Author Archive for ortizaf20

Brittany Dawn with the Brittany Dawn Fitness LLC scandal

Posted by ortizaf20 
· Thursday, December 15th, 2022 
· No Comments

I usually write about young entrepreneurs that inspire me, but this post is quite different. Brittany Dawn, a Christian influencer who began as a fitness influencer, has gotten into hot water with her business. She posted diet and exercise content on social media and gained thousands of devoted followers. Brittany began to sell what she marketed as personalized diet and exercise plans through her company, Brittany Dawn Fitness LLC, in what was later labeled a scam. Her courses sold from $92 to $300 per month. These “personalized plans,” however, were found to be identical when people began to compare their products online. In addition, when questioned by customers, Brittany would simply block them. Brittany was sued by the state of Texas for her fraud. She posted an apology video, in which she said, “I apologize to anyone who feels like they got scammed from me … I now realize that I should have had more help and that this is a lesson that I am having to learn the hard way, and for that, I am sorry.” She said that she started out with good intentions, but then she got more orders than she could handle. Her repentance does not seem to be real, however, as she sent only some people partial to full refunds; she asked them to sign a non-disclosure agreement before receiving the money. Brittany has also since posted videos in her large home and pictures of herself in Hawaii, indicating that she has the means to refund more people. Brittany turned to creating Christian content and hosting an expensive Christian retreat. I’m not sure if she really is Christian or if she is posing as one to make herself feel better or continue to rake in money, but the story does hold an important lesson for all Christian entrepreneurs. The way we conduct our business can affirm who Jesus is or detract from the believability of a Savior who changes our lives. Brittany Dawn’s behavior and Christianity is being shamed over the internet because people note that she has not really changed because of her faith. Being good witnesses for Jesus means that we should—especially when in the public eye as businesses are—act according to God’s word instead of only using God’s word in social media posts.

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Categories : Fitness

Robert Luo with Mi Terro

Posted by ortizaf20 
· Thursday, December 15th, 2022 
· No Comments

Robert Luo is an environmentally aware, three-time entrepreneur. He has sold two of his businesses, and his third is a company called Mi Terro, which began with duffle bags made from corks and plastic from the ocean. The company seeks to change both the fashion industry and the food industry. More recently, the company has started to create and sell t-shirts made from spoiled milk. The milk is turned into protein fiber that replaces plastic, and the fiber is turned into shirts sold online. The beginning of Mi Terro’s new venture in t-shirts was Luo’s visit to his uncle’s dairy farm in China. There was so much spoiled milk because the farm’s buyer had switched to a different farm for supply. Luo’s uncle asked, “is there a way that we can sell this spoiled milk?” and the idea of Mi Terro began to form. Luo’s story seems to be a perfect example of ideas colliding to create a complete idea. Luo was already into sustainable fashion created from waste, and Luo’s visit to his uncle’s farm gave him a new piece of the idea for milk t-shirts, the next venture of Mi Terro. Luo said in an interview, “Leverage the existing connections those that have helped them start a business- either financially, or mentally helped them out. Build connections and be humble. Meet people and be open-minded.” Luo recognizes the importance of networks of ideas, that ideas can come together from various sources and that we can purposefully seek out interpersonal connections to allow these ideas to collide and create a new, whole idea. Luo continues to be innovative and moving on to the “adjacent possible,” the next available innovation: Mi Terro is now beginning to test technology that turns whey protein, a byproduct of cheese and yogurt, into packaging to replace the plastic packaging on products.

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Categories : Fashion, Food

Sarkis Hakopdjanian with The Business Clinic

Posted by ortizaf20 
· Wednesday, December 14th, 2022 
· No Comments

Sarkis Hakopdjanian has a wide range of knowledge. He started in a Bachelor of Science program in order to go to medical school and then switched to a business major and completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree. Entering the corporate world, Sarkis was educated and trained in marketing, management, and sales in a financial services company. After ten years in business, he was injured and took time to recover, simultaneously enrolling in the psychology program at a university to study human behavior. Fascinatingly, Sarkis took the combined knowledge of all of these areas—science and medicine, business, and psychology—and founded The Business Clinic with the mash-up of practices. The Business Clinic is a business and marketing consulting agency that supports health practitioners. This concept is innovative; it is the only business and marketing consulting agency that is geared toward the health in wellness industry in all of Alberta, Canada. Sarkis Hakopdjanian continues to learn an extensive range of concepts. He has read about the experiences and knowledge of other entrepreneurs in books and articles, reads a scientific paper in a field that he has not yet explored each week. He is subscribed to courses that provide information from numerous expert sources about new developments in business and marketing. Even the book that he recommends is a book that is comprised of many essays by leaders in various areas of study. Sarkis clearly values the intake and synthesis of knowledge, and he is able to put some of his knowledge to use in his business. He demonstrates the value of learning both in school and on his own.

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Categories : Health, Young Entrepreneur

Calloway Cook by Anna Ortiz

Posted by ortizaf20 
· Wednesday, October 5th, 2022 
· 2 Comments

Calloway Cook, created Illuminate Labs, a supplement company that posts its pills’ test scores on its website to be viewed by all. Cook recognized the need for a company that is honest and open about the quality of its supplements when he entered the market as a customer seeking such a company. When he found that others had the same concerns about the cleanness and safeness of supplements, he founded Illuminate Labs. He believes that money should not be prioritized as highly as health, and he wishes he had recognized that earlier in life. Starting a different business while in college, Cook failed to create success on his first try. He learned from his experience with that first business, using his found knowledge to create and run Illuminate Labs. Cook highly recommends The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, which seems to correlate with his experience starting a business, failing, and trying again to create a more successful one. One tip that Cook advances is to take a whole day off each week; he says that Sunday is good because business partners are less likely to try to get a hold of you. I find joy in the fact that Cook, though he may or may not be a Christian, believes that what Christians call a “sabbath” is good for mental health. It is not surprising that God knows what is best for humans, since he made them; people are likely to pick up on some knowledge of what is healthy on their own, but God has always known how people function, and He has provided commands and advice that promote health in the Bible. Cook may not call his off-day on Sunday a sabbath, but he has discovered its benefits.

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Categories : Health, Healthy Lifestyle, Male Entrepreneurs, Nutrition, Startups, Young Entrepreneur, young entrepreneurs

Tehzeeb Lalani by Anna Ortiz

Posted by ortizaf20 
· Tuesday, September 27th, 2022 
· 1 Comment

Tehzeeb Lalani, a young entrepreneur based in Mumbai, India, seeks to heal peoples’ relationship with food. She owns the company Scale Beyond Scale, a Mumbai-based company that consults clients on nutrition. Scale Beyond Scale is designed to help clients move beyond mindsets of short-term weight loss goals and on to mindsets of wholistic and long-term health. Lalani seeks to teach people to design behaviors that they can keep for a lifetime. Working with clients including those with health concerns such as diabetes and heart disease, Scale Beyond Scale is equipped to help people look at issues other than weight loss. She calls the movement toward wholistic health” more sanity, less vanity!” Lalani believes that two strategies for success in implementing ideas are setting deadlines and having a partner for accountability. “Telling people about the idea and that you will bring it to life in a few weeks/few months is also a great way to ensure you hold yourself accountable,” she says for an interview with ideamensch. She is also fond of her morning routines, which include meditation, breakfast, an hour of work, and a yoga class. She says that because she lacks control over the rest of her day, her morning is important for her to feel centered and grounded; she can then tackle anything that comes her way next. I think Tehzeeb Lalani conducts herself with thoughtfulness in both her personal context, with her morning routine, and professional context, in her field that prioritizes psychology. People would do well to slow their lives, think hard, work hard, and take care of themselves as Lalani does.

1 Comment
Categories : better version of yourself, counseling, Health, Healthy Lifestyle, mental health, Millennial Enrepreneuers, Mindfulness, Personal Care, Women Entrepreneurs, Young Entrepreneur

Adelle Archer by Anna Ortiz

Posted by ortizaf20 
· Tuesday, September 27th, 2022 
· 2 Comments

Adelle Archer, CEO and co-founder of Eterneva, is on both the Inc and Forbes 30 Under 30 lists. In addition, Mark Cuban invested in her business when she went on Shark Tank in 2019. Eterneva is a business that Archer created after her friend and mentor Tracy Kaufman died from pancreatic cancer. The company produces diamonds out of loved ones’ ashes; Archer conceived of Eterneva because at the time, there were not many options for memorializing passed loved ones. Although cremation is at an all-time high popularity, the ashes get thrown away after about one generation. More lasting, however, would be diamonds made by Eterneva. Diamonds, Archer believed, not only allow people to mourn, but they also allow people to celebrate. I love Archer’s view that people should both mourn and celebrate. The idea is one that Christians should take to heart, as we recognize that death is not part of how the world should (and will) work, and yet hold that it is a gateway to the sweet next life with our loving Savior. Archer knows that the seven to eight month process for making the diamonds is not a drawback but a strength because it gives people time to mourn and process the death. The Eterneva team sends videos, pictures, and updates to mourning clients as they wait for the diamonds, which I believe is an innovative way to care for people. On the celebration side, the Archer counts on the diamonds to encourage people to share stories about the people who died. According to Archer, the diamonds help people to lean into the subject of death instead of turning away from it. Archer believes, and I wholly agree, that our culture hides death too much, and that communication about death is vital to caring for grieving neighbors.

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Categories : Beauty, Communication, Death Care, Great Ideas, Process innovation, Shark Tank, Social Impact, Women Entrepreneurs, Young Entrepreneur