Listen Now!

Business Talk 24-7

Curated Collection Of The Best Interviews From Our Sandy Springs Studio





Atlanta Business Radio

Talk Radio

Biz Radio U Featuring Rusty Barringer and Andrew Wilkin with HHCard

Posted on

Podcast: Download

Andrew Wilkin

KSUEntrepreneurship

Biz Radio U

Hosted by Adam Wozniak and Darren Parkinson

 

Andrew Wilkin / Bigger Vision of Athens
Executive Director

Andrew Wilkin is the Executive Director of Bigger Vision of Athens and the Founder of Homeless Help Card. Andrew graduated from the University of Georgia and is making huge waves within the Nonprofit Industry.

 

Rusty Barringer / Homeless Help Card
Co-Founder / Managing Partner

Rusty Barringer is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Homeless Help Card. Rusty is a Senior Management Major at Kennesaw State University and has been involved with the Entrepreneur Center at Kennesaw State from its birth.

 

Paul Johnson with Displayit, Kris Casariego with Predictable Success and Casey Graham with CaseyGraham.com

Posted on

Podcast: Download

Predictable Success

 

Paul Johnson / Displayit
Chief Marketing and Product Officer

Paul Johnson joined Displayit in 2014 as head of the Marketing Advantage team. He’s responsible for determining clients’ needs, ensuring Displayit has the right products and services, and making it easy for Displayit Clients to buy.

After working in numerous sales roles – from account manager to vice president of sales and marketing – Paul discovered that true sales success is achieved with a healthy combination of effective product management, smart marketing and consultative selling. Thus, he began his unending pursuit of the “question behind the question,” developing a knack for hearing what others aren’t saying, connecting the dots, and helping people make decisions that solve their problems.

Paul’s never met a Hawaiian shirt he didn’t like. On any given day, there’s a 76% chance you’ll see him sporting one around Displayit’s offices. After work, he enjoys playing guitar, bicycling or learning something new. Paul has a degree in electrical engineering, and once rebuilt a manual transmission with only 4 part left over.

LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook

 

Kris Casariego / Predictable Success
Marketing Director

Kris is responsible for the development and implementation of the marketing strategy for Predictable Success. Before joining the Predictable Success team, she was Marketing Director for meeting facilitation training and consulting firm, Leadership Strategies, where she helped lead the company to more than 40% growth during her tenure.

With a focus on hitting goals, Kris’s areas of expertise include inbound marketing, lead generation, strategic planning and team leadership.

As a thank you for tuning in, you can save 15% on our Public Acceleration Workshop in Atlanta on May 16, 2017. Find out more here! 

LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook

 

Casey Graham / CaseyGraham.com 
Founder / CEO

Casey Graham is a fired-up entrepreneur with a tremendous passion for helping other business owners. Casey’s transparency and high-energy leadership style have made him the go-to voice in the small business community. As CEO and Founder of The Rocket Company, Casey has developed the 5 P’s of a 7-Figure Business as a template of his success to share with other corporations.

LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook

 

Biz Radio U Featuring Zach Sergio with Zurly

Posted on

Podcast: Download

Zurly

KSUEntrepreneurship

Biz Radio U

Hosted by Adam Wozniak and Darren Parkinson

 

Zach Sergio / Zurly
CEO

Zach is a recently graduated alumni of Kennesaw State University’s class of 2016 with a degree in Marketing & Professional Sales from the prestigious Michael J. Coles College of Business.

Currently, he works with innovative companies to change the way companies create quality software with QASymphony, and also disrupt the fundraising industry with the Zurly team.

LinkedIn   Twitter

 

KSU Entrepreneurship Center The Shrimp Tank Featuring Derrick Meek

Posted on

Podcast: Download

GreenSeasonGroup

 

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

 

Derrick Meek / The GreenSeason Group
Founder

Derrick founded The GreenSeason Group because he wanted to do business differently.  His family, particularly his mother, influenced his old school way of doing business.  There’s no snake oil here – for Derrick, business is about honesty, helping others succeed and a passion for excellence.  Calling himself a landscape evangelist, Derrick believes there’s something magical about a beautiful landscape and being able to deliver beauty coupled with an awesome client experience is what it’s all about.

Growing up, Derrick’s entrepreneurial talents were always encouraged by his mother and father – something he’s very grateful for as, he laughs, “I never imagined mowing the neighbor’s grass in middle school to support his fishing habit would later develop into a calling”.

If he’s not spending time with his wonderful wife, or chasing his four boys around, he’s nose-deep in a book, or working on what seems like an ever growing honey-do list.  He’ll tell you his inspiration comes from his faith, his family, and a never ending desire to win.

LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook

 

Tony Merendino with ServIT and Chris Markl with Georgia State University

Posted on

Podcast: Download

ga-state-university

 

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.

LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook

 

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.

LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook

 

Natalie Barrow and Pam Hubby with ArtsBridge Foundation

Posted on

Podcast: Download

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.

 

Biz Radio U Featuring Ty Booyzen with nürltec

Posted on

Podcast: Download

ty-booyzen

KSUEntrepreneurship

Biz Radio U

Hosted by Adam Wozniak and Darren Parkinson

 

Ty Booyzen / nürltec
Co-founder

nürltec is the first company Ty Booyzen co-founded at the age of 20. Ty began the journey at nürltec with his research professor and head of Kennesaw State University’s BrainLab,  Dr. Adriane Randolph, the Director of Innovation at the BrainLab, Steve Krontz, and his personal mentor and serial entrepreneur, Chris Michael Harris. Although nürltec is just getting off the ground they’ve seen enormous interest, indicating that nürltec may be on the frontier of a revolution in the marketing research industry.

nürltec aims to deliver this revolution through advanced neurophysiological tools like EEGs, Galvanic Skin Response, Facial Expression Analysis, and many more advanced techniques that, to date, have only been used in academic research.

LinkedIn   Facebook

Atlanta’s Most Trusted Advisors Features Halsey G. Knapp, Jr. and Jonathan Hawkins

Posted on

Podcast: Download

krevolinandhorst

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.

 

Halsey G. Knapp, Jr. / Krevolin & Horst, LLC
Partner

Halsey is described as an “aggressive and attentive litigator with good trial experience and a strong reputation for business break up cases (Chambers).” Halsey has been recognized by his peers as a top 100 Lawyer in Georgia since 2009 and as a Super Lawyer since 2004, which suitably fits the pre-eminent business litigation practice of Krevolin Horst.  Halsey received his undergraduate degree in 1977 from Cornell University before earning his law degree in 1980 from Emory University School of Law, where he received the Best Brief Award in the Law Day Competition and served as President of the Student Bar Association. His association with Emory continues to this day as a Master, Executive Committee Member and former President of the Lamar Inn of Court and a member of its Board of Law Advisors.

Halsey frequently speaks on jury selection, business litigation and alternate dispute resolution topics. He is also a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal’s Risk & Compliance Journal. Halsey Knapp regularly advises clients on crisis management and best practices with particular emphasis on business arrangements, limited liability entity operating agreements, graceful employment departures, and more antagonistic, high stakes, “bet the company” business divorces and litigation.

 

Jonathan Hawkins / Krevolin & Horst, LLC
Partner

Jonathan E. Hawkins is a partner at the law firm of Krevolin & Horst, LLC. Whether it be as trusted advisor, outside general counsel, or as a litigator, he provides guidance where legal issues, risk management, and business strategy intersect. Jonathan also serves as outside general, business, and ethics counsel to lawyers and law firms and assists them in risk management, law firm structuring, partnership agreements, employment agreements, of counsel agreements, lateral moves, separation agreements, law firm dissolutions, attorney fee disputes, employment issues, and ethics advice. Jonathan maintains a robust trial practice and represents clients in numerous business sectors in high-stakes complex commercial litigation. His cases typically involve significant and complex business fraud, tort, contract, and fiduciary duty claims. He also publishes a blog dedicated to discussing the business and law of lawyering at www.alawyershandbook.com.

 

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.

Rob Brawner with Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, Will Egwu and Jeremy Fox with LawnTap, Skye Estroff with Taste of Atlanta, and Jason Sheetz with Under the Cork Tree

Posted on

Podcast: Download

atlanta-beltline

 

Rob Brawner / Atlanta Beltline Partnership
Executive Director

Rob Brawner is the Executive Director for the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership. Leveraging the Partnership’s staff and consultants, and working closely with the Board of Directors and other stakeholders, Rob leads the Partnership in its broad-based, collaborative focus on ensuring the promise of stronger communities and equitable, sustainable benefit to the 45 Atlanta BeltLine neighborhoods and beyond. His responsibilities include the development and implementation of the Partnership’s strategic plan, as well as capital and operational fundraising – and stewardship of the private and philanthropic funds that support of the construction of the project. He has lived in a BeltLine neighborhood for more than 15 years and has served the Partnership in a leadership capacity since its inception in 2006, rising to Executive Director in July 2016.

Twitter   Facebook

 

Will Egwu / LawnTap
Founder and CEO

Wilkinson Egwu is the Founder and CEO of LawnTap, where he is responsible for the growth and management of the company. Previously, he was an advisor to OpenAirplane.com, a startup that allows you to find, book, fly, and pay for aircraft rental online or with a mobile device. Prior to that Wilkinson was the COO of ShowClix, an online events ticketing company which grosses well over $50 million in sales to date. A visionary and entrepreneur at heart.

LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook

 

Jeremy Fox / LawnTap
CoFounder and CTO

Jeremy loves mobile development and his guitar. The only cool nerd with tattoos all over. Enjoys staying up to date on cutting edge technology and has nightmares of Will calling him at 3am.

LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook

 

Skye Estroff / Taste of Atlanta
Marketing and Media Manager

Taste of AtlantaSkye was born with a propensity for the culinary arts, food and every relatable topic. Her close-knit family always has food as the focus of gatherings. Every tradition they keep circulates around recipes that have been passed down for generations or new experimental dishes.

Skye is a fourth generation University of Georgia graduate who majored in Dietetics and minored in Human Development and Family Science. She considers herself a culinary expert after taking a variety of incredible classes ranging from culinary labs, Food Science and Nutrition Education to Organic Chemistry and Microbiology to Intimate Relationships and Issues in The Family.

Skye wants to share her extensive food knowledge through TV. Her first appearance on WTOC-Savannah in 2010 she was quoted, “I just really like eating”. From there, she aspired to make TV an integral part of her career in food. She sharpened her skills in college by performing food demonstrations at the local senior center. Then, she transitioned to a role with Atlanta’s local food TV show, Atlanta Eats. Skye worked for 2 ½ years with the company as the Marketing Manager. She planned all digital content, social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat), wrote articles and managed contributors. Skye also restaurant- scouted for the show and worked in sales. After a few months with Atlanta Eats, Skye began co-hosting weekly restaurant segments on Atlanta Plugged In (CBS). She has been featured as a “food expert” to recommend restaurants for Public Affairs (Peachtree TV) and hosted regional TV show, Dish Worth The Drive, when they explored the Athens, GA food scene (aired in 48 southeastern markets). Now Skye is Marketing and Media Manager for Taste of Atlanta, Atlanta’s largest food festival.

Whether promoting restaurants, healthy eating, travel or her southern roots, Skye strives to show people the delicacies of life and brings positivity and entertainment on screen.

LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook

 

Jason Sheetz / Under the Cork Tree / Hammocks Trading Company
Owner

Jason Sheetz is an Atlanta native, growing up right here in Sandy Springs.  His love for the area and its neighborhood charm is what drew him back here to open Hammocks Trading Company and Under The Cork Tree.

After graduating from the University of Georgia, Jason began his management career with Chequers       Seafood Grill at age 23.  Shortly after, he accepted a position managing for the Liberty House Restaurant Group.  Working at Atlanta’s highly acclaimed fine dining establishments, Blue Ridge Grill and Bones,  Jason gained invaluable knowledge and experience.  At 26, Jason took an opportunity to work for Master Chef Tom Catherall, (owner of Here to Serve Restaurants) at Goldfish Restaurant. Catherall moved  Jason into the General Manager position quickly.  In 2008 Jason became the General Manager at Twist,  and then the Area Director for Here to Serve Restaurants in 2010.

While working for Here to Serve, Jason met and immediately befriended Chef William Sigley. They  shared  a vision: To open a local establishments where guests could sit back and relax while enjoying  exceptional  service and dine on dishes prepared flawlessly with the freshest ingredients. From this idea,  Hammocks Trading  Company and Under The Cork Tree were born.

Jason and his wife, Lake, reside in Kennesaw with their two children, Colton and Piper.  They all share a love for travel and adventure.  Spelunking, hiking and camping are family favorite activities.

LinkedIn   Twitter   Twitter   Facebook   Facebook

 

Toby Bloomberg with Diva Foodies, Theresa Lina Stevens with Lina Group, Inc. and Terri Denison with U.S. Small Business Administration

Posted on

Podcast: Download

US Small Business Administration

 

Toby Bloomberg / Diva Foodies
Co-Founder

Toby Bloomberg is the co-founder of Diva Foodies which serves the culinary industry including food entrepreneurs, chefs and cookbook authors by growing business through digital and social media strategies. Diva Foodies hosts the popular Tweet Chat #FoodTVChat, the only Twitter chat bringing TV Chefs and audience together in digital conversations. DivaFoodies.com is a digital destination that offers interviews with chefs and others in the food world along with the occasional obligatory food review post.

Toby is no stranger to the world of social media. With the launch of her award winning blog Diva Marketing, in 2004, she is considered one of the pioneers of blogging and social marketing. She is recognized for her expertise in combining digital media with traditional marketing values (strategy, consumer insights/research, and segmentation) while maintaining conversation authenticity. Her last ‘corporate gig’ was heading social media for a national media company where she supported a portfolio of over 70 newspaper, TV and radio properties in using social media as a catalyst to build stronger brand-to-audience relationships.

Toby is a Yankee from Boston living in the South learning to appreciate grits!

LinkedIn   Twitter   Facebook

 

Theresa Lina Stevens / Lina Group, Inc.
President

Theresa Lina Stevens is the founder and president of Lina Group, Inc., a strategic marketing consulting firm that specializes in market dominance strategy, working primarily with technology companies on differentiation, positioning, market selection, marketing strategy and product marketing. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, she is also involved with Stanford University in the Department of Management Science & Engineering and the Stanford Technology Ventures Program.

She has served as Chief Marketing Officer for two Internet-related startups and began her career at Accenture. After several years there as a management consultant, Theresa helped found the firm’s Communications Industry Group. She served as its Director of Worldwide Marketing and helped lay the foundation for what has become a multi-billion dollar business.

LinkedIn   Twitter

 

Terri Denison / U.S. Small Business Administration
District Director

Terri Denison is the Georgia District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). In this role since May 2002, she is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the SBA’s financial, counseling/training and business development programs for small businesses throughout Georgia.

Terri began her SBA career in 1987 as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Agency’s Washington, D. C. District and Headquarter Offices. Other positions included working with the Agency’s Minority Enterprise Development and One Stop Capital Shop programs and Office of Field Operations. In 1994, she served as the SBA representative on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community Interagency Task Force. In the fall of 2000, she was one of seven individuals nationwide selected to participate in the SBA’s District Director Candidate Development Program. Assignments included Acting Deputy District Director of the SBA’s Los Angeles District Office and Acting District Director of the Wisconsin District Office.

As Georgia District Director, Terri has been recognized by the Atlanta Business League, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Microenterprise Network, Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance, Atlanta Business Chronicle and Who’s Who in Black Atlanta.

A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Terri holds a B.A. Degree in American Government from Cornell University and an M.A. Degree in Urban Studies from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She is also a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia. Personal interests include ballroom dancing and travel.

LinkedIn   Twitter