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featured entrepreneur

Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Jordan Fox ’13

Jordan Fox ’13, the president and founder of Make Me Proud Digital Corporation (MMP Digital), is a lifelong learner and future-minded thinker. Fox began his career at SocialCode, then the largest social media buying agency in the world, before joining VaynerMedia, the…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Brandon Reiter ’16

Upon his graduation from Whitman, Brandon Reiter ’16 knew he wanted to have a career in finance but wasn’t exactly sure where his passion truly lied. After bouncing around many different jobs in the industry, including being a retail banker…

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Alumni Entrepreneur: Roxann Nadine Remekie

Roxann Nadine Remekie is a multi-talented storyteller. A native New Yorker raised and influenced by her Jamaican roots, she has worked as an executive assistant for world-renowned companies including Goldman Sachs, Atlantic Records and the National Association of Mutual Insurance…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Jamie (Kelling) Hall ’09

Jamie (Kelling) Hall graduated with honors from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management in 2009 with her bachelor’s in marketing management. After graduation, Hall spent five years working for Altria Group, a Fortune 200 company, as a territory sales…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Alyza Bohbot ’08

City Girl Coffee is a brand of the Alakef Coffee Roasters corporation owned and operated by Martin J. Whitman School of Management alumna Alyza Bohbot James ’08. City Girl is a socially-conscious coffee company, which uses as much women-sourced coffee…

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Alumni Entrepreneur: Olivia Bowser ’16

A catch up with friends last summer turned into a deeper discussion about our broader circles and the struggles we’re all experiencing. We shared stories of friends overly-stressed at work, feeling lonely or dealing with severe anxiety/depression. I heard the…

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Entrepreneurship Alumnus Takes Advantage of Opportunities

When Michael Smith ‘12 was a student at Syracuse University, the entrepreneurship culture wasn’t nearly as dynamic as it is now. The now integral Blackstone LaunchPad didn’t formally exist at Syracuse. And while entrepreneurship on campus was more underground then,…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Katherine Najera ’14

De Manos Con Amor, which means From Hands with Love, is a 501(c)(3) not for profit that empowers women and girls in Central America to break the cycle of poverty. The organization was founded in April 2016 and officially launched…

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alumnus Daniel Fridliand stands with business partner Dylan Sen

Dan Fridliand ’18 tackles anxiety and stress management with new app, Awning

Alumnus Daniel Fridliand ’18, entrepreneur and co-founder of the stress management app Awning, almost didn’t pursue a business degree at Syracuse University. He started as an intended international relations major. When Fridliand started his first semester through the SU Discovery…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Margaret (Jones) Gay ’13

After receiving a box brand tea bag in a cup of hot water (that cost me $3) and looking over at my husband’s delicious latte, I realized there was a huge gap in the cafe space for the tea drinker…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Brett Kaplan ’15

The idea for Brett’s Napkin started by accident. I was on the phone with a good friend of mine who was moving to Miami and asked if I could create a budget for him. I quickly grabbed a pen and a…

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Featured Alumna Entrepreneur: Danielle Donovan ’09

CHEERFIT (www.cheerfittraining.com) is a fitness community for cheerleaders. The CHEERFIT platform connects cheerleaders, coaches, and parents around the world through the power of fitness. Here at CHEERFIT, we are more than just a fitness brand–we are an inspiration, a lifestyle…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Todd Harrison ’91

I’ve been involved in finance for almost 30 years; but I was first drawn to the cannabis space in 2012, when I called it my single best investment theme for the next decade. I was early, and I was also wrong.…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Mike Gursha ’10 WHIT/NEW

Rookie Road Inc. is a digital media technology company that focuses on sports education. The company creates reliable and quality educational content that will get you motivated to learn something new. Rookie Road is working on innovative ways for…

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Featured Entrepreneurs: Michelle Carazas ’15 & Brian Megill ’13

In 2015, Michelle Carazas ’15, co-founder of Host, graduated from Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management, double majoring in entrepreneurship and marketing management. In order to quickly pay off her student loans with an aggressive two-year timeline in mind, she maintained a full-time job in sales…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Joshua Adler ’01

DivorceBond (www.divorcebond.com; https://divorcebond.app.link/NKFZdj1juH) was created when I, along with my co-founder, David Zulberg, noticed what people wrote on the status of their dating profiles. It seemed most people were “single” with no children. Given the divorce rates in the United…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Mike Friedman ’12, Co-Founder of TallOrder.Com, Partners with 9/11 Charity

At 6’9” and 6’11”, my twin brother Dan and I have always stood out for our size. As kids, we were commonly referred to as the “Twin Towers.” This deep-rooted irony is especially difficult for us because on Tuesday, September…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Nick Monzi ’11

According to the 2015 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), 67 percent of eighth graders nationwide scored below proficient in mathematics. Among students from low-income families, that number rises to 82 percent. At Learn Fresh, we have sought to combat…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Heidi D. Holzapfel ’01, ’05 MBA

I have known for several years that I wanted to own my own business, and within the past three years Soggy Doggy Shop began to take form. The concept came about when I was frustrated at the lack of economical…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Annie Dean ’07

Annie Dean is the co-founder and co-CEO of Werk, the first and only marketplace where ambitious job seekers can find real, career-building opportunities, all with pre-negotiated flexibility. Members can filter and apply for jobs by six different types of flexibility…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Cody Disch ’10

Cody Disch is the founder and CEO of Ace & Everett, a men’s fashion brand focused on craftsmanship and self-expression. Designed in New York City, Ace & Everett’s socks take inspiration from the intersection of urban architecture and classic haberdashery.…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Jason Robbins ’90

After graduating from Syracuse University in 1990, Jason Robbins wanted a job in real estate. It was a challenging time for real estate, and he soon accepted a position at Goldman, Sachs & Company in the J. Aron Commodities division.…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Geof Lambert ’84

Costa Academy was created after Geof Lambert and co-founder, Michael Kalathas, were approached by the senior administrators of their local school district who were looking to innovate education and find new ways to teach students. The district was facing short- and…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Thomas Berman ’10

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky. This is the quote and inspiration that Thomas Berman, founder of DraftingSleepers.com, The Social Network for Fantasy Sports, has…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Samuel Sanders ’16

CREATE YOUR NEXT GAME-CHANGING STARTUP IDEA – WUNDERSHIRT The Prep My company, Wundershirt, sells performance-enhancing workout shirts. The shirts improve the rate oxygen gets to your muscles, thereby increasing stamina, boosting strength and speed, allowing for quicker recovery, and regulating…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Christian Giancarlo Pérez Romo ’09 MBA

Zen philosopher Alan W. Watts once said: “This is the real secret of life –to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” My entrepreneurial…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Samir Pradhan ’91 MBA

After completing his undergraduate degree in industrial engineering and an MBA in finance and marketing from Syracuse University, Samir Pradhan ’91 MBA started his career in manufacturing operations. He subsequently worked with a leading management consulting company in…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Chandini D P ’09 MBA

Hailing from a family with diverse businesses, Chandini D P ’09 MBA helps run Classic Group, an entrepreneurial venture started by her father. Classic Group was founded over three decades ago and focuses on distribution of alcoholic beverages, modern trade outlets,…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Mark Everton Gray ’00

After graduating from Syracuse, I was working full time at Verve Records in the new media strategic marketing department (a new department at the time). During the course of my time at Syracuse, I interned at The GRP Recoding Company…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Ryan Blum ’14

In the winter of 2013, Ryan Blum and Brett Newman (who would eventually become co-founders) were both looking for roommates for the upcoming study abroad semester in Barcelona. The two initially connected via a Facebook group with four others to…

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Meet June’s Featured Alumni Entrepreneurs

This month, we are pleased to introduce you to two Whitman alumni entrepreneurs: Joe Bednar ’97 VPA, ’00 MBA, ’00 MS WHIT/NEW of PowerVJ, a unique network, which is reinventing music TV in LGBT nightlife Stephanie L. Howitt ’09 of the premier lifestyle management…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Stephanie L. Howitt ’09

Premier lifestyle management company, SLH Lifestyle LLC, also known as SLH Lifestyle + Concierge, was formed with the intention of providing efficient living solutions to clientele. The company was also influenced as a result of the economic turmoil in which its founder, Stephanie…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Joe Bednar ’97 VPA, ’00 MBA, ’00 MS WHIT/NEW

It is no secret that the nightlife industry has been impacted heavily by the proliferation of mobile socialization technologies. LGBT venues, in particular, have been affected. Their historic nature as “safe spaces” for the LGBT community to peacefully and confidently…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Erica Bernstein ’14

Who knew that selling trend-setting jewelry would develop from a casual experiment into a full-time business for Erica Bernstein ’14 after graduating from Syracuse University. Bernstein is the founder and CEO of JewelErry, LLC, a retail and e-commerce trendsetting jewelry…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Brandon Eng ’15

Microsoft Excel is one of the most important skills needed in the workplace. Chances are you’ll be using Excel sometime throughout your career. If you were (or are) a student at the Whitman School of Management, you’ve probably heard those…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Nate Cotanch ’12

Nate Cotanch ’12 started Zia Green Chile Company in the Fall of 2014 as one of the companies at Brooklyn’s renowned outdoor food market, Smorgasburg, which has been hailed by the New York Times as “The Woodstock of Eating” and by the Wall Street Journal as having…

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Meet April’s Featured Alumni Entrepreneurs

This month, we are pleased to introduce you to two Whitman alumni entrepreneurs: Kyle Barrett ’12 of Big Horn Apparel, a manufacturer of high-quality lifestyle clothing committed to minimizing the environmental impact of its production process Nate Contanch ’12 and Ivan Thevaranjan ’12 of Zia…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Kyle Barrett ’12

Upon graduation, Kyle Barrett went right into commercial real estate brokerage. While working exclusively on industrial deals, he had great exposure to manufacturing businesses. Around this time, he started studying various manufacturing sectors and learning more and more about how…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Russell Suskind ’14

Think back to the last time you went mattress shopping. The pain of dealing with pushy sales reps, the huge price tags, the overwhelming number of options. It’s stressful and confusing process similar to buying a used car or ordering…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Keir Weimer ’11

Keir Weimer ’11 is the president and founder of The Keir Weimer Team of Select Sotheby’s International Realty, where he was the number one sales producer in the company in New York State in 2015. The team focuses on connecting…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Scott Friedberg ’14

Gilded Social was founded by Scott Friedberg ’14 and Ross Lazerowitz in July of 2012. Lazerowitz was the technical partner and Friedberg ran the business. They launched Gilded with the help of many of the resources for entrepreneurs at Syracuse University. The…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Douglas Deming ’11

QuestOrganizer is an flight search engine based on mechanical learning that finds savings and adds destinations. The website automates multi-booking travel hack, a technique which connects an optimal combination of one-way flights to build a Quest. This website launched in…

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Featured Entrepreneur: Eric Tecosky ’91

Eric Tecosky’s parents, children of first-generation Americans, had been taught that a good job can be built into a career and from that a piece of the American Dream can be yours. When passing the lesson on to Tecosky and…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Bret Butcher ’04

We all want to live in a home we love, but few of us have the time or vision to style it. That’s why The Swatch Box was created. The Swatch Box (www.theswatchbox.com) is a subscription-based service that uses personal stylists…

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Featured Alumni Entreprenuer: Ryan Novak ’11

Chocolate Pizza has been in Ryan Novak’s blood since he was a toddler. His mother used to take him in a stroller across the street from his home to the Chocolate Pizza Company store where the future owner was skilled…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: James Shomar ’12 M.S. ’14

James Shomar ’12 M.S. ’14 is the CEO of Solstice Power, a developer of proprietary technology for the concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) and high power microelectronics industries. CPV is an innovative solar power technology that uses high magnification lenses to focus incoming sunlight…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Zach Schleien ’12

Zach Schleien ’12 and his mom, Debbie Schleien, launched LIFT Protein Muffins last year. LIFT Protein Muffins is a gluten-free, paleo muffin that serves as a meal replacement. Schleien saw an opportunity in the gluten-free, paleo market. There were few healthy…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Max Doblin ’15

If you hide a $100 bill somewhere around campus, people will go out and try to find it. That was the simple hypothesis from which Hypeist was born. Max Doblin ’15 and his co-founder, Blake Danzig, also a graduate of…

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Featured Alumni Entrepreneur: Katherine Desy ’15

RMD Biotech was founded in May 2015 after months of business plan writing, competitions and the question of whether or not a graduating senior should take a job with a reputable company, start her own business…or do both. RMD Biotech…

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