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Atlanta Business Radio

Month: January 2017

Women in Technology (WIT) Special Edition

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The work of Women in Technology has an incredible impact.

Since 1992, Women in Technology has had a mission dedicated to promoting the advancement of women in Georgia’s technology community. Through the WIT COMMUNITY, WIT Also educates and encourages girls and young women to pursue careers in STEM.

Women in Technology

 

Sandy Welfare /  WIT 

Sandy D. Welfare is the Executive Director of Women In Technology (WIT). Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of Cool Girls Inc, an award-winning early intervention after-school program dedicated to the empowerment of girls (2009-2015).

Sandy’s career began in 1989 in Greenwich, Connecticut where she joined Rand Insurance as the Controller. Six years later, she accepted a position with Lucent Technologies, an international telecommunications leader, holding a number of positions including serving as Accounting and Treasury Manager in Singapore (1999-2000) and then as Senior Manager in Australia and New Zealand (2000-2002). Sandy returned to Atlanta in 2002 as Senior Manager of Global Financial Services.

In 2003, Sandy accepted a position as Director of Operations for Xchanging, a business processing outsourcing company. In 2006, her career took her to London, England as Managing Director for professional services, where she managed global business processing services for bank financial transactions, insurance and retail.

Sandy received her undergraduate degree from St. John’s University in New York, and a Master of Business Administration from Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. She serves on the board of several non-profits, including Kiwanis Club of Atlanta. Sandy resides in Marietta, Georgia with her husband, Cliff and son, Soloman.

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Derek Johnson / ThoughtWorks
Southeast Market Principal

Derek Johnson is the Regional Director for ThoughtWorks Inc., a global software consultancy. After years developing teams in India and Brazil, Derek now leads teams of designers, developers, and analysts to bring comprehensive solutions to the southeastern Unites States. With a focus on leveraging technology to build solutions for enterprises and communities, Derek and his team maintain ongoing support for Women Who Code, Technologists of Color, and Women in Technology, among others.

Derek is a graduate of Morehouse College, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Kennesaw State University. He has served with both Junior Achievement and the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta. He maintains a keen focus on creating opportunities for young people looking to enter high tech careers and thrive as they navigate the corporate world.

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Kyle Tothill / eHire
Partner & Managing Director

Kyle Tothill is a proven entrepreneur and growth enablement professional focused on helping organizations acquire select talent, build/manage successful recruiting programs and solve tough technical and marketing problems. Kyle is currently a co-founder and partner of three successful business services firms out of Atlanta; eHire, LLC, Make & Build and Collective Insights.

During Kyle’s career he has successfully started four professional services companies and one software firm, all requiring significant capital, creative organizational and start up development skills. Prior to his entrepreneurial career Kyle ran a regional sales organization for a Fortune 500 services firm in Atlanta, GA.

Kyle is an avid Golfer, sports enthusiast and overall general competitor.

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Digital Marketing Series Episode 05

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Karyn Mullins / JobsinSports.com
EVP and GM

 

Michele P. Dambach /  JobsinSports.com
Manager Digital Marketing

 

Thomas Harpointner (Co Host) / AIS Media

Thomas Harpointner is founder & CEO of AIS Media, Inc., an Atlanta-based, award-winning digital marketing firm. Thomas is a recognized subject matter expert on digital marketing strategy development and execution.

Thomas has served as a keynote speaker at trade organizations, conferences, and corporate events. He has appeared on Fox Business, Bloomberg Television, CNN Radio, CNBC, The Advertising Show, The Today Show and many other TV and radio programs. He’s been featured in publications such as Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, CFO, AJC, Fortune, and Wired.

At AIS Media, Thomas consults executives at leading companies on digital strategy. He’s led hundreds of digital marketing initiatives for clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations such as AT&T, Synovus Financial, Emory Healthcare, Wake Forest Innovations, Pfizer, and Maui Jim Sunglasses. Under his leadership, AIS Media has been recognized with dozens of prestigious industry awards.

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Tony Merendino with ServIT and Chris Markl with Georgia State University

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Tony Merendino / ServIT
CEO

Tony Meredino has over 20 years of experience in Executive level positions in the arena of technology. Tony is the former owner/CEO of BMC Solution and is also a former athlete, playing NFL football with the NY Jets. Tony is a graduate of The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and has recently acquired an all organic farm with is producing organic hay and organic angus beef.

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Chris Markl / Georgia State University
Visiting Instructor of Social Entrepreneurship

Chris Markl is a Visiting Instructor of Social Entrepreneurship at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. Prior to joining Georgia State, he was a Social Entrepreneur Residence at Florida State University’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement. A social entrepreneur, Markl founded Kourage Athletics which leveraged the storied tradition of Kenyan runners to create authentically Kenyan running apparel. Kourage sold products to over 20-countries and worked with Kenyan Olympians. Markl also founded and led two charity cross-country bicycle rides. Outside of entrepreneurship experience he has worked as an economic analyst in emerging economies.

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Natalie Barrow and Pam Hubby with ArtsBridge Foundation

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artsbridge-foundation

ArtsBridge Foundation is dedicated to providing quality arts education and community programs that engage, motivate, inspire, and elevate the next generation of artists and arts supporters. ArtsBridge provides arts education opportunities to students in grades K-12 through programs at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre including Field Trips, Master Classes, a Family Series, and the annual Georgia High School Musical Theatre Awards – The Shuler Hensley Awards. Since inception in 2007, ArtsBridge has served more than 300,000 students and educators from 54 Georgia counties, plus students from Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina. ArtsBridge Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. To learn more, visit artsbridgega.org.

 

Natalie Barrow / ArtsBridge Foundation
Director of Arts Education & Community Outreach

Natalie Barrow serves as the Director of Arts Education & Community Outreach for ArtsBridge Foundation, the arts education outreach arm of Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Natalie is responsible for the development, design, implementation and delivery of quality arts education programs targeted to students K-12 and related community audiences. Natalie manages four types of programs including: Field Trips, Master Classes, Family Series Performances & the Georgia High School Musical Theatre Awards – Shuler Hensley Awards. In addition, Natalie produces and directs the annual competition for the Shuler Awards, including the selection and training of the qualified adjudicators that evaluate these school performances.

Prior to joining the ArtsBridge team, Natalie served as the Artist Partnerships Manager at Young Audiences, Woodruff Arts Center. Before joining Woodruff, she served as the Manager on Duty at the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre in the Cobb County Civic Center complex.

Natalie has a performance background in musical theatre and received a BA in Theatre & Performance Studies from Kennesaw State University’s College of the Arts. Natalie was recently selected for the inaugural 30 Under 30 program with the International Association of Venue Managers, she was a member of the 2014 Arts Leaders of Metro Atlanta class and was a member of the 2016 Leadership Cobb class.

Natalie is passionate about arts education programs designed to engage, motivate and elevate the next generation of artists and arts supporters, which is always her goal through ArtsBridge programs!

 

Pam Hubby / ArtsBridge Foundation
Director of Development

Pam Hubby is Director of Development for ArtsBridge Foundation, the arts education outreach arm of Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. In this role, Pam is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the foundation as well as fundraising, donor cultivation, special events and community relations.  Prior to joining ArtsBridge, she was the Director of Corporate Relations for Kennesaw State University and before that worked extensively in the banking industry including at Citizens & Southern National Bank (Bank of America), Bank of North Georgia and Georgian Bank.  Currently, Pam is a member of Arts Leaders of Metro Atlanta(ALMA)’s Class of 2015, ARC’s Regional Leadership Institute Class of 2015 and Cobb Chamber of Commerce Chairman’s Club.

 

KSU Entrepreneurship Center The Shrimp Tank Featuring David Gould

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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

 

David Gould / Thermopro
President/CEO

David Gould has been a business owner and entrepreneur for 40 years.  Originally from Long Island, NY, David joined his family’s business, Gould Products, in 1977, selling plastic storage containers to the material handling industry. The family moved the business to Boynton Beach, FL in 1978, where sales began to grow rapidly through expanded distribution of our products.  In 1982, David’s brother Michael joined the business to spearhead sales and marketing.  To gain a stronger foothold in the marketplace, we decided to move the business to a more strategic, centralized location in Metro Atlanta in 1992.

Shortly thereafter, we expanded a budding product line of clear, wall hanging magazine and pamphlet racks sold to the office products industry.  The company soon focused on the office products line rather than the materials handling products, due to less completion and better profit margins.  In 1998, we moved our facility from Lawrenceville to Duluth, GA, where we began to manufacture what we sold through a process called plastic vacuum forming.  (We had previously contracted the manufacturing to other companies.) So by changing what we sold and by manufacturing our own products, we completely reinvented our business.  This proved fortuitous as office product sales grew for several years.

In 2005, we introduced a new product, the Prize Wheel, which was sold through promotional products dealers.  A year later, in 2005, we sold our office products to a company from Minneapolis who, to this day, still contracts us to manufacture the products for them.  Additionally, we began to contract other custom vacuum forming business from a variety of companies to supplement our proprietary promotional products.  In the same year, we renamed our parent company, “Thermopro”, promoted for contract manufacturing, with a DBA, “Games People Play” for our proprietary products.  For the past several years, we’ve enjoyed steady sales at good gross margins and very positive cash flow.

David has a BA in Biology from the State University of NY at Buffalo and an MS in Microbiology at Long Island University.

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