business accelerator Archives - Business RadioX ®

Zachary Kepes with Zak Ventures, Nathan Harris with Ease and Jesse Ray with Growth House

October 26, 2022 by Karen

Phoenix Business Radio

Zachary Kepes with Zak Ventures, Nathan Harris with Ease and Jesse Ray with Growth House

00:00 /

Zachary Kepes with Zak Ventures, Nathan Harris with Ease and Jesse Ray with Growth House

Zachary Kepes started Zak Ventures LLC in 2002 and has acquired more than 250 single family homes to his long term rental portfolio. Zachary has been through the roller coaster ride of 2007 and came out stronger than ever.

He flips, holds, educates and puts a strong emphasis on health as the foundation for his success. Zachary combines his wall street business background with his strong relationship building to create his ironman chess mentality on his investment success.

Zachary is from Detroit Michigan. He moved to Arizona in 2002 to pursue his real estate career. Zachary has acquired more than 4000 homes in his 20 year career and has worked with all the major hedge funds. Each home was acquired on a single basis.

Zachary is passionate about physical fitness, dogs and supports various local and national charities.

Connect with Zach on Instagram.

Ease connects diverse and highly qualified candidates, at scale, with the nation’s top organizations looking to hire. Our technology and processes reduce hiring bias by providing companies with an AI-enabled way to attract, vet and upskill often-overlooked talent.

Ease is an alum of the world’s top technology accelerator programs gener8tor and Plug & Play Tech Center and is backed by some of the nation’s top angel investors, CSA Partners and Northwestern Mutual.

Ease is the 2020 winner of Milwaukee Reverse Pitch for creating an industry-leading diverse external talent marketplace that matches the ideal corporations and professionals and allows them to collaborate within a proprietary remote environment.

Ease partners with the nation’s top universities, coding camps, and corporations to create an equal opportunity remote workforce platform.

Nathan Harris is a technology founder and restaurateur with over 10 years of experience in building timeless and award-winning brands.

As CEO he’s led his company through the nationally ranked accelerator program gener8tor, the world’s largest corporate innovation accelerator Plug and Play Tech Center, and became backed by CSA Partners Venture fund.

Nathan also consults organizations of all sizes on how to build brands & cultures that attract and retain the best customers and talent.

Connect with Nathan on LinkedIn and Instagram.

The Growth House offers two unique experiences to help accelerate growth for Entrepreneurs. “You become who you surround yourself with”

3-6 Month Co-Living Community for Entrepreneurs: Surround yourself with other entrepreneurs, attend masterclasses w/ guest speakers, weekly accountability masterminds, morning cold plunges etc…

Immersion (Entrepreneur Bootcamp): Imagine your favorite weekend mastermind/conference, now imagine having one on one and small group coaching with all of the speakers and coaches that were there! Immersion offers an intimate environment which leads to bigger break throughs both professionally and personally.

Change your environment, level-up your association, and change your life!

They are based in Phoenix, Arizona and looking to expand to other major entrepreneurial cities.

Upon graduating from college, Jesse Ray started a career in sales which blossomed into setting company records, being a President’s Club Winner, and a Million Dollar Producer. However, during his corporate career, he knew he didn’t want someone else controlling his life. He sought time and financial freedom, and also realized he has a way bigger purpose.

For 5 years, Jesse struggled with the transition to Entrepreneurship. He lacked the confidence, mentorship and know-how to transition to becoming an entrepreneur. Now that he has officially retired from “Corporate America,” he wants to be that mentor and coach for others.

Jesse’s passions include working out, personal development, and building communities. He now dedicates his life to helping Entrepreneurs and aspiring Entrepreneurs to reach their full potential with the Growth House.

Follow The Growth House on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Selfless Leading to Improve Culture E28

October 7, 2022 by Karen

Phoenix Business Radio

Selfless Leading to Improve Culture E28

00:00 /

Selfless Leading to Improve Culture E28

From first glance and the start to the podcast, you may not see the amazing alignment and similarities between Jonathan and April. We see them though!

Jonathan and April are both very aligned with growing conscious businesses and supporting people in a very selfless manner. What they do helps people and companies grow; Whether it is Jonathan giving advice to other business leaders about how to grow a business and not being ruthless, or April going into the company to guide and coach them to growing their business through the principles of Generosity Culture. They are both supporting the growth of great conscious and caring leaders.

It was great to hear about their backgrounds getting them to this point where they are now. Jonathan grew up and went into the Real Estate business thinking that he had to be ruthless to make money. April gained experience and knowledge from her time in the military that she is now able to put into place with the work that she does helping companies and leaders.

When asked about the favorite part of her own company’s culture, April said, “My favorite part of my company’s culture is it’s all about helping and empowering others. Everything we do is in service to others’ success.”

When Jonathan was asked about his company culture he told us, “Keyser was built off of 15 core operating principles. We are very clear about that during the hiring process, and because of that, I am confident that each of my team members buys into those beliefs. In fact, many of the current members have joined Keyser because they believed in the principles. This bleeds into how we interact with one another and how we serve our clients.”

If you are looking for a podcast with a few passionate individuals that have a strong stance on improving company culture, being selfless, supporting others- then this is it. The two of them discuss the passion to lead selflessly, the importance of being forthcoming and honest, and building a workplace that is safe and provides courage to disagree. There are stories and examples to listen to in this podcast that are great for all levels of leaders to learn from.

Driven Outcomes is a consulting firm that helps accelerate the revenue growth and culture creation of businesses across industries using the principles of The Generosity Culture.

Working with company CEO’s, Leaders and Entrepreneurs, Driven Outcomes drives unprecedented success by modeling the power of pouring into people, clients and the community.

April Shprintz is a Business Accelerator, Speaker, host of the Winning Mindset Mastery Podcast and the Author of Magic Blue Rocks, the Secret to Doing Anything, a book about the life changing impact of a winning mindset.

After spending 20 great years in a variety of industries solving problems, driving growth, and accelerating companies, April realized helping people is who she is, not just what she does. Generating over $1 Billion dollars in combined revenue, April left corporate America after her highest earning 7-figure year to form her own company and expand her impact.

The creator of The Generosity Culture®, April lives her dream helping innovators and leaders grow their businesses through a combination of pouring into their people, their clients, and their community.

A proud veteran, April served for nearly 7 years in the Air Force as a Television News Anchor and Executive Producer. She’s a graduate of the University of Maryland and holds an MBA from the University of Texas.

Connect with April on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Keyser is one of the country’s most innovative and trustworthy technology-enabled occupier services commercial real estate firms. Keyser’s advisors assist occupiers of space with their commercial real estate needs, including leasing, purchasing, constructing, or disposing of facilities.

Keyser specializes in helping tenants leverage A.I. and market expertise to secure commercial real estate incentives and attract today’s workforce while reducing cost & risk. Whether it’s managing, negotiating, or assisting with commercial real estate strategy, our advisors take pride in serving our clients.

Jonathan Keyser is the founder of Keyser (http://www.keyser.com/), one of the most innovative and trustworthy technology-enabled occupier services commercial real estate firms in the country. Along with their international partners, they have over 560 people worldwide.

Jonathan is a #1 Wall Street Journal Best Selling Author for his book, “You Don’t Have to be Ruthless to Win”, and he was named “The Commercial Real Estate Disruptor” by USA Today. He has also been named a “Top Social Capital CEO” by the International Business Times, is a highly sought after keynote speaker, a thought leader featured in over 150 articles, publications, and podcasts, and during the pandemic was recognized as one of the “Top 20 Virtual Keynote Speakers” in the country.

As an entrepreneur himself, Jonathan has built Keyser into an eight-figure firm named recently as one of the Top 50 Most Trustworthy Companies in America by The Silicon Review.

Today through his 6,7,8 Selfless Leadership workshop series, he helps other business leaders activate the three levels of reinvention to boost profits while increasing client and employee retention. Jonathan’s efforts to change the business world through selfless service manifest in his content, thought leadership, and the level of excellence he holds his team to within Keyser.

Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About Culture Crush

Culture is not just a tag word to be thrown around. It is not something you throw in job descriptions to draw people to applying for jobs within a company.

According to Marcus Buckingham and Ashely Goodall in their book Nine Lies About Work, “Culture is the tenants of how we behave. It’s like a family creed. This is how we operate and treat each other in the family.”

As a growing company- Culture Crush Business Podcast is THE culture improvement resource that supports companies and leaders. Our Mission is to improve company cultures so people WANT to go to work. Employees and leaders should like where they work and we think this is possible.

Within the company: Culture Crush has Vetted Resources and Partnerships with the right people and resources that can help improve your company culture.

On this podcast: We focus on everything surrounding businesses with good company culture. We will talk with company leaders to learn about real-life experiences, tips, and best practices for creating a healthy work environment where employees are finding joy and satisfaction in their work while also striving and growing within the company. We also find the companies that offer resources to help improve company culture and showcase them on the show to share their tips and tricks for growing culture.

About the Host

Kindra Maples is spartan racer, past animal trainer, previous magician’s assistant, and has a weakness for Oreo cookie shakes. Her journey working with people actually started working with animals as a teenager (don’t worry we won’t go that far back for her bio).

She worked for over 15 years in the zoo industry working with animals and the public. Her passion of working with animals shifted into working with people in education, operations and leadership roles. From there her passion of leadership and helping people develop has continued to grow.

Then came the opportunity for leading the Culture Crush Business Podcast and she jumped on it. Leadership, growth, and strong company cultures are all areas that Kindra is interested in diving into further.

Shout Outs

We want to thank a few people for their behind the scenes effort in helping this relaunch to come to life. James Johnson with Tailored Penguin Media Company LLC.– It is a small, but powerful video production company with a goal to deliver the very best by articulating the vision of your brand in a visually creative way. Gordon Murray with Flash PhotoVideo, LLC. -Flash Gordon has been photographing since high school and evolving since then with new products that will equip, encourage, engage, and enable. Renee Blundon with Renee Blundon Design – She is not only one of the best free divers (that’s not how she helped with the podcast) but she is great with graphics design and taking the direction for the vision that you have while also adding creative ideas to bring to your vision to life.

These are just a few of the folks that supported the relaunch of the podcast. If you would like to be part of the Culture Crush team or would like to support underwriting the show- please reach out: info@culturecrushbusiness.com

Creating Business Through Collaboration E16

January 24, 2021 by Karen

Phoenix Business Radio

Creating Business Through Collaboration E16

00:00 /

Creating Business Through Collaboration E16

On this episode of Collaborative Connections Radio Show and Podcast, Kelly Lorenzen featured Kyle McIntosh with MAC 6, Felena Hanson with Hera Hub, and Sean Brown at Bliss Realty & Investments. They talked about everything from co-working, to business post-pandemic, to real estate, collaboration, and more.

If you are a business owner, entrepreneur, and/or independent contractor and wondering how to do any of the above, this episode is worth the listen.

Here were a few of Kelly’s top takeaways from the show…

Focus on your purpose
Find your community
Forge new relationships

Bliss Realty & Investments is a full service Commercial and Residential Real Estate brokerage with over 40 agents. George Bliss and Sean Brown handle the Commercial Real estate division representing Buyers, Sellers, Landlords and Tenants. George Bliss is the Principal Owner and has over 40 years experience in the Commercial Real Estate industry.

Sean Brown lived in Arizona for over 30 years graduating from ASU with a B.S. in Economics. He has extensive experience in Commercial Real Estate having negotiated hundreds of leases.

Prior to becoming a Commercial Real Estate Agent, he was a multi-unit Subway franchisee restaurant franchisee opening and operating 14 restaurants over a 25 years period. He was also a Development Broker for Cold Stone Creamery for a four state area. He handled the Franchise Sales and Real Estate Development; creating market development plans, handling site selection and directing lease negotiations. He also built operational teams to support the franchisees.

Sean enjoys being outdoors: hiking, golfing, kayaking, soccer and camping. He has coached both youth soccer and youth golf.

Connect with Sean on LinkedIn.

Hera Hub is a spa-inspired shared workspace and business accelerator designed for female entrepreneurs. This as-needed, flexible work and meeting space provides a productive environment for growing businesses.

Hera Hub is a certified Public Benefit Corporation.

Hera Hub was founded 10 years ago and has locations in San Diego County – Mission Valley, Sorrento Valley, and Carlsbad. They also have locations in Temecula, Irvine, and Washington DC.

The company is expanding via a collaborative licensing model and is building relationships with larger coworking companies to bring the company’s unique programming and virtual memberships to women all over the world.

Felena Hanson is the Founder of, Hera Hub, a spa-inspired shared workspace and business accelerator designed for female entrepreneurs.

She is also the president of the San Diego chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and serves on the board for Startup San Diego.

Felena is a published author and international speaker. Her book, “Flight Club – Rebel, Reinvent, and Thrive: How to Launch Your Dream Business” is available on Amazon.

Connect with Felena on LinkedIn and follow Hera Hub on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Located in Tempe, 10 minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and 15 minutes from Arizona State University, the MAC6 Entrepreneurial Center offers 150,000 square feet of space including traditional and non-traditional private office suites, a variety of coworking office space solutions, and a unique light co-manufacturing space; all in service to growth-oriented entrepreneurs, startups and mid-market enterprise businesses.

With a background in marketing, in various for profit and not for profit companies, Kyle McIntosh wondered, “How can I pair the passion and commitment to community progress of a non-profit with the sustainability and reach of a for profit company?” From this question and perspective a mission evolved to tear down the false distinction between the two sectors and to promote companies with Conscious Capitalism® business models through MAC6.

Kyle is the President and Creative Excitant of MAC6. Day to day, his main operational role is on the “spaces” side of the business, focusing on creating thriving communities in the commercial office buildings, the co-working space, and the co-manufacturing space. The other role that he plays is that of EOS implementer, working with clients to bring the Entrepreneurial Operating System, from the book Traction® to their businesses. Additionally, he sits on the boards of Conscious Capitalism Arizona, telling the stories of good businesses in Arizona, and The Tempe Chamber of Commerce, sustaining Tempe’s quality of life and keeping our community and economy vibrant.

Kyle loves Arizona and wants to see us all collectively find great success based on the awesome things that are happening here every day.

Follow MAC6 on Facebook and Twitter.

About Collaborative Connections

Kelly Lorenzen started the “Collaborative Connections” show to bring her clients and favorite charities together to meet each other, connect and collaborate in life and business. She hopes to build a stronger community one show at a time.

About Our Sponsor

KLM Consulting is a business concierge and project management firm. They help small business owners and non-profits build, brand and brag about their businesses.

About Your Host

Kelly Lorenzen, CEO of KLM Consulting, is an award-winning entrepreneur with over 15 years of business-ownership experience. She is also a certified project management professional.