Paris, France to live with her in Palm Coast, FL. Stephane's experience with Microsoft and his focus on the customer service experience have a lot to do with the success of Mokonzy IT. Stephane highly encourages all entrepreneurs to get plugged in to their community, to network with as many people as possible and to utilize as many resources as possible. Tune in and be inspired!  

For this episode of TrepStarz we were joined by David Sawyer, CEO and Founder of The Story of Life, also known as TSO Life. TSO Life is an online tool that allows you to document the story of your life or a loved one through text, stories, pictures, videos and/or voice clips. David’s inspiration to start TSO Life came from the passing of his grandmother in late 2013. He realized a lot of family history and stories were lost with her passing. He began to wonder what it would have been like to capture her voice and to hear her share some of her personal memories. After her death, the grandkids were sharing stories back and forth on Facebook and that’s when the light bulb went off. David has done an excellent job raising money and putting together a solid team, but it didn't come easy. David shares some great advice and lessons learned on raising capital and building a good team. We talk about the romanticism of entrepreneurship and what can and can't be taught. This episode is chalk full of advice for new entrepreneurs. Tune in and be inspired!

In this episode of TrepStarz, we're on location at Copper Bottom Craft Distillery in Holly Hill, FL and we're joined by Co-Founder, Owner and Head Distiller, Jeremy Craig. What was once the site of an old dilapidated laundromat, is now home to Volusia County's first and only craft distillery. While on vacation in Rome, Italy a few years ago, Jeremy was hit with a bomb. He was notified that he was laid off from his software sales position. That same day, he and his wife also found out they were pregnant. Rather than go into panic mode, they put pen to paper and began building their business plan. They always wanted to own their own business and even talked about a distillery in the past. Excuses and reasons to say no always kept them from pursuing this venture, but now was the time. As soon as they got home from Italy, they began ordering equipment and looking for locations. They also started the licensing process, which took nearly 14 months. Fast forward to today and Copper Bottom Distillery is pumping out some amazing craft spirits and developing a great reputation in the community. Nonetheless, an ongoing challenge is getting their product into the hands of more consumers. Jeremy talks about this challenge, along with another one that's very unique to craft distilleries, and what Copper Bottom is doing about it. We talk to Jeremy about his favorite part of the business, how the name came about, collaborations, the car wash next door, Bill McCoy and how the only decisions you'll regret are the ones you don't make. Jeremy also gives some great advice to those looking to leave the 9-5 and start their own business. Tune in and be inspired! 

In this episode of TrepStarz, we sit down with Shauna Altes, Founder of Maple Box Dolls to discuss her newest startup, a subscription-based doll delivery service. The inspiration for Maple Box Dolls came from a viral video on Facebook that showed a woman in Australia wiping makeup and excessive paint off the face of a Bratz Doll. The comments from moms about where to find such dolls and Shauna's recent interest in subscription-based business models is what caused the light bulb to go off. She spent the next year working on her new idea and developing a plan to reduce the amount of time she spent on her day job and to maximize her time spent on Maple Box Dolls. She also focused on product development and getting a prototype built. Within one month of launching her Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, Shauna raised nearly $15,000, $5,000 more than her original funding goal. Shauna shares some excellent advice on crowdfunding that you should pay close attention to. With 300 backers/orders on hold, Shauna is busy identifying the right manufacturer and hopes to be shipping in the very near future. We get Shauna's thoughts on mentoring, lessons learned and what, if any, specific challenges she faces as a female entrepreneur. She also gives us a preview of her newest endeavor, a story time podcast for children. Shauna closes out the show with some great advice on work/life balance. Tune in and be inspired! 

In this episode of TrepStarz, we were joined by Kristi Myers, an entrepreneur, an innovator and the inventor of a life-saving medical device called the Yankaddy. Kristi has worked in the medical field for over 20 years as a nurse anesthetist. She would often notice the sometimes unsanitary practices that surrounded the use of a medical device called the Yankauer. The Yankauer is a suctioning device used to clean up bodily fluids. Often times in the ER, when things were hectic, the Yankauer would hit the floor, get haphazardly thrown across a patient or even come into contact with other contaminated surfaces. Kristi's device acts as a "holster" for the Yankauer, thus keeping it in a clean and secure location. All inventions come with their fair share of patent work in order to protect ideas, but medical devices take the cake. Kristi spent months and months of her own time researching patents and securing her idea. Kristi talks about this process as well as her many trips to Lowe's, Home Depot and Walmart to build her prototype. We also talk with Kristi about her experience as a participant in Startup Weekend Daytona Beach and the different resources she's used along the way. Kristi shares some lessons learned and gives some great advice to aspiring entrepreneurs. Tune in and be inspired!   

In this episode of TrepStarz, we sit down with Jeff Badovick. Jeff is a visionary entrepreneur that has started and grown several international ventures in both product and service markets. He has successfully raised millions for his own ventures, as well as accomplished mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. Jeff’s mission is to help others achieve business growth and personal financial success through leadership development, as well as teaching his Principles of Exponential Growth and Fundamentals of Funding a Business programs. Jeff believes in giving back to the business community by investing his passion and time where it will add value and benefit for others. In November of 2016, he was a mentor at Startup Weekend Daytona Beach and recently presented at 1 Million Cups Daytona Beach. Jeff talks with us about how he was introduced to entrepreneurship and what impact that had on the rest of his life. At a relatively young age, Jeff left the family business and made his way down to Florida. He worked as a freelance engineer before being hired as an Engineering Director. After that position he went on to start Aptec and several other ventures. Jeff has a great story and a fantastic outlook on life. Tune in and be inspired!        

In this episode of TrepStarz, we sit down with Dynamite Obinna, Inventor of the Dynaerobridge. Dynamite left his home in Northern Nigeria for the US at the age of 17. He came alone and, even though he was 6,500 miles from home, he never looked back. His first stop was Philadelphia were he earned a degree in Geographic Information Systems from the Community College of Philadelphia. Not long after, he moved to Daytona Beach and is currently a student at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University studying Aerospace Engineering. Before he moved to Florida, he had the "ah-ha" moment that led to his breakthrough invention. After a short flight from Harrisburg, PA to Philadelphia, PA, his plane sat at the gate for as long as it took to fly between the two cities. He thought to himself, there has to be a quicker and more efficient way to get passengers off commercial airplanes. From this "ah-ha" moment came the idea to invent a jet way that would allow passengers to exit from multiple doors. The Dynaerobridge was born! We chat with Dynamite about his driving forces and what motivates him to press on. We talk about awards he's won and what challenges he still faces to get his invention to market. This is a great story about innovation, determination and utilizing as many resources as possible to reach your destination. Dynamite is still working hard to get to where he wants to be. We're excited to support Dynamite and to share this story with our listeners. Tune in and be inspired!   

In this episode of TrepStarz, we visited with Delicia Haynes, Owner and Founder of Family First Health Center. Delicia chose to pursue medicine because of a personal experience she had when she was a young girl. From that experience, she knew the exact type of doctor she wanted to be. After completing residency at Halifax Hospital, her entrepreneurial chops kicked in and she decided to open up her own practice. She had a vision and she was determined to see it through. Most doctors are trained to be employees, but in order to fufill the vision she had, she needed to chart her own course and become the boss. She met with colleagues and contacts and was able to secure funding, furniture, advice and everything else she needed to make her dream come true. Once open, things really took off for Delicia. She eventually made a pivot from the traditional insurance based approach to a direct primary care membership-based model. Her active involvement in the entrepreneurial ecosystem has also led to some great opportunities. A little over a year ago, Delicia spoke at 1 Million Cups Daytona Beach. A local CEO was in the audience, he liked what he heard about her direct primary care concept and decided to sign up his employees for her services. Delicia's an entrepreneur, a doctor and is also responsible for managing several employees. We ask about which role she prefers and how she manages her workload. We touch on forms of advertising, including what hasn't worked well. Delicia walks us through the process she took to determine her pricing model. What advice does she give to new entrepreneurs and those looking to start their own business? Get out there and talk to your potential customers! Learn what they want and what they need. Last but not least, what does Dr. Delicia Haynes do to unwind and what's a great quote her mentor once shared with her...tune in to find out!