Earlier today I had the privilege to listen to Harris Rosen share his story and business lessons at the Startup Studio Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Harris Rosen has had a truly abundant, inspiring and impactful career. He shared that he currently has 8 hotels, 7000 rooms, and not a penny of debt. More importantly, he has…
Today is my dad’s 80th birthday. My dad has been such a wonderful and positive influence in my life. But what gift can you purchase for someone that has everything materialistically that he wants? I decided to craft this poem expressing my gratitude, some of the lessons I’ve learned, and experiences we’ve had. I’m sharing…
There is something about being high up in the sky that really changes your perspective. You see far more than you do on the ground. Last week my wife and I were on a flight back to Orlando from Pittsburgh. As we traveled over 500+ mph through the air we covered a vast amount of ground very…
We all interpret the world in a unique way based on our past experiences, education, attitude, dominant thoughts, needs and goals. These factors act as a lens and shape our perception of what we experience which cause us to respond to people, events, and stress differently. Each of us also has natural character traits that…
The UCF LaunchPad always seems to have something cookin! Yesterday I was on campus for a lunch meeting and happened to walk through the Student Union. I decided to stop by the UCF LaunchPad, a center championing entrepreneurship on campus, to say hello and am glad I did. I was informed that John Rivers, the…
Today five years ago I decided to start Brand Advance. At the time I had a tech start-up with two other founders and we ran into some challenges raising capital. Investors in the Orlando area, like many other places around the country, were deploying their capital in real estate and buying up everything they could…
The book Rich Dad, Poor Dad changed my life. Interestingly enough it was my then girlfriend (Lindsay), now wife, who bought me the book when we were still in college. Little did she know that this gift would inspire me to move from Pittsburgh to Orlando and aggressively pursue my journey of becoming an entrepreneur…
With the NCAA basketball tournament winding down I couldn’t help but think how many seniors played their final college basketball game. I know how it feels. Though several athletes will be fortunate enough to make it to the next level, most will not. My basketball journey was full of excitement and disappointment. Fun and frustration….
When highly capable team members know their roles, share a common goal and come together, great things can happen. Earlier this week a very successful mentor of mine shared this video with me. In the video you’ll notice proper preparation, no confusion of responsibilities and great synergy from the Ferrari racing team during a pit…
Like many other small business owners and entrepreneurs I struggle at times with the balance of working “on my business” versus “in it”. Creating and maintaining a unique, positive, collaborative and energizing company culture is something that I always knew was important and valued, but it seems that making a conscious effort into developing one…