Healthy dose of flavor: Kara Goldin and Hint Water are converting more people into H20 drinkers
When Hint Water CEO Kara Goldin decided to get healthier and kick her diet soda habit, she couldn’t find a suitable substitute. At first, she decided to switch to plain water, only to discover that approach didn’t work for her. “I just really wasn’t a water drinker,” she says. “Then I started slicing fruit and […]
Dropping off drawers: Why business leaders collected 7,500 pair of underwear
You wouldn’t expect to see 40 business leaders spending their time gathering 7,500 pair of underwear. I would have been surprised as well if I weren’t part of the 2014 Leadership Pinellas fundraiser. “Drop Off Your Drawers” benefited Clothes to Kids, which collects clothing for needy and in-crisis children in Pinellas County. All clothing is […]
Why you always have to be thinking about the next step in life
Chris Clawson knew that it was the end of his baseball career, even if his father wasn’t ready to admit it. The future president of Life Fitness had put together a great spring training performance in 1986 with the Houston Astros. He hoped to use it as a springboard to a strong season in the […]
Making the connection: How Tim Schigel and ShareThis brought Internet users together
Tim Schigel sensed where the Internet was headed and developed a platform that changed the way people connect. “I had this notion that people were going to become the center of the Web, not domains or websites,” says Schigel, chairman and founder of ShareThis Inc., a widget featured on more than 130,000 websites that allows Web […]
The Will to Win … Northeast Ohio's Smart 50
Introducing the leaders of the region’s Smart 50 companies presented by Corporate College Cuyahoga Community College, a member of the League for Innovation in the Community College, is a nationally-recognized leader in higher education; as a result, developing innovative training solutions for the business community that make a difference is embedded in the culture of […]
Nature or nurture? How EY decoded the DNA of the entrepreneur
Despite their vital role in the global economy, entrepreneurs are often misunderstood. “By developing new businesses, they create jobs, increase economic activity and drive innovation,” explains Maria T. Pinelli, global vice chair, Strategic Growth Markets, EY. Yet, she says, decades of academic research into the topic have produced no universal definition of entrepreneurship, and no […]
MCO open enrollment ongoing through May
A GUIDE TO OPEN ENROLLMENT It happens every other year as the weather gets warmer and the summer months approach. But it doesn’t have anything to do with April showers or May flowers — it’s the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s MCO open-enrollment period. This is the biennial time in which employers can choose to […]
Why it might not be a bad idea to look outside of your industry when you make that next big hire
In this month’s issue of Smart Business Los Angeles, we learn about Tommy Skinner’s desire to transform the logistics industry. Here are some of his thoughts on how you find the people that can help you drive big changes. Tommy Skinner wants to build a business that transforms the way people think of logistics. […]
John Myers: A letter to startups
Dear entrepreneur, Entrepreneurial support in Northeast Ohio has come a long way since I first got involved with the Akron Regional CHange Angel in 2005. Back then, the term entrepreneur, and all its variations, was just beginning to be used to describe startup companies and their drivers, long before reaching the nauseating overuse of […]
What good leaders have the willingness to do when they know they aren’t the best person to handle a problem
We spoke with EY’s Rick Fezell back in February about transitioning to his new leadership post in Chicago. Here’s a little more from that conversation as Rick talks about the value of asking for help – even when you’re the leader. When Rick Fezell became the new managing partner of the Midwest Region for […]