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Reno Startup Week: Fueling New Ideas, Fostering Connections, and Building a Thriving Ecosystem · Healthy Happy Wise Wealthy

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Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Healthy, Happy, Wise, Wealthy. And I
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have today a whole crew of people from Reno Startup Week.
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So last year was my first year in Reno and I went to
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Reno Startup Week and it was one of the really
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fun, memorable events of Reno.
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And this year I've volunteered and I am really
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excited to have everyone here with us. We, we are also
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doing a podcast called With Growth Pioneers. So Growth
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Pioneers is a podcast here in Reno that Doug Erwin
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is the host of. And so I am going to bring him up first
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and ask the first question, which is what is Reno
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Startup Week? Well, first of all, I just want to say thanks for having us
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all on your podcast, Mary, and for all your commitment to
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supporting entrepreneurship in Reno. So just really happy to be
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here. You know, Reno Startup Week, this is our third year
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putting on the event, but really what it's focused on is really bringing
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together the entrepreneurial community. It's really a kind of a
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marquee event that brings together a lot
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of learning for entrepreneurs of all types, whether you're a
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startup founder looking at the next AI, you
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know, software platform, or you're building, building a
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restaurant or a manufacturing company. So it's really targeted. Although it's called
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Reno Startup Week, it's really broad based to support entrepreneurs on all
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stages of their journey. And it's, you know, focused on all the things that
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entrepreneurs need. Networking, connections, learning
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and of course, a lot of fun. There's going to be a lot of great
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fun activities along the way. So yeah, oh yeah, I can't
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wait to talk about the fun stuff. So just for the list people who are
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listening, what, what is the date of Reno Startup Week, it's coming up?
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Correct. It's coming up end of September, September 28 through
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October 3. So it is actually a full week. There's lots of programming and it's
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going to be at the Reno Experience District. Everything will be focused there during the
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day and then throughout the community in the evening. Although if you were there
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last year, you do not want to miss the opening party at the top of
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the rooftop at Red. It's like, I think it's one of the best venues in
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all of Reno. Oh my Gosh. Last year you guys got talk about this with
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me. It was, it was amazing, you guys. I,
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I took so many pictures of that sunset up there and then
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the people were great. And then you had Native Americans doing
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in a dance and then it rained when they were doing the dance
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and like, and then it stopped. And the whole thing was,
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it was rather magical. It was Pretty magical. It's hard. We set a high
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bar. I'm not sure that we can cue the rain again, but you know,
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I. Think rain was cued. But, but the view and the
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energy and you know, really just the whole celebration of
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helping people create their business. I mean, I think that's, you know, we do a
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lot of celebration of people that have had really huge success, but
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I think we often, you know, forget that small business and entrepreneurs are
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really the backbone of our economy. And so, you know, being able to celebrate
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people that are taking their comfort from 0 to 1 or 1 to 100 is
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a big part of what we're trying to do. So yeah, for sure. And
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I know there's Startup Weeks, all this is an international
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thing. So with Reno,
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this is a free event for people because it's been invested in
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by Washoe county. That where we're at and Nevada, is that correct?
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Correct. So I think one of the key tenants of Startup Week is
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keeping it free. We want to basically remove any barriers for
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anybody who wants to attend. Super important, right? As we
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cast a wider net, we want to make sure everybody who has an idea or
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has always thought about being an entrepreneur, maybe didn't think that this is for them.
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We really want that to be open. And so the Washoe county
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helped create a grant and that was really the catalyst. But it's
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fundamentally supported by sponsors throughout
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the community. We have local banks and attorneys and
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other entrepreneurial support organizations. So it's truly a community wide
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effort. And that's one of the things I love about it is all of these
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different people have come together to say we believe in entrepreneurial led
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economic development and we're going to put not only our money, but like
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you putting in your time to make this an event that really is
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fulfilling for everybody. Yeah. And so this question
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for anyone who wants to jump in, because I know we have some people who've
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attended and different things, why does that matter that
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it's the whole week is free and there's not a
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$2,000 fee or whatever to come join as an entrepreneur,
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I mean, why is that important? I mean, I'll kind of jump in.
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So my name is Candi. I'm the director of Entrepreneurial Development at EDAWN and
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I, I help with operations and sponsorships for
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Startup Week. And I've been an entrepreneur myself. And so,
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you know, for me I, I remember, you know, when you're starting
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something and every single dollar counts.
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Right. And so we never want cost to be the
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barrier that keeps someone from getting all of
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this great information and networking that takes place at
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Reno Startup Week. So that's. It's like truly one of our core
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tenants of the week is that it should always be free
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for everyone to attend. Yeah, I love that.
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Monica, could you say anything about that? I know you were there last year.
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What is your thoughts on having it be free? Why did that matter?
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Yeah, I think it sets an example for
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the attendees in the community that there is
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this ecosystem here that's really supportive
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of each other and that there isn't this kind of
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like, I don't think pretentiousness is the word, but it's like,
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what is the entry to get access
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to these ideas, to these resources. And sometimes it is
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like a conference that is costly and you can't afford it and
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you don't have support from your own company that you're working for. Like,
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maybe you're like starting out entrepreneur. So I think
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just having it accessible to all is
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like one of our core values, I'd say. Yeah.
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Oh, I can jump in here too. A
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founder and an attendee. And so I'm Allison
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Greene. I'm the founder of Deltium. So working
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on cool science and innovation to help solve the
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world's problems and currently working on mitigating smoke
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during fires. And so this will be my third
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year at Reno Startup Week and I'm helping plan the event
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as a volunteer and just to
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jump in and answer that as well. So when I first attended
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year one, I will say that
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it made the barrier to entry very low,
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very easy. You know, it was. I actually wasn't even
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totally sure of what I wanted to start. And so if there was
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a cost to it, I would have had an extra thought of, you know,
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okay, do I want to do this? But the fact that it's free
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and I'll tell you, I know we'll get more into what it is, but
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I can't believe it's a free event. It's amazing. There's so many
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resources, so much fun involved and
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yeah, it's wonderful. And I think for as a startup
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founder who A, may not know what they want or B,
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knows what they're doing but doesn't have the money to go do it, I think
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it's great. Yeah. Just. Do you guys think that
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just having it be free and having it have an
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emphasis on entrepreneurship that is. Nevada and
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Reno do put an emphasis on entrepreneurship, new business,
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does it fuel more entrepreneurs? Does it fuel more business?
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What do you think of that? I mean, I guess I think the way
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I look at this is everybody has ideas. Not a lot
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of people, not everybody identifies as an entrepreneur. And
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you just like, so much of what happens, especially in early stage entrepreneurship, is
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serendipity. And so we really just want to create the conditions where
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people can. The magic can happen. And you never know, like, someone's got an idea
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and they don't really know, and they go there and they talk to an investor
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or another entrepreneur, and that's the thing that fuels them. So you just,
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you really, I mean, you really do not want to create barriers for that.
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And so I think that the opposite of that is creating a catalyst for it.
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And, you know, there's always debate, well, if you don't pay, are you really committed
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to it? But my ex, I was at the design school at Stanford one
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time and they were discussing how if they put the
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prototype lab more than 100ft away from the whiteboard lab,
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people wouldn't go to the prototype lab. So, like, these
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barriers are real. Like, it doesn't take much to dissuade
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somebody. So we just don't want that to be the barrier
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that prevents somebody from moving their idea forward. Because if
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you think about an ecosystem, it's like a rainforest. You don't
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really know. Everything looks like a weed, but you never know when that weed
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is going to turn into, like, Google or something. I mean, you know, people forget
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Google almost sold to Yahoo for like less than a million dollars. It was a
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very small company at one point, and now it's the largest. And
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so I just am a deep believer at the core that we need to
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do everything we can to create the opportunity for magic to happen.
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Yeah. Thank you, Melissa. We got you back. I have a question for you.
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Why do you think this is important? It reaches all demographics. And
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you're with the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development.
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So I'll let you introduce yourself a little bit and then just tell us why
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you think that's important. Hi. Thank you
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for having us today. Yes. My name is Melissa Saavedra and I'm now the
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new Director of Entrepreneurship for the Governor's Office of Economic
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Development. And you know, it is important, you know, we touched
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a little bit earlier with Doug and Monica and Candi,
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that easy access for all communities is very important,
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regardless of language barriers. We have looked for
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opportunities to engage with our Latino communities, with
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our black communities, our indigenous communities, to see that
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it is accessible to
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participate, receive free education as
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well as, you know, what if the ones with hard of hearing. We
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have set certain guidelines for our Speakers to ensure that they're
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speaking loudly. There are prompts on our screens, there are various
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signage leading to various parts of the event. So we
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want to make sure that we're being mindful
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of all of Northern Nevada. And so we're very excited
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to, to be a part of this. I love it. Could
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you speak also? Melissa, I'm going to ask you just a second question. Why, why
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is this, you know, from a government perspective? Why do you think it's important, the
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government? Why are they taking an interest in entrepreneurship?
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Absolutely. So our office was just created a couple of years ago.
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We're the first office of entrepreneurship chip in the whole
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nation. And so we base this office off of
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the idea that every business has the right
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to start. And we're here to provide
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advocacy. We're here to provide the navigation, the
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tools to allow traditional small businesses, high
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impact businesses, tech business innovation businesses,
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the resources that they need to be able to
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start, elevate. And if they
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want to exit, we'll have a plan for them as well. And to have that
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leverage within state government is very important because if there are
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barriers, we are the ones who are facilitating those
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conversations within state government. If there are issues, if there are barriers,
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we're trying to remove those barriers. You know, if there's somebody who can't get ahold
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of somebody at another department or agency within the state,
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locally, you know, city, county, federal, we step in and
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we are the voice for these businesses. Yeah, I love that
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so much. And you know, I don't, I don't know that we're taught a lot
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about it, you know, through high school and stuff, maybe lately, but
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I certainly wasn't. So I think it's just nice to have
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places to go where you can learn for sure.
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Okay, so right now you guys are having a call for the
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pitch competition. Daniel, is that your area to talk about
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what that is? Not so much. I think I hand
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it off to Candi or Allison.
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Candi or Allison. Pitch competition. Yeah, I'm happy
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to share, I guess the logistics of it. And then Allison
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actually has pitched in the competition before, so then I'll turn it over to her.
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So we've, we've partnered with Pegasus Tech Ventures
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out of the Bay Area. They put on this global competition
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called Startup World cup and we're a
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regional qualifier for that, which is really cool. We're actually one of the last
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regional qualifiers as well before the grand finale
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in San Francisco. And so,
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so yeah, we have our application open right now through
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August 15th. So if you are a startup
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in really anywhere we prioritize Nevada
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based startups like headquartered or operating in
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Nevada, but truly is a pitch competition that's open to
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anyone. So the top 10 from the application
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process will pitch on stage on Wednesday night
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of Startup Week. Awesome.
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So Allison, do you want to tell us about your experience with that and what
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it was like? Yeah, so it was
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awesome. I think as a founder
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in general, whether your startup is brand new or you've been doing
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this a while, while it is great to pitch and practice your
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pitch and figure out how to squeeze everything into, I
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think last year was four minutes and that was
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a challenge, especially as a technical
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founder, you know, it was really, really cool and important for
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me to kind of practice smushing everything into four minutes
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and you know, understanding who my audience
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is and not giving only technical detail, but a
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little bit of everything. And it
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was a really cool event, a really big night. There are
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investors there, there's, you know, room to mingle
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with people and you meet other people who are also
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founders who are also nervous to do this and
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just a really, really cool event. And just
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anytime you can pitch is
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I think super, super helpful. So yeah, I would
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definitely recommend it. Four minutes is not a long time
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either. You really got to get that, that pitch down. I tend to talk
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a lot, I feel like too, so. But I
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did it. Somehow I did it. You got to get the point across. So
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I don't think anybody last year actually had to be cut off. So I
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think everybody did a really good job of getting their pitches like down
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to four minutes. And you know, the application is pretty easy as well. You know,
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it's just sharing, you know, what your company is, what, what you're
15:28
doing, the product or service that you're providing. And then you send us kind of
15:32
an initial pitch deck and then we have a whole committee that reviews
15:35
those applications. So we select, I should add this, we select the top
15:39
10 to pitch on stage and then the 210 runner
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ups this year will be invited to the Startup Fair
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which takes place right before the pitch competition. So it's all
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at Whitney Peak Hotel in their cargo concert hall.
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So from like 4 to 6 we have the Startup Fair where you can go
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and mingle and meet, you know, startup founders. There's a people's choice
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award, so that was really fun for everybody to kind of vote
16:05
on who their favorite startup was in the fair. And then we go
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into to the pitch competition on stage where we have those top 10
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companies come up. So, you know, even if you're a startup and you're
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thinking like, oh, I want to apply. But four minutes sounds very
16:19
intimidating. Just note you can apply and then if you're selected
16:24
you can revise your pitch deck. You can do all of that leading up to
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the event to like truly prepare yourself for four minutes
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which mimics the grand finale. So we want to make sure all the startups are
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prepared for that. Awesome. And do you have to be from this
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area to pitch? No. You do not?
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Yeah, no. So last year we had a few startups
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from the Vegas area as well. So you know, we,
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we really prioritize Nevada based companies in that
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application review process, either headquartered in Nevada
16:57
or operating in Nevada. The application,
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because we're part of Startup World cup, the application is open
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to anyone to app but the
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priority is for Nevada based startups. Yeah, great
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answer. Okay, Resource fair. There's going to be a resource
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fair. Daniel, this. Is this a you question this time?
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I think it's mostly Melissa. Daniel. What?
17:25
I'm just, I'm just here to watch. I just hang out. I mean. Okay,
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we're going to get to you, Daniel. Don't worry. Daniel's for you,
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Melissa. Well, maybe Daniel could help with the times because
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we're going to have two very special, I guess, resource fairs. So on
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Tuesday evening we'll have the Latino Small Business Resource Fair.
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And that is happening I believe about 5:30
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until 7, I believe is what we decided on.
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And it's going to be focusing on, you know, resources for
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the Latino community. And then on Thursday
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from 11 to 1:30 we will
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be having the general small business Resource
18:06
fair. And we have invited our partners, our
18:10
sponsors, but also the resources that are important and valuable
18:13
for our any business or any
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individual who has the thought of wanting to start a business, they will have that
18:20
information available and ready to help them in a
18:24
situation system. We're expecting 50 resources on
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Thursday and we're expecting roughly 30 resources
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on Tuesday. So we're very excited. On Tuesday
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evening that will take place at our Reno Public Market
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and on Thursday will take place at the Reno
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Experience District, specifically at the Element, the hotel
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that's located there. So we're very excited. Monica has been
18:51
very helpful and so between her and myself we've been
18:55
spearheading these resource fairs. So I don't know Monica, if
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you wanted to add anything else. Yeah, Monica, jump in. And you got to introduce
19:02
yourself a little bit this time too. Yeah, I think I, I was caught
19:06
off guard. I thought you were referring to Allison when he called on me.
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Hi everyone. I'm Monica Terrero. I'm the head of volunteers for
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Reno Startup Week. And by day, I'm operation
19:18
analyst at Accio, which is a startup that makes AI tools
19:21
for marketers and agencies. And just to
19:25
echo what Melissa stated, that we're really looking forward to
19:29
having these kind of really two succinct fairs for
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additional resources for not only the Latino community, but
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just the community at large and just
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helping coordinate logistics. And we toured the Element
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Hotel, which is kind of on that red apartment
19:48
campus, and it's really lovely. And the folks there are super accommodating, so we're
19:52
super excited for that. Yeah, that's awesome. There's a lot of
19:56
volunteer involvement in this, so I love that.
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Daniel, can you just answer any question? That's a joke. I'm kidding.
20:08
You have. I know.
20:13
I thought I had it. I just had to make a joke at this point,
20:15
so. Breakout sessions, Daniel. So, hi,
20:19
I'm. I'm Daniel. I'm a Program Manager for Entrepreneurial Development
20:23
at EDAWN. I'm also the head of content
20:27
committee for Reno Startup Week. The
20:30
breakout sessions are really kind of the main content of
20:34
Reno Startup Week. So this year we're gonna have 60 sessions
20:38
during the day where we'll bring in amazing
20:42
speakers, both from the community and from the
20:45
surrounding areas to come in and help inform
20:49
people on all levels of topics. We were gonna have
20:52
sessions dealing with, like, how venture capital works.
20:56
We'll have some sessions with just investors on panels talking about what
21:00
they're looking for, but we also have sessions talking about the
21:03
challenges that brick and mortar businesses face. Startup Week
21:07
really is about all levels of entrepreneurship, and so we want
21:11
our content to reflect that. And Reno has
21:15
so many just great resources and speakers, and there's such a
21:19
depth of knowledge here, which is why it's really great to
21:22
see how many people volunteered their expertise
21:26
when they did the sessions. To speak,
21:30
we had over 100 different sessions get
21:33
submitted for Startup Week this year from just the community.
21:38
And so it's amazing the outpouring of
21:41
support that we get from everybody here in Reno. And so it's just really
21:45
hard. We have to narrow that down to 60 sessions, which is a
21:49
difficult task. Doug and Melissa are on the
21:53
content committee with me. They know how. How challenging it is to really sift
21:56
through all those ideas and try and pick out the ones that are going to
21:59
be most valuable to everybody. But I'm really excited about the content this
22:03
year. Yeah. If I could just add real quick, I think this is going
22:07
to be one of our core values is raise the bar and I just the
22:10
quality of content. We listened to a lot of people from last year. There's going
22:14
to be a lot more founder stories, people kind of sharing their experience in the
22:17
trenches. And of course, I don't know if anybody noticed but like there's this new
22:21
thing called artificial intelligence that seems to be
22:24
around and kind of important. So a lot of like practical
22:28
like how do you use AI to build a business
22:32
much cheaper and faster? And I think that's going to. There's a lot of content
22:36
around that and which is really practical. I'm very excited
22:40
about anything that makes starting a business easier.
22:44
So I think we're going to see a lot of interesting content across the board.
22:46
Founder stories and AI and the whole gamut. Yeah,
22:50
yeah. I will say I don't want to get too specific because I think
22:54
we'll be doing some more targeted announcements but we
22:58
will have some really high profile founders come
23:02
and share their stories. Yeah,
23:05
yeah, just kind of like tease, you know, we've got a pretty major company that
23:08
their founder is going to come and speak and that'll be a really great. That
23:12
came through through a partnership with the Entrepreneurs Organization, which is a great
23:16
group of entrepreneurs who are supporting the community
23:20
and they're helping get us some pretty high profile speakers. So really excited
23:24
this year. Oh, that's super fun. Yeah, good
23:27
job everybody at that. I am
23:31
curious now too. So we've talked about Reno Startup Week. There's a lot that goes
23:35
on to help entrepreneurs and small businesses get started
23:38
that is really no cost and some of you work for these.
23:42
So we see here that a lot of you are with EDAWN.
23:46
So if any of you want to kind of tell us what EDAWN's all about.
23:51
Sure, Yeah. I mean EDAWN is a. We're a regional development
23:54
authority, which is just a fancy way of saying we're a non profit
23:58
economic development agency and we are.
24:01
We're kind of the boots on the ground for economic development in the region
24:05
and we really focus on three things. A lot of
24:09
what you see in the news is like the attraction effort. So like bringing larger
24:12
companies into the area that are expanding or relocating other.
24:16
Other markets. We also do a lot of support
24:20
of companies that are here and that are growing or like once
24:24
they get here, how do they be success? How are they successful? So think like
24:27
workforce development, helping develop programs to create
24:30
talent pipelines and things like that. And then the third thing we do
24:34
is really what our team does which is we call it entrepreneurial
24:38
development, largely that is what I would call
24:41
ecosystem building, which is if you, you know, how do we
24:45
create an environment, AKA our community to be a place where
24:49
entrepreneurs can be successful? And much like a garden needs
24:52
sunlight and soil and water, an ecosystem needs
24:56
talent, capital, customers, low regulatory
24:59
environment. And so we work on all of those things so that entrepreneurs can
25:03
be successful. We work one on one with a lot of entrepreneurs, but mostly we
25:07
do that work through our entrepreneurial support
25:11
organization partners like the Small Business Development Center,
25:15
like the Innovation Center, like Startup and V, all of those different partners. But
25:18
our purview is really about the ecosystem as a whole. And I think
25:22
that's why Startup League is a perfect, you know, a
25:26
perfect demonstration of bringing all of these things together. Yeah, I love
25:30
that. I'm curious about the kind of the interconnection of
25:34
how government's helping and then how the, the non profit is.
25:37
Is going well, I'll just say I. Think, you know, everybody plays a
25:41
role in a healthy ecosystem. And so I think
25:45
that's important to understand. I mean you. It's not all driven by the business
25:48
community, it's not all driven by government, it's not all driven by, by university. Everybody
25:52
has a really important role to play. And we're really happy that
25:55
the Governor's Office of Economic Development created the Office of Entrepreneurship
25:59
and that was really driven by the legislature. And what that really does is that
26:03
helps us create policy, bring in additional
26:07
dollars and resources, whether that's in the form of grants
26:11
for internships, but helping set state policy. You
26:14
know, Nevada being a low tax, low resource state,
26:19
doesn't make as big of investments in innovation as some other states. But
26:23
now with the introduction of the Office of Entrepreneurship that helps
26:26
us bring more money to support innovation.
26:30
And you can really feel this in the North. Our economy
26:33
is fundamentally different than it was even
26:37
six, seven years ago, but much more innovation
26:41
led. And that didn't happen
26:45
without, you know, really a partnership of the university, the
26:48
governments and all the different esos. So I. It really takes a
26:52
village to support entrepreneurships because it's really part of the ethos and
26:55
DNA of a community. So you need everybody's involvement. Yeah, I love
26:59
that. So Melissa, what what would you
27:03
your back add to the why it's important for government to
27:07
be involved with nonprofit and how that works to help with
27:10
entrepreneurs. Yes. You know,
27:13
Carson oversees our embed program which is, you know,
27:17
the innovation based economic development initiatives.
27:21
And so you know, he's helped to bring different programming to the
27:25
state of Nevada. You know, from you Know, Doug
27:28
spoke on the SSBCI program to funding through the
27:32
Knowledge Fund for Generator, Zero Labs
27:36
down in the South, Sage program. And so, you know, these
27:39
programs are what help kick off some of our founders
27:43
for our state. And you know, the Overall goal for GoED is to
27:46
attract entrepreneurs, business owners to come to
27:50
our state. But then we also want to make sure that they have the resources
27:54
and the tools to stay in the state of Nevada. That's our overall goal. What
27:57
can we do to supply different
28:02
everything that they need from, you know, funding to workforce
28:05
to connections with our, you know, partners and
28:09
organizations that are here, local and where can we make those
28:13
connections and connect the dots for them? So it is important for us to be
28:17
a part of it, involved in our
28:20
entrepreneurial ecosystem. And like I said
28:23
earlier too, you know, we are the voice for our small businesses in the
28:27
state. So we are here to amplify. And also, if there are
28:31
barriers, what can we do to communicate those barriers to our lawmakers?
28:34
Are there regulations? What
28:38
red tape is preventing our entrepreneurs from
28:42
being successful here? So we do create an annual report that our
28:46
lawmakers read, hopefully, and then we make
28:49
recommendations on what needs to be done to,
28:53
to move forward. So, you know, that's how it's important for government to be
28:57
involved. Yeah, I love that. And I know you are out and about in
29:00
the community all the time because I see you all the time. So thank you
29:04
for that. I try to be the soundboard, you know, try to listen to every,
29:08
you know, it's important to hear the good and the bad. The success stories is
29:12
important. So, you know, what may be good in a
29:15
community, can we take that and replicate in a
29:19
different community and maybe make some adjustments? What's working
29:23
here could work somewhere else just a little bit differently. You know, our
29:27
lawmakers don't want to just hear about the bad, they want to hear about the
29:29
debt as well. If you watch what happened, what has
29:33
happened historically is government over time
29:37
has favored larger business, like even like a small increase in the
29:41
business license fee disproportionately impacts small business. And so
29:45
the Office of Entrepreneurship was born out of the right to start movement, which
29:49
is really about how do we help government shift back to
29:53
help supporting all businesses. Because just as a nature of time and
29:56
power and all that stuff, it has shifted away in our country. And you've nationally,
30:00
you've seen a decline in entrepreneurship over the last 20, 30 years.
30:04
And so there's a national movement afoot to change that. And so we're just,
30:07
you know, we're on the forefront of it. And you know, you, you kind of
30:10
asked this before, but like, why entrepreneurship? Like, I mean,
30:14
just, I'll just say one thing. Entrepreneurs create
30:18
all the new net or the vast majority of the net, new jobs. So think
30:21
about that. Like, not the big firms, the small firms are creating the new
30:25
jobs. You know, I'm just going to pick one prompt. Engineer
30:29
did not exist two, three years ago. It wasn't even a thing that was
30:32
created by startups. So they, you really have to understand that startup companies
30:36
and small businesses are the engine of innovation and
30:40
job creation, not the large companies. And so that's really,
30:44
there's other reasons, but that's one of the primary reasons to support entrepreneurship from
30:48
an economic development standpoint. Yeah.
30:52
Anything to add to that, Melissa? You're nodding your head a lot. No, because I
30:56
agree with everything that Doug says. And you know, and Doug was such a huge
30:59
advocate for bringing, you know, the first office of
31:02
Entrepreneurship to Nevada. You know, we're the first in the
31:06
nation. So, you know, you know, we're very thankful to Doug who
31:10
advocated for, for this office as well as some others. You know,
31:14
with Heather Brown down in the south with the idea with the right
31:17
to start that every business has every right to begin and
31:21
elevate and grow in our state. So thank
31:25
you. Yeah. Awesome. If anyone's coming to
31:29
Reno Startup Week, are there ways to find out
31:32
about all these organizations there and get connected? Will that be something that
31:36
can happen at Reno Startup Week? Yeah, yeah.
31:40
I mean, that's, I think that's one of the primary things. I mean, there'll be
31:44
through the resource fair, through the mini talks, we're going to
31:47
have lots of opportunity for people to engage in a part of,
31:51
I mean, part. I mean, this is all about people. And so there'll be
31:55
really open access to people that run these
31:58
organizations. Their profiles will be available. So there'll be lots and lots of
32:02
ways for people to connect with the different organizations.
32:06
And just to jump in here too. I remember the
32:10
first, the first year I went, I was
32:13
definitely a little lost. And then honestly, within
32:17
the first day of going to the event, I was mind blown. You know,
32:20
I came out of that week with a business mentor with
32:25
a score mentor, which is another organization.
32:29
I learned about how I can work with the local university
32:32
unr to do some science. I just,
32:36
that resource fair was amazing. So yes, I
32:40
could vouch for everyone saying, you know, you'll come out
32:44
of it being mind blown as well. I'm
32:47
confident of that. I love It. Monica, do you have anything
32:51
to add to that too? I know you're on the, on the entrepreneur side here.
32:56
Yeah, I think it's. I think as an attendee,
32:59
you realize the breadth of the
33:03
type of entrepreneurship that Reno has. Like, I think when we think
33:07
of entrepreneurship, we think of a specific archetype, you know,
33:11
sometimes. And also kind of in our current climate, it's like, oh, it's the
33:14
AI entrepreneurs that are really leading the movement,
33:18
which. Yes, but like, it's
33:22
both. And like, yes, that is true. But there's also these
33:26
other types of companies, like not
33:29
only software technology, but the restaurant industry or the wellness
33:33
industry. So it's like a good way to kind of like, like really tap
33:37
into like the underbelly of what's happening here.
33:41
Yeah. So please attend. It'll be fun. I mean, just
33:45
a fun fact, like only like 1% of all companies get
33:49
venture capital. And so although, you know, we, we talk about
33:52
that and that's great because you see innovation happen with dollars and things like
33:56
that. The vast majority of companies that are the major employers
34:00
are not that. And so I think this is where the partnership with
34:04
entrepreneurs organization is so important. You know,
34:08
most of the entrepreneur. Well, to be a member of eo, you have to hit
34:11
a revenue threshold. And those are not generally
34:14
venture backed, angel backed companies. Those are traditional,
34:18
you know, service businesses, product companies that kind of, like you said, the
34:22
infrastructure of our community. So they're, you know, we like, we
34:26
value all entrepreneurship equally. I mean, I know that the AI stuff gets all
34:29
the headlines and so we're excited. But at the end of the day, if you
34:33
want to create a diversified economy, you want companies across
34:37
all sectors, you want them all to be successful. And
34:41
we're trying to create resources that support that. And part of that is just
34:44
that education process. People often see Shark Tank
34:48
and think, oh yeah, yeah, I need to go get an angel investor. And most
34:52
of the time that's not true. And so I think no is the
34:55
second best answer a lot of times. So if someone comes in and thinks, hey,
34:59
I need an angel investor. And they realize, hey, wait, wait, that's not for me,
35:02
that's a win. Because then they can focus their energy on getting
35:05
a CDFI loan or new
35:09
architecture credit to a revenue base. So I think part of that is just helping
35:12
people understand there's a lot of resources. But what are right for me,
35:15
for my business right now, if we can walk away with that, that would be
35:19
huge. And on that note too, if
35:23
whoever might want to jump in on this, but just for businesses that are already
35:26
established, I know a lot of them. From what I've been hearing from
35:30
businesses are asking about AI and maybe what they can do
35:34
to improve. So is there going to be some things there
35:37
for established businesses, maybe AI or other things that. That
35:41
will be helpful to business, current business owners? Yeah,
35:45
absolutely. As Doug was kind of talking about with the content,
35:48
there's a lot of sessions that will be focused on AI
35:52
and how you can leverage it to optimize your
35:55
performance, how you can make
35:59
your operations a lot more efficient. And even looking at starting a business,
36:03
you can start businesses now so much more
36:06
leanly because if you leverage AI effectively, you can
36:10
have less people involved. And it's amazing stuff
36:14
that you can do. And we'll have a lot of different people, a lot of
36:17
experts who are going to help and share their wisdom with
36:21
what they've learned with AI. So it'll be great opportunities for all levels of businesses
36:24
to learn how to use it effectively. Yeah, that's exciting. And I think
36:28
it could it be like, historically, what do you all think? That it just usually
36:32
the people that start businesses are the ones that have access to a lot of
36:35
money and then it kind of makes it harder for that barrier of entry
36:40
for people who don't have that money. Yeah, I think that's one of the things
36:43
I'm most excited about. AI. You know, you've seen different
36:47
iterations of this like Web 1.0 and SAS. They've lowered the barrier, but
36:50
this is, I think, the first time where you can. Where you it.
36:54
My optimistic view is this will democratize
36:57
entrepreneurship even more. You know, if you can
37:01
build something with fewer people and less resources in the
37:05
beginning, that just opens up that for much more people. So what you can really
37:08
do is de risk your business for much less money.
37:12
And then once you've de risked it, then it opens you up to different resources.
37:16
Historically, it took a lot of money and so it was. It shut
37:20
out a lot of people. But now if you walk in there and say, look
37:22
what I've done on $5,000 and you have proved that there's
37:26
a market that opens you up to a lot more capital. So those types of
37:30
efficiencies and tools really lower the barrier and
37:34
create a lot more opportunity for entrepreneurship. I was going to
37:38
jump in about like an attendee experience. Like, I
37:41
think there is this idea that
37:45
in order to attend that you have to like, want to
37:49
be a founder of a company. But there's so many roles in
37:53
business that like you don't have to achieve to be
37:56
a chief executive officer. Like, you could be really good at being
38:00
a controller or really good at being a people ops person.
38:04
So I think the educational element of Reno Startup Week is quite
38:08
valuable because you can, like, see yourself in many different
38:12
roles that are. That do exist, that maybe you didn't have access
38:16
to before. And what do you all think of
38:19
just the networking aspect of it, of going and meeting other business
38:23
owners or entrepreneurs or all the things in Reno?
38:28
I was actually just right after Monica spoke, I was just about to say
38:32
that, you know, even just as a networking opportunity,
38:35
I think it's. It's wonderful. You know, first of all,
38:39
if you are a founder, meeting other founders and sharing
38:43
your idea and just getting feedback over,
38:47
you know, the coffee, meet and greet in the morning or over,
38:51
you know, you grabbing food during a break.
38:56
But I actually encountered, you know, I shared my idea the first
38:59
Startup Week, and there were some students there
39:03
even that were like, oh, I'm a chemist, you know, I'd love to just
39:07
come work for you. What does that look like? Or there are a lot of
39:10
people from the financial industry and different banks
39:14
just coming to network and, you know, you
39:18
can learn a lot from them about getting business lines, loans,
39:21
and, you know, like Monica said, just being a controller
39:25
or. I. I think it's just everyone you meet there
39:29
is kind of a. At least for me, every
39:33
connection I got made another connection. You know, you share
39:37
your stuff, they share their stuff and what they do, and they're like, oh, I.
39:41
I know somebody. I can connect with you. And so,
39:45
yeah, I think one other thing that's really cool about
39:48
Reno specifically is the whole biggest little city
39:52
thing. And I moved to Reno about four years ago,
39:56
and that is so true. So you have an event like this
40:00
that you. You would get in a big city,
40:04
and it's the quality of something you'd get in a big city like San
40:07
Francisco. But the level
40:11
of interaction with people and
40:15
people are also just very nice here. I feel like it just.
40:19
Everything feels more reachable and you can talk to
40:23
a lot more people. It just. It feels. It feels good. And
40:27
I think that the networking aspect is huge. Even if you
40:30
don't go to any of the talks or anything like that.
40:34
Yeah, I agree. Oh, I was just
40:38
gonna say, you know, yes, every night we have kind
40:42
of a big headline event that's, you know, really
40:46
encouraged people to come and network. And sometimes I think people, you
40:49
know, just think networking in that traditional sense of like, oh, I'm Showing up to
40:53
an event where I don't know people, and I just have to, you know,
40:56
go, like, meet strangers and mingle. And, like, we
41:00
really make an effort to make sure connection
41:04
is happening throughout the whole week and very
41:07
organically, because this is feedback we've received over the last
41:11
couple of years, is that people are like, I just want more time, like, after
41:14
the sessions, to. To mingle with people and chat with the speakers and
41:18
all of that. And so we've. We've really intentionally built that
41:22
time into the schedule this year with breaks in between
41:25
sessions. We have Hub Coffee at Red.
41:29
Red is, like, our designated coffee shop this year.
41:33
So we're really excited to have a place that people can, like,
41:37
connect with somebody and just sit down and, like, talk a little bit longer about
41:41
their ideas. And then over the lunch hours, we're
41:44
bringing in food trucks, and Red has this, like, beautiful lawn
41:48
space in the middle. We're gonna have some DJs from K
41:51
-Wink, and just a place that you can feel like you can hang. Like,
41:55
you. You've been to sessions, you're kind of getting to know people, but you
41:59
can really deepen those conversations throughout the
42:03
week. So I think networking sometimes has, like, a bad connotation
42:06
of, like, oh, you just have to show up to an event with strangers. But
42:10
it. It happens so organically, and when we've heard that
42:14
over and over from the years, that people want more of it. Yeah, I know
42:18
when I first into Reno, which is not that long ago, I went to a
42:21
bunch of different networking events, and I feel like that's where I found my best
42:24
friends. It is. I don't even think I know. So it's like, if you're
42:28
in business and you have an entrepreneurial, like, you know, you might, you know, find
42:32
your tribe of people there that you want to hang out with, too. And
42:35
so. And, Doug, you also have the Growth
42:38
Pioneers podcast. You want to tell us about that for a minute? And is that
42:41
tied in kind of with this whole thing with. With entrepreneurship
42:45
and your passion with that? Yeah, for sure. I think that the core idea there
42:49
was. I just got to have all these amazing conversations with
42:52
innovators in our community, and I thought, well, it would be better if I could
42:55
have this, if other people could participate in that part of one of
42:59
the. You know, so that's. That was sort of the initial thought behind Growth
43:03
Pioneers. But also, you know, as you think about what we're really
43:06
trying to do, we're trying to create a culture of entrepreneurship, and
43:10
we're not trying to replicate Silicon Valley, but like if you go to Silicon Valley
43:13
you don't have to explain what startups are and why they're important
43:17
in communities that don't have as mature of ecosystems.
43:21
It's not always clear why startups are important. Right. And
43:25
so role models are a critical part of that. Like we need to be able
43:29
to show people, hey look, this is a pathway and you can make
43:33
your ideas happen and you can do it here. So that's one of the core
43:36
tenets of growth. Pioneers is to really showcase the
43:40
other the entrepreneurs and the innovators and the thought leaders that are really
43:44
driving change in Northern Nevada. So people a
43:48
see it can be done here but then also can be inspired by them or
43:50
meet them or collaborate. So that was really the impetus behind why we
43:54
started Growth Pioneers. Yeah, I love that and
43:58
great podcast and it's local to Reno. What I'm doing is a
44:02
little bit more national but Reno heavy because this is where I live of course
44:05
and where I meet so many cool people. But if you're
44:09
anywhere else in the country there are startups, startup weeks or
44:13
travel, you know, be proactive and do spend money
44:16
and get the hotel and travel and come. So,
44:20
so for anyone who wants to get involved, you can always come.
44:25
The event hasn't happened. But what, what are other things we're still looking for
44:28
to get involved with this? You know, this as we've talked about before, this
44:32
is a free event. So every dollar makes a
44:36
difference. This is a loss leader. You know, there's this all, every
44:39
dollar that we raise goes directly back into the event. So
44:43
sponsorships are critical. You know, we're
44:47
still working out. I think one of the things that we haven't really talked
44:51
about as much is, you know, something that's deeply important to me and I think
44:55
everybody here is the well being of entrepreneurs. So like we're talking
44:58
a lot about tactics and external game, how do I sell things. But
45:02
really a huge part of entrepreneurship is the internal game.
45:06
And so we are looking for people to help us create
45:10
some wellness opportunities. Whether that's meditation or breath
45:13
work or I'd love to have massage.
45:17
We have this really cool geodesic dome that the city
45:21
had for the western lights. And so we're looking
45:24
to activate that. So
45:29
yoga, all of those things. So we're still looking for people to help us activate
45:32
that. And I don't know, Monica, you've got a bunch of DJs. I
45:36
mean it's going to be really fun this year too. Got Music, there's going to
45:39
be art, there's all sorts of fun things that are happening. Yeah. So
45:42
why the emphasis on health and wellness? That's how we're, you know, we haven't talked
45:46
about that yet. Well, I think,
45:50
look, I think if you don't have your mind right
45:53
or you're not aligned, you're going to create something from the
45:57
wrong, from a place that's not the most effective. So, you know, having
46:01
been and worked with coaches and worked with lots of entrepreneurs, I think some
46:05
of the energy that drives entrepreneurship can also be
46:09
not the most helpful. Like it can be kind of a double edged sword. And
46:12
so my personal mission is to help get aligned
46:16
entrepreneurs. So I just. Plus, I mean, look, it's
46:19
like having a child and it's thankless at the top
46:23
sometimes and it's hard. And so making sure that you
46:27
take good care of yourself is the right thing to do for
46:31
your company, your people, all of those things. You can't
46:35
really separate out those things. I just think that
46:39
we haven't always talked about this and I think it's a really critical
46:42
component. If you look at YPO or
46:46
EO, the origins of why these organizations were created was
46:50
really around loss, around founders that took their
46:54
own lives. And so at the core, you
46:58
know, we want to do things that really help
47:01
entrepreneurs deal with the complications of this. I
47:05
mean it is very hard to go from something to nothing. And
47:08
it really is best done as a team sport.
47:12
And the community of support is here and we want to provide
47:15
those modalities to help people navigate the
47:19
complexity, whether it's, you know, education or internal or
47:22
anything along those lines. So Candi, maybe you have,
47:27
I'll add to that. I mean, I love wellness as well. Like I'm a
47:31
yoga instructor and yogi and like have practiced that
47:35
and I really got into that while I was an entrepreneur. Like I don't, I
47:38
don't know that I would have, I guess gotten that
47:42
curious about like myself and how I operate if I
47:45
hadn't stepped into that entrepreneur role. So to me,
47:49
like Doug said, they just go hand in hand. And then
47:53
also, I mean to be really like tactical, like even
47:56
Reno Startup Week in itself can be a long week. Like
48:00
there's a lot happening and you're taking in like all of this new
48:04
information and new connections and it's really exciting.
48:08
But then we want to, to give people the downtime as
48:11
well of like, how do you integrate that? How can you just take a few
48:15
moments to like reflect and find silence in this week where
48:19
there's so much happening. And so that's. We're. We're super
48:23
excited. We're calling it, like our decompression dome of, like,
48:26
activities in there and just a space where, again, you can find
48:30
that, like, peace. Last year when we were at the Paloma, people were just,
48:34
like, lounging on the couches and like, sitting and meditating, and
48:38
we wanted to still bring that into red. And then, you know,
48:42
with this being a free event, I think it's another great
48:45
opportunity for founders to have access to these modalities
48:49
that maybe they've never tried before or they. They wouldn't
48:53
try unless they were in a setting like this. So,
48:57
you know, a lot of people are like, I've never been to a yoga class.
48:59
I've never tried a sound bad path. I've never even tried meditating. So
49:03
it's a really accessible kind of format and
49:06
place to do that. I love that. I really. I love so much that
49:10
these modalities are coming into more commonplace and being integrated in
49:14
all the areas in work, you know, where we all need it too. So. And
49:17
I'm seeing that happen a lot, and I love it. Can you guys all just
49:21
give me as. As we kind of wrap up
49:25
what you're most looking for forward to in this or anything that's just the
49:28
most exciting for you. And. And then
49:32
someone talk about the closing party when we do that. Daniel.
49:36
Daniel. Poor
49:40
Daniel. It's like he has so much information. He's hardly spoken this whole time.
49:43
No, I'm kidding.
49:47
Yeah, I'm. For me, I think the.
49:50
I'm most excited to see the. The new connections that people make.
49:57
I always get really inspired seeing the growth that happens out of these weeks.
50:01
So I was there. I've been an organizer for all three years for. For
50:05
Startup Week. And I remember last year,
50:10
my. My favorite moment of last year was watching Allison pitch
50:13
at the World cup, because I remember having her come
50:17
to the first weekend like, oh, I kind of have ideas for business, but I,
50:20
you know, don't really know what I want to do. And now you're pitching to
50:24
go on to, you know, pitch for a million dollars. That's just such
50:27
an amazing impact that we can see this week has
50:31
on people. And it's. It's tangible and it's.
50:35
It's just really great. And so that's always my favorite part is just to
50:39
see that all the work that goes into this, all the community partnerships,
50:43
all the long nights, it means something at the end of the Day. And
50:46
we are. We are able to make a difference and impact people's lives.
50:50
And so that's always what I look forward to the most. Yeah.
50:54
Thanks, Daniel. And tell us about closing night.
50:58
So closing night, it'll be a really great event. We're
51:01
going to be out on fourth street in the. In the Brewery district.
51:06
This year, we are partnering with Offbeat Music Festival for the
51:10
first time, which will be a really great collaboration.
51:13
So the Offbeat Music Festival, their opening
51:18
concert is going to be at the closing party for
51:21
Reno Startup Week. So we're gonna butt up right up against each other.
51:26
It's gonna be so much fun. We'll have a great talk
51:29
beforehand for all the Startup Week attendees, and then that'll flow
51:33
right into a concert next door or. And
51:37
that's, like I said, that's all going to be in the Brewery district, which is
51:40
really up and coming. There's a lot of great renovations going on down in that
51:44
area. And so it'll be a great opportunity to kind of see a new part
51:46
of Reno come into life and just being
51:50
able to enjoy the music festival and just, you know, the week
51:54
is. It's a long week for everybody, for people who attended, for people who organized
51:58
it. And so the closing party is really just an opportunity
52:02
for everybody to celebrate a little bit.
52:05
Entrepreneurship is hard, and I think this whole week is in
52:09
itself an opportunity to celebrate and
52:12
just really cherish those times that we all put in. And so just
52:16
wait for us to come together and party a little bit. Yeah,
52:21
can't wait. Monica, what are you looking forward to? And
52:25
you've got a lot of volunteering. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to
52:29
getting to know the volunteers more and then also getting
52:33
to know folks who, like, as we get closer to the
52:37
event, also want to volunteer. I think
52:40
what I really like doing as a community member is
52:44
like being a social architect of sorts. So I want
52:47
to have the volunteers volunteer
52:51
at an event or at a session that's going to set them up
52:55
for success or, like, percolate their own interests and
52:58
why they wanted to volunteer with us. So I think also just
53:02
like, expressing gratitude to them too, by just working with them
53:06
throughout the week. Like, I'm just really looking forward to that. Yeah, love
53:09
it. Who's next?
53:13
Melissa? I
53:17
feel that I'm the most excited about how our Impact Committee
53:20
has made such an impact this year. You know, we are
53:24
bringing different types of sessions this year, different types
53:28
of events. You know, with. This is the first year that we're implementing
53:32
Latino Night. And it's going to be about free
53:35
resources celebration. You know, there may be some special
53:39
treats when you arrive. And I'm really excited
53:43
to implement all these different types of communities in into Reno
53:46
Startup Week. From culture to business to
53:50
entrepreneurship. I mean, you name it. I am
53:54
very grateful for the Impact Committee that
53:57
has stepped up this year because without them, I wouldn't be able to
54:02
be able to provide feedback to other members
54:05
of this committee. So I'm so excited and I'm so looking forward to how we're
54:09
celebrating this year. I love it. Allison, what about you?
54:14
I think as a result too, of the Impact Committee and
54:17
more sponsorships, I think this event just gets a little bit
54:21
bigger every year. And so I'm just excited to
54:25
meet new people and see what Reno has to offer. I think
54:29
historically the startup
54:33
culture wasn't always big until,
54:38
you know, you guys started this. So I'm kind of excited to
54:42
see what's coming. And, you know, over the past many years, people have
54:46
moved from the Bay Area and Reno's becoming more of
54:49
this hub. So I'm excited to just meet new people and see what.
54:54
What new startups there are. Yeah, I love it.
54:57
Candi, what about you? Yeah, this one's
55:01
really hard for me to answer because sitting on the operations
55:04
committee, I get, like, the inside scoop of all the cool things that
55:08
we're doing. So, like, it's impossible for me to pick even
55:12
one night. Like, I don't mean to tease too many things, but
55:16
like, fire dancers, live music, like,
55:19
pitch competition, like, there's. There's literally going to be a lot.
55:24
I know we mentioned, like, the opening party and the. Or, well,
55:27
the. The rooftop party last year was the closing night. And,
55:32
like, so many people are just like, this was amazing with, like, the dancers. And
55:35
so I feel like my operations committee has really taken it upon
55:39
themselves to be like, we're gonna, like, outdo that, right? Like,
55:43
how do we do that every night? And so we have so much good stuff
55:46
in store and also just huge shout out to
55:50
really all of the volunteers. We call them the launch crew
55:54
that get this thing up and going. There's like 40 plus people that serve
55:58
on all of our committees. So I know sometimes we become like
56:01
the face of it, leading each committee, but there's so many people bringing
56:05
so many ideas into this week. So,
56:09
yeah, I'm really excited for. I guess if I have to
56:13
sum it up. Okay, sorry, that was really lengthy answer. But summing it up,
56:17
really being at Red, the Reno Experience district as like, our
56:21
home Base this year, I think, is going to really makes
56:24
for some very cool vibes throughout the whole week. Just
56:28
giving us a place to kind of call home and, like, meet and mingle
56:32
and connect every day will be really cool.
56:36
Wonderful. Doug, what are your thoughts
56:39
and take us home. You might have some other questions, too.
56:42
Honestly? Yeah, I think. I mean, just for me,
56:46
I'm just super humbled by the fact that so many people have come together
56:51
to make this happen. Right. I mean, take from my
56:54
perspective. I've been doing this work for 13 years. And we first started, people thought
56:58
we were crazy, and now there's an entire community of
57:01
people who are willing to give their most valuable resources their time for the
57:05
benefit of the entrepreneurs. And that, to me, is
57:08
just deeply humbling. I'm very
57:12
excited about so many elements of it, but I have
57:16
called in some of my friends and entrepreneurial buddies from
57:19
around the country that will be coming in and sharing some of their wisdom. So
57:23
I'm really excited to share our community with some people that are near and dear
57:27
to my heart, that have been very impactful in their own communities.
57:31
So there's, you know, that's part of it. And just. I
57:34
don't know, I just love seeing the culture
57:38
evolve and the fact that we are casting a wider and wider net. And
57:42
it's not just lip service. We're working really hard at making sure
57:46
everybody that can be there will be there. So I think that
57:50
that feels great. And then, you know,
57:53
I'm excited about all the music. Honestly, I'm a big music fan, so, like,
57:57
daytime DJs, or maybe like some morning music partnering with
58:01
Offbeat. I mean, like, it's like chocolate and peanut
58:05
butter. They go really well together. I'm really excited. Like, it's cool. It's gonna be
58:08
super fun. So, um, yeah, I just. I mean, every aspect
58:12
of this, I just feel like this is like the culmination. This is a. It's
58:15
a beautiful demonstration of what an ecosystem is. I mean,
58:20
like, this is a network. Like, entrepreneurs live in networks,
58:23
and we're creating a magical network that will
58:27
hopefully have these emergent things that come out of it. So I, you know,
58:30
I. I'm just excited to see what comes out of it. I know that the
58:34
programming and the content, all that will be amazing and it'll be super fun.
58:38
And then, you know, this is. We'll just have to see
58:41
what the net result of this is. Usually it takes a while to really
58:45
feel that, but I think just year over year and just by
58:49
seeing the amount the amount of businesses and the sophistication level, the founders and all
58:52
of that keeps increasing. I think we're just. It's just going to keep
58:56
seeing more great things come out of it. So it's hard for me to say
59:00
one thing. I'm just. I'm excited about all of it, and I just really appreciate
59:03
the opportunity to come on to your show and to be here
59:07
with, you know, so many people that are instrumental to making it
59:11
happen. It's a real honor. I got chills, and I'm trying not. To get emotional,
59:15
so you guys are all so great, and I've had
59:19
conversations with, with all of you, and I am so
59:22
excited for this event. And I. I had never seen or experienced it
59:26
anywhere else. I've lived and I've lived too many places, I think.
59:30
So this is very exciting to me that there is something like this
59:34
in Reno that people can come to and, and really get
59:38
grounded on new ideas and a new direction forward,
59:41
maybe, and kind of rethinking what they've been doing and
59:45
restarting and it's, it's. Or, you know, starting just
59:49
right out of college or however they're doing it. So that all
59:53
of that is very exciting and I love your work and things. Thank you all
59:55
for. For coming on and for Doug for kind of
59:59
doing this double podcast. Do you have any other questions that you'd like
1:00:03
to ask that's specific to your podcast or. I
1:00:07
mean, generally, in my podcast, it would. I really
1:00:10
helped create the whole founder journey, I guess. You know,
1:00:14
Mary, I. You know, I'm. I'm curious about your journey.
1:00:17
I mean, that's what I. If we were on my podcast, it would be all
1:00:20
about your journey. So, I mean, I'm always curious about how you got here and
1:00:24
what you've done. Yeah, you know, I'm actually
1:00:27
given a talk in a couple weeks. I know I gave a talk last year
1:00:30
at Reno. Well, let me say this. At Reno Startup Week last year, I gave
1:00:33
a talk on how entrepreneurs or business owners can use
1:00:37
socials without losing their mind. Just, you know, so,
1:00:40
like, have some stuff on there, but plan it out, but, you
1:00:44
know, don't like, panic and have your phone a certain way.
1:00:49
Socials will drive you crazy because they are important for social proof, but not
1:00:53
necessarily like something you want to put all your time into, which you could do
1:00:56
that. That's my opinion. So, yeah, I am. This is.
1:01:00
I. I grew up in the Midwest, raised
1:01:03
kids in Nashville, Tennessee, moved to Atlanta, Georgia after divorcing,
1:01:07
and then have lived here for a year and a half. So was an
1:01:11
actor in Atlanta prior to this film television.
1:01:16
I raised seven children, three and adopted
1:01:20
four and helped my ex husband, I think, grow
1:01:23
his business. So that was a lot of what I did in those years.
1:01:29
Had some health issues with Lyme's disease. So it's like, yeah, my life has
1:01:32
taken several different, interesting
1:01:36
pathways. So one of the, one of the things I love
1:01:39
about doing this and the focus of this for me is healthy, happy,
1:01:43
wise, wealthy. So, you know, when you're
1:01:47
starting over, which I've done now, you know, it's very challenging to start
1:01:51
over. I, you know, I moved here by myself. Right. I
1:01:54
was not married. And so I'm moving to family,
1:01:58
but also moving away from family and moving into
1:02:02
kind of a new career, which is a combination, a media sale. So it's like
1:02:06
I'm taking the knowledge I knew from media and then the knowledge I knew from
1:02:09
sales, but also kind of gave up acting
1:02:15
in a way because that was. I was with a main. A
1:02:19
big agency in Atlanta where I'm getting auditions for
1:02:22
bigger shows. And that's. I do have an agency here, but it's
1:02:26
not as. Not the same audition
1:02:30
types, so. But I'm thankful for them, thankful for everyone
1:02:33
who's given me any kind of help along the way. And
1:02:39
with Erika, she's someone that I met in Atlanta, so I had done a
1:02:43
hosting show in Nashville when I first started getting into
1:02:46
acting, and then I did a segment in one in Atlanta.
1:02:51
So she's like, let's do a podcast. And I'm like, I don't think I could
1:02:54
even begin to try to do a podcast without her help.
1:02:58
So she is a rock to me and I'm so
1:03:02
grateful for her, I can't even tell you. So I decided to just, just jump
1:03:05
in. And even though life is busy and this is hard and so
1:03:09
but for this podcast, it really is about all these things in, in my
1:03:13
course of life that has been,
1:03:17
you know, like this led me a lot of different directions and to really. I
1:03:21
know I can speak the language of a lot of different professions, even in that.
1:03:25
So, you know, I've done real estate. My ex was in
1:03:29
insurance, so my parents are teachers. Like, there's not,
1:03:33
there's not a lot, you know, there's a lot of professions. I can kind of
1:03:36
speak the language of so to speak. So healthy, how do
1:03:39
we, when we're redoing, if life has not been great, if you hit some
1:03:43
real obstacles, how do you regain health? How do you regain Your
1:03:47
helping, happiness, wisdom,
1:03:50
and then wealth. So wealth is
1:03:54
a lot about what we're talking about here. Right. So how do you have rebuild
1:03:58
that with entrepreneurship? Starting a new direction,
1:04:02
starting right from college? It doesn't really matter. I really think I would like
1:04:05
everyone to find the direction they really love
1:04:09
in life, the area they really love. Buy a house and build a garden and
1:04:12
do yoga. So there you go. That sounds
1:04:16
great. I love it.
1:04:21
I appreciate your vote vulnerability. And I appreciate, you know, like, we're really
1:04:25
lucky to have you. I think, you know, go.
1:04:29
I wear. I wear a bracelet that says everybody needs your love. And it's. It's
1:04:32
just a reminder that everybody carries with them some thing that's not
1:04:36
always apparent, like divorce or disease or something like
1:04:40
that. And I just really appreciate, you know, how you.
1:04:44
You're turning in that you're transmuting that into something positive for the world.
1:04:47
And so we're just, we're very fortunate to have your community. And thank you for,
1:04:51
you know, creating this space where we can talk about the thing that we're overly
1:04:55
passionate about. Yeah. Thank you, Doug. And thank. And thank you
1:04:58
to all of you. I'm just, I'm so excited for this event and,
1:05:02
and so excited to see you all there in person. Probably we'll see you
1:05:06
beforehand too, but thanks for your time today. So
1:05:10
thank you. Take
1:05:14
good care. Thanks
1:05:18
for joining us on Healthy, Happy, Wise Wealthy. If you believe in stories
1:05:22
that inspire and uplift, then please like share
1:05:25
and subscribe. And if you know someone who should be a guest, go
1:05:29
to Healthy, Happy, Wise wealthy dot com. No
1:05:33
ands, ifs or buts about it. And also follow us
1:05:37
on social. It's the same Healthy, Happy, Wise, Wealthy. Until
1:05:40
next time. You all have a wonderful week. And
1:05:44
keep on keeping on feeling
1:05:48
like you're stuck in a hurricane because everything
1:05:52
around you just keeps on turning I can
1:05:56
see searching for one escape.