Venture Forward

Gretchen Hansen is an entrepreneur with a flair for design.   She founded an online interior design service, Decorist, that quickly caught the eye of national companies that wanted to partner.  She raised several million dollars before selling the firm to Bed, Bath and Beyond. 

They fought their way out of the DC neighborhoods they grew up in, earned scholarships to Georgetown University and after graduating went back to their neighborhoods to build paths for others to get out too.   

Troye Bullock, Danny Wright and Darius Baxter are advocates, mentors, business advisors and activists who traveled across the country this summer, to meet with community leaders in 13 cities, in order to amplify the voices of these leaders and tell their stories.  Troye, Danny and Darius are co-founders of GOOD Projects, a DC-based organization with a national platform, which they are now using to generate energy for change in cities across the nation. 

Mike Malloy left a lucrative management consulting career to run Waveborn, a high-end sunglasses company with a social mission. The company was based on a buy-one give-one model that was a source of inspiration to his team, the investors and the customers. Mike talks about the multi-stage journey that led him from running a company to investing in the lives of other entrepreneurs at Halcyon House, a Washington DC incubator for social impact entrepreneurs. 

Doug Bouton unpacks what it’s like to build a low fat ice cream company from the ground up. He describes the company’s rocky road to success, what it took for Halo Top to become a household name, and how and why he and his co-founder decided to sell the company.

Luke Schoenfelder co-founded Latch, a smart-lock company, in his mid-twenties, grew it to 200+ employees, and put the company on the map in the building access space. Latch has partnerships with UPS and Walmart, and counts many of the leading real estate developers among its clients.  Luke talks about how he and his team grew Latch, the many obstacles they overcame and how he keeps his eye on the prize as the leader of a fast growing company.  

Michael O’Neil has built a multimillion dollar, multinational company, GetWellNetwork (GWN), that is singularly focused on equipping hospitals to allow patients to be better informed and more involved in their care and recovery. Over the past several years, GWN’s patient engagement platform has transformed the hospital experience for patients and their families.

Mary Giuliani is a NYC event planner and caterer to the stars. When she’s not on TV sharing party tips with Rachael Ray, she is often designing sets for movie and TV premiers, and creating tasty dishes that complement the theme. Mary is also the author of Tiny Hot Dogs: A Memoir Small Bites. 

Jacki Abbey, the host of Venture Forward, introduces Season Three and sets the stage for  the award winning CEOs who will be appearing on the podcast over the next several weeks.

Patrick Flynn’s pet care resorts have cultivated a loyal following of dog owners who are jumping through hoops to be a part of one of the several “pet playlands” that Patrick’s company operates in Greater Washington DC. He’s learned several lessons the hard way as he has devoted himself to building a best-in-class business in the ever-expanding pet care industry. 

Catherine Nguyen founded a snack food company that took off quickly and is being sought out by well-know retailers such as Balducci’s grocery store. Catherine has figured out how to pitch her company and win competitions and is continually funneling her winnings into improving her high-protein snack offerings and expanding her market.