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KSU Entrepreneurship Center The Shrimp Tank Featuring John Belman

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KSUEntrepreneurship

 Where can a young entrepreneur figure out how to turn their dreams into reality? Just take a step into the Shrimp Tank. The Shrimp Tank brings you interviews with some of the most successful business owners in the United States to learn the do’s and don’ts of starting and running a successful business. Then, the fun really starts when we bring in high school and college students to pitch their business ideas to the Shrimp Tank. We don’t fund any business, but we do teach kids how to turn their business ideas into a successful business.

Hosts of The Shrimp Tank Chris Hanks, Ted Jenkin and Lee Heisman

 

 

 

John Belman /  Vistage Atlanta Chair 

 

John Belman is CEO of Own Accord, LLC, a CEO coaching and advisory firm serving the great Atlanta area. John also serves as a CEO Group Chair with Vistage Worldwide, facilitating advisory groups of high-performing CEOs and business owners. John has broad leadership experience across a range of industries, companies (public, private, family-owned), and functional roles. Most recently he served as a CEO of a mid-market logistics company following 7 years at Target Corporation as a leader in transportation and finance. Prior to Target, John held senior business development and marketing roles in the media and technology industries. John has a BA from Washington University in St. Louis, was a graduate fellow in history at Columbia University, and holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
A veteran of the 75th Ranger Regiment, John participated in the 1993 Black Hawk Down mission in Mogadishu, Somalia.

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KSU Entrepreneurship Center The Shrimp Tank Featuring Mark Fonseca

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KSUEntrepreneurship

 Where can a young entrepreneur figure out how to turn their dreams into reality? Just take a step into the Shrimp Tank. The Shrimp Tank brings you interviews with some of the most successful business owners in the United States to learn the do’s and don’ts of starting and running a successful business. Then, the fun really starts when we bring in high school and college students to pitch their business ideas to the Shrimp Tank. We don’t fund any business, but we do teach kids how to turn their business ideas into a successful business.

Hosts of The Shrimp Tank Chris Hanks and Ted Jenkin.

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Mark Fonseca / Executive Image Consultant & Professional Speaker

The best-dressed man always makes a powerful statement. Mark Fonseca should know; he’s one of them. The first thing one will notice when meeting Mark is that he is impeccably dressed, with an unpretentious elegance. His exquisite attire and flawless detail package a look that radiates confidence, success and quiet authority. Mark has mastered the art of dressing. As founder and owner of Fonseca Clothiers, it’s no wonder that he also dresses some of the country’s most dynamic, affluent men, guaranteeing that they will always look and feel their absolute best.

Bob Bartels with Siemens and Samuel Katz with Boxer Property

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Bob Bartels / Siemens
Director of Communications

Creative and results-oriented corporate communications professional with the demonstrated ability to manage projects and programs, budgets, staff, vendors and processes with an entrepreneurial spirit.

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Samuel A. Katz / Boxer Property
Workstyle Product Manager

As the Workstyle Product Manager, Samuel Katz oversees the end-to-end delivery and management of Boxer Property’s proprietary collaborative spaces, Boxer Workstyle. These duties include involvement in all aspects of the business’ development; from concept, design, and planning, to construction and delivery, through leasing and operations of the workspaces. Since taking the Product Manager role in 2015, Samuel has overseen the rapid expansion and development of the Workstyle product, growing to over 650,000 square feet across 70 locations nationwide.

In addition to managing the Workstyle product, Samuel also sits on the A.C.E. (Analytic Center of Excellence) and Data Governance committees, both dedicated to integrating and maintaining high quality data and analytics within the organization.  Before joining Boxer, Samuel had extensive experience in service-based sales, business development, entrepreneurship, and residential real estate. He holds a B.A. from the University of New Orleans.

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Atlanta’s Most Trusted Advisors

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Atlanta’s Most Trusted Advisors interviews industry experts from in and around the Metro Atlanta Area. Our goal is to provide valuable information that all business owners and managers can use in their day-to-day work to help them succeed.

 

Sanford (Sandy) Wallack / Wallack Law
I have been practicing criminal defense for over 20 years. I have experience handling criminal matters in state and federal court, at the trial and appellate levels. I received my law degree from Emory University School of Law in 1994.

 

 

Amy Brown Williams / The Fritz Farm 

 

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk (Host) / bbr Marketing
President

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk has been a member of the creative and marketing services community for over 20 years and does not appear to be leaving it anytime soon. As president of bbr marketing, she has relished the challenges of entrepreneurship as she worked to grow and nurture a new business. Since the firm’s inception in 2009, Bonnie has led the young company to become widely recognized and respected within the professional services marketing niche, with award-winning client websites and an outstanding history of business success having worked with clients in 23 states and 2 Canadian provinces.

Jay Ferro with Earthlink and Matthew May with Acuity

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Jay Ferro / Earthlink
EVP, Chief Information and Product Officer

Mr. Ferro has served as our Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Products since July 2016. From January 2012 to July 2016, Mr. Ferro served as the Chief Information Officer for the American Cancer Society, a volunteer health organization. From August 2011 to January 2012, he served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for AdCare Health Systems, a health care facility management company. Prior to joining AdCare Health Systems, Mr. Ferro spent seven years at American International Group (AIG), including as Vice President and Chief Information Officer for AIG Aerospace, an aerospace insurer. Prior to that, he served as Chief Financial Officer for Operations and Systems for AIG Aerospace.

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Matthew May / Acuity
Managing Partner

I have experience adding value to companies by helping navigate tax and accounting rules. Prior to coming to Atlanta, I was a part of the Austin technology community both as an advisor and as a part of a start-up that had a successful $100 million exit in November 2000.

I am an active leader in the Georgia technology community and serve on the selection committees for Venture Atlanta, the Technology Association of Georgia’s Top 40 Innovators, and the Association for Corporate Growth’s Georgia FAST 40. I have also taken community leadership roles with Georgia Aquarium’s Next Wave Society, New American Pathways, and Venture Atlanta.

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KSU Entrepreneurship Center The Shrimp Tank Featuring Cody Hicks

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KSUEntrepreneurship

 Where can a young entrepreneur figure out how to turn their dreams into reality? Just take a step into the Shrimp Tank. The Shrimp Tank brings you interviews with some of the most successful business owners in the United States to learn the do’s and don’ts of starting and running a successful business. Then, the fun really starts when we bring in high school and college students to pitch their business ideas to the Shrimp Tank. We don’t fund any business, but we do teach kids how to turn their business ideas into a successful business.

Hosts of The Shrimp Tank Chris Hanks and Ted Jenkin.

 

 

 

cody-hick-headshotCody Hicks / Atlanta Eats
Chief Brisket Officer

With over ten years of experience working with some of the world’s largest and  most recognizable brands, Cody Hicks was at the helm of the brand integration  and content marketing movements long before they became industry buzzwords.  His distinguished career began at 790 the Zone, Atlanta’s leading sports talk  radio station, where he developed custom multimedia marketing promotions that  effectively connected major national brands – such as Coca-Cola, Home Depot,  KIA and AT&T – with fans of Atlanta’s professional and collegiate sports  properties. After his tenure at 790 the Zone, Cody went on to pursue another of  his passions: food. He co-founded Bread n Butter Productions, a video  production company with a focus on food and dining, where he oversees all sales and marketing efforts. With a client roster including Las Vegas Sands, the  Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Jamestown Properties, Bread n  Butter Productions has quickly established itself as one of the country’s premiere  video production and content marketing companies. Cody also oversees all  facets of business for Atlanta Eats, a multimedia company showcasing Atlanta’s dining scene via a weekly television show, radio program, live events, and digital  and social media platforms.

 

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Brad Serff with Providence Bank, Jenn Graham with Aha! Strategy also Civic Dinners and Betsy Hall with Hall’s Flower Shop and Garden Center

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Brad Serff / Providence Bank
CEO

Brad Serff is the President, CEO and a Founding Director of Providence Bank in Alpharetta Georgia. He began his 28 year banking career in 1988 with Citizens & Southern National Bank (C&S) here in Atlanta Georgia and spent the next 28 years working as a banker in Georgia. Mr. Serff left Exchange Bank based in Milledgeville Georgia in 2005 to return to Atlanta and open Providence Bank. He is currently the Chairman of the Community Bankers Association of Georgia. He is also active in the local community the Vice Chairman of the Milton First Responders Foundation, Chairman of YMCA Camp High Harbour and a member of the Milton / Windward Rotary Club.

 

 

 

Jenn Graham / Aha! Strategy and Civic Dinners
CEO and Social Innovation Designer

Jenn Graham is the founder and CEO of Aha! Strategy, an Atlanta-based social innovation design firm, that works exclusively with nonprofits—at a city, state and national level—to move the needle on important social and civic issues, from early childhood education to transportation to community engagement. She is also Co-Founder of Civic Dinners, a civic engagement platform designed to bring new voices to the table around conversations that matter.

Through her work, Jenn has helped raise the Millennial voice by leading the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Millennial Advisory Panel and sparked a week-long conversation on regional transit leading the The Great Exchange on Transportation in Gwinnett. In partnership with the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, Jenn helped raise the visibility of bicycling in Atlanta by rebranding and reorganizing Atlanta Streets Alive, which is now the largest open streets event in the country. She’s led the brand strategy, communications and community engagement for Get Georgia Reading and Talk With Me Baby, a coalition funded by United Way working to bridge the 30 million word gap by training nurses to coach parents on the power of language nutrition.

Jenn’s community leadership roles include branding and project lead for (co)lab summit, a Collaborative Leadership Summit organized by Leadership Atlanta in 2013 and TEDxAtlanta co-organizer for 5 years, and over 10 events, helping over 100 speakers prepare for the talk of their life.

Twitter     LinkedIn     Facebook

 

 

 

Betsy Hall / Hall’s Flower Shop & Garden Center
Owner

Hall’s was founded in 1946 in the Kirkwood neighborhood of Atlanta by Wayne and Mildred Hall; their outstanding reputation for flowers and plants is carried on by their son Kenneth and his wife Betsy.  As a florist, we’re given the honor of being a part of life’s precious moments; birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduation and funerals.  Even a gift for a simple get well or “I’m thinking of you” has special meaning when expressed with flowers. We get to know our customers and the trust they give us is humbling.  Give Hall’s a call and let us show you what a difference a Real, Local Florist can make when sending flowers and plants.

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CyberSecurity Month

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Cause & Affect Radio Brought To You By
UHY Advisors

 

David Barton / UHY Advisors
Managing Director

David Barton is a Managing Director with the firm in the Southeast and serves as leader in the Internal Audit, Risk & Compliance and Management & Technology Consulting groups. He has more than 25 years of practical experience in information systems and technology risk and controls.

 

 

Dave King / UHY Advisors
Senior Manager

Dave King is Senior Manager within UHY’s Technology and Risk Management consulting practice. He has over 15 years of experience in governance, risk, and compliance management. He is responsible for
advising business and technology executives on Cybersecurity, PCI Compliance, and technology risk management initiatives.

 

 

Glenise Moore / Ventiv
Director of IT Security, Compliance, and Privacy

Driven and Innovative leader with expertise in information systems security analysis and management. Seasoned in internal and external audit, risk mitigation and enterprise security posture. Keen understanding of IT and non-IT integrated issues and adept at bridging the gap between IT and business constituents. Proven ability to quickly understand key business drivers, and develop strategies to leverage and streamline continuous organizational development and growth, while delivering tangible results for all stakeholders.

 

 

Tony UcedaVelez / Internap
CEO

Tony is the CEO and Founder of VerSprite, a global security consulting firm offering strategic services offerings around information security, including virtual CISO services.  He currently is acting CISO for Internap, an international hosting and network service provider.  He is author to Risk Based Threat Modeling (Wiley 2015) and the PASTA risk based threat modeling methodology. Tony runs the OWASP Atlanta chapter and hosts monthly talks in Atlanta around emerging threats to application environments.  He has spoken at numerous international security conferences, including OWASP, ISSA, ISC2, ISACA, BSides Security Conference, Cloud Connect, and EC-Council. Tony’s 20 years of IT and Security experience across various industries has made him a strategic consultant for multiple Fortune 500 leaders.

 

 

Want to speak with the UHY team?
consulting@uhy-us.com

 

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KSU Entrepreneurship Center The Shrimp Tank Featuring Ashley Daniele Carestia

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KSUEntrepreneurship

 Where can a young entrepreneur figure out how to turn their dreams into reality? Just take a step into the Shrimp Tank. The Shrimp Tank brings you interviews with some of the most successful business owners in the United States to learn the do’s and don’ts of starting and running a successful business. Then, the fun really starts when we bring in high school and college students to pitch their business ideas to the Shrimp Tank. We don’t fund any business, but we do teach kids how to turn their business ideas into a successful business.

Hosts of The Shrimp Tank Chris Hanks and Ted Jenkin.

 

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Ashley Carestia / Bark Fifth Avenue
Founder

Ashley Daniele Carestia is a Florida native and has been a successful fashion model since age four.  She is currently signed with CLICK models and has been making headlines and covers with her new business venture, Bark Fifth Avenue LLC, a luxury dog boutique in Buckhead Atlanta. With Ashley’s strong passion for fashion and dogs, she has created a world where upscale pet owners can treat their four-legged family members to only the best in fashion, travel, and accessories.

 

Walking runways and dressing pets are things that Ashley has done since childhood.   As a model turned CEO, she balances work, play, and family life in Buckhead with her husband, prominent litigator Michael Carestia. The two were married in 2015 in Bora Bora. Ashley has her degree in Nutrition & Exercise Science, which she decided to change after three years of pre-law.  She felt very “Legally Blonde” during her path toward her legal career, so she refocused her course of studies.

 

Today, she serves as Proprietor of Bark Fifth Avenue and continues her career as a fashion model. Ashley started Bark Fifth Avenue in 2013 as an online boutique and opened her first brick and mortar in October 2015. Since then she has been asked to sponsor many pet events including Star 94.1’s famous Woofstock where she was the sponsor of the VIP (Very Important Paws) area and the Atlanta Pet Expo where she took on the sponsorship and creation of their VIP area. Ashley has graced several covers of local area magazines and is now the fashion columnist for Atlanta Pet Life magazine where she writes about current trends in the pet fashion world. In addition to her various commitments and world travels, Ashley is involved socially and politically in Atlanta.  She supports many charitable and church organizations, including The Humane Society, GlobalX, and Angels Among Us. She currently serves as a mentor at Woodson Park Academy through her church at Northpoint Ministries (Buckhead Church).

 

Ashley lives by the motto that “Everything happens for a reason” and the philosophy that “Money will never make you happy. Love your friends, love your family, and love the things that make you happy. Have morals and values. Hold strong to the things you believe in.  If puppies, glitter, and rainbows make you truly happy, then chase those as they are more attainable.  Most importantly, love yourself and never let anyone ever make you feel bad about yourself.” Ashley’s determination to succeed as well as her sense of humor and spirituality allow her to live life to the fullest.

 

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Bark Fifth Avenue

(404) 803-1771

ashley@barkfifthave.com

info@barkfifthave.com

690 Miami Circle NE

STE: 625

Atlanta, GA 30324

www.barkfifthave.com

 

Also on today’s program, Ali Farnum, student at KSU majoring in Business management and with a minor in  entrepreneurship.

Grant Wainscott with the Metro Atlanta Chamber and Lara O’Connor Hodgson with NOW Corp

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Money20/20 is the world’s biggest, boldest and best event covering payments and financial services innovation for connected commerce at the intersection of mobile, retail, marketing services, data and technology. 

 

 

Grant Wainscott / Metro Atlanta Chamber
Director of Technology

Helping build and globally promote metro Atlanta’s technology ecosystem within the clusters of FinTech, Cyber Security, Software, and Digital Media/Entertainment Tech.

Seasoned global executive with extensive experience in economic and community development, chamber of commerce and organizational development. Significant international trade mission knowledge, including planning and executing successful cross-border initiatives and partnerships.

Excellent background in business and entrepreneur development, project management, and commercial real estate site selection.

Detailed film industry experience, specializing in community film office management, location scouting, pre and post production assistance, production recruiting and sound stage leasing.

Twitter     Facbook     LinkedIn

 

 

Lara O’Connor Hodgson / NOWaccount Network Corporation
Founder, President and CEO

Lara has launched product and service businesses, raised capital, and served in executive management roles with Nourish (a patented consumer product for children), Insomnia Consulting LLC (an infrastructure development company), Dewberry Capital Corporation, DCH (a $400M private equity firm in which she was a founding principal), Dunk (a performance footwear and apparel brand), and iXL, an Internet development company. Lara has extensive experience in brand development, corporate strategy, business development, marketing, and operations, Lara has worked with companies such as Nike, Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Keds, and others.