Florida State Podcast of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

InNOLEvation® Podcast: Episode 1, Season 5: Raide Website: raideapp.com Instagram: @raideapp  Mark McNees sits down with the founders of RAIDE, Noah Romo and Kennedy Joy Forstall. RAIDE is a mobile app designed to serve as a marketplace for college students to rent out and borrow clothing, aiming to provide a financially sustainable and eco-friendly solution to event-specific attire requirements. The guests shed light on the inspiration, development, and evolution of RAIDE, describing how it fits into the FSU student community's needs. They also discuss their marketing strategies, revenue model, and their plans for growth and expansion in the future. Founders info: Kennedy Joy Foristall- Commercial Entrepreneurship Major graduating Spring 2024 Noah Romo- Computer Sciences Major graduating Spring 2024 Wesley White- Computer Sciences Major graduated Spring 2023

Morgan Rodgers is a small business owner who specializes in Luxury Pajamas for everyone with her brand Cool Silk by Morgan Madonna, as well as a custom clothing designer for womenswear exclusively through Morgan Madonna the Brand. Morgan started her first business back in 2011 with a family partner at the time and it was called Abandoned Threads where they thrifted and revamped gently used clothing to provide a new fashion flare. This ultimately became too overwhelming for the two undergrads, and they eventually parted ways.  In 2019 Morgan picked back up where she left off and started designing ladies' apparel launching Morgan Madonna LLC that same year! When the pandemic hit in 2020 Morgan switched gears from custom clothing and designed, created, and donated hundreds of custom masks. She quickly met the demands of her customs and gained new customers during this time. Like most Morgan was working from home during the pandemic which gave her the idea for her latest line and launch, Cool Silk  which launched June 2021. Cool Silk is a luxury sleepwear line for women, men, and children that provides fashion forward sleepwear. Cool Silk provides Luxury you can see, and Comfort you can feel. Today Morgan is focusing more and more on growing her Fashion House (Morgan Madonna the Brand) as well as researching cooling technologies to keep her Cool Silk sleepwear line innovative, eco, and fashion forward. To contact Morgan please visit the website www.morganmadonnathebrand.com or send an email at morganmadonna2019@gmail.com.

Gerard LaMothe has created a brand that is associated with excellence in service and results. Gerard earned an  FSU degree in Psychology class of 1998, Leadership Tallahassee Class 28. President of Superior Painting 1998-present.   I started a painting business with a classmate at FSU during my junior year.  Upon graduating I separated from my partner and asked my father to move up from New Port Richey and be my partner.  We started Superior Painting in June of 1998.  I am responsible for the day to day activities of the business.  I am married to Beth La Mothe who is an RN at Select Specialty Hospital and we have three children.  I enjoy playing, watching and coaching sports.  I spend most of my weekends with the Tallahassee Parks and Rec coaching and watching my kids play soccer, baseball, football, and softball.

Summer Griffith opened Drip Drop Fitness in May 2017 after seeing a need a place where women could enjoy fun, high energy group workouts in Tallahassee. Three years and one pandemic later and she’s still going strong. 

Dominick Ard'is is known as “The Facilitator of Human Potential,” is passionate about helping organizations and the people that empower them to grow. For over 3 years, Dominick has supported the launch of 22 startups that have collectively raised over $550k in early seed-stage funding. In addition, he has accelerated the growth of 5 second-stage tier companies through optimization consulting and leadership development. Join Dominick and Mark McNees in a conversation about the ACT House, a network of co-living spaces where students live in one house, to create one startup, in one year. We combine affordable communal living with a team-centered incubation model to reduce startups failure rates and accelerate the ethnic diversity in the world of startups and entrepreneurship.

In this episode of FSPEI Mark McNees sits down with the 2020 winner of the Florida State University, Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship InNOLEvation Challenge, Michael Benarde, co-founder and CEO of NightCap. NightCap combines a protective drink cover with a stylish hair scrunchie that can also be worn as a wristband. The cover fits tightly over most glasses and solo cups making it much more difficult for drinks to be tampered with. The NightCap is ultra-convenient, reusable, and stylish.

On this episode of FSPEI, Mark McNees has a conversation with Rebecca Cunningham the illustrator and creative behind Cunning Co (www.cunningco.com). Her expertise ranges from watercolor illustration, to product development, to creative project management. Founder of www.cunningco.com, Rebecca's illustrations and surface pattern designs can be found at major national corporations such as Anthropologie and Terrain. She lives in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood of Atlanta with her french bulldog, Louise.

In this episode of the Florida State Podcast of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Mark McNees sits down with Kris Izquierdo the Co-Founder and CEO of Breezy Swim. Breezy Swim is a Miami, Fl based brand. Their mission is all about female empowerment! At Breezy Swim they want females to feel confident in any swimwear, regardless of age or body shape. Breezy Swim caters to all shapes and sizes inspired by women globally. They say their swimwear gives women the chance to feel their best and to take on the world, no matter where they come from! Everything they provide is influenced by our millennial generation, from social media, popular culture, to the latest trends. Allowing the staff at Breezy Swim to curate the perfect products for women worldwide. 

We kick off Season 2 of the Florida State Podcast of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (FSPEI) with one of the most successful startups to come out of FSU in recent years. Sunny Ilyas CEO and Founder of Vale Food Co. tells the story of the beginnings of Vale Food as an on-campus food subscription service and how and why he pivoted to brick and mortar restaurants that are growing across the South East. 

A special bonus episode of the Florida State Podcast of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. This episode is a presentation given by Lisa Boyd, Lyft's Senior Manager of Social Impact. In this episode, Lisa Boyd talks about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), perhaps the biggest sea change in business since the tech revolution and Lyfts's commitment to Corporate Responsibility, implementation strategy, and the metrics they used to determine impact.

2019 7 Under 30 Interview #1In this amazing episode, Mark McNees sits down with Hall Pass' Co-CEO, Adam Kramer. Hall Pass is a Members-only platform that connects great people with great venues, with over 300 active Members, ranging from pro athletes to established actors & musicians, accomplished entrepreneurs, recognizable models, and high-spending tastemakers. 

Augmented Reality (AR) is going to revolutionize how we shop, learn, and interact. In this amazing episode, Mark McNees sits down with Ryan Kopisky, Founder and CEO of AddedLayer an augmented reality startup to discuss the possibilities of AR and how it is going to shape our future. AddedLayer is a Digital Product Design Consultancy. We partner with our clients to drive business outcomes through the strategic implementation of native mobile and emerging technologies. In 2019, the company also launched Arlome, the company’s first Augmented Reality (AR) platform. Using state-of-the-art AR technology, Arlome enables users to visualize building designs at a real-world scale. The product is currently being tested with several architecture firms and real estate companies.

In this episode, Dr. Mark McNees sits down with Roderick Meyer and Jacob Gottlieb the team leaders of the Florida State University undergraduate students who earned a gold medal at the International Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) competition Nov. 4 in Boston for their innovation combating citrus greening.Citrus greening is a bacterial disease affecting 80% of Florida citrus crops. FLOEMA is a rapid prototyping platform of antimicrobial peptide cocktails designed to function as a bactericidal agent against the infection. Integrating hardware, wetware, and software, FLOEMA is able to offer citrus growers with a feasible solution to this bacterial epidemic. We are focused on leading the movement of saving Florida’s citrus with synthetic biology in an innovative, multidisciplinary atmosphere enriched with empathy, curiosity, and ingenuity.FSU’s entry competed in a field of 360 teams from around the world. FSU was one of only eight American teams to earn gold and the first team from Florida. The other gold medal-winning American teams were MIT, Cornell, Virginia, Rice, Pittsburgh, UT-Austin and a combined squad from Stanford, Princeton, and Brown.Read the article: https://news.fsu.edu/news/science-technology/2019/11/14/fsu-students-earn-gold-medal-at-international-synthetic-biology-competition/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_big_story_november_18_2019&utm_term=2019-11-18

In this amazing episode, Dr. Mark McNees interviews the Co-Founder and CEO of Diatech, John Wilcox.Company overview:Diatech Diabetic Technologies Inc. (Diatech) is a MEDtech startup that implements innovative solutions to enhance and empower the lives of patients, families, and communities impacted by diabetes. Diatech originated from the issues the company’s CEO, John Wilcox, was facing his own diabetes care technology as a type 1 diabetic. John’s story, along with all who are affected by diabetes, inspires Diatech to work endlessly towards optimizing and personalizing diabetes therapies for patients worldwide.Diatech is developing the world’s first intelligent insulin pump infusion set system. Current insulin pump infusion sets are limited in wear time and reliability, compromising a diabetic patient’s health during the occurrence of infusion site malfunctions. These malfunctions range from blockages, leakages, and infusing into damaged tissue affected by lipohypertrophy. Through the use of AI, SmartFusion will understand the infusion habits of the user and suggest when to change sites and replace the infusion set, helping them get more out of their disposables.Co-Founders:Nicholas Cooper - COOJohn Clark Gray - CSOLuis E. Blanco - CTOJohn Wilcox - CEO

Internships are a great way for students to gain practical experience in a company and have the opportunity to apply what they are learning in the classroom. That is why every Jim Moran College student is required to spend a semester under the guidance of the JMC's Director of Internships in a qualified internship before graduation. In this episode, Dr. Mark McNees sits down with three student interns to discuss their experiences. 

Angela Udongwo CEO and Co-Founder of InnoHealth Dx The InnoHealth Dx strives to empower communities to eliminate neglected tropical diseases by supplying innovative solutions to communities that need them the most. InnoHealth's mission is to decrease the rate of schistosomiasis to less than 1% (below sustainable levels) beginning in Kano State, Nigeria.   Infectious diseases have been a leading cause of death within tropical areas of the world for centuries. Within these regions, the focal point of healthcare has been tackling malaria, despite there being equal and even arguably higher endemic issues such as schistosomiases. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) have wreaked havoc on not only the standard of living of the individuals in these parts of the world but have drastically reduced their life expectancy. The gravity of NTDs is further intensified by socioeconomic and educational differences between the individuals suffering from this disease and the individuals equipped to address their suffering.With access to technology at the forefront of healthcare and utilizing cultural competency, InnoHealth will create a more comprehensible prognosis, transferable diagnosis, faster treatment rates, and overall further catalyze not only healthcare but the standard of living in these regions.

Woven Futures is an ethical fashion company that links the world’s most remote artisan groups to a global fashion market through a model that emphasizes people over products and the sustainable creation of textile pieces. 

Welcome to the pilot of the Florida State Podcast of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (FSPEI). FSPEI is a JMS production that showcases student entrepreneurs and their startups, checks-in with alumni to hear about the companies they are building, and provides the opportunity to learn from seasoned entrepreneurs who have built amazing companies.In the pilot, I sit down with Dr. Susan Fiorito the founding Director of the Jim Moran School of Entrepreneurship and have a revealing conversation about what it was like behind the scenes starting a school from an entrepreneur's viewpoint.