Trepstarz Podcast

For our final episode of TrepStarz, we recap the journey from idea to action and discuss highlights from all 28 episodes. It’s been an incredible ride and one we’ll never forget. The decision to discontinue TrepStarz was not any easy one, but it will allow us to focus our efforts on projects that impact a wider audience. These projects include 1 Million Cups Daytona Beach, Kickstart Weekend, Volusia Proud, Innovate Daytona, Elevate and other initiatives all focused on keeping great talent in Volusia County, inspiring that talent, cultivating a rich entrepreneurial ecosystem and providing the resources necessary to develop ideas from concept to reality. Our journey is far from over. In fact, it's just beginning. 

For this episode of TrepStarz we sat down with Tiffany Evers, Co-Founder and Editor of East Coast Current. What started as a Facebook page, that acted as the TMZ of town, eventually turned into a paper funded by a local investor. Tiffany was hired as the editor, but after a couple years, the paper shut down. However, Tiffany and her team weren’t ready to throw in the towel. In February 2015, they launched East Coast Current, which boasts a circulation of 10,000 copies per month and is available at over 350 locations throughout Volusia County. Tiffany offers up some great advice on perseverance, community building and following a vision. Tune in and be inspired! 

For this episode of TrepStarz we sat down with Corrine Heck, Founder and CEO of Details Flowers. Before settling into Ormond Beach, Corrine worked for a floral distribution company out of Miami. After years of importing flowers, she was inspired to open her own wedding flower studio. The tedious work involved with calculating orders, drafting proposals, procuring flowers, booking events and various other time consuming tasks is what ultimately led Corrine to pursue a technology based solution. After 10 years of planning, organizing and development, the solution, known as Details Flowers, is available to florists nationwide. Tune in and be inspired as Corrine shares her journey, obstacles, lessons learned and what the future holds for Details Flowers.

For this episode of TrepStarz we sat down with Kirk Girdley, Founder of After Body Meals. After Body Meals is a meal prep service that delivers fresh, ready-to-eat meals directly to your doorstep. The sign up process is extremely quick and easy and your first order will arrive within a week. After Body Meals allows you to spend less time cooking and more time on things you enjoy. Kirk shared with us the journey from concept to launch and what his future plans are for After Body Meals. Tune in and be inspired!

For this episode of TrepStarz we sat down with Stephen Furnari, a business lawyer and co-founder of Ripple Coworking. Ripple is a beautiful oceanfront coworking space in Flagler Beach, Florida. Stephen also operates Law Firm Suites, which are all-lawyer coworking spaces with several locations, including New York, Boston and Annapolis. Through its unique peer-based communities, Stephen has helped dozens of entrepreneurs launch and grow successful businesses and generate millions in referrals every year. Stephen tells the story of converting an old laundromat into a premier coworking space in Flagler Beach. He also shares some great advice for young entrepreneurs and talks about the importance of community. Tune in and be inspired! 

About four years ago, Alex and Victoria left great jobs in the Washington DC area to pursue their hobby of making cornhole boards as a full-time business. After checking out several locations in Florida, they landed in New Smyrna Beach and are now selling high quality cornhole boards to customers throughout Florida and the United States. Alex and Victoria have great energy and very positive outlooks on entrepreneurship and the many opportunities that come along with the journey. Their story is one that many people can relate to. They were both unhappy with their current situations and decided to take action and do something about it. If you have a hobby and want to turn that passion into a full-time business, this is one episode you don't want to miss. Tune in and be inspired!  

For this episode of TrepStarz, we took a little trip down to Flaunt Electric Vehicles in New Smyrna Beach and sat down with co-founder, Kevin Mount. Originally founded in 2013, Flaunt focuses on eco-friendly transportation that’s both stylish and affordable. Flaunt’s top of the line performance product is their electric bicycle. With nearly 2,600 followers on Facebook, 1,700 followers on Instagram and a huge local following, Flaunt is quickly becoming a household name in the world of eBikes. Kevin shared with us the story behind Flaunt and some of the lessons he learned along the way. Tune in and be inspired!  

For this episode of TrepStarz, we sat down with Silas Santos. Silas and his wife are the owners of Brazilian Stylish Waxing, located in Port Orange, FL. They relocated from Atlanta, GA to Port Orange in 2015 with the desire to build a business for themselves while enjoying the beach lifestyle. Their company specializes in Professional Brazilian Waxing for the body and facial hair removal using high quality natural products. Brazilian Stylish Waxing is proof that you don't have to come up with the next Google or build something disruptive in order to be successful. They service a niche market and they do so with consistency and a strong focus on customer service. They have a great following and a very relatable story. Tune in and be inspired! 

For this episode of TrepStarz, we sat down with Adam Pickett and Bill McNeil, Founders of Accelergy Consulting. After starting their own tech companies and seeing a need in the marketplace, they founded their firm to help businesses focus on financial and sales strategies. Adam and Bill have both been in the trenches with their fair share of successes and failures. An attorney by trade, Bill graduated from The Wayne State University Law School and is a proud alumnus of The University of Michigan. He's a natural born sales strategist and an entrepreneur at heart. With an MBA from the University of Illinois, a BA in business from the University of Evansville and over 15 years experience, Adam has worked in a multi-billion dollar corporation, a family-owned small business, and a tech startup. Adam and Bill shared some great advice for new business owners as well as those looking to take their business to the next level. Sales and financial forecasting is a crucial exercise that many small businesses overlook. Tu

For this episode of TrepStarz, we sat down with Travis Proctor, CEO and Founder of Artemis IT. Travis was still in high school when he started his first company providing computer support services to local companies. He learned at a young age the benefit he could provide to companies by leveraging his knowledge and interest in information technology. Fast forward to his sophomore year at the Florida Institute of Technology and that’s where Artemis IT was born. Since the early days at FIT, Artemis IT has gone on to become the premier full service IT Solutions company serving the Space Coast and now employs more than 40 people. On a personal level, Travis has won several awards including, The Governor’s Innovators Under 40 award in 2012, the 2014 Business Leader of the Year in Technology presented by SpaceCoast Business Magazine and the GrowFL Economic Development Program's CEO Nexus Cup in 2015. This interview is full of great advice and insight from a very successful entrepreneur. Tune in and be inspired!

In this episode of TrepStarz, we're joined by Nick Fairman, owner and founder of Go Juice New Smyrna Beach and Go Juice Nosara, Costa Rica. Go Juice provides fresh juices, smoothies, banana coffee and, when available, a fresh poke bowl at the Costa Rica location. Nick was raised in Central Florida, but spent a lot of time traveling the world on surf trips. After college, Nick worked in sales for a software startup. After being on planes week after week, he was burnt out and decided to quit and move down to Costa Rica. Once there, the plan was to teach surf lessons and to figure out how to make enough money to stay down there. Things went in a slightly different direction. Nick made some friends that encouraged him to start a smoothie business. He scrapped together some equipment, learned how to make smoothies, came up with the name 'Go Juice' and dove in. The business was gaining momentum and the idea came up to expand back to the states. They decided New Smyrna Beach was the perfect location. After nearly a

For this episode of TrepStarz we’re joined by Kevin Manley, Senior Catalyst with Florida Venture Catalysts and founder of the Exit Advisors. Kevin has founded, advised, and/or invested in a variety of companies in consumer electronics, medical technology, philanthropic technology, real estate development and many others. In 1995 Kevin co-founded Yesmail.com, an online e-marketing solutions company. He and his co-founders took Yes Mail public in 1999, and sold it to CMGI in 2000 for over $700M. This is one story you don't want to miss. Seventeen years later, Kevin is helping other companies reach similar heights. As Senior Catalyst with Florida Venture Catalysts, Kevin assists business owners, boards, executive teams and investors seeking to enhance organizational value. This interview is chalk full of practical advice and lessons learned that you can apply to your own ventures. Tune in and be inspired!

In this episode of TrepStarz, we were joined by Stephane Kabadi, Founder of Mokonzy IT. Even though Stephane had dreams of playing professional soccer, he ultimately fell in love with technology. Stephane studied computer science in college and started in the late 90s as an IT consultant preparing clients for Y2K, among other things. He eventually climbed the corporate IT ladder to a senior systems engineer position at Microsoft. In the beginning, he never had aspirations of starting his own company. Then he met his future wife, an entrepreneur, who encouraged him to launch Mokonzy IT after he moved from his home of Paris, France to live with her in Palm Coast, FL. Stephane's experience with Microsoft and his focus on the customer service experience have a lot to do with the success of Mokonzy IT. Stephane highly encourages all entrepreneurs to get plugged in to their community, to network with as many people as possible and to utilize as many resources as possible. Tune in and be inspired!  

For this episode of TrepStarz we were joined by David Sawyer, CEO and Founder of The Story of Life, also known as TSO Life. TSO Life is an online tool that allows you to document the story of your life or a loved one through text, stories, pictures, videos and/or voice clips. David’s inspiration to start TSO Life came from the passing of his grandmother in late 2013. He realized a lot of family history and stories were lost with her passing. He began to wonder what it would have been like to capture her voice and to hear her share some of her personal memories. After her death, the grandkids were sharing stories back and forth on Facebook and that’s when the light bulb went off. David has done an excellent job raising money and putting together a solid team, but it didn't come easy. David shares some great advice and lessons learned on raising capital and building a good team. We talk about the romanticism of entrepreneurship and what can and can't be taught. This episode is chalk full of advice for new entre

In this episode of TrepStarz, we're on location at Copper Bottom Craft Distillery in Holly Hill, FL and we're joined by Co-Founder, Owner and Head Distiller, Jeremy Craig. What was once the site of an old dilapidated laundromat, is now home to Volusia County's first and only craft distillery. While on vacation in Rome, Italy a few years ago, Jeremy was hit with a bomb. He was notified that he was laid off from his software sales position. That same day, he and his wife also found out they were pregnant. Rather than go into panic mode, they put pen to paper and began building their business plan. They always wanted to own their own business and even talked about a distillery in the past. Excuses and reasons to say no always kept them from pursuing this venture, but now was the time. As soon as they got home from Italy, they began ordering equipment and looking for locations. They also started the licensing process, which took nearly 14 months. Fast forward to today and Copper Bottom Distillery is pumping out s

In this episode of TrepStarz, we sit down with Shauna Altes, Founder of Maple Box Dolls to discuss her newest startup, a subscription-based doll delivery service. The inspiration for Maple Box Dolls came from a viral video on Facebook that showed a woman in Australia wiping makeup and excessive paint off the face of a Bratz Doll. The comments from moms about where to find such dolls and Shauna's recent interest in subscription-based business models is what caused the light bulb to go off. She spent the next year working on her new idea and developing a plan to reduce the amount of time she spent on her day job and to maximize her time spent on Maple Box Dolls. She also focused on product development and getting a prototype built. Within one month of launching her Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, Shauna raised nearly $15,000, $5,000 more than her original funding goal. Shauna shares some excellent advice on crowdfunding that you should pay close attention to. With 300 backers/orders on hold, Shauna is busy i

In this episode of TrepStarz, we were joined by Kristi Myers, an entrepreneur, an innovator and the inventor of a life-saving medical device called the Yankaddy. Kristi has worked in the medical field for over 20 years as a nurse anesthetist. She would often notice the sometimes unsanitary practices that surrounded the use of a medical device called the Yankauer. The Yankauer is a suctioning device used to clean up bodily fluids. Often times in the ER, when things were hectic, the Yankauer would hit the floor, get haphazardly thrown across a patient or even come into contact with other contaminated surfaces. Kristi's device acts as a "holster" for the Yankauer, thus keeping it in a clean and secure location. All inventions come with their fair share of patent work in order to protect ideas, but medical devices take the cake. Kristi spent months and months of her own time researching patents and securing her idea. Kristi talks about this process as well as her many trips to Lowe's, Home Depot and Walmart to bu

In this episode of TrepStarz, we sit down with Jeff Badovick. Jeff is a visionary entrepreneur that has started and grown several international ventures in both product and service markets. He has successfully raised millions for his own ventures, as well as accomplished mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. Jeff’s mission is to help others achieve business growth and personal financial success through leadership development, as well as teaching his Principles of Exponential Growth and Fundamentals of Funding a Business programs. Jeff believes in giving back to the business community by investing his passion and time where it will add value and benefit for others. In November of 2016, he was a mentor at Startup Weekend Daytona Beach and recently presented at 1 Million Cups Daytona Beach. Jeff talks with us about how he was introduced to entrepreneurship and what impact that had on the rest of his life. At a relatively young age, Jeff left the family business and made his way down to Florida. He worked as

In this episode of TrepStarz, we sit down with Dynamite Obinna, Inventor of the Dynaerobridge. Dynamite left his home in Northern Nigeria for the US at the age of 17. He came alone and, even though he was 6,500 miles from home, he never looked back. His first stop was Philadelphia were he earned a degree in Geographic Information Systems from the Community College of Philadelphia. Not long after, he moved to Daytona Beach and is currently a student at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University studying Aerospace Engineering. Before he moved to Florida, he had the "ah-ha" moment that led to his breakthrough invention. After a short flight from Harrisburg, PA to Philadelphia, PA, his plane sat at the gate for as long as it took to fly between the two cities. He thought to himself, there has to be a quicker and more efficient way to get passengers off commercial airplanes. From this "ah-ha" moment came the idea to invent a jet way that would allow passengers to exit from multiple doors. The Dynaerobridge was born! We

In this episode of TrepStarz, we visited with Delicia Haynes, Owner and Founder of Family First Health Center. Delicia chose to pursue medicine because of a personal experience she had when she was a young girl. From that experience, she knew the exact type of doctor she wanted to be. After completing residency at Halifax Hospital, her entrepreneurial chops kicked in and she decided to open up her own practice. She had a vision and she was determined to see it through. Most doctors are trained to be employees, but in order to fufill the vision she had, she needed to chart her own course and become the boss. She met with colleagues and contacts and was able to secure funding, furniture, advice and everything else she needed to make her dream come true. Once open, things really took off for Delicia. She eventually made a pivot from the traditional insurance based approach to a direct primary care membership-based model. Her active involvement in the entrepreneurial ecosystem has also led to some great opportuni