Atlanta’s Most Trusted Advisors: If you don’t take care of yourself, who’s going to run your company?

March 21, 2016 by ryanredhawk

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.

FullSizeRender-1 — Kevin Kusinski, Samuel Mugavero, Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, Paris Campeau

Years ago, I was struggling with my weight. I learned, the hard way, that exercise alone was not going to help me lose the weight. I started to cook healthy meals, and tried to incorporate

principle of cooking that I had witnessed with my multiple years in the restaurant industry. I got really good at it! I decided to become a personal trainer because i wanted to help others change their life.

Years went on and I started this company because I wanted my personal training clients to see more results! I wanted to help them obtain their fitness goals quicker and maintain them for life. I love to cook and have a passion for experimentation. As the years have progressed, I decided to incorporate the ideals of paleo diet. The paleo diet, in my opinion, is an awesome way to eat all-natural, gluten-free meals that are high in protein and low in calories, salt and preservatives. I firmly believe that this diet can not only help you lose weight, but increase your energy and help you feel like you are doing good things for your body.

Twitter ksquaredmeals@gmail.com

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Samuel Mugavero, Ph.D / Smugs Fitness

Sam Mugavero is the owner of Smugs Fitness; a company providing individual and small group fitness training to people of all ages and abilities including businesspersons, full time Moms and Dads, and high school athletes seeking to participate in collegiate athletics. In addition to our individual and small group training, we also provide onsite fitness and health programs to assist businesses (small and large) in creating a healthy, strong, and productive workplace.

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Paris Campeau / Indigo Wellness

I am a licensed skin therapist, certified yoga instructor, and have a MA in Humanistic Psychology. I have recently opened Indigo Wellness, a full service day spa that will continue to grow into an urban holistic haven for both body and mind. I am a solo parent of an amazing 3 year old, who is my source of all inspiration.

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Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk (Host)/ bbr Marketing 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.

Michael Flock with FLOCK Specialty Finance and Kit Hughes with Look Listen

March 21, 2016 by ryanredhawk

FullSizeRender — Kit Hughes and Michael Flock

Michael Flock / FLOCK Specialty Finance

Founder, Chairman & CEO

Michael Flock has been involved in the credit, collections, debt buying, and outsourcing businesses for more than 20 years, beginning with Dun & Bradstreet and more recently as a financial advisor and investment banker.

In 2007, he founded Flock Advisors to provide M&A advisory and capital funding services to these same industries. In 2013, Flock Advisors became FLOCK Specialty Finance. This change enabled the company to provide more funding solutions to current clients. The change also gave FLOCK the ability to expand its offerings into more market segments that have been under served by traditional banking.

Prior to founding FLOCK, Michael provided M&A advisory support to private equity firms, helped companies reengineer their operations, and led a successful recapitalization of a consumer collections agency where he was interim CEO. He was also an advisor to Croft & Bender, a middle market investment bank.

He earned his BA from the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. During his college years, he served as a White House Intern. Later he worked as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant in France and also did graduate work at the Institut d’Etudes de Sciences-Politiques in Paris. He received an MBA in finance from Fordham University.

Kit Hughes / Look Listen

CEO

Kit Hughes is a typical technology entrepreneur. He dropped out of college to start a company in 1999, spent a period of time homeless, and (slowly) became an overnight success.

Eventually, Kit returned to school as a two-time research fellow at the University of Georgia leading experimental technology research projects exploring mobile computing and connected devices. He credits his business smarts to his studies in strategy and innovation at MIT.

In his agency career, Kit has worked with a variety of B2B and B2C brands across multiple touchpoints: AnheuserBusch, BP, Char-Broil, Coca-Cola, GE, NCR, Philips, Steve Harvey, and Synchrony Financial.

He co-founded Look Listen with his collaborator in punk bands, Paul Sternberg. In 2015, Look Listen was recognized as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the US by hitting the Inc 500 and the 64th fastest growing company in Atlanta, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle Pacesetter Awards.

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Brian M. Douglas with Brian M. Douglas and Associates and Mike Pearson with CBI

March 18, 2016 by ryanredhawk

Mike Pearson, Brian M. Douglas and Ryan Redhawk

Brian M. Douglas / Brian M. Douglas and Associates, LLC

Attorney

Brian M. Douglas, Esq. has always been committed to the belief that a persons legal needs are personal and not just business. This is a cornerstone in Brians approach to law and how he serves his clients. In 2003, when he founded Brian M. Douglas & Associates, LLC, his vision was to create an entire culture that embraced this same powerful concept.

Brian received his Bachelor of Science degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he studied Mechanical Engineering while working full time as a manufacturing supervisor for a Fortune 100 Corporation. Upon graduation, he moved to Atlanta to attend John Marshall Law School, where he graduated cum laude and as class valedictorian. Brian was initially drawn from engineering to law because of his gifts for reasoning and logictwo qualities that are essential for a successful attorney.

Today, Brian is a highly respected attorney with a solid reputation with his clients, colleagues, opposing counsel, and within the court system throughout the state of Georgia. Through his firm, he has taken on very diverse cases, working with real estate law, estate planning and elder law. What Brian is highly acclaimed forestate planning and asset protection. Today, Brian is married to a wonderful woman, Tess. They have two small children who make life a daily adventure, and are passionate about animal rescue and fostering, along with all causes that help promote it.

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Mike Pearson / CBI

Information Security Strategist

Mike Pearson serves as an Information Security Strategist for CBI, a provider of IT risk management services and solutions. Possessing more than 25 years of industry experience, Mike provides oversight and leadership on client engagements in the Atlanta area, helping organizations assess their IT risk and then build a road map to minimize and mitigate those risks.

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Veterans Connect Radio Episode 2

March 17, 2016 by ryanredhawk

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

L to R Joe Sroka, Lloyd Knight, Ryan Redhawk, Brandon Skolnick and Brannon Gray

Lloyd Knight / VETLANTA

Co-Founder

Lloyd Knight is Director, Government, Aerospace & Project Cargo Operations at UPS. He oversees multiple freight forwarding programs supporting a wide range of clients including the Department of Defense, defense contractors, humanitarian and aerospace customers. He develops operational strategies to meet business objectives and ensures UPS remains compliant with government regulations. Lloyd has been employed at UPS since 2007 and in addition to his current assignment has served in several different roles including Government Tender Manager, Global Government Operations Manager and a special assignment with corporate HR focusing on veteran hiring initiatives.

Lloyd retired from the Air Force in 2007 after 20 years of service. During this time, Lloyd logged over 3,000 flight hours as a Loadmaster on several operational and flight test aircraft including the C-141 Starlifter, C-5 Galaxy, and C-23 Sherpa. He also served assignments as a Tanker Airlift Control Lift Element (TALCE) Loadmaster, HQ Air Mobility Command Functional Manager and First Sergeant.

Lloyd founded the UPS Veterans Business Resource Group in Atlanta and co-founded and the Chairman of VETLANTA, an industry collaboration of Veteran friendly/ affiliated organizations in the Atlanta region. VETLANTA mission is to make Atlanta a top destination for veterans. He is an active volunteer for multiple veteran non-profits including American Corporate Partners and Hire Heroes USA.

Lloyd has associate degrees in Aircrew Operations and Human Resources Management from the Community College of the Air Force, a Bachelor Degree in Transportation & Logistics Management from American Military University and a Master’s Degree in Logistics & Transportation Management from American Military University.

He has been married to Suzan for 28 years and has two sons (James & Brandon). Brandon is a college sophomore and James is a soon to be transitioning solider assigned to the 82nd Airborne.

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Joe Sroka / NovaPoint Capital LLC

Chief Investment Officer

Joe has 20 years’ experience in the investment management industry. Prior to founding NovaPoint, he was a portfolio manager at Spectrum Advisory Services and GMT Capital in Atlanta and Epoch Investment Partners in New York. He has also worked as an equity research analyst at Merrill Lynch and ABN Amro. Before beginning his investment career, Joe was an Infantry officer in the U.S. Army. Joe holds a BS from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a MBA from the University of Chicago. He is both a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Chartered Market Technician (CMT).

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Brannon Gray / Victory Lane Vinyl

Founder

30yrs old, Born and raised in Panama City, Fl. Been in Ga 7yrs

Served 3yrs as a 68w Combat Medic in the Florida Army National Guard

Went to Pakistan in 2008 Operation Inspired Gambit.

MMlogo 4 (1) — Veterans Connect Radio is made possible in part by MarketMate

Kunbi Tinuoye with UrbanGeekz, Patrick Lynch with The Frontier Group, Linda Minnick with Linda Minnick Consulting and Sherry Wheat with TeleSales, Inc

March 16, 2016 by ryanredhawk

ABR03.16.16 — Linda Minnick, Sherry Wheat, Patrick Lynch, Kunbi Tinuoye and Ryan Redhawk

On March 16, 2016 we featured Kunbi Tinuoye with UrbanGeekz, Patrick Lynch with The Frontier Group, Linda Minnick with Linda Minnick Consulting and Sherry Wheat with TeleSales, Inc.

Kunbi Tinuoye / UrbanGeekz

Founder and CEO

Kunbi Tinuoye is an award-winning British-born journalist and broadcaster based in the United States. She is the Founder and CEO of UrbanGeekz.com, a groundbreaking digital news platform focused on technology, science and business.

Tinuoye is a sought after on-air contributor, speaker, panelist, and moderator at conferences across the country. More recently she has appeared on MSNBC & Arise News and facilitated a panel discussion at the Spelman College Leadership and Women of Color Conference.

Tinuoye is a former News Correspondent for NBCs African American digital news platform theGrio.com. In 2013, she provided commentary as an investigative reporter on the Investigation Discovery hit television series Deadline: Crime with Tamron Hall.

Prior to relocating stateside, Tinuoye was a senior broadcast journalist for the BBC in London. She is an international writer whose work has been published in The Daily Mail, Londons Evening Standard, Ebony.com and The Voice newspaper

lShe is one of the original founders of Aspire, a support network for ethnic minority journalists in the United Kingdom. The organization has partnered with and attracted sponsorship from mainstream media outlets, including the BBC, Channel 4, Trinity-Mirror, the Guardian and the Financial Times

Tinuoye graduated from Trinity College, University of Cambridge, with a bachelors and masters degree in Social & Political Sciences. She studied a post-graduate in journalism and is an NCTJ qualified journalist.

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Patrick Lynch / The Frontier Group

President

Patrick Lynch is the President of The Frontier Group, a human capital management consulting firm that provides executive coaching, talent management and outplacement solutions. The company has offices in Atlanta and Charlotte. Previously, Patrick had a 25 year career in consumer products marketing.

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Linda Minnick / Linda Minnick Consulting

Sherry Wheat / TeleSales, Inc

Linda Minnick-A student of the sales & success process, Linda studied with some of the worlds greatest sales & success teachers Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Bob Proctor, Wayne Dyer & others. As CEO of her own marketing company, Linda worked with companies and organizations from startups to corporations such as Verizon, Microsoft, Siemens and Coca Cola.

Linda is a sought after speaker & coach who works with individuals & companies helping them build successful sales & management teams that reach both their business & personal goals.

Linda is a personal development coach, sales trainer, speaker, author & PSYCH-K (R) Facilitator. For more information about Linda, please check out her website atwww.lindaminnick.com of LinkedIn.

Sherry Wheat – Sherry Wheat, founder of TeleSales, Inc , and her Inside Sales Team has opened doors for 100s of growth oriented companies for the past 18 years. Her team works with companies that struggle to consistently generate new business opportunities, leads, and appointments with qualified decision-makers.

We are Business Development & Lead Generation Experts, extending our clients reach, designing & implementing Outbound Calling Campaigns, coordinating Integrated Marketing Campaigns that include the telephone, and managing Inbound Lead Follow Up Campaigns.

Sherry was also a member of the Management Team that started and grew a Solar Business in Metro Atlanta to $4M within 3 years.

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Kevin Richardson with Fiserv

March 16, 2016 by ryanredhawk

Learning Insights Radio provides case studies, lessons learned, and leading-edge business practices from learning leaders and TrainingPros Relationship Managers across the country.

Kevin Richardson / Fiserv

Come join Kevin Richardson, seasoned HR leader with a unique background that spans the gamut from small startup companies, to medium-sized growth organizations to global Fortune 500 companies that have also earned Fortune’s Most Admired Companies distinction, as he talks about his thoughts on what drives success in high-change environments and how you as a talent leader find the courage to make it happen.

Change Leaders Exclusive Episode 3

March 15, 2016 by ryanredhawk

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

Topic: Breaking Barriers in Higher Education and Technology

Tune into Change Leaders Exclusive as we discuss breaking barriers in higher education and technology. Gary Humphrey, who is the Vice President of Sales and Business Development at ADAPTURE as well as President of ATP, along with Dean Erika James, who is Dean of Goizueta Business School, join James in today’s topic of “Breaking Barriers in Higher Education and Technology”. Listen in on the biggest risks they’ve taken and barriers they’ve overcome in their respective careers.

Host James Dallas, Gary Humphrey, Dean Erika James

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James Dallas’ Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change is an informative, insightful guide to effectively leading the transition through change. While most change management books present case studies about what happened at other companies, this book is based on the author’s own experiences managing over 10 transformational and turnaround initiatives, 15 acquisition integrations, and 5 operations/quality shared services centers of excellence. By relating personal lessons learned, how they were subsequently applied, and how you can benefit from them, this book provides a unique first-hand perspective on successful agents of change. You’ll learn the qualities and skills required to usher in the new paradigm, and how to break a large initiative into manageable chunks that are more likely to proceed as planned. By crafting your strategy based on proven methods, you’re far and away more likely to meet or even exceed your change objectives.

KSU Entrepreneurship Center Presents The Shrimp Tank

March 15, 2016 by ryanredhawk

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.

Brittney is the CEO and Co-founder of The Dorm Room Beautician (@thedrbco). She began The DRB with co-founders Kaye Thompson and Marcelo Burkard after 3+ years as a freelance stylist for afro-textured hair in the Athens Area in August 2015. The DRB facilitates connections and operations for freelance hair stylists and their clients in college areas. Brittney is originally from Suwanee, Ga where she graduated from Collins Hill High School in 2012. She will graduate from The University of Georgia with a BBA in Business Marketing w/digital emphasis, an ABJ in Broadcast Journalism and Spanish minor in May of 2016. After graduation, Brittney will continue to grow The Dorm Room Beautician and intern for The Wall Street Journal in NYC. Follow her on twitter, @brittneylaryea to learn more!

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Caleb is the founder of Spacey Sciences and is building the University of Georgia’s first satellite. He has worked for NASA as a flight software developer and was a Google Glass beta tester – having helped build the first musical score viewing application for it. He lead the team that won the first MLH, nationally recognized, hackathon for UGA by building a low-cost remote-operated telescope. He currently runs the most popular Computer Science and Astronomy blogs on the tumblr blogging platform with a total following of over 200,000. Caleb is a Computer Science and Astrophysics double major at UGA. His career goal is to further the exploration and monetization of outer space and to help lay the foundation to explore and colonize our solar system.

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Anastasia Roberts has a degree in Digital Marketing from the University of Georgia. She lives in Athens with her two young boys and enjoys watching them play football, basketball, and Jiu Jitsu. Anastasia started Nourishing Business Solutions in 2015 because she saw a need with the businesses around her to have quality marketing in order to grow. Anastasia believes in the freedom entrepreneurship offers to people and enjoys teaching others how to nourish their businesses through effective marketing techniques. You can check out NBS at www.nourishingbusinesssolutions.com, on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Exclusive Interview with Dana Oliver from Medtronic and Author of Mantra Design

March 14, 2016 by ryanredhawk

Mantra Design – Innovate, Buy or Die!, by Dana A. Oliver, is the definitive innovation leadership guide book.

Dana A. Oliver has helped grow Medtronic’s Surgical Technologies ENT / NT division from $100 million to approximately $2 billion in annual revenues over fourteen years. With 30 years of experience and an impressive track record of revenue generation, Dana’s latest book Mantra Design is a must-read for every new product development professional aspiring to introduce premium priced, patent protected, market share leading products.

In Mantra Design, Dana reveals the secrets for profitable and lasting innovation, including how to identify your customer’s unmet needs and how to expedite new product development. He provides an easy to understand methodology in the form of 14 quick, digestible mantras that highlight the power of true innovation.

“Innovation is the lifeblood of any company’s continued growth and future survival,” says Dana A. Oliver. “To this day, I continue to read, learn, and evolve my leadership and innovation philosophies; and I hope that this book is beneficial to the next generation of innovation professionals.”

Mantra Design emphasizes the importance of continued innovation to keep sales teams and customers excited about the products and loyal to the business where they invest their time and money, creating the cash flow vital to a company’s success.

Mantra Design was published in October 2015 and is available for sale on Amazon.

To learn more, please visit MantraLeadership.com

About the Author:

Dana A. Oliver lives in Jacksonville, FL with his wife Linda and daughter “Lexi” Alexandra. He is the Senior Director of Research & Development at Medtronic’s Surgical Technologies ENT / NT division and has helped grow this business unit from $100 million to approximately $2 billion in annual revenues over fourteen years. He has approximately 30 years of experience in the field of medical devices, working for such companies as Medtronic, Genzyme, SIMS Level 1, Kirwan Surgical, and Strichman Medical. He has applied for over 30 patent applications and has been granted over 20 US patents to date.

Dana is a graduate of Northeastern University and ITT Technical Institute.

He published his first business guide book “Mantra Leadership – Don’t Become the Emperor with No Clothes!” in January 2015. His second book Mantra Design – Innovate, Buy or Die! was published in October 2015.

Dana plans to become an independent Consultant and Educator in calendar year 2016 offering expertise in Innovation Leadership.

To learn more about the author or inquire about his services, please visit http://www.mantraleadership.com/

Readers can connect with Dana on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.