Entrepreneurially Thinking: Innovation | Experimentation | Creativity | Business

EP #114-S9-E05--Kameel Stanley Joining us today is Kameel Stanley. Kameel co-hosts the award-winning 'We Live Here' Podcast, is a brunch club organizer, storyteller and yogi. Kameel and other members of her journalism team, use the podcast for an in-depth exploration of how systemic racism impacts people as well as the well-being of our region. In this episode: Kameel discusses her journalism journeys across the United States We learn what it means to undertake a new concept and the tasks involved in promoting a new concept. We discussed the struggles of jumping into the discussion of racism. Kameel talks about breaking down her identity as a journalist and redefining herself. What events are out there that help build the female support system. Learn more: Email: Website: Linkedin: Twitter:

EP #113-S9-E04--Autentico Podcast Joining us today is Autentico Podcast Hosts, Gabriela Ramírez-Arellano and Junior Lara. The co-hosts discuss how the Autentico podcast came to be and how the hosts create opportunity and value to the Latino community. In this episode: Gabriela discusses how she found her voice in her delivery of the vast amount of resources available to minorities. Junior explains how to break electronic barriers in technology. How we can accomplish more together. Gabriela discusses how she connects minority entrepreneurs with the right people to help their businesses get to the next level. Learn more: Email: Website: Company Facebook: Twitter:

Joining us today is Lindy Drew and Elaine Cha of Humans Of St. Louis. Lindy Discusses how her background in social work, public health and photography led her on a journey to tell the stories of the humans of St. Louis and Elaine Cha talks about her interactions with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri. In this episode: Lindy tells us about her travels to Chile. Elaine discusses her love for working with a local non-profit. Lindy discusses the birth of the concept of Humans of St. Louis book. The struggles of getting a person to opening up and telling their 'story' to a complete stranger. What it means to be 'working artist'. Learn more: Email: Lindy Drew: Elaine Cha: Website: Lindy Drew: Elaine Cha: Company Facebook: Lindy Drew: Elaine Cha:

Joining us today is Jonathan Allen, President of Longneck & Thunderfoot, a 2016 Arch Grant recipient company. Jonathan discusses his passion for sharing the journey and best practices of start-ups and entrepreneurship. London born, Jonathan jumped the pond in 9 years ago and acquired a local publication titled EQ in 2017. EQ Magazine focuses on St. Louis' entrepreneurial scene. In this episode: Jonathan tells us about how a special girl landed him here in St. Louis. What is takes to become an Arch Grant recipient. Why Jonathan feels networking is so important? What it means to build a Brand-Ads company. Jonathan talks about time management for serial entrepreneurs. Traditional advertising models verses new advertising models. Email: Website:

ETHINKSTL-110--Episode 9.1 Joining us today is Kathryn Finney, founder and managing director of DigitalUndivided (DID). Founded in 2013, DID is a social enterprise that takes an innovative, transformative approach to economic empowerment by encouraging Black and Latina women to own their economic security through entrepreneurship. DID accomplishes this goal by boldly empowering Black and Latina women to think BIG through the BIG Innovation Center, a 4,000 square foot space located in downtown Atlanta and the BIG Incubator program for high growth companies led by Black and Latina women. DID has impacted over 2000 people and helped companies raise over $25 Million in Investment. In this episode: What is Digital Undivided? How her dad, a senior system engineer at Microsoft introduced Kathryn to tech. Why Kathryn describes herself with the words Founder, Traveler and Innovator. When Kathryn became interested in social entrepreneurship. What was the genesis of The Budget Fashionista blog. How did Kathryn t

Joining us today is Ronke Faleti, Founder and CEO of korédé. korédé supports women through innovative design with modular bags that are customized to the needs of the individual woman. Women can experience the freedom of carrying one beautiful bag that's not only functional but also stylish - from boardroom to playdates and weekends away. Ronke has worked in leadership roles at JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo Advisors and believes in the existence of harmony in work, life and all the dimensions of womanhood.

Joining us today is Markey Culver, Founder and Co-Director of The Women's Bakery. Markey sees bread as nutrition and as a business model for sub-Saharan villagers. Her social enterprise operates by the simple yet powerful mantra of, “we can, therefore we must.” The Women's Bakery teaches women how to make and sell nutritious, affordable breads and manage profitable bakeries in their communities. Markey oversees operations, manages personnel, implements strategic partnerships in the US and abroad. She manages business development initiatives to advocate for the success of the women she works with and the bakeries they launch. In this episode: - How Markey came to create The Women's Bakery - More about her work in the Peace Corps and Rwanda - Markey is creating access to opportunity for women around the globe..How? Why? - Her fundamental business philosophy - More about her five-step model. How it is scalable and adaptable? - How Markey adjusts to fit the needs of the communities she serves - How she h

Joining us today is La'Crassia Wilderness, creator and owner of Butter Love by L.C. La’Crassia took her love for mixing and her love for nature and created an organic skin care line. Before becoming an entrepreneur, La’Crassia worked in customer service in corporate America. She studied marketing and advertising at Columbus College, Chicago. She began her holistic journey while experimenting with natural oils, Shea butter and organics in search of the right products for herself. Butter Love offers organic, handmade and crafted products to heal and soothe the skin. Butter Love features holistic healing, detoxifying and rejuvenating products to aid in the removal of toxins within the body. In this episode: - La’Crassia started mixing things in secret when you were young. What was she mixing? - What she loved about it and where it led her. - What were the challenges La’Crassia experienced as a young woman that impacts her entrepreneurial mission and approach. - La’Crassia transition from corporate employm

Joining us today is Sherita Love, manager at EdHubSTL. Sherita holds bachelor’s degree in Education Studies with a minor in Non-Profit Management and African-American Studies from UMSL. She was a national trainer with the YMCA of the USA in Leadership and Diversity and Inclusion courses for professional staff. She’s led diversity and inclusion trainings for schools, organizations and corporations in the region. Sherita currently serves as the Founder and Executive Director of ExpandED Learning Collaborative where she works in collaboration with community partners to close the education opportunity gap, as the Co-Founder of GLAMM (Girls Lead and Make Moves) to promote education and empowerment for young women of color. EdHub STL is powered by Venture Cafe St. Louis and provides a platform for educators to collide in an inclusive, collaborative and multi-disciplined co-working community. In this episode: - Sherita identifies as an “Education Catalyst”. What does that mean? - Where her passion for education

On the show today is Melissa Douglas, Founder and Distance Counselor of Goal Driven Counseling, a fully online counseling practice serving teens and young adults going through transitions. Melissa is a licensed, clinical Social Worker and counsels clients via their smart phones and computers.

Last year we introduced you to two young innovators who were starting tech-focused companies in the healthcare marketplace. Melanie Igwe, the co-founder of Ilerasoft, and Rachel Simon-Lee, CEO and Founder of Heartwork Videos. Ilerasoft is a digital health company developing software that centralizes healthcare systems’ medical equipment assets data on one platform. Heartwork Videos is a unique resource for surgeons that captures and edits raw surgical footage into a high-quality educational video content. It’s time to get an update on their progress and see how business is going! In this episode: How have things been going? What they have learned in a year. What things have changed from their initial startup idea? What challenges have they faced as they build their business? How did they overcome? What feedback are they getting from the market about their technologies? What advice would they give for people who want to start a business in healthcare? Listen to their original interview here Learn

Today we return to BioSTL's Vision 2018, St. Louis' annual conference aimed at building a wholly-inclusive, diverse innovation community. VISION is for anyone wanting to learn more information about the many small business and entrepreneurship opportunities in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. This is part 2 with keynote speaker and special guest Arlan Hamilton, Founder of Backstage Capital in a candid conversation with host Dr. Cheryl Watkins-Moore.

Today we tune-in from BioSTL's Vision 2018. VISION is St. Louis' annual conference aimed at building a wholly-inclusive, diverse innovation community. VISION is for anyone wanting to learn more information about the many small business and entrepreneurship opportunities in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. This is part 1 of 2 with keynote speaker and special guest Arlan Hamilton, Founder of Backstage Capital in a candid conversation with host Dr. Cheryl Watkins-Moore.

Joining us is Shayba Muhammad, Designer and Owner of Mahnal Jewelry. Mahnal is a collection of handcrafted contemporary brass jewelry. Taking inspiration from nature, architecture and texture, Mahnal seeks to shed light on diversity, Islam and the Arabic language. Shayba began studying design and fashion while at the Institute of Art in Chicago. She relocated back to St. Louis to study metalsmithing and jewelry full time. Shayba focuses her efforts on growing Mahnal and adding to the local small business economy. In this episode: - Shayba takes us along her design journey...it began with a love for art at an early age. - How she came to metalsmithing as her discipline of choice. Why did she choose Brass? - Shayba's creative philosophy and how this connected to her broader vision. - Shayba incorporates a personal message to women and a message of diversity with her work. What does she want to communicate to the community and to others? - More about the Makers Mart. - Details about entrepreneurial work

Joining us today is Estrella (Estie) Cruz-Curoe, Manager and Owner of del Carmen Foods, LLC. In her other life, Estie worked for a national insurance company in Chicago. She met her husband there and their lives took them to Kansas City where Estie and Mike started a family. As a stay-at-home mom, Estie found the kitchen and started cooking Cuban food for her family. All was well except for the black bean staple in Cuban food. Having tried to season them from the canned bean without success, Estie dared make them from the dry bean. After some trial and error, Estie mastered the process. After being encouraged by family and friends to do something with them, she started paying attention to the, discovering a niche and del Carmen Foods was born. In this episode: - How did Estie go from your kitchen to the shelves of grocery stores with the launch del Carmen Foods? - Estie's unique business advantage of her authentic Cuban-style beans. - More about her tag-lines, “Peace, Love and Beans” and “AN ENLIGHTENED

Joining us today is Laura Tromben, Co-Owner of the international tattoo convention, “Tattoo The Lou”. “Tattoo The Lou” is an annual event that welcomes the world of tattoo to St. Louis with over 100 booths and more than 100 attending artists. In this episode: Where the idea for “Tattoo The Lou” originated. The world of tattoo...the culture and the scope. Laura is connecting talent from all over the globe. She shares the opportunities of this conglomeration. The Tattoo Convention as a business model. How Laura's background supports her entrepreneurial endeavor. The growth of the convention. How things are different from last year until now. Goals and plans for Tattoo The Lou. Learn more: Website Company Facebook Company Twitter Company LinkedIn Page Personal Facebook Personal Twitter Personal LinkedIn Personal Hashtags #tattoothelou #stlclassictattooexpo #stlouisclassictattooexpo #1904labs #lifeat1904withlaura

St. Louis is making the lists among the top startup and innovative cities. Articles and news outlets report that the region's startup scene is booming and St. Louis is ripe for attracting entrepreneurial capital. Our guest today asks the question: "When there is a huge gap in diverse startup funding, can we really call our ecosystem "booming"? Joining us is Christian Johnson, Managing Partner at MultiPass Ventures. Johnson is a US Army veteran, former St. Louis police officer, and community leader. MultiPass Ventures, the venture capital arm of MultiPass, is dedicated to investing in startups led by women and underrepresented minorities. In this episode: More about the multi-faceted, MultiPass Ventures. Christian's overarching vision for this community and its people. How his lifetime of service contributes to his broader vision for this region. Why Christian is creating funding opportunities for women-owned and underrepresented minorities. How MultiPass Ventures helps entrepreneurs secure funding. T

Joining us today is Diego Abente, Vice President of Economic Development of the International Institute and President of the International Institute Community Development Corporation. The mission of the International Institute is to strengthen the St. Louis community by: 1) helping immigrants and their families become secure and successful; and 2) promoting the value of ethnic diversity in the social, cultural and economic life of the region Diego also leads the International Institute Business Solutions Center (IIBSC), which provides interpretation, translation services, as well as cultural competency training. In this episode: - Diego has been active in the support and success of people and community from Paraguay to St. Louis. What led him to pursue this work in the first place? - Diego's work in Africa and Washington, DC. - How Diego is bridging the divide between immigrants and the economic system of this region and Why? - How Diego helps entrepreneurs build up the credentials and business savvy requi

Joining us is Jeff Gamble, CTO & Founder of Dynamic Surgical. He strives empower healthcare consumers with access to low-cost technological innovations and the knowledge to TRULY incorporate them into their everyday lives. His company, Dynamic Surgical, implements technology to integrate the physician's workflows with the patience’s experience and care without adding an administrative burden. In this episode: - What led Jeff to create Dynamic Surgical. - The Dynamic Surgical platform. - How Dynamic Surgical connects the physician experience with that of the patient. - Why make an experiential connection? - How the investigative scientific mindset is entrepreneurial-like. - The methods and thought processes Jeff wants to pass along to others. - In the beginning, Jeff worked for a venture while he was building his own...why he made that choice and how he transitioned into full entrepreneurship. - Jeff is in the middle of a pivot...hear what prompted the pivot and how he knew a pivot was necessary. - Jeff's

Joining us is Colleen Mulvihill, Client Support Manager with SLEDP. As the Client Support Manager for the St. Louis Partnership Business Centers, Colleen works with entrepreneurs to find the right space, resources and support to assist each client in the advancement of their business. Also with us is Charleen Hoskins, a SLEDP client. She is the Founder, President & CEO of TPAS, LLC, a property & casualty insurance education firm established to create transparency of the insurance claim process. In this episode: - Discover the magnitude of the SLEDP - In Colleen's 25 years of experience, what she sees as the greatest challenge and advantage facing entrepreneurs - SLEDP is a one-stop-shop….where do we begin to take advantage of the full offerings and benefits? - More about the innovation centers? - What’s the outlook for our area small businesses? What’s needed? - How Charleen connected and utilized the SLEDP - The difference the SLEDP made in Charleen's business from the services and support s