Elias Ruiz: How A 6th Grade Science Teacher Became An Unlikely Entrepreneur
June 24, 2021
Middle school teacher Elias Ruiz joined the podcast to talk about his journey from garage inventor to a successful business owner. Starting in his garage with a piece of plywood and empty 2-liter bottles, Elias has gone on to invent the Feather-Raft, a lightweight raft perfectly suited for a variety of outdoor water sports. The patented design was an iterative process to craft, and Elias shares an array of hurdles he had to overcome while…
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Entrepreneurship Is Not a Destination, It Is a Journey with Patrick Hughes
May 25, 2021
Veteran and long-time entrepreneur Patrick L. Hughes Sr. joined us to discuss his life, the various businesses he has started, and his thoughts about what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Throughout the conversation, Patrick shares his entrepreneurial roots growing up as the child of a sharecropper, his various companies and side hustles, all the way to his successful government consulting firm, Hughes Group LLC. Hughes is the winner of the National Minority Small…
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The Five-Dollar Startup with Melissa Weed
April 21, 2021
Many people want to start their own businesses but end up hesitating because of a lack of funds. But a lot of entrepreneurs have proven that starting a self-funded business is still possible even without much capital. Our host Gary Schoeniger is joined by Melissa Weed, founder of Pittsburg, Kansas-based cleaning business Honey Does LLC. During their conversation, Gary and Melissa unpacked her journey towards being an entrepreneur, her relationship with education and work, and…
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