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Veterans Connect Radio Episode 04

Veterans Connect Radio

A spotlight episode of Atlanta Business Radio and powered by Business RadioX. Co-Hosted by Ryan “Redhawk” McPherson and Brandon Skolnick with Gathering Of Angels. Featuring veteran entrepreneurs, support organizations, outreach groups and more in the Atlanta area continuing to serve our families, our communities and our country. 

#VeteransConnectRadio

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Tanya D. Bryant, John Phillips, Ryan Redhawk, Garrett Cathcart, Brandon Skolnick

 

 

Tanya D Bryant / Just Lovely Lipstick LLC
Personal Branding Expression Artist

Tanya Bryant is a retired twenty-one-year veteran who has been in two war campaigns. While the fatigues and combat boots are as close as the closet door, Tanya’s entrepreneurship journey led her right into the beauty industry. Today Tanya is the owner of Imagine Makeup Artistry, LLC and founder of Just Lovely® Lipstick, she markets herself as the Personal Branding Expression Artist. She helps business women to enhance their personal brand image so they can express who they are in their industry by using the power of color so they look and feel confident when presenting their business.

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Garrett Cathcart / Team Red White and Blue
Southeast Regional Director

Team RWB’s mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to people in their community through physical and social activity. Join!

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John Philips LTC, U.S. Army Retired / Boots To Loafers
Author, Speaker, Leader / Vice Chairman VETLANTA

John has had a distinguished career in both military and civilian service. John is a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the US Army where he served in the Field Artillery as well as a Financial Comptroller.  With more than 20 years of service, he served  in Corps Artillery, Division Artillery, Army Headquarters and Forces Command, the largest command and the generating force provider for combatant commanders – at home and abroad. He has served in Europe, throughout the Middle East and the United States. Among his awards and decorations are the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, and the Air Assault Badge.

John is the Author of Boots to Loafers, Finding Your New True North which outlines a proven process of transitioning out of the military and into the private sector.  He is also a contributing author to Paddling Guide to the Sunshine State and An American Crisis, Veteran Unemployment, Stand by Them/How You can Help/Solution.  He has been featured on The Mike Huckabee Show, the Dennis Miller Show as well as a number of radio appearances across the country.  

John is a finance executive at The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia. In his spare time, John spends his time travelling with his wife, Sailing in the British Virgin Islands, remote wilderness trips in the western United States, and helping our nation’s military and veterans make the transition into society and finding a job in the private sector.  

John holds a BS in Finance from University of Central Florida and an MBA from Syracuse University. He lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia with his wife, the former Melissa K. Smith and their Australian Shepherd, Bear.

Boots To Loafers The Book      VETLANTA     Twitter    LinkedIn     Facebook 

 

 

 

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Freeman Fields with iVault Home Protection

Freeman Fields is CEO of iVault Home Protection

Freeman Fields CEO of iVault Home Protection is a decorated Navy Veteran.

 

 

Freeman Fields / iVault Home Protection
Owner and CEO

A successful entrepreneur, Freeman Fields I has many years of experience with start-ups. He developed his leadership skills while serving in the Armed Forces as the youngest person on his command to ever lead an entire division to oversee multi-million dollar operations. Since medically retiring from the Navy in 1997 due to an injury suffered during Desert Storm, he has diligently pursued his passion for entrepreneurship. Some of his many achievements include successfully becoming a real estate investor, twenty plus in construction, publishing two books, acquiring multiple patents and his latest endeavor, iVault Home Protection.

 

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iVault Home Protection does more than simply deter burglars as traditional home security companies and home alarms, it is one of the first home protection company to essentially turn your existing doors into security doors to actually STOP BURGLARS FROM ENTERING YOUR HOME IN THE FIRST PLACE. This is done by seamlessly reinforcing the door jambs to make the doors kick proof.

 

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Dar’shun Kendrick with Kendrick Law Practice and Georgia House of Representatives, Suprit Patel with The Bestige Group and Bob Littell with NetWeaving

 

 

 

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LIVE  Mon. Wed and Fri. 10:00am

 

Ryan "RedHawk" McPherson, Bob Littell, Suprit Patel and Dar'Shun Kendrick

Ryan “Redhawk” McPherson, Bob Littell, Suprit Patel and Dar’shun Kendrick

 

Dar’shun N. Kendrick / Kendrick Law Practice/GA House of Representatives
Attorney/State Representative

Attorney Dar’shun N. Kendrick was born in Atlanta, Georgia to 2 parents that were Georgia entrepreneurs and small business owners. She was raised in South DeKalb, Georgia and graduated from DeKalb County public schools. She received 2 bachelors’ degrees from Oglethorpe University and her law degree from the University of Georgia. While in law school, she was on a Member and Editor of the International and Comparative Law Journal and started the law school’s first ever Business Law Society which prepares law students to practice transactional business law as opposed to business litigation. In August of 2011, she received her Master’s in Business Administration from Kennesaw State University. She is now the owner of Kendrick Law Practice, a private securities law firm that handles legal compliance and investor agreements and negotiations for private placement offerings. After law school and passing the Georgia bar, she was employed at a litigation firm in downtown Atlanta, Georgia serving as counsel for large corporations like American Express, the City of Atlanta, Dell, Avis Rent-A-Car Systems, Clarke Atlanta and other large entities. Her practice is exclusively business law, with a focus on transactional law including document drafting, document reviewing and negotiating services as well as strategic planning and business counseling services and training. Dar’shun is admitted to practice law in the state and superior courts of Georgia, the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Middle District of Georgia. She is a Member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) of the State Bar, the Business Law Committee of the YLD of the State Bar, the DeKalb and Rockdale Chamber of Commerce. She is also a founding Board Member/attorney for the Stonecrest Mall Business Alliance, Inc. She received the “30 under 30 Awards” in the spring of 2011 and is a finalist for the “Under 30” Awards in Atlanta by Under30FTV Magazine. Dar’shun was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in November of 2010 to represent over 50,000 residents in East DeKalb and Rockdale counties in the Georgia General Assembly. She now represents over 54,000 Georgians from DeKalb and Gwinnett counties and serves on the following committees: Small Business Development and Job Creation (ranking Democrat), Judiciary Non-Civil, Juvenile Justice and Interstate Cooperation. In the spring of 2016, she chaired a series of public hearings of an ad hoc committee made of House members to discuss private capital investments in Georgia. She was also an Adjunct Professor at Oglethorpe University teaching business law to undergraduate students. In January of 2016, Dar’shun started Minority Access to Capital, Inc., which is a non-profit committed to EDUCATION and EMPOWERMENT of minorities on how to access private capital to grow their business and create generational wealth. In March of 2016, she was appointed by the Chairs of the Economic Development and Tourism Committee and Small Business Development and Job Creation Committee to Chair an ad-hoc committee to conduct a series of hearings throughout the state of Georgia on private investment policy in Georgia.

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Suprit Patel and Dar'Shun Kendrick

Suprit Patel and Dar’Shun Kendrick

Suprit Patel / The Bestige Group
Managing Partner

Suprit is the Managing Partner and Founder of The Bestige Group, which is based here in Atlanta. He has spent the last 12 years working in the Healthcare Industry for leading firms such as The Advisory Board Company and Ernst and Young. He’s worked with Healthcare providers across the country to improve operations and effectively use data to manage their organization. He founded The Bestige Group when he saw the need for Providers to better understand their patient populations so they can drive down the cost to acquire new patients, grow to new markets, and be better prepared to handle the new Healthcare consumerism trend.

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Bob Littell / NetWeaving International
Chief NetWeaver

Although Bob’s background for the last 47 years has been in financialservices, his real passion for the last 17 years is a concept he createdcalled Netweaving. NetWeaving is almost the reverse of more traditional ‘networking’ because it’s focused on helping others, rather than the more ‘self-serving’ networking. With permission of Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of the book on which the popular movie was based – “Pay It Forward”, NetWeaving is now known internationally as the ‘business’ version of ‘pay iit forward’. Bob was the first elected of the Pay it Forward Foundation and still serves on their Board.

Ryan "RedHawk" McPherson and Bob Littell

Ryan “Redhawk” McPherson and Bob Littell

 

 

Exclusive With Ricky Steele CEO of Steele Technology Partners

 

Atlanta Business Radio is the Most Trusted Pro-Business Voice in Atlanta.
LIVE  Mon. Wed and Fri10:00am

 

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Ricky Steele and Ryan Redhawk

 

 

Ricky Steele / Steele Technology Partners
CEO

Ricky Steele is a life long entrepreneur. Steele Technology Partners, www.steelejobs.com, is his 7th startup beginning with a restaurant in 1976. In 1986 Steele was named the Georgia Small Business Person of the Year by the SBA and represented Georgia in Washington, DC with the other 49 State winners. Steele is known for his passion for business but also for the community. Steele presently serves on the Board of Councilors for The Carter Center, Board of Advisors for Atlanta’s Table, a project of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Board of Advisors for the Kennesaw State University Entrepreneurship Center. Steele has been married to the “Love of his Life” for 36 years and the proud father of three children, Everett, Andrew and Rebecca. He is also blessed with two beautiful granddaughters, Sophie and Zoe.

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Veterans Connect Radio Episode 3

 

Veterans Connect Radio

A spotlight episode of Atlanta Business Radio and powered by Business RadioX. Co-Hosted by Ryan “Redhawk” McPherson and Brandon Skolnick with Gathering Of Angels. Featuring veteran entrepreneurs, support organizations, outreach groups and more in the Atlanta area continuing to serve our families, our communities and our country. 

#VeteransConnectRadio

 

Brandon Skolnick, Everett Steele and Ryan Redhawk

Brandon Skolnick, Everett Steele and Ryan Redhawk

 

 

Everrett Steele / Steele Technology Partners
Chief Operating Officer
As the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kanga Technology, Everett led the company through raising millions in funding, building an award winning mobile and web application, and being named “Atlanta’s Best Startup” by General Assembly. Everett’s global vision for Kanga helped grow the small operation into a well-known brand that has been covered in The Motley Fool, TechCrunch, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Atlanta Business Chronicle, and countless others. The company was a Finalist at TechCrunch Disrupt and was selected to the prestigious “Signature” program of the Advanced Technology Development Center in 2014.

Everett was named one of the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “40 Under 40” in 2015, graduated from LEAD Atlanta in 2014, and is an active participant and board member of several non-profits. Everett is a Veteran of the United States Army, where he earned awards for his participation in combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn. Everett is a proud native Atlantan, a graduate of the University of Georgia, and a diehard Atlanta sports fan. When he isn’t at the office, Everett enjoys spending time exploring the city, dining out, and writing music.

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Veterans Connect Radio is made possible in part by MarketMate

David Felfoldi with NPressive and Ryan Blanck with Deviate, LLC

 

 

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Ryan Blanck and David Felfoldi

 

 

David Felfoldi / NPressive
Founder

A serial entrepreneur, David has founded and grown three technology services companies — an Inc5000 “Fastest Growing” custom web software development firm, an award-winning “Best Search Engine and Social” digital marketing agency in Atlanta, and most recently a SaaS CRM for nonprofit member associations called NPressive.

David started as the self-taught senior web designer for Siemens USA at the age of 16. Since, he has guided the digital strategy behind ADP, Spanx, Racetrac Petroleum, Rinnai America, Gables Residential, and the National Center of Civil & Human Rights. When not tinkering with technology or musing on marketing David enjoys traveling, hiking, running, and cycling with his wife, daughter, and dogs.

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Ryan Blanck / Deviate, LLC
CEO & Founder

It only takes a minute with Deviate Founder and CEO Ryan Blanck to experience the infectious authenticity, enthusiasm, and positive attitude that help make his partnerships with clients so successful. He has a gift for bringing out the best in people and he feels a powerful responsibility to use it as he works with c-suite leaders, high-performing teams, and world-class athletes and entertainers. Since 1999 Ryan has led over 450 inPersonSM experiences meetings, retreats, and workshops for small groups to national conferences. Hes the world’s only dual Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) and Certified Personal Trainer (CPT). Blending his unique background in Leadership and well-being, he specializes in performance improvement to lead his clients to achieve their champion within (mind and body).

Ryan is a guest leadership educator at Penn State University and Stanford University’s Business Leadership Program. Hes been interviewed about leadership and training in The Huffington Post, The Desert News, Esquire, YFS, and Vim and Vigor Magazines. And CNNs story of his client Marlon Gibsons life-altering transformation is one of the networks most popular online health articles of all time.
He has advised and coached leaders within organizations such as the The Color Run, Joe’s Black Book, Human Movement Management, World Bank, Google, Nike, CRC Insurance, Penn State University, lululemon athletica, and United Way.

Ryan is a well-respected member of the Society for Human Resource Management, International Association of Facilitators, IDEA Health and Fitness Association, and the American Council on Exercise (ACE), for whom he also serves as national spokesman. He also has sat on the boards of national non-profits Freestyle Foundation and Loa Scholarship Fund and currently serves on Western Michigan University’s Haworth College of Business board.

 

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KSU Entrepreneurship Center Presents The Shrimp Tank

KSUEntrepreneurship

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.

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Colton Moore, Garrett Jacobs, Ted Jenkins, Tammy Bailey, David Pemberton and Chris Hanks.

 

Tammy Stokes / Cafe West Express

Tammy

ABOUT TAMMY STOKES
CELEBRITY FITNESS AND LIFESTYLE EXPERT TAMMY STOKES
HAS SPENT MORE THAN 30 YEARS DEVELOPING TRAINING
TECHNIQUES, CUSTOMIZING WORKOUTS, COLLABORATING
WITH NUTRITION EXPERTS, AND DESIGNING PROGRAMS FOR
CELEBRITIES AND THOSE DEDICATED TO LIVING A BETTER
LIFE. TAMMY’S NEWEST VENTURE, CAFE WEST EXPRESS, WAS
DEVELOPED TO DELIVER HER HOLISTIC FOODS AND HEALING
SOUPS TO YOUR DOOR. TAMMY’S PRODUCTS INCLUDE:
INFUSED WATERS, COLD PRESSED JUICE, HEALTHY SOUPS AND
LIFESTYLE PLANS. HER PRODUCTS PROVIDE ESSENTIAL
NUTRITION, ENHANCED HYDRATION, AND DEEPLY
RESTORATIVE SUPER FOODS THAT ARE CONVENIENT,
HEALTHY, AND PORTION CONTROLLED. THESE ARE THE
FOODS TAMMY HAS BEEN MAKING FOR HER FAMILY, FRIENDS,
AND CLIENTS FOR YEARS. NOW, AS A REALIZATION OF
TAMMY’S LIFE-LONG DREAM, THESE PRODUCTS ARE
AVAILABLE TO ANYONE WITH A DESIRE TO LIVE HEALTHIER.
 David W. Pemberton
Pemberton Headshot
 –
Proven entrepreneur and business leader within Fortune 50 companies.Comprehensive experience in the consumer packaged
goods industry, general management of a global business, strategic
relationship management, innovation of new products, consumer
marketing, leadership of cross-functional teams, financial analysis and reporting.  Highly experienced with customer value-basedselling
and negotiation of win/win agreements.

 

 

Ted Jenkin/Oxygen Financial
(Co – Host)

Ted Jenkin has spent the past 22 years giving personal financial advice to thousands of people across the United States. After graduating from Boston College in 1991, Ted spent more than 16 years working for American Express Financial Advisors/Ameriprise Financial. He was one of the youngest people in the history of the company to reach both Field Vice President and Group Vice President level. He managed more than 800 financial advisors throughout 8 states in his last position with the company. He won the premier performer award, leader of the year award, and had the number one office in the country for more than two years in a row. In 2008, Ted founded oXYGen Financial to help revolutionize the financial services industry by creating a new company that focused on serving the X and Y Generation. oXYGen Financial now has more than 1,700 clients throughout 25 states across the country. Ted has been featured in over 25 magazines and newspapers including the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and The Huffington Post. He has six advanced designations from the College for Financial Planning (CFP®, CRPC®, CRPS®, AWMA®, AAMS®, CMFC®) and is an on air radio personality featured on the popular drive time Atlanta radio show The Rock 100.5 Morning Show on Rock 100.5 FM. Ted lives in Milton, GA with his wife Genna and three kids Olivia, Lyla, and Louden.

 

 Chris Hanks/ KSU EC
(Co – Host)

Christopher C. Hanks is the founder and executive director of the KSUEntrepreneurship Center. Prior to this, Hanks was the founder and director of the entrepreneurship program at the University of Georgia. He has owned multiple businesses, including music, e-commerce, publishing, and export ventures. He is also the co-author of a best-selling book on low risk entrepreneurship.

Hanks leads the International Entrepreneurship Institute and is certified in business valuation, providing expert witness testimony. Before teaching at UGA, Hanks taught entrepreneurship at Georgia State University and assisted in leading the Russell Center for Entrepreneurship. He earned a BBA from University of Georgia and an MBA from San Jose State University. Before launching his first business, Hanks held corporate risk management positions in the pharmaceutical and beverage industries.

 

Change Leaders Exclusive Episode 4

Change Leaders Exclusive: Showcasing and Learning From World-Class Change Agents

March 29th, 2016

Topic: Dare to Reach Your Full Potential

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Yvonne Bryant-Johnson and Becky Blalock

 

Tune into Change Leaders Exclusive as we talk with Becky Blalock, Speaker and Best Selling Author of DARE, and Yvonne Bryant-Johnson, President and CEO of Bryant & Associates. They will give their expertise on today’s topic of “Dare to Reach Your Full Potential”. Listen in on what it has taken both Becky and Yvonne to become successful in their careers as well as the risks they took as “women” in the c-suite.

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Yvonne Bryant-Johnson, Becky Blalock and James Dallas

Georgia Department of Economic Development Presents Small Business Rock Stars Award Winners

 

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Spencer Nix, Zaheer Faruqi, Mary Ellen McClanahan, Ryan “Redhawk” McPherson

 

 

Mary Ellen McClanahan / Georgia Department of Economic Development
Director, Entrepreneur & Small Business

As Director of Entrepreneur & Small Business Development for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Mary Ellen McClanahan helps find solutions and effective ways to build an entrepreneurial environment to support small business through mentoring, professional development, strategic planning and resource awareness. She also connects with Georgias business and community associations so that thousands of businesses, local leaders and practitioners are aware of resources and opportunities. She also directs any size businesses to the specific resources they need. Mary Ellen is also an Existing Industry Project Manager within the Metro Atlanta region. She calls on growing companies making them aware of state resources and incentives and provides assistance with their growth plans and decision-making process. She also works closely with the local economic developers with their existing industry support efforts.
During her 18 years with the department, she helped develop and grow its regional economic development program, the Entrepreneur Friendly Initiative and acted as legislative liaison. Prior to that, Mary Ellen was the economic developer and president of two rural South Georgia chambers of commerce in Dodge and Sumter Counties.
Originally from Erie, PA and in Georgia since 1973, Mary Ellen serves on the boards of GEDA (Georgia Economic Developers Association), GACCE (GA Association of Chambers of Commerce Executives), Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection, Adv

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Zaheer Faruqi / Aventure Aviation
Founder and President

Zaheer Faruqi has been president of Aventure Aviation since he co-founded the company in 2001. He has more than 35 years of aviation experience, having worked in the engineering and maintenance departments of several major international airlines for more than 20 years before co-founding Aventure. Zaheer is responsible for the success and strategic direction of the company. He oversees the company’s operations, taking great interest in ensuring that the right staff are hired, and that they are provided with the proper training and facilities needed to make their jobs challenging and fun. His favorite part about working at Aventure is forming relationships with customers, to ensure that he understands their specific parts requirements. He also takes great satisfaction in training the Aventure staff to better serve their customers. Zaheer was first attracted to the aviation field by his childhood love of airplanes.

When not working, he enjoys reading business books, volunteering in the community, and helping those in need improve their daily lives. Zaheer holds a Masters in Administrative Management, and a Bachelor of Science in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Technology. He has FAA airframe and power plant licenses, and has completed multiple courses from Airbus and Boeing.

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Spencer Nix / Reformation Brewery
Founder

Reformation Brewery out of Woodstock, Ga. employs 10 people and is redefining what local beer should be. “We built our entire business model on this concept of enjoying well made beer as a gift and sharing that gift with others,” said Spencer Nix, CEO of Reformation Brewery. And Nix wanted to enjoy the process. Many breweries obtain a lot of capital and skip to the largest equipment they can afford, but Reformation did the opposite and started with a few investors and opened a production brewery on a 1-Barrel Brewhouse. They’ve since scaled that equipment to a 3-Barrel Brewhouse, a 7-Barrel Brewhouse, and recently installed the first High Efficiency Brewing System (HEBS) in the State of Georgia.

 Since starting in 2014, the company has gone from zero paid employees to ten and saw $700,000 in sales in 2015. But its impact on people and the community is what fuels their business and has launched them into the new phenomenon of “beer tourism.” The brewery has drawn visitors from as far away as Michigan, and theKeeping Room welcomed 12,000 visitors to its downtown Woodstock location in its first year.

So why start a brewery in Georgia? “Because it’s home,” Nix says. “Home to a growing population relocating from other parts of the country. Home to great small communities where small business thrives. Home to world-class resources the city of Atlanta attracts. And home to where I’m from, and all meaningful adventures start at home.”

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