Innovation City

Today’s episode is the seventh of several highlight shows where we are taking a look back at our top 20 favorite interviews and conversations of all time. Today’s featured guest is Heather Monahan, founder of Boss in Heels. After successfully climbing the corporate ladder for 20 years, she devoted herself to helping women take control of their careers. She is a best-selling author of Confidence Creator, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker.

Today’s episode is the sixth of several highlight shows where we are taking a look back at our top 20 favorite interviews and conversations of all time. Today’s featured guest is Natalia Martinez-Kalinina, General Manager of CIC Miami and Latin America Lead of CIC Global. Natalia is also the Founder of Awesome Foundation MIAMI, a micro-grant leader in South Florida, Co-Founder of Aminta Ventures, and she was appointed by Governor Rick Scott to serve on the Florida Commission on Community Service.

Today’s episode is the fifth of several highlight shows where we are taking a look back at our top 20 favorite interviews and conversations of all time. Today’s featured guest is Pilar Guzman Zavala, CEO at Half Moon Empanadas. Half Moon Empanadas is a serious innovator in the food space, offering 20+ flavors of Argentinian empanadas, and leading the charge to create a whole new food category in the national fast-casual market. Pilar is also a mentor at WINlab Miami, FIU Startup Food Lab, a board member at Venture Cafe Miami, and a Fellow at The Miami Foundation.

Today’s episode is the fourth of several highlight shows where we are taking a look back at our top 20 favorite interviews and conversations of all time. Today’s featured guests are Allison Babka and Lee Broughton from the STLMade movement. STLMade is a movement that wants to help establish St. Louis’ narrative through storytelling and shining a light on the innovators, thinkers, doers, & makers in the St. Louis region. 

Today’s episode is the third of several highlight shows where we are taking a look back at our top 20 favorite interviews and conversations of all time. With over 120 episodes and 2 seasons worth of amazing interviews, the Innovation City and Venture Cafe teams have been blown away by the amount of talent and innovation our guests have and are achieving in their local businesses and communities. Today’s featured guests are: Brandon Curry, Founding Partner of Moonbase Market Sam Abbassi, Developer Relations at Algorand

Today’s episode is the second of several highlight shows where we are taking a look back at our top 20 favorite interviews and conversations of all time. Today’s featured guest is Alejandro Burgana, President & CEO of Brickell Energy and Founder of OBE Power. Alejandro is an entrepreneur working to build up the commercial electric vehicle charging infrastructure in South Florida. 

Today’s episode is the first of several highlight shows where we are taking a look back at our top 20 favorite interviews and conversations of all time. With over 120 episodes and 2 seasons worth of amazing interviews, the Innovation City and Venture Cafe teams have been blown away by the amount of talent and innovation our guests have and are achieving in their local businesses and communities. Today’s featured guests include: Rodney Bullard, VP of Corporate Social Responsibility at Chick-fil-A, Inc. David Karandish, Founder & CEO at Capacity Amanda Pizarro, Co-Founder of Salty Donut

Today’s episode is the last of 3 special shows where we are taking a look back at some of the most prominent themes from our 2019 guest interviews and highlighting them in 3 different episodes. In this episode, we are talking about facing your fears and taking the steps forward to face them head on and accomplish your goals.

Today’s episode is the second of 3 special shows where we are taking a look back at some of the most prominent themes from our 2019 guest interviews and highlighting them in 3 different episodes. In this episode, we are discussing inclusivity in our local ecosystems and hearing how these innovative entrepreneurs are tackling the issue in their own communities. 

Today’s episode is the first of 3 special shows where we are taking a look back at some of the most prominent themes from our 2019 guest interviews and highlighting them in 3 different episodes. In this episode, we are discussing product-market fit with 3 incredibly passionate entrepreneurs who know the importance of market fit all too well. Today’s featured guests include: Mark Young, CTO & Head of Product at The Climate Corporation Elizabeth De Zulueta, CEO of Zulubots, Inc. Matthew Haber, Co-Founder at CivicPro

“Focus. There are always shiny objects, but right now you need to win one gold metal at a time.” — Richard Lamondin Today’s guest is Richard Lamondin, Co-founder & CEO of EcoSystems. EcoSystems is a nationwide leader in water and energy conservation. Richard sits down with the team to discuss how he and his brother started EcoSystems, the importance of speaking your customer’s language, educating others about water and energy conservation, the challenges that come with rapid scaling, his advice for business growth success, and much more!

“[During user testing] You have to know how to decipher if it is a one-off feedback or a common feedback when trying to understand how to build your product correctly.” — Yenvy Truong Today’s guest is Yenvy Truong, Co-founder & CEO of HealthSnap. HealthSnap is a Miami-based health technology company creating a new standard in healthcare by bridging the gap between lifestyle and medicine. Yenvy joins us to discuss her passion for entrepreneurship, how the HealthSnap app works, the challenges of working alongside the medical industry, the benefits of user testing and feedback, helping people easily make lifestyle modifications for preventative care, and much more!

“Take the time to pause, reflect, and be strategic. Have your notebook out and look at today, look at tomorrow, and look at next week, too.” — Carlos Vazquez Today’s guest is Carlos Vazquez, President & CEO of Miami EdTech. Miami EdTech is an education technology non-profit on a mission to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit within today’s educators. Carlos sits down with the team to discuss his journey into the education and entrepreneurial ecosystem, the systemic issue concerning the lack of people of color in the STEM field, helping Black and Latinx teachers gain support and better access to resources, the impact of positive psychology in the classroom, getting teachers excited about technology again, and much more!

“You have to be haunted by your craft. Which means when you're asleep it’s speaking to you and when you’re awake it’s speaking to you.”  — Courtney Orlando   Today’s guest is Courtney Orlando, Artist & Producer. St. Louis native, Courtney Orlando, is an Urban/Soul artist, songwriter and Grammy award-winning producer. He also produced the opening track that is on every Innovation City episode. Courtney sits down with the team to discuss his passion for music and how he got started, what it’s like working in the music industry, his Grammy win in 2013, the importance of business knowledge as an artist, his advocacy for mental health, the new project he’s releasing soon, and much more!

“Before you make any big life decisions, get the people around you, the people you’re going to affect the most by your decisions, to buy in and understand what you want to do.” — Kiley Summers Today’s guest is Kiley Summers, Founder & CEO of SpenDebt. SpenDebt is a financial technology company designed to assist people to payoff debt leveraging micropayments through every day transactions. Kiley joins the team to discuss taking his “year of faith” and how he became debt free, how SpenDebt can help people with their debts, his startup challenges and how he is overcoming them, the St. Louis innovation ecosystem, the importance of getting your loved one’s support for your new ventures, and much more!

“[When working with startups] I’ll take the guy who hits the single every time he gets up to bat versus somebody that you’re waiting for to hit a home run.” — Mary Louise Helbig Today’s guest is Mary Louise Helbig, Executive Director at ITEN. ITEN provides programs for rapid development of scalable tech ventures, engaging experienced entrepreneurs to help others build successful, growing companies. Mary sits down with the team to discuss her passion for entrepreneurship, what makes a scalable business and what does not, the importance of the validation and proof of concept processes, what it means to be a successful startup, the future of ITEN, and much more!

“It’s the one-to-one relationships that I have built that sparked it all, because you meet those people and they are the ones who introduce you to everyone else.” — Sarah Schlafly    Today’s guest is Sarah Schlafly, CEO of Mighty Cricket. Mighty Cricket is a cricket protein based food company whose mission is to transform everyday foods into rich sources of sustainable and superior quality protein. Sarah sits down with the team to discuss how she came up with Mighty Cricket, the benefits of consuming cricket protein, her entrepreneurial journey to getting Mighty Cricket to market, the importance of understanding where and when to get funding, the benefits of having mentors as an entrepreneur, and much more!

“Building the right team is one of the hardest lessons [for a startup], but learning how to build the right team is something to focus on [for scaling up].”  — Jorge Cortes Today’s guest is Jorge Cortes, Founder of MIA Ventures. MIA Ventures’ mission is to engage startups to solve urban, social and environmental challenges through an accelerator program and transform Miami into a global hub for social enterprises. Jorge joins the team to discuss his entrepreneurial journey, his passion for tech innovation, organizing Startup SAFARI Miami, the innovation boom in Florida, his advice to Latin American startups, and much more!

“When we talk about STEM, my endpoint is always innovation … it goes beyond just what we think is cool, it’s about how we leverage that science and change systems so that science can change society.” — Kilan Ashad-Bishop   Today’s guest is Kilan Ashad-Bishop, Biomedical Scientist & Advocate. Dr. Ashad-Bishop is a molecular biologist and environmental justice advocate based in Miami, FL. Kilan joins the team to discuss her dual life as a scientist and public advocate, how environmental influences affect our health, the importance of communication in science, today’s complicated health and science systems, the threats of rising sea level in Miami and its effects, and much more!

“Do your homework, it’s simple. Find out what’s going on and get connected. There are too many opportunities [out there].” — Rashad Thomas Today’s guest is Rashad Thomas, VP, Business Connect & Legacy Projects for the Miami Super Bowl Host Committee. The Miami Super Bowl Host Committee is the liaison between the National Football League, the city of Miami and the local surrounding communities. Rashad joins the team to discuss the Business Connect program and how to get involved with Super Bowl LIV, Miami’s diversity and culture, his work with the city of Miami and the Liberty City community, the importance of networking within the community, and much more!