Innovation City

“If you put the time and patience and effort in, you can learn some pretty spectacular things.”   — Dr. James Carrington Today’s episode was recorded at 39 North in the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and today’s guest is Dr. James Carrington, President of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Dr. Carrington is one of the most highly-cited plant scientists in the world, and he was elected as a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2008. Dr. Carrington leads the Center’s mission to improve the human condition through plant science. With nearly 250 employees, the Danforth Center is the largest independent plant science institute in the world. Venture Cafe St. Louis meets at the Danforth Center once a month. The Danforth Center also holds regular events and brings in speakers.

“The bottom line is: there are always going to be challenges, but that’s why you are there.” — Dr. Samuel Achilefu, PhD Today’s guest is Samuel Achilefu, PhD, the Director of the Optical Radiology Laboratory at the Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Achilefu is a professor of Radiology, Biomedical Engineering, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. He holds the Michel M. Ter-Pogossian Endowed Chair in Radiology, and serves as Vice Chair of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. He performs groundbreaking research in the field of cancer research, including the invention of cancer goggles, which were developed to help surgeons see and remove cancer in patients.

“We’ve actually had several students go on to full-time positions with the startups that they worked with through this experience.” — Daniel Ravicher   On today’s episode, Tyler and Michael are at the eMerge Americas conference, recording at the University of Miami booth. Today’s guest is Daniel Ravicher, Director of the Startup Practicum at University of Miami School of Law. Daniel is a patent attorney who has worked on patents, intellectual property rights, and more. He began his legal career in the early 90s during the Dot Com boom. The Startup Practicum serves as an entrepreneurship clinic that connects law students with new ventures in need of legal advice. Find Daniel Ravicher and The Startup Practicum at UMStartup.com.

“Your approach to business has to be about doing the small things right.” — EllenMarie McPhillip On today’s episode, Tyler and Michael are at the eMerge Americas conference, recording at the University of Miami booth. Today’s topic is the Hyperion Council, which teaches future business leaders how to build strong moral compasses and gives them an opportunity to share business best practices with at-risk communities. Tyler and Michael’s guests today are EllenMarie McPhillip, Kyle Kingma, and Ellen McPhadden. EllenMarie McPhillip is the Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Business Education at the University of Miami Business School. Kyle Kingma is the incoming Secretary General for the Hyperion Council. Ellen McPhadden is the outgoing Secretary General of the Hyperion Council.

“Entrepreneurship has been a little glamorized… there’s a lot of grit and inconvenience in it. You’re delaying pleasure and tolerating pain. I think people need to understand that.” — Chris Nolte   Today’s guest is Chris Nolte of Per'La Coffee. Chris is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Per'La Specialty Roasters, which just celebrated its 2nd anniversary and currently serves over 40 wholesalers. Chris’s background in business development, branding, and marketing made him a perfect fit when his friend Paul was looking for a partner on a new specialty coffee venture. Paul sent Chris a text to see if he was interested (on Chris’s birthday, no less!), Chris said yes, and Per'La Specialty Roasters was off and running. Find Per'La on Instagram at @DrinkPerLa.

“Understand that failure is not something to be afraid of.” — Xavier Gonzalez On today’s episode, Tyler and Michael are at the eMerge Americas conference, recording at the University of Miami booth. Today they’re talking with Xavier Gonzalez, CEO of eMerge Americas. Xavier is working hard to establish Miami as the technology hub of all the Americas; North, South, Central and Latin. In 2018, eMerge has grown to over 15,000 attendees from over 60 countries, with over 1 Billion impressions worldwide. Find Xavier on Twitter at @XG3.

“Miami is young enough that you can come in today with your amazing idea, in any sector, and leave a mark.” — Monique D. Hayes Today’s guest is Monique D. Hayes, partner at Goldstein and McClintock LLLP, where she practices business law, focusing on commercial transactions, business litigation, and corporate restructuring. Monique’s honors include 40 Under 40 Outstanding Lawyers of Miami-Dade County, IWIRC Rising Star Award, Top 20 Professionals Under 40 by Brickell Magazine, “Top Up And Comer” by Florida Trend Magazine, “Florida Rising Star” by Super Lawyers Magazine, and most notably, Monique received the Kathryn Heidt Award from the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. Monique’s professional focus is centered on serving the law, social justice, innovation, economic development, and conscious capitalism.

“Any obstacle that comes my way, I analyze it now, and I’m like, ‘Obviously this is showing up for a reason, I need to fix something or improve something.’” —Amanda Pizarro Today’s guest is Amanda Pizarro, Co-Founder of the Salty Donut. Amanda opened the Salty Donut, Miami’s first gourmet donut shop, in 2016. She was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2018, The Salty Donut was selected to be part of the South Beach Food and Wine Festival in 2016, and they won The Cooking Channel’s 2016 Sugar Showdown. Find The Salty Donut on Instagram at @TheSaltyDonut.

“Being generous to strangers is the biggest test of our humanity.” — Dr. Julio Frenk   Today’s guest is Dr. Julio Frenk, President of the University of Miami. Dr. Frenk is a 4th-generation physician and the former Minister of Health of Mexico. Dr. Frenk has also served as Dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Founding Director-General of the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico, Executive Director of Evidence and Information Policy for the World Health Organization (WHO), and as a Senior Fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has also written three best-selling novels for kids that explain the functions of the human body.

“‘This is great music and people need to hear it.’ That’s the mentality that I like to take.” — Louis Quatorze Today’s guest is Louis Quatorze; video artist, music video director, and arts curator. He produces pro bono music videos for St. Louis’ up-and-coming hip hop stars. Big Louis, Louis the Shooter, Mike Roth; he answers to all these names and he is dedicated to building up the arts and hip hop scene in St. Louis. Find him at LouisQuatorze.org and on YouTube.  

“Rather than compete to get recognition... with social media, you can collaborate. And that’s how we propose traditional businesses can survive extinction.” — Jonathan Allen Jonathan Allen is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of EQ. He is also the President and Co-founder of Longneck & Thunderfoot (L&T), a brand publishing company that incubated at the Columbia University Startup Lab in New York City. He moved to St. Louis in 2016 to open up a Midwest office after L&T won an Arch Grant. Find Jonathan and his companies on Twitter at @jc1000000, @Thundrfoot, and @EQSTL.

“Keep your scope small, and release your first product… that’s really what will get you in the door.” — TJ HughesToday’s guest is video game designer and digital artist TJ Hughes, who produces and publishes games as the independent game company Terrifying Jellyfish. Terrifying Jellyfish is “bent on escaping the mediocre and mundane forever through the exorbitant use of color, playfulness, and  a e s t h e t i c s.” His current project, the food game Nour, has brought him attention on the national level. InnovationCity.co

“There is strength in vulnerability.” — Jim St. Germaine “When I was diagnosed with breast cancer I had to figure out who I really was. Because my whole life was dependent on what I looked like.” — Christine Handy Welcome to Innovation City, powered by Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami. Venture Cafe is the largest weekly gathering of entrepreneurs who are making things happen, with locations around the world. Tyler Kelley and Michael Johnson of SLAM! Agency, a new media content marketing company, interview innovators, disruptors, and creators to see how business is changing in the modern world. Innovation City gives you an inside look at how and why business and culture are changing so rapidly, thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, heightened creativity, and a stronger and better-connected business community. This episode features two amazing guests; Jim St. Germain and Christine Handy, both authors with new books telling the stories of their personal triumphs over adversity. Jim’s book,

“We asked, ‘How can we improve the St. Louis tech ecosystem? How do we get more entrepreneurs off the bench?" Today’s guest is Matt Menietti, one of the big names in the St. Louis startup scene. Matt is the Executive Director of GlobalHack. Before that, he was part of two nationally-ranked accelerator programs; serving first as the Director of Operations for Capital Innovators and then as Venture Partner at SixThirty. A former St. Louis Business Journal 30 Under 30 honoree, Matt is also a former AmeriCORPS VISTA member, and a cofounder of an online resource-sharing tool for nonprofits, GoodMap, that won seed funding through the YouthBridge Social Enterprise Competition.

“I actually make a list of 3-5 things that I need to do, and if I hit those… I know that I’ve won the day. And when I win the day, I just need to win a series of days to succeed. I guess that’s my whole strategy.” — Zach Hatraf Welcome to Innovation City, powered by Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami. Tyler Kelley and Michael T Johnson of SLAM! Agency, a new media content marketing company, interview innovators, disruptors, and creators to see how business is changing in the modern world. Zach Hatraf is the Founder and CEO of Anchor Charter Services, which provides pier-to-pier boat charter services, allowing passengers to quick charter on demand rides around Lake of the Ozarks. Boat owners who want to be captains should visit: Anchor Academy. Customers looking to book an experience on the water in Lake of the Ozarks (and soon Tampa, FL) should visit anchorrides.com. Find the Anchor Passenger App on iOS and Android.    

“I believe in the power of the pen. I believe crafting stories really does change people and change lives. That’s my favorite part.” — Jennifer Pierre Welcome to Innovation City, powered by Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami. Tyler Kelley and Michael Johnson of SLAM! Agency, a new media content marketing company, interview innovators, disruptors, and creators, to see through their eyes just how business is changing in the modern world. Innovation City gives you an inside look at how and why business and culture are changing so rapidly, thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, heightened creativity, and a stronger and better-connected business community. Jennifer Pierre is the founder of Melanites, a toy company that designs diverse dolls, toys, storybooks, and games that celebrate brown boyhood. Melanites’ mission is to show positive representations of boys of color to inspire kids to dream big, stand tall, and cultivate curiosity, adventure, and fun! Find them online at @BrownBoyhood on Faceb

“Not everything is going to be sunshine and roses all the time, you’re going to have some hardships and failure along the way, and that’s ok.” — Ben Triola Welcome to Innovation City, powered by Venture Cafe St. Louis and Venture Cafe Miami. Tyler Kelley and Michael Johnson, Co-Founders of SLAM! Agency, interview innovators, disruptors, and creators, to discover how business is changing in the modern world. Innovation City gives you an inside look at how and why business and culture are changing so rapidly, thanks to increasing diversity and inclusion, heightened creativity, and a stronger and better-connected business community. Ben is a serial entrepreneur; he is the Founder and Developer of DogePos, co-owner of Mauhaus Café, partner and Director of Operations at Rampant Interactive (@TheRampant on Twitter), and a producer and game designer for Happy Badger Studio.    

“With the platform we have today, the challenge really is the maturity of the AI. The technology itself has not found its maturity yet. Every single disruptive technology starts out this way. If you think about the cloud 5 years ago – nobody had anything on the cloud. I think it will take another 2-3 years to get to that mature level.”  — Mallesh Murugesan Mallesh Murugesan is the Founder and CEO of Abeyon, and Co-Founder and CEO of Chirrp.ai. He’s an innovative leader with a passion for artificial intelligence and design. He’s currently working on several advanced technologies, including cognitive computing, business intelligence, and collaborative solutions. Find Mallesh on Twitter @malleshm. Chirrp.ai is a multi-channel chatbot platform, powered by cognitive technology. Chirrp uses Artificial Intelligence technology to build automated chat services that respond instantly to customer questions in order to deliver next-generation customer service. Chirrp is currently working to build AI-managed automatic con

“I realized that if a picture tells a thousand words, than a moving image must tell a million.” — Cami Thomas Today’s guest is Cami Thomas. Cami is a marketing professional, a blogger, and a documentary filmmaker based in St. Louis, Missouri. She is also the creator of For The Culture TV – “The underground network for ground level culture.” For The Culture TV is an underground video blog that features interviews, freestyle sessions, dance videos, mini-documentaries, and short films from Cami and her team, as well as other creators. Find Cami on Twitter at @CamiCruzThomas and Instagram at @CamiCruzThomas. Find For The Culture TV on Twitter at @FTCTVOfficial and on Instagram at @FTCTVOfficial.

“But a calling is then answering that pain, that discomfort, and doing something about it… I think those are important starting places for a hero.” — Rodney Bullard Today’s guest is Rodney Bullard, the Vice President of Community Affairs at Chick-fil-A. A U.S. Air Force veteran, Rodney is also a former Assistant United States Attorney, and a former White House Fellow at NASA. Rodney also serves as the Executive Director of the Chick-fil-A Foundation, where he leads the company’s corporate community and philanthropic strategy, which is focused on fostering youth and furthering education. Rodney’s book, Heroes Wanted: Why the World Needs You to Live Your Heart Out, is available now. Find Rodney on Twitter at @Rodney_Bullard and on Instagram @Rodney.Bullard.