Resources

Advisor

Clinton E. Day, MBA

Clint Day is an entrepreneurship adjunct professor, writer and speaker. He serves as an advisor to National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship. Clint also mentors active military and veterans in the field. Clint founded three companies in Florida and Georgia and began teaching and mentoring after selling his last business. He is professionally qualified by the AACSB business school association and has earned a MBA and five certifications in entrepreneurship. Clint founded the entrepreneurship program at the State College of Florida and wrote the Bar Charts Entrepreneurship Quick Study Guide found in most college bookstores, and edits a popular blog titled, “Current in Entrepreneurship.” The blog, clintoneday.com helps entrepreneurs stay connected to the latest news in entrepreneurship.

Speaker

Steven Edwards

Steven Edwards is a Veteran of the 82^nd Airborne Division. He has been in sales in leadership for over 15 years across multiple verticals and products. In 2019 he started Premier Virtual, a platform to conduct virtual events. Steve is the winner of the 2020 FL Veterans Expo pitch competition and his platform has quickly risen in the rankings as a top virtual event platform.

Advisor, Class Moderator

Mark Ingram

Mark Ingram represents private companies and entrepreneurs in a variety of business law matters, including commercial contracts, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance transactions and private offerings, employment matters, intellectual property licensing, business formations, and dispute resolution support. 

Mark has extensive experience in the music entertainment industry, including the representation of artists, publishers and producers. Mark’s well-rounded background, which includes prior experience in business immigration as well as commercial litigation and arbitration matters, influences his common-sense and practical approach to clients’ transactional legal needs.

 His representative experience includes clients and deals involving the energy, aerospace, software, telecommunications, and life science industries.

Advisor

Holly Rolls, Ph.D.

Specializations:

• Developing ecotourism and sustainable tourism business strategies
• Creating citizen science campaigns
• Writing successful grant proposals
• Managing human resources in a highly seasonal business

Holly is the founder of Happy Paddler Kayak Tours & EcoVentures. Opened in 2013, the company is an outdoor adventure company based in Sarasota. Happy Paddler has won two Small Business of the Year awards and has earned a five-star reputation on popular travel review forums.

Holly has been awarded several grants to fund the development of sustainability and stewardship initiatives, including the 2020 Sarasota Bay Sustainability Guide. Additionally, she has served as project lead for several citizen science programs. These programs give paddlers an opportunity to contribute to scientific research, such as wildlife monitoring and ocean pollution studies.

Holly is a Key West-born native of Florida. She grew up with a deep appreciation for the ocean and the responsible use of its resources. Holly earned her doctoral degree in Marine Science from the University of South Florida in 2014. She has built an extensive background in marine research and environmental awareness. Holly’s focus continues to be on promoting positive choices in marine resource use that ultimately guide us toward a healthier and happier future.

Advisor

Jon Stewart, MBA

Jon is an Adjunct Instructor at USF Sarasota-Manatee College of Business. He teaches entrepreneurship and marketing classes. Prior to joining USFSM he was adjunct instructor for Ringling College of Art and Design.

Jon retired from Norfolk State University, where he worked for 30 years teaching marketing and management courses. During that time he served 12 years as Internship and Placement Director for the NSU School of Business. From 1982-1997 he was a partner at JMJ Associates, a marketing research firm.

Jon formerly served as a US Naval Officer and was an Manager for the Xerox Corporation’s Indianapolis Sales Office. He earned his MBA from Indiana State University and his undergraduate degree from Indiana University.

Jon has been a certified SCORE mentor since 2005.

Advisor

Rich Swier Jr.

Rich is a serial entrepreneur based in Sarasota, Florida.

Rich was founder of Offrs.com (recently acquired by Constellation Software) and founder of the HuB, his previous ventures include Sarasota Online and Backsoft.

In 1996 Rich graduated from the University of Florida as a mathematician and computer scientist. He soon developed the core architecture used for broadband internet service in over 60 cities. At the age of 24, Rich sold his first venture (Sarasota Online) to Comcast. He became the first employee of a new division which is now called Xfinity. In 1997, Rich led a team of engineers that launched the first cable modem. In 1998, Rich started a new venture called Backsoft that built software to connect Fortune 500 companies to the web. In 2000, Backsoft was acquired by SAP, the 2nd largest software company in the world.

Rich is also an author and speaker. His focus including broadband development, predictive analytics and building startup ecosystems. Rich has numerous industry awards and accolades in his work with startups. He continues to promote entrepreneurship in schools and communities.

In 2000, Rich launched the first angel fund and private-sector incubator in the State of Florida. That fund has since launched multiple successful ventures including Clinipace, Movo Mobile (acquired by Neighborhood America), BioLucid (acquired by ShareCare), DealersUnited.com and over 20 other companies. In 2009, Rich expanded his incubator into becoming the first coworking space in Florida.

Speaker

Mike Lahiff

Mike Lahiff is a co-founder and CEO of ZeroEyes. He was previously a Director of Digital Program Management at Comcast where he led a team of project managers across multiple digital product teams. Before joining Comcast, Mike managed a search fund targeting business acquisitions with revenues between $10 – $30 million.

Prior to civilian life, Mike served in the US Navy for over 10 years, first in the aviation community and then as a Navy SEAL. He has led teams ranging from aircrew life support personnel on aircraft carriers to small Special Operations teams in rural Afghanistan.

Mike holds a MBA with a concentration in Private Equity & Venture Capital from The Wharton Business School and a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Columbia College.

Speaker

Joseph Nadolski

Co-Founder and President at Pursetto, Joseph is a military veteran who helps companies develop and focus their strategy.

Joe’s experience includes:

• Being Founder/CEO of a technology innovator that commercialized university technology for waste water treatment plants. he helped to save operating expenses and to build a company that would be an acquisition target.
• Being a military aid to the Deputy Director for Analysis at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He helped to run the analytic, production and dissemination operations for the “CNN of the Armed Forces”.
• Commanded a Military Intelligence Battalion and ran a $500 million global news gathering, analysis, reporting and distribution enterprise
• Joseph has earned an MBA and PMP, LEAN Six Sigma Green Belt, LEAN and OSHA certifications.

Class Moderator

Mitchell Lomazov

Mitchell is the Executive Director of Finance at EXCELLence Performance in Sarasota, Florida. EXCELLence is a team comprised of highly skilled business and life coaches. His team provides world-class leadership, personal growth, and communication skills training.

Mitchell provides Fractional CFO work. He excels in creating financial visions and business strategies to optimize efficiency and profits. Mitchell leads a team of handpicked finance experts in taxation, investing, and so much more.

Mitchell intertwines psychology and personal development with financial concepts.

Director

Matt Harper

Matt has been advising and mentoring entrepreneurs for the last six years. He has experience with turnarounds, non-profits, traditional small-medium sized businesses and venture startups. He was the founding program director of a veteran business incubator in San Diego and to date, these companies have raised over $2.5M in debt and equity, companies include Vigilance Risk Solutions, Family Proud, Trident Coffee, Drone Quote and SkillMil.

He is on the Board of Advisors for the Veteran Business Project and was on the Board of Directors of Kids’ Turn San Diego, a San Diego non-profit. Matt is a speaker on leadership and management, crisis leadership, entrepreneurship and veterans’ issues. Most recently he was featured on the Manage This Podcast. 

Matt is originally from San Francisco and is a retired U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer.

Marketer, Entrepreneur, Educator

Kim Richmond

Ms. Richmond is a senior marketing executive with extensive marketing and branding experience. She was Executive Vice President, Marketing at FAO Inc. and helped to successfully reposition and relaunch the brand after sale of the company. Ms. Richmond has held senior positions at Zany Brainy, The Right Start, Charming Shoppes, Sears and Kraft Foods.

Ms. Richmond is principal at richmondmarketing+communications. Her specialty is multi-channel and digital marketing and branding. She is a full-time faculty member at State College of Florida and is the Program Manager of the Entrepreneurship Program. Ms. Richmond is a recognized authority in sales and marketing and is the author of two books: The Power of Selling and Brand You. She is a frequent speaker at industry and academic events.

Ms. Richmond holds an MBA from Loyola Chicago and Bachelor of Arts from Northern Illinois University.

Program Coordinator

LCDR Rolanda Findlay, MSC, PhD

LCDR Findlay joins us as a SkillBridge volunteer from the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Headquarters. She earned a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Virginia Tech.

Web/UI/UX, Digital Marketing, USMC Veteran

Justin Duplain

A utilitarian at heart, Justin finds solutions that make things work and work better. He is a technologist passionate about the intersection of science, computing, and humanity. He is an all-around techie and talented digital designer. Justin has been a lead designer on several projects. He is an expert at design software and digital media.

Justin has developed and transitioned several websites for small to medium organizations. He has experience with process development, mobile-first web development, user interfaces, Content Management Systems (CMS), payment forms, SEO plans, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and database management.

Justin is a Marine Corps veteran and has a BFA in graphic design and an MA in digital journalism. He has been with State College of Florida since 2014.

Class Moderator

Robert Blacklidge, MBA

Robert Blacklidge is the Director of Entrepreneurship at Domi Station. Domi is a non-profit startup incubator and coworking space in Tallahassee, FL. Robert is an educator, mentor, speaker, and ecosystem builder.

Robert’s work building the Lakeland Ecosystem has had and continues to have a significant impact locally and beyond. Robert worked to bring several international programs to the Lakeland community. These include 1 Million Cups, Startup Grind, and Techstars Startup Weekend. Additionally, he facilitated CO.STARTERS, a 40,000 square foot entrepreneurial center. Lakeland has garnished national recognition and was Highlighted in Inc. Magazine as one of the best cities to start a company.

Implementing these current efforts is built on his past experience creating and running hackathons including Office Depots, IEEE, Code Tampa, Startup Bus, and Biz Sprint. Robert volunteers running programs for several organizations to include Action Zone a veteran-focused business accelerator and Techstars Startup Week and Weekend.

Class Moderator

Allison Shapira

Allison is a former opera singer turned entrepreneur, author, speaker, and educator. She is the founder of Global Public Speaking LLC and has since grown the company from a solo business to a global team of 10 people, with clients ranging from Bank of America to Belvedere Vodka. Allison and her team and works with emerging and established leaders to help them speak clearly, concisely, and confidently. She shares strategies to help people speak with impact every day – at work or in their community.

In addition to being a keynote speaker and CEO, Allison teaches The Arts of Communication at the Harvard Kennedy School and recently published Speak with Impact: How to Command the Room and Influence Others, a Washington Post best-seller. Allison is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and professional member of the National Speakers Association and has spoken or led trainings in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America. Allison was a finalist for 2017 Woman Business Owner of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners, San Diego Chapter.

Allison is also a singer/songwriter and uses music as a way to help others find their voice and their courage to speak. She speaks fluent Italian and Hebrew and can ask for directions in 10 languages but can only understand the responses in 4 of them.

More Coming Soon!

We are always looking for community participants. If you wish to serve in an advisory, volunteer or internship roll, contact a team member!

Program Coordinator

LT Rique Sanchez, MBA

Lieutenant Rique Sanchez joins as a SkillBridge volunteer from from Carrier Strike Group Fifteen in San Diego, CA. He is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and has also earned his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Business Management. 

Lieutenant Sanchez has served over 10 years in the Navy both as a pilot and admissions counselor for the U.S. Naval Academy and has led cross functional teams both stateside and abroad.