Teena Thomas / Makeup by Teena

Teena was born March 29,1992 in Kerala, India. When she was 2 years old her family moved to the United States with her two older brothers. Growing up she wasn’t allowed to wear much makeup, but being the youngest sibling of two boys she didn’t have much of an interest. What she did have a passion for was art. She loved painting, drawing and even creating her own picture books. “Art was my escape and a way of creating my own perfect world.”

As Teena got older and entered high school, she discovered her love for makeup. As the years progressed, Teena worked as a freelance artist for Pur Minerals as a vendor in several different Ulta locations. In 2015, Teena attained her Bachelors in Social Science from Kennesaw State University. After graduating, Teena relocated to Atlanta, GA, where she has continued to develop her experience by working with different editorial photographers and modeling agencies including Ford Models.

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Tim Samuel / Sparketh
Co-Founder and Vice President

Sparketh uses its online learning platform to empower young students to reach their creative potential. We are creating an atmosphere that is a rewarding place for both students and professionals. Our goal is to create a portfolio of quality online courses that are as effective as an in-person private tutor.

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Kurt and Kyle Sobotka / Prime Technical Services
President and Co-Founder

Kurt Sobotka started Prime Technical Services with his twin brother Kyle in 2014.  Prime Technical Services is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned small business supporting customers in the private and public sectors.  Prime has been selected as a finalist for this year’s Pacesetter Awards in being one of the fastest growing privately held companies in Atlanta by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

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Jeffrey Stepakoff / Georgia Film Academy
Executive Director

Jeffrey Stepakoff was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He is an accomplished writer-producer and an experienced academic, with a twenty-eight year entertainment industry career that includes sweeping internationally-recognized credits, leadership roles in content creation and production management, and a track record of collaboration, innovation, and success in virtually all forms of commercial media.

After earning a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and then completing his Masters of Fine Arts in Playwriting at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, Stepakoff moved to Hollywood and began writing and producing film, television and digital entertainment. He has “written by” or “story by” credits on thirty-seven television episodes, has written for fifteen different series, and has been a writer and/or writer-producer on eight prime time, or first-run cable staffs. He’s been credited on more than two hundred episodes of popular television. TV credits for which he is most known include the Emmy-winning The Wonder Years, Sisters, Wild Card, Hyperion Bay, The Magic School, C16:FBI, Robin’s Hoods, Land’s End, Flipper, Sons & Daughters, Major Dad, The Yakov Smirnoff Show, Beauty & the Beast, Have Faith, Simon & Simon, and Dawson’s Creek, where he was Co-Executive Producer. Until July 2015, he worked as the Co-Executive Producer of Chasing Life for ABC Family.

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Chris Butsch / The Millenial’s Guide to Making Happiness
Author

Chris Butsch is Atlanta Business Radio’s “Millennial Correspondent.” Author of The Millennial’s Guide to Making Happiness, Chris educates other generations on how to decrypt and connect with his unique generation.

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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

Chau Nguyen / HireWire
Founder/CEO

Chau Nguyen has been an entrepreneur for over 10 years. In 2005, Chau co-founded Campus Special, which was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in the US for four consecutive years. Campus Special reached millions of college students at over 500 universities through mobile apps, ecommerce, and print media. Nearly 4,000 college students launched their career in sales and marketing through his award winning internship program. In 2014, Campus Special was acquired by Chegg (NYSE: CHGG).

In 2015, Chau launched Hirewire, a hiring marketplace where employers can connect with job seekers on-demand. Unlike traditional job boards, there is no need to post a job and wait for resumes to come in. Instead employers can run a search and filter candidates by location, experience, availability, and instantly view job seeker profiles with job history, video interview, and message directly within the app.

Hirewire currently serves 4,000 employers and 100,000 job seekers within the restaurant, retail, and hospitality industry in Atlanta with plans to expand to additional cities and industries in 2017. To date, Hirewire has raised $3.9M in funding to improve the way hiring is done.

Chau has been named one of the Highest Rated CEOs of 2014 among small to mid sized companies by Glassdoor and voted to the annual list of Most Loved CEOs in America 2014 by Inc. Magazine. Chau has a passion for coaching, mentoring, and developing people.

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