Podcasts about bostinno

Joelle Sfeir and Nada Raphael are co-founders of Tourleb, a socially responsible tour operator owned by women and based in Lebanon, and a finalist at 2023's Bessie Awards for Travel Startup of the Year. Although their company began by accident, they have been nothing but intentional in making sure they work within their values including giving back to the community and providing a safe space for their guests. In this episode, you will hear how passionate they are about Lebanon as well as the importance of travel. Join me, Joelle and Nada as we discuss: Feedback Learning from each other San Juan Christians Muslims Political Unrest Safety Biased Travel Honorable Mentions 10 SURPRISING SIMILARITIES BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS Lebanon 2016: Reshuffling of Political Alliances and Vulnerable Political Compromises https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beirut Most Dangerous US States 2023 – Stay Safe Travel Alaska Follow Joelle and Nada in these spaces: Website: https://tourleb.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tourleb/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tourleb

Yulia Denisyuk is an award-winning travel photographer and writer who turned to travel journalism after serving in the US military and working as a Fortune 500. She's written for The New York Times, National Geographic, TIME, Conde Nast Traveler, BBC Travel, and more, on unique assignments that have brought her to share a roof with nomads in Mongolia and learn the art of Imigongo with artist collectives in Rwanda.  But Yulia's wild and adventurous stories are only the beginning of her journey – they're the fuel that have allowed her to become a multi-talented entrepreneur running numerous businesses that expand travel – and the way we see and write about travel – for others around the world. Join me and Yulia as we discuss: Bessie Award Creator of the Year Puerto Rico Kazakhstan Estonia Maya Angelou Switching Careers National Geographic Travel Blogger The Middle East Travel Industry WITS Farms to Table Movement Cognitive Writing Honorable Mentions Disrupting The Travel Industry with Wanderful's Beth Santos 5 Reasons Why You Should Commit Your Goals to Writing The Cognitive Costs of Losing Focus at Work to Interruptions 10 Powerful Reasons Why People Love To Travel In Barcelona for Vacation—and Fertility Treatments Dream Big Travel Blog Why Is It Harder For Women To Travel Solo? Follow Yulia in these spaces: Website: https://www.yulia-denisyuk.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insearchofperfect/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travelmedialab/

Kirstie and Christine are an award-winning multicultural LGBTQ+ couple using their platform and production company On Airplane Mode to inspire others to follow their passions all while celebrating who they are and who they love! They started their platform from the ground up to empower women and the LGBTQ+ community to have their voices heard. In under two years, they are proud to have built an engaging and loyal following of half a million, success across multiple social media platforms, and recognized across multiple media outlets. Join me, Kirstie and Christine as we discuss: New York Travel & Adventure Show Entrepreneur LGBTQ+ Traveling Politics Petra Bora Bora PDA Privilege Traveling Safely Honorable Mentions 1 in 3 companies anticipate laying off 30% or more of workforce in 2023 “Great Resignation” Continues 20 Entrepreneur Statistics You Need To Know (2023) 9 Tips for Keeping Your Relationship Strong and Healthy Follow Kirstie and Christine in these spaces: Website: https://www.onairplanemodetravels.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onairplanemode__/ YouTube: https://www.tiktok.com/@onairplanemode__

Jen Ruiz holds many titles including lawyer, a TEDx speaker, #1 Amazon Bestseller, 2018 Reader's Favorite Award Winner and the 2023 Bessie award winner for the category "Most Impactful Piece of Writing”. Before her 30th birthday, Jen decided to take 12 trips in 12 months. She not only surpassed her goal completing 20 trips in 12 months, but within those 12 months, her whole life changed. Join me and Jen as we discuss: Study Abroad Comfort Zone Travel Immersion Travel without borders Cultural Relativism Anxious Traveling Perfectionism Entrepreneur Honorable Mentions Is It Time to Leave Your Comfort Zone? I Gave Up Dating To Travel The World And It Changed My Life TedX Talk: The Power of Flying Solo Jen Ruiz Books Follow Jen in these spaces: Website: https://jenonajetplane.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenonajetplane

April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. Our guest, Rajia Abdelaziz, is the Co-Founder and CEO of invisaWear, the best safety jewelry and fashion accessories technology on the market.From her own personal experience, Rajia understands how important it is to feel safe. She was walking to her car after an event at college, when a car full of guys pulled up next to her, yelling frightening comments at her, and when one of the guys started to get out to take action, Rajia was able to run and get in her car, unharmed. However, the feeling of being extremely helpless did not go away. Which is why, at just 21 years old, Rajia and her Co-Founder, Ray Hamilton, developed invisaWear, a life-saving technology for jewelry and fashion accessories. invisaWear's smart jewelry and accessories allow users to instantly connect with friends, family and authorities in case of an emergency. They look like necklaces, bracelets, keychains, fitness bands, and even scrunchies… but they are actually safety devices!With a double press of the button on the accessory, ADT Security sends a discreet alert containing the GPS location to up to 5 pre-configured emergency contacts and optionally alerts authorities. ADT is able to connect directly with 9-1-1 dispatchers at the nearest dispatch department and send help if needed. In just two years, Rajia and Ray developed the hardware and software, got the app approved on both iOS and Android, and over the following 3 years raised $3 million in funding to develop invisaWear's wide range of smart jewelry and accessories.With over 560k followers and 32 million views, invisaWear's TikTok channel consistently educates viewers on sexual assault awareness and other protective and defensive measures folks can take to stay safe.Rajia is a BostInno 25 Under 25 Recipient and has a Dual degree (B.S.) in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. To learn more about invisaWear please visit: https://www.invisawear.com/Follow invisaWear on social media here:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/invisawear/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@invisawearConnect with Rajia on LinkedIn here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajiaabdelaziz/Thank you for carving out time to improve your Founder Game - when you do better, your startup will do better - cheers from Boston!Ande ♥https://andelyons.com#lifesavingtechnology #sexualassaultawarenessmonth #sexualassaultprevention JOIN STARTUP LIFE LIVE MEETUP GROUPGet an alert whenever I post a new show!https://bit.ly/StartupLifeLIVEWBENC APPLICATION SUPPORTLearn more here: https://bit.ly/GetWBENCSend me an email: ande@andelyons.comCONNECT WITH ME ONLINE: https://twitter.com/AndeLyonshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/andelyons/ https://www.instagram.com/ande_lyons/ TikTok: @andelyonsANDELICIOUS ANNOUNCEMENTSJoin Innovation Women here: https://bit.ly/AndeInnoWomenArlan's Academy: https://arlansacademy.com/Scroobious - use Ande15 discount code: https://www.scroobious.com/How to Raise a Seed Round: https://bit.ly/AAElizabethYinTune in to Mia Voss' Shit We Don't Talk About podcast here: https://shitwedonttalkaboutpodcast.com/SPONSORSHIPIf you resonate with the show's mission of amplifying diverse founder voices while serving first-time founders around the world, please reach out to me to learn more about making an impact through sponsoring the Startup Life LIVE Show! ande@andelyons.com.What We Learned:00:00 Meet Rajia Abdelaziz11:00 - Believe in yourself15:00 - how to be a success entrepreneur at 2123:40 - best co-founder advice for startups26:00 - how invisaWear built its MVP30:00 - leveraging an Indiegogo campaign for traction33:00 - how invisaWear manufactures product locally36:00 - invisaWear's packaging strategy41:00 - how invisaWear works44:20 - leveraging partnerships - the ADT story59:45 - pitching investors when you're a woman1:06:00 - best advice for managing founder doubt1:08:00 - what does success look like today vs. when invisaWear was launched

I have another amazing episode for you! If you didn't get an opportunity to listen to the inspiration words of Lola Akinmade, my third guest, click here right after you listen to this episode. Did you know a cruise ship is christened? I was blessed enough to be chosen by this episode's guest, Carol Cabezas, to be the godmother to the Azamara cruise ship. Carol Cabezas is the President of Azamara, an upmarket vacation company focused on Destination Immersion experiences. Carol joined Azamara in 2017 as the Chief Operations Officer taking on responsibility for the full range of operations in the brand including Sales, Marketing, Revenue, Finance, Deployment and Shipboard Operations. Prior to joining Azamara, Carol was the Investor Relations Officer for Royal Caribbean Group, managing relationships with the global investor and analyst community. Carol joined Royal Caribbean Group in 2000 and since that time has held a variety of leadership roles across Sales, Finance and Revenue Management. Join me and Carol as we discuss: Health Professionals Cruise Industry Customer Experience Funding Confidence Putting in the work Confidence Gap Covid DEI Career vs. Family Destination Awareness Honorable Mentions 00:00:00 - Voyager and Grandeur Azamara Onward Depart 00:00:37 - Looking back at Azamara Onward's Christening Ceremony 00:10:10 - Cruise Compete 00:21:16- Catching Up With Tony Markey 00:22:03 - Holiday Greetings from the Azamara Crew Follow Azamara Voyages in these spaces: Website: https://www.azamara.com/home Instagram: www.instagram.com/azamaravoyages Facebook: www.facebook.com/AzamaraVoyages YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/AzamaraVoyages Twitter: https://twitter.com/Azamara

I have another amazing episode for you! If you didn't get an opportunity to listen to the inspiration words of Nour Brahimi, my second guest, click here right after you listen to this episode. In this episode, I am speaking with Lola Akinmade. Lola was born in Nigeria, educated in the United States and is based in Sweden. She was named one of eight 2022 Hasselblad Heroines and the 2018 Travel Photographer of the Year Bill Muster Award recipient. The great Lola started her career behind the camera covering a popular reality TV series. Now she's a master storyteller – someone who can leave a room absolutely stunned in silence just from the words that come out of her mouth. She's a powerful speaker, a talented writer, a social entrepreneur, a painter – and so much more. She also has a lot to say about how we're representing women in the world, how we should make travel better for all of us, and how the stories we tell ourselves and the grace we give ourselves plays an enormous role in making that all work. Join me and Lola as we discuss: Storyteller Photography Oil Painting Life's Work Bestselling Book Tourists Live Video Shopping Start Up Companies Marketing Honorable Mentions 00:03:34 Expedition Impossible Full Trailer 00:10:35 The art of connecting with strangers. Be Open. Be Intrepid. 00:15:19 Author Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström introduces IN EVERY MIRROR SHE'S BLACK 00:23:45 Local Purse - Summit pitch at Phocuswright Conference 2021 00:27:39 Visual Storyteller and Bestselling Author, Lola Akinmade Åkerström at Skift Global Forum East 2022 Follow Lola in these spaces: Website: https://www.lolaakinmade.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/LolaAkinmade Instagram: https://instagram.com/LolaAkinmade LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lolaakinmade/ Books by Lola: In Every Mirror She's Black; Everything Is Not Enough; Lagom: The Swedish Secret of Living Well

I have another amazing episode for you! If you didn't get an opportunity to listen to the inspiration words of Martinique Lewis, my first guest, click here right after you listen to this episode. In this episode, I am speaking with Nour Brahimi. Nour is THE FIRST female Algerian travel Vlogger, Travel content Creator, visual storyteller, and EU goodwill ambassador. Nour uses her trips to inspire fellow women to step into the unknown. With more than 1 million followers across social media, at age 29, she is one of the top 100 influential young Africans. Nour has a lot to say about what the world should look like for women travelers and especially women travel content creators, and you're going to love her story. Join me and Nour as we discuss: Travel Women in Travel Being Responsible Safety Content Creator Islam Women Dress Code Women In Travel Summit (WITS) Visa Africa Visa Free Countries Assekrem: Part of the Sahara Desert Honorable Mentions 00:01:37 Nour Brahimi | Who am I? 00:15:08 Malaysia 00:16:47 Family Weekend At a Chalet Blida 00:22:12 Algerians at WITS 00:33:11 Nour Brahimi TikTok - Traveling with Food and Liquids Follow Nour in these spaces: Email:  nourtravelspro@gmail.com Website: https://nourbrahimi.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nour.brahimii/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVqnriClC9YapZykWVEcrpw Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nour.brahimi

WELCOME TO 85%! I am so excited the first episode of this podcast is dropping on International Woman's Day! I cannot imagine a more wonderful introduction into this podcast than to introduce you to Martinique Lewis. Martinique AKA Marty is an award-winning diversity in travel consultant, President of the Black Travel Alliance, both Travel and leisure, and Travel pulses ''Most influential people in travel''. And don't forget creator of The ABC Travel Greenbook! The number one resource connecting travelers to the African Diaspora Globally.  As a Digital Disruptor whose immensely in love with all things travel, daily she strives to change the narrative by advocating for travelers that represent different demographics across multiple platforms. Working directly with tourism boards and travel brands she creates content that is exciting and influential. Her mission is to change the face of tourism forever so that we all feel represented and see ourselves reflected. Join me and Martinique as we discuss: Travel United Airline Caribbean Black Travel Journey Fashion Black Paris Tours Black Out Tuesday Winter Outing Social Media Travel Trends Honorable Mentions 13:06: Harlem in Montmartre: A Paris Jazz Story 15:02: Grading the Travel Industry on Diversity & Inclusion Martinique Lewis, Black Travel Alliance 16:25: Protests, Calls for Justice in Georgia Over Ahmaud Arbery Killing 20:00: Author Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström introduces IN EVERY MIRROR SHE'S BLACK 21:40: Laura Fernandez Executive Interview with SXM Media on Travel 28:06: Introducing the History Of Black Travel 33:02: Martinique Lewis TikTok 40:09: Black Travel Across America Follow Martinique in these spaces: Instagram: @Martysandiego LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinique-lewis/

Women make 85% of travel decisions, so why are we not seen in 85% of travel marketing? What is shown to us when it comes to the "traveling woman"? Two narratives: either we're having a life-changing transformation and devouring pasta OR we're getting kidnapped and in fear for our lives. It's never somewhere in between. As the founder of leading women's travel community, Wanderful, and creator of an incredible series of events, festivals, and activities for women travelers worldwide, I KNOW there is more to women traveling than what — and who — is represented in the movies or seen on commercials. So, I'm going to talk about it with some of the most phenomenal influencers, CEOs and changemakers in travel and hospitality around the world. Come buckle up and be my audio travel companion. I'm Beth Santos and this is 85 Percent.

On Season 5 Episode 9 of Think Like A Founder, SNP Communication's Co-Founder and CEO, Maureen Taylor, interviews Tony Shu. Tony Shu is the Co-Founder of companies Parker & Breaktime. Parker works to empower individuals to achieve financial freedom through fractional real estate investing. And Breaktime is a non-profit that breaks the cycle of young adult homelessness through purposeful transitional employment. Tony is a recent graduate from Harvard University, where he created his own major around housing and urban innovation. He has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30, BostInno 25 Under 25, and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce's Ten Outstanding Young Leaders for his work.  Think Like A Founder is produced by SNP Communications in San Francisco, California. Visit the Think Like A Founder website to learn more about the podcast and curriculum or connect with Maureen Taylor on LinkedIn to continue the conversation there. Series Producer: Mike SullivanSound Design: Marc Ream Content and Scripting: Catherine Hardy and Jaselin DrownProduction Coordinator: Natasha ThomasThanks also to Róisín Hunt, Selena Persiani-Shell, Jordan Bailey, Matt Johnson, Eli Shell, John Hughes, and Renn Vara.

Miranda Perez is a cross-topic multimedia journalist on a mission to highlight and elevate marginalized voices. Evolving beyond the newsroom, she recently joined the team at HBCU Founders Initiative, a nonprofit organization that is engaging rising HBCU students and alumni interested in pursuing entrepreneurship. For those unfamiliar with the term HBCU, it refers to any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans. Perez is playing a critical role supporting entrepreneurs participating in HBCU Founder Initiative's Pre-Accelerator, an 8-week program for early-stage founders who are past the ideation stage and ready to validate a problem and build a minimum viable product. Beyond her role at HBCUFI, Perez still writes about business, tech, politics, social issues, fashion, and entertainment, among other topics. She also consults with businesses navigating societal and technological change. She grew up as an inner-city kid in Chicago. She describes school “as an escape for a lot of the hardships I faced growing up.” She pushed herself academically and became the first person in her family to graduate from college, earning a Mass Media Arts degree from Clark Atlanta University, a top 25 nationally ranked HBCU and Black Ivy League school. During college, Miranda served as the Editor-In-Chief of CAU's campus newspaper, The Panther, and as the President/Editor-In-Chief of CAU's online magazine, Her Campus. During that time, Miranda had her first national byline in The Nation as a sophomore in college. These accomplishments won the attention of editors across the country, and Perez earned and held editor/reporter roles at BostInno, Insider and BuiltIn upon graduation. She's also appeared on programs such as MSNBC discussing education equity for Hispanic Americans. In this episode, we speak with Perez about the challenges she's overcome in life, and her evolution from a cross-topic multimedia journalist into a dynamic branding and storytelling consultant.

Jehan Hamedi is the Founder and CEO of Vizit, an AI-powered visual brand performance platform. The software enables teams to measure, manage, and optimize their image effectiveness at every stage of the customer journey to make the best impression with target audiences. In 2022, the company was named one of Boston's Top 22 startups to watch by BostInno.  As an AI entrepreneur, inventor, digital marketer, and enterprise technology leader, Jehan has spent his career building and commercializing AI software products to help Fortune 1000 companies harness the power of consumer opinion to make smarter product, marketing, and commerce decisions. He has supported dozens of major global companies' first integrations of AI to better understand and take action on consumer opinion, including Google, Twitter, PepsiCo, and Mars. In this episode… In the retail media space, visual content is the #1 driver of conversions. Yet, many brands regard this form of content as a cost rather than an asset to their business. As a result, they lack the strategies required to optimize content effectively for their audience. So, how can you enhance your visual media strategy to analyze and generate conversion rates? The first principal step in content optimization is investing in a visual analytics strategy to measure your content's effectiveness. This requires determining your target audience and the ideal shoppers you'd like to convert. According to Jehan Hamedi, each image has an ideal customer that differs by marketplaces, behavioral demographics, and shopping habits. AI allows you to analyze visual data by simulating how a specific audience reacts to your imagery. With these approaches, you can hone your content to generate new leads. In this episode of The Digital Deep Dive, Aaron Conant welcomes Jehan Hamedi, Founder and CEO of Vizit, to talk about analyzing and optimizing visual content. Jehan shares the importance of curating content for different marketplaces and customers, advice for launching content internationally, and the benefits of AI to streamline visual data analytics.

Today we have a very special guest with us, Beth Santos - the founder and CEO of Wanderful. Beth and I met at the first-ever Wanderfest event in New Orleans in March of this year. She was so supportive and her team created an environment where I felt like I had found my tribe. For me, travel has been a major part of my identity, and that's why I resonate so much with Beth. Since I was a teenager I've had the joy of the world being my greatest teacher, a tool for my own healing, and a resource for personal and professional growth. Stay with us for the next hour as Beth and I talk about travel and leadership. With a background in international development, thoughtful community building, and social enterprise, Beth Santos is out to change the landscape of travel for women worldwide. In 2009, while cruising her blue motorcycle through the streets of São Tomé and Príncipe, Beth created the first iteration of Wanderful as a travel blog aimed to explore the diverse and shared experiences of women traveling the world. Today, Wanderful has exploded to an international community and social network with the active participation of over 40,000 women and gender-diverse people of all ages and backgrounds. This is manifested through an active membership community, chapter events in over 50 global cities worldwide, and annual community events and trips. In 2014, Beth created the WITS Travel Creator + Brand Summit, the leading event for women and gender diverse travel creators, entrepreneurs, and industry to use their voices to champion change in the travel industry, now hosted annually on two continents This event has earned international acclaim and attracted top talent in the travel industry and beyond, leading to the 2019 creation of the Bessie Awards — an award ceremony to honor women of impact in the travel space. In combatting social inequity and encouraging people to travel thoughtfully, Wanderful is the creator of the Moving Forward Anti-Racism Town Hall for the Travel Industry, recognized in Business Insider and Phocuswire, as well as the first Anti-Oppression Toolkit for Travel + Culture Creators. In 2022, Wanderful launched Wanderfest, the first major outdoor travel festival by and for women, hailed by Fodor's Travel as the new festival to add to your radar. Wanderful has been recognized in top publications such as Skift, Lonely Planet, the Boston Globe, the South China Morning Post, Forbes, Business Insider and the Chicago Tribune. Beth has been recognized in Business Insider as one of 17 changemakers transforming the hospitality industry, in Conde Nast Traveller as one of 12 inspiring people to follow for International Women's Day, in TimeOut as one of 10 people shaping the future of Boston, as well as a BostInno 50 on Fire, a Chicago Scholars 35 Under 35 Young Leader Making an Impact, a Zell Fellow (a prestigious fellowship for entrepreneurs pursuing their MBA), and an alumna of the Babson WIN Lab. She was recognized by the Obama Administration as one of the top 100 travel bloggers in the US. In 2022, she was named Godmother of the Azamara Onward. She is a dynamic keynote speaker, an entrepreneurship and marketing consultant for the travel + tourism industry, and a supportive coach who thrives on helping people build lasting, impactful communities.

Today we have a very special guest with us, Beth Santos - the founder and CEO of Wanderful. Beth and I met at the first-ever Wanderfest event in New Orleans in March of this year. She was so supportive and her team created an environment where I felt like I had found my tribe. For me, travel has been a major part of my identity, and that's why I resonate so much with Beth. Since I was a teenager I ve had the joy of the world being my greatest teacher, a tool for my own healing, and a resource for personal and professional growth. Stay with us for the next hour as Beth and I talk about travel and leadership. With a background in international development, thoughtful community building, and social enterprise, Beth Santos is out to change the landscape of travel for women worldwide. In 2009, while cruising her blue motorcycle through the streets of S o Tom and Pr ncipe, Beth created the first iteration of Wanderful as a travel blog aimed to explore the diverse and shared experiences of women traveling the world. Today, Wanderful has exploded to an international community and social network with the active participation of over 40,000 women and gender-diverse people of all ages and backgrounds. This is manifested through an active membership community, chapter events in over 50 global cities worldwide, and annual community events and trips. In 2014, Beth created the WITS Travel Creator + Brand Summit, the leading event for women and gender diverse travel creators, entrepreneurs, and industry to use their voices to champion change in the travel industry, now hosted annually on two continents This event has earned international acclaim and attracted top talent in the travel industry and beyond, leading to the 2019 creation of the Bessie Awards an award ceremony to honor women of impact in the travel space. In combatting social inequity and encouraging people to travel thoughtfully, Wanderful is the creator of the Moving Forward Anti-Racism Town Hall for the Travel Industry, recognized in Business Insider and Phocuswire, as well as the first Anti-Oppression Toolkit for Travel + Culture Creators. In 2022, Wanderful launched Wanderfest, the first major outdoor travel festival by and for women, hailed by Fodor s Travel as the new festival to add to your radar.Wanderful has been recognized in top publications such as Skift, Lonely Planet, the Boston Globe, the South China Morning Post, Forbes, Business Insider and the Chicago Tribune. Beth has been recognized in Business Insider as one of 17 changemakers transforming the hospitality industry, in Conde Nast Traveller as one of 12 inspiring people to follow for International Women s Day, in TimeOut as one of 10 people shaping the future of Boston, as well as a BostInno 50 on Fire, a Chicago Scholars 35 Under 35 Young Leader Making an Impact, a Zell Fellow (a prestigious fellowship for entrepreneurs pursuing their MBA), and an alumna of the Babson WIN Lab. She was recognized by the Obama Administration as one of the top 100 travel bloggers in the US. In 2022, she was named Godmother of the Azamara Onward. She is a dynamic keynote speaker, an entrepreneurship and marketing consultant for the travel + tourism industry, and a supportive coach who thrives on helping people build lasting, impactful communities.

Enrico Palmerino is the Founder and CEO of Botkeeper, an accounting automation platform. Using a combination of accountants, machine learning, and AI, Botkeeper provides businesses with 24/7 bookkeeping, insightful dashboards, and accurate reporting. The company has been recognized as an industry leader by Gartner, Accounting Today, CEOWORLD MAGAZINE, Patch, Red Herring, Bostinno, and has earned a Stevie Award. Before starting Botkeeper, Enrico's background was in automation, decision trees, and accounting, and he has a triple major from Babson College in quantitative methods, entrepreneurship, and strategic management. In this episode… Many entrepreneurs choose to bootstrap their startup businesses. The thought of relinquishing control can be daunting and may prevent them from getting venture capital funding altogether. As much as Enrico Palmerino likes to control his own destiny, his company's rapid growth meant he needed the type of financing required to continue to scale. He had a vision for the company's future and realized that being bootstrapped would hold him back and limit his growth. His desire to build the brand was the primary factor in his decision to get venture capital funding. In this episode of the Skunkworks Podcast, Eric Bourget interviews Enrico Palmerino, the Founder and CEO of Botkeeper, about the value of getting venture capital funding. They also talk about the influence of leadership styles, the difference between being a visionary versus an integrator, and the right time to transition to venture capital funding.

This week we are thrilled to feature David Zamarin on our podcast. David Zamarin is the Founder & CEO of DetraPel, his latest venture that appeared on Season 9 of ABC's hit show Shark Tank. DetraPel is an advanced materials company that manufactures protective coatings without any cancer-causing fluorochemicals (PFAS). He also founded two other companies that he has since exited. David is also a member of several advisory boards: he currently sits on the Entrepreneurial Advisory Board of FedEx, is a Strategic Advisor for EntrepreneurShares, is an advisor for Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, and does numerous speaking engagements. A member of Forbes 30 Under 30, Worcester Business Journal's 40 Under 40, and Boston's 25 Under 25 by BostInno, David inspires youth ventures by being an active member of several youth entrepreneurship advisory boards. Tune into this week's episode to learn more about being independent and transparent.

Josh Drean has been featured on the Today Show, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Bostinno, NBC, Fox Business, his YouTube Channel has millions of view, he was named Top 100 HR Influencers of 2021, so when we say we surround ourselves with people smarter than us on Facts Not Feelings, we mean it! Stop and listen with the intent to hear your employees. When you can do this an environment or trust and authenticity, your employees will tell you everything you need to know.   Here are some of my favorite quotable moments from Josh:  "Your employee is your first customer" - Josh Drean "Employers can't afford to hear employees." - Josh Drean "Work should be a relationship not a contract." - Josh Drean  What are you doing to to hear your employees?  Learn More About Drean MediaMore Info on BZ Consultants GroupListen wherever you get your Podcasts! Follow, subscribe, and don't miss an episode of Facts Not Feelings! #BZConsultantsGroup #BZConsultants #BZ #FactsNotFeelings #FactsFeelingsFriday #JoshDrean #DreanMedia #EmployeeRetention #EmployeeMorale #EmployeeExperience #EmployeeEngagement #TheGreatResignation #Automotive #Entrepreneur #EntrepreneurLife #Consultant #DigitalMarketing #BrookeFurniss

In this episode, we chat with TechCrunch reporter, Natasha Mascarenha, about a pitch that led to a phone call, which inspired a 4-part series on a well-known edtech company, Duolingo! What stood out about the founder that led to such an in-depth look at the company? We'll dive into how this series developed, leaving you with tips on how to pitch your founder and best prepare them for interviews. Despite the reality of most startups not holding household names like Duolingo, our guest will guide you through making your client stand out by communicating with transparency and authenticity. In this episode you'll learn… How to prepare startup founders for media interviews Why authenticity matters in storytelling and media interviews What a TechCrunch reporter looks for in a subject line and email body Our guest is... Natasha Mascarenhas is a senior reporter at TechCrunch by way of Crunchbase News, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe and BostInno. She primarily reports on early-stage startups in edtech and future of work, through the lens of how culture and strong opinions can shape a company's trajectory. Beyond journalism, Mascarenhas spends her time cooking Indian American fusion recipes, dancing and writing on her personal blog. Stories we talked about: How a bot-fighting test turned into edtech's most iconic brand, Duolingo Built by a refugee, Enlight's edtech tool bets it can help students hope harder Medium sees more employee exits after CEO publishes ‘culture memo'

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with David Chang (@changds) in this episode. David is an entrepreneur and angel investor who has held operating roles at six startups and invested in 70+ companies. He was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of Gradifi, which was acquired by E*TRADE. Previously, he was Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard Business School and Director of the Babson Summer Venture Program.As a leader in the entrepreneurship community, David holds several advisor/board memberships. He is on the board at MITX, an advisor at Harvard Ventures, Nanigans, CO Everywhere, OpenFrame, and Linkwell Health. He has made 70+ angel investments in startups such as Crashlytics, clypd, Amino, Logz, Cuseum, CarePort Health, Dashfire, Mogul, Uncharted Play, through the Where Angel Fund and TBD Angels. David is a frequent speaker on the topics of startups, fundraising, and the Boston tech ecosystem, and he actively mentors students and founders. Awards include Boston Business Journal's Power 50: Most Influential Bostonians, BostInno's 50 on Fire: Education Winner / Investment Winner / Tech Finalist, and Finalist for NEVY Angel of the Year.David Chang's Twitter:  https://twitter.com/changdsShow Notes:  Switching from entrepreneurship to investing What makes David comfortable investing in more companies How David chooses the amount to invest David's portfolio structure as an angel investor The best investment David made Investing with through an angel group The structure of TBD Angels and tools used to manage it What David is looking for as an angel investor His thoughts about subconscious bias and underrepresented founders Sourcing deals from universities More about the show:The Vitalize Podcast, a show by Vitalize Venture Capital (a seed-stage venture capital firm and pre-seed 300+ member angel community open to everyone), dives deep into the world of startup investing and the future of work.Hosted by Justin Gordon, the Director of Marketing at Vitalize Venture Capital, The Vitalize Podcast includes two main series. The Angel Investing series features interviews with a variety of angel investors and VCs around the world. The goal? To help develop the next generation of amazing investors. The Future of Work series takes a look at the founders and investors shaping the new world of work, including insights from our team here at Vitalize Venture Capital. More about us:Vitalize Venture Capital was formed in 2017 as a $16M seed-stage venture fund and now includes both a fund as well as an angel investing community investing in the future of work. Vitalize has offices in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.The Vitalize Team:Gale - https://twitter.com/galeforceVCCaroline - https://twitter.com/carolinecasson_Justin - https://twitter.com/justingordon212Vitalize Angels, our angel investing community open to everyone:https://vitalize.vc/vitalizeangels/

Richard Mensah is the Co-Founder of EllisX, which is pioneering authentic marketing, a new market category that allows companies to increase brand awareness without hassle. Their infrastructure empowers creators and writers to connect with the best startup/tech stories. Originally from Ghana, Richard previously founded 3 startups in the Media, Adtech and HR industries, while studying for his college degree in Computer Science. His current company EllisX was selected as a finalist for the 2020 New England Innovation Awards, the oldest innovation competition in the Northeast. Richard was listed in BostInno's 25 under 25 in 2019 and holds graduate degrees in international business and disruptive innovation. Topics Covered by Richard Mensah in this Episode How EllisX is pioneering authentic marketing   Richard's entrepreneurial journey with 4 startups   How Richard met his co-founder Leia Ruseva and how EllisX got started   Customer discovery, the early stages of EllisX and how the concept has shifted to their current vision   Their launch on Product Hunt   EllisX's current business model and how they developed their pricing   How they're approaching growth through partnerships, referrals and content   How their strategy informs conversations with investors   Getting into Launch House   What the EllisX user experience is like   Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212

In this episode, Dave's guest is Chase Garbarino, Co-Founder and CEO of HQO (www.hqo.co), a Boston-based operating system and tenant experience platform for commercial office buildings. Like every other sector of the global innovation economy, commercial real estate is also facing disruption by digital technology, elevated customer expectations and entrepreneurs with startups that create new opportunities. Today, tenant experience technology plays a bigger role than ever before, helping transform properties from a physical space into communities that offer real value to the workforce. HQO is building technology to create real-world experiences and more meaningful human connections. Within the built environment, the company focuses on the places where people work, within a belief that economic success and opportunity are core drivers of the successful “live, work, play” value proposition that many communities strive for. When communities work well and prosper economically, people usually live and play far better. HQO recently closed a major Series C funding round of $60m, not long after closing their $35m Series B for a total $107m - all raised around a global pandemic. And shortly after recording, HQO announced that it acquired Office App (www.getofficeapp.com), the leading European tenant and employee engagement platform, valuing HQO at over $500m and making it one of the most significant proptech companies in the world. Chase has been a leader of Boston's Innovation Economy for the past 10+ years - first leading the creation of AmericanInno, a digital media and events business targeted at helping bolster the innovation economies of American cities. Bostinno (www.bostinno.com), a new media organization that chronicled Boston's exploding startup and VC scene in a way that legacy media couldn't. After selling to Advanced Publications in 2015, he started on a new adventure, with a company that has pivoted through multiple incarnations to become HQO. With a strong interest in how technology connects people back to the real world around them, the HQO team launched HqO in 2018 and began developing technology that connects people back to their local community and the people around them in a more impactful way.

Jon Feinman is a cool dude. I first found out about him watching an ESPN video that got me so riveted I watched it twice. As someone who’s been in and around the world of strength and conditioning as an athlete, and then as a business, I know how hard it is to be in that business but how cool it is when you know you’re making an impact. Jon’s story is awesome. From his bio: Jon founded ICW in 2010, building upon his experience in Americorps and as a personal trainer. As CEO, he is focused on aligning the vision, strategy, culture, and growth of ICW to flip power dynamics, bridge social capital, and amplify the voice and agency of people who have been most impacted by mass incarceration and systemic racism. Over his 11 years at ICW, the company evolved from a weight training program to a workforce development track, to a social justice organization. What started as a gym, is now a community where people belong, together. Where people are valued as equals, and people with lived experience are listened to as the experts. It is a person-centric organization, where goals are determined by and driven by each individual. Rather than doing something “for” someone, ICW partners with and alongside each person to assist in empowering personal success. Jon received his MBA from Babson College in 2010 where he launched ICW. For his work, Jon has received awards from the Boston Celtics, Year Up, Good Sports, Bostinno, and Babson College. In 2014 he was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Leaders by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and in 2015 received the Ernst and Young New England Entrepreneur of the Year for Social Entrepreneurship. ICW has been featured on ESPN, CBS, NESN, and in the Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and NPR. You can check out the ESPN video that got me hooked here: Redefining Strength When you’re done with that be sure to follow Jon Feinman on Instagram here: InnerCityWeightlifting.org. Their Facebook Page is here if you do the Facebook thing: InnerCityWeightlifting and be sure to catch them on Twitter and Linkedin. Turns out Jon is a big Steve Carrell fan, and if you had to have him choose between cats or dogs...well...he’s a dog guy. When I asked him who his most influential coach or mentor was he said: Nathaniel Ogedegbe which I wasn’t expecting. He’s an ENTP Personality type but can be Introverted or Extroverted, as needed, which is an awesome trait to possess. And while it’s important to know your personality type (you can get a free assessment here) it’s also important to know that your personality isn’t permanent. Grab Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s book to find out why: Personality Isn’t Permanent And when he’s not changing the world by using personal training as a means for social justice, he surfs on the south shore of Boston. All-in-all, Jon Feinman is a good dude. Doing good things. With other really good dudes. It was a pleasure to get to know him. So head on over to www.InnerCityWeightlifting.org and make a donation or pick up some merch and wear it with pride. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Olympian Jonathan Edwards is the creator of the Athlete Breakthrough Blueprint. The premier mental performance program for aspiring athletes with big dreams. Do you have an athlete with big dreams? Maybe they want to compete in the Olympics. Or a Grand Prix. Or maybe they want to compete in college? Then The Blueprint may be just what your athlete needs. It’s a twelve-week program that helps an athlete understand EVERYTHING they need to understand in order to reach their goals in sports and life. Jonathan has become the pre-eminent voice helping young athletes achieve BIG dreams. To learn more about the program you can go to: https://www.athletespecific.com/blueprint Subscribe to our channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyA-q7G_sreAEEHKaLdS4aA Do you have an athlete who struggles with Negative Thoughts? Did you know that even the best athletes struggle with negative thoughts even in their best moments? We have a free PDF guide to help athletes deal with Automatic Negative Thoughts and you can get your copy by clicking here: https://athletespecific.com/ant-download/ For parents AND athletes, Jonathan has put together a free course that reveals the Three Key Abilities every athlete must have in order to succeed: Get a free course http://athletespecifi.wpengine.com/3keys/ And don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes (Now apple podcasts) for more tips and tricks for your athlete. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/creating-high-performance-athletes-olympian-jonathan/id1460598505 Be sure to join our Private Facebook Group: Raising High Performing Athletes by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/358243938245206/

Aagya Mathur is the Co-Founder & CEO of Aavia, a smart pill case and app that learns and improves pill-taking habits. The Aavia smart pill case knows when a user takes their pill and sends reminders to your app if it hasn't been taken your pill and will keep sending reminders until it's actually taken. The app automatically records what time a user takes the pill so they can visualize how they are managing their birth control pills over time. They are also regularly rolling out new features that allow users to gain personalized insights about their hormonal cycle over time with use. Aagya earned her Bachelor's in Neuroscience from the University of Virginia and her MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has been honored Forbes 53 women-led startups disrupting health tech, Top 100 Women in FemTech and HealthTech, MedTech Boston 40 under 40 Healthcare Innovators, and BostInno's 50 on Fire. We discussed, what it means to "build in public", the Aavia smart pill case and the consequences of irregular intake of birth control. Check out the Aavia at www.aavia.io Rate, Review & Subscribe!

Sarah is the Founder of Holdette, an e-commerce brand designing and producing women's workwear with real pockets. Sarah was also named as one of BostInno's 25 under 25 in 2020. Topics Covered in the Interview: - Attending an all-girls high school and how that's shaped her - Her decision to attend BU and major in Computer Science - The problem of women's pockets being fake or small forcing them to carry their belongings in their hands or a purse - The journey of starting Holdette (and how the company originally started as The Collective - an affiliate marketing newsletter) and pivoted several times to the concept that it is today - creating women's workwear with adequate pockets - The Back Pocket community, a female membership community, Sarah has created as part of the Holdette brand - Running a business while being a full-time student - Challenges of running a clothing brand - Advice for young, female founders like herself Holdette's mission is to support women from the moment they get dressed in the morning by providing workwear with adequate pockets and offering a community for after you get home from work. Holdette's Website: https://holdette.com/ Holdette's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holdette/?hl=en --- Grateful Living Website: http://grateful4living.com/ My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aroy81547/?hl=en To Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Hn4ttttmbWfVqAhWh4Jhi To Listen on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1503185956 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Bo0LHtRJJNJBUYIceg27w Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gratefulliving4

Guest Ari Fine Glantz is the Director of Development & Strategic Initiatives at the New England Venture Capital Association (NEVCA), the regional trade association for the venture capital industry, with mission to foster a collaborative, inclusive, and prosperous innovation ecosystem. At NEVCA, Glantz leads the organization’s revenue generating activities, manages legislative strategy, and supports president Jody Rose on new program development. He has served as a coach and judge for a variety of accelerators and pitch competitions around Boston, and is an infrequent contributor to TechCrunch, BostInno, and TEDx. Glantz recently launched a lighthearted fundraiser -- Fund.Razor -- to decide the stylistic fate of his year-plus-long beard. All funds raised will support Hack.Diversity, a division of the NEVCA tackling the underrepresentation of high-skilled minority talent in Boston's innovation ecosystem. Glantz leans on an atypical journey that led him to the NEVCA: entrepreneurship, to international athletics, to social work; San Francisco, to Paris, to Australia, before returning to his roots in New England. He is a graduate of Vassar College and a native Cantabrigian (person from Cambridge).

Guest Veronica Armstrong is the cofounder and CEO of Isle de Nature, a Boston-based home fragrance startup that recently placed runner-up at Roxbury Pitch Night, a virtual pitch night hosted by Venture Café New England’s Roxbury Innovation Center. Isle de Nature offers a line of home fragrance products starting with candles made from beeswax and soy. Armstrong is driven by the belief that "unspoiled nature is a luxury" as climate change threatens the islands she draws inspiration from. Isle de Nature's signature fragrance, Pagua Bay, is inspired by the bay leaves indigenous to Dominica. Armstrong has deep expertise in e-commerce customer acquisition and product growth. As employee #4 and the former Head of Customer Happiness and General Manager at Lovepop, Armstrong helped the brand grow from unknown to Sharktank to dominating the specialty card market. She spends her free time mentoring female entrepreneurs and was named one of the top 20 female VPs and Directors in Boston tech by Rev in 2018. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: www.americaninno.com/boston/boston-speaks-up/

Maya is a rising senior at Babson College, majoring in Social Entrepreneurship. In January 2018, Maya founded Hope Sews, an ethical fashion brand focused on empowering women through cross-cultural fashion. In July of 2017, Maya traveled to Anloga, Ghana where she explored the fabric markets and tailor shops, falling in love with the wax prints. While she was there, Maya met Vida, a talented seamstress, who wants to empower women and provide them with the skills to open their own seamstress shops and allow women to be financially independent. Maya discovered that their was a problem: "many seamstresses in Ghana and around the world are unable to scale their businesses because they don't have the access to necessary resources". Sustainable development with a focus on social and ethical impact and investing in the futures of women around the world became the foundation of the brand. Hope sews is featured in BostINNO 50 on Fire Winner, Featured in Boston Voyager Magazine, Winner of B-Seeds Social Impact Pitch Competition, Winner of MASSInnovation Textile & Apparel Pitch, Winner of Steve Madden Fashion Forward Showcase, and profiled in British Vogue. In this episode, we talk about her experience starting Hope Sews, her take on the entrepreneurship space at Babson, her experience as a womxn entrepreneur and being the youngest founder in her cohort when she participated in WIN Lab's accelerator program, and challenges she faced running Hope Sews during the pandemic. You can find Hope Sews on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Check out Hope Sews: https://www.hopesews.com/ Socials: https://linktr.ee/and_this_is_how_it_started

Ashton Lattimore is the editor-in-chief at Prism, a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color)-led nonprofit news outlet. Prism formally launched in August 2020 with a focus on coverage of electoral justice, gender justice, workers’ rights, criminal justice, racial justice and immigration. Lattimore is a longtime editor and writer whose work focuses on race, culture, and the law. Her writing has been published by the Washington Post, Slate, CNN, Essence, and other outlets. Prior to joining Prism, Lattimore was senior writer and managing editor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and previously was the lead editor at NewsOne. Also a former lawyer, Lattimore represented Pennsylvania’s Governor in the lawsuits that successfully challenged the state’s congressional map as an illegal partisan gerrymander, resulting in the implementation of a new map in time for the 2018 elections. Lattimore received a B.A. in English from Harvard College, an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She lives in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: www.americaninno.com/boston/boston-speaks-up/

Guest Rachael Rollins is the Suffolk County District Attorney, the chief law enforcement official for Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. She was elected by a landslide campaigning on a platform centered on criminal justice system reform. Taking office in January 2019 as Suffolk County’s 16th district attorney, Rollins is the first woman to be elected to that position in Suffolk County history, and the first woman of color ever to serve as a Massachusetts district attorney. District Attorney Rollins has been consistently outspoken in her pledge to effect meaningful, substantive reform to the criminal legal system as she prefers to call it. For example, instead of using her limited resources to prosecute low-level misdemeanor charges -- which are often symptomatic not of criminal intent but of mental illness, substance use disorder, and poverty -- DA Rollins seeks to hold them accountable while providing access to services and treatment to address the underlying issues that likely led the individual to offend. This progressive approach is designed to reduce the likelihood that an individual will reoffend and improve the safety and wellbeing of impacted communities. She also led the charge in filing an injunction in federal court to end civil arrests in MA state courthouses to ensure that all community members have equal access to justice through the courts. Prior to seeking elected office, District Attorney Rollins served as a field attorney with the National Labor Relations Board in Boston, safeguarding employees’ rights. Beginning in 2007, District Attorney Rollins served as an assistant United States attorney with the US Attorney’s office in Boston, handling cases that included fraud, employment discrimination, sexual violence, child abuse, gun trafficking, narcotics, and public integrity matters. In 2011, she was selected by Governor Deval Patrick’s administration as the first person of color to serve as the General Counsel of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and was soon named the first female general counsel of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. In 2013, she was recruited to become the Chief Legal Counsel of the Massachusetts Port Authority. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: www.americaninno.com/boston/boston-speaks-up/

Guest Martel Metellus is the founder of Soko, a discovery network for the Black community to connect, collaborate, and find new opportunities. Founded in September 2019, Soko began as a freelance marketplace for Black skillworkers. Like many great startups, Soko was created to satisfy the founder’s own pain points. Metellus developed Soko to solve his need of wanting to hire Black people to work on his various entrepreneurial ventures, including several fitness endeavors. Metellus moved from Arizona to Boston in 2015 to attend Babson College and play basketball. The budding entrepreneur also has aspirations to become a Venture Capitalist. He possesses a great combination of humility, ambition and intellect which is on full display via his blog -- Mind of Martel -- in which he opines about topics like what is a blockchain. Metellus is on the verge of introducing the next evolution of the Soko platform. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: www.americaninno.com/boston/boston-speaks-up/

Angela Liu is the Director of Hack.Diversity, the workforce development division of the New England Venture Capital Association. Launched in 2017, Hack.Diversity partners with Boston’s fast growing tech teams to not only increase the representation of Black and Latinx technologists in the innovation economy, but also evolve organizational practices to support retention and promotion of that talent. By the end of 2020, Liu will have scaled operations, community, and curriculum to support a network of 150+ Hack Fellows to contribute to 25+ companies including Drift, Rapid7, Liberty Mutual, Tamr, and Vertex. Prior to joining NEVCA and Hack.Diversity, Liu spent three years at MIT building pipelines towards STEM education access for students historically underserved and underrepresented in STEM fields. A 2020 Spark Boston Impact Winner, Liu is a “1.5 generation” immigrant from Guangzhou, China and first-generation college student who studied Science, Technology, and International Affairs at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: www.americaninno.com/boston/boston-speaks-up/

There is nothing more encouraging to me than seeing young people making a difference and pursing entrepreneurship; being the change-makers. They push me to do more and be better. My guest today is an incredibly inspiring young leader named Miracle Olatunji. Miracle is an entrepreneur, international speaker, and the author of the book, “Purpose: How to Live and Lead with Impact.” In high school (yes, high school), she founded OpportuniMe, an education startup that connects high school youth to summer experiential-learning opportunities for passion, career, and self-discovery. Miracle is absolutely that. She is an incredibly inspiring young leader and you’re going to love my conversation with her today! 2:27 - The Miracle 101 Miracle’s story starts before she was born. The fact that Miracle is alive today is exactly why she got her name. When Miracle’s mother was pregnant, she started having premature contractions and doctors told her that the changes of her baby surviving prematurely were pretty much non-existent. Despite that grim statement, Miracle was born full-term and healthy. Her path to entrepreneurship started in a program called The Diamond Challenge, a entrepreneurship contest for high school students. Miracle decided to try it out and pitched an idea with her friends. That experience gave her the confidence to never limit herself based on her age, gender, or anything else. Through the Diamond Challenge, Miracle started her first organization, OpportuniMe. OpportuniMe helps people realize and reach their full potential through connection to opportunities and resources to explore different career paths and connect with other young people. Miracle’s first book “Purpose” was published in the summer of 2019. 4:25 – The Diamond Challenge The Diamond Challenge that Miracle participated in is a competition run through the University of Delaware but is specifically for high school students. The program gives students access to video courses about entrepreneurship and the process of turning an idea into reality. There are two tracks to the competition, the business side and the social enterprise side. Various colleges, high schools, and churches all over the world host “pitch sites.” Students can also pitch their ideas virtually. Miracle participated in the follow up event after the Diamond Challenge. While in her first year at the follow-up event, she was inspired by the closing keynote speaker who said that one of the key parts of entrepreneurship is solving problems. When she returned to school in the fall and talked about her experience with the Diamond Challenge, she realized how many of her peers didn’t know about the opportunities out there for them or that these programs existed. Miracle learned that your passion must be cultivated. It doesn’t fall from the sky and into your lap. She knew her peers simply didn’t have the same access to opportunities that open the doors to interests and passions. 9:05 – OpportuniMe Miracle started OpportuniMe when she was just 17 years old. Since then the biggest lesson she’s learned is the power of her mindset. She didn’t know a lot in the beginning. She had to work on herself push through the fear of rejection when starting things she’d never done before. She realized that if you don’t ask for anything, you don’t even have the opportunity for a “yes”, “no”, or “not right now.” Miracle is realizing now in college, that many college students are experiencing the same feelings of trying to discover what they are passionate about and that they are also trying to find purpose. She has extended the mission beyond high school students to also include people who are going to be entering the workforce soon, are entering it now, or have been in it for a few years. 15:37 – Purpose: How to Live and Lead with Impact At the start of the new year in 2018, Miracle made a vision board. She researched about visualizations and how things become more real in our minds when we are able to see a picture of it first. One of the things on Miracle’s vision board was a quote, “Write a book, change the world.” She had always had the desire to write a book, but it seemed overwhelming and she didn’t think it was possible. She decided to stay dedicated to achieving it anyway. In a community called “NextGen Summit”, Miracle joined a webinar about writing a book. She sent the instructor an email introducing herself and talking about her goal to write a book. The next week they spoke on the phone and Miracle enrolled in the program and stared writing her book! The program is based around a community of aspiring book authors supporting other aspiring book authors. Each cohort releases their books on the same day. Miracle was inspired to write her book based on her own personal experiences and aspiring leaders from all different walks of life. Purpose seems very abstract, but Miracle wanted to break that down to help people realize that it can be simplified to personal reflection on your values and what makes you come alive. You can find Purpose: How to Live and Lead with Impact on Amazon. 20:12 - On the Horizon As you know by now, Miracle really wants to help create opportunities for others. This summer to (especially now to help offset the effects of Covid-19 on college internships), she’s hiring college students with skills in social media, content marketing, and more. She wants to help students build their skills, learn new ones, and get compensated for their time. In the future, Miracle also plans to participate in more campaigns like Barbie’s #rolemodels #youcanbeanything campaign to inspire people around the world that they have potential that shouldn’t be limited by any aspect of their identity. 23:00 – Getting to Know Our Guest Learn about Miracle’s unusual talent, what her “walk up/hype” song would be, what makes her feel most alive, who she’d pick to play her in a movie, and what she’s learning about herself during Covid-19. Be sure to stay tuned to hear what it means to Miracle to run a business with purpose. Memorable Quotes 3:43 - “I realized that I shouldn’t limit myself based on age or gender or anything. I should see myself as someone who is able to make a difference in the world because I truly believe that every single person on this planet has a purpose and s  unique impact that they can make on the world.” 7:17 – “These programs create a way to explore, and you can’t know if you’re passionate about something unless you try it.” 7:40 - “The thing about passion…is that it takes exploration and trying different things. It would be nice if our passion just fell into our lap, but we have to do the work to figure out what makes us come alive.” 10:52 – “It’s important to not reject yourself before you give anybody the opportunity to give you a yes or no.” 22:25 “You have unlimited potential. You shouldn’t limit yourself based on any aspect of your identity.”   About Miracle Olatunji: Miracle Olatunji is a student at Northeastern University, entrepreneur, public speaker, and author of Purpose: How To Live and Lead With Impact . She is the founder OpportuniMe, an award-winning social enterprise which helps the next generation of leaders to realize their potential and make an impact in their work and in the world. At Northeastern, Miracle is a business and finance major with a passion for entrepreneurship, technology, social impact, health & wellness, fashion, and innovation. She’s been honored as one of The Tempest Magazine's ‘40 Women To Watch Who Are Changing The World’, a Young Futurist and Game-changer by The Root Magazine , and she was selected as a Young Global Leadership Scholar.Her work has also been featured in Forbes, Thrive Global, Technical.ly, BostInno, The CEO Library, ReadWrite, The Female Lead, and other publications. Miracle is also building Her Wallet Media, a new platform for women and girls to gain knowledge and resources on the topics of building their "net worth, network, and self worth" through content, community, and coaching. She was honored as an EXTRAOrdinary Woman by Boston.gov during the International Women’s Day Celebration at City Hall. Miracle was recently part of Barbie's #YouCanBeAnything #MoreRoleModels campaign aimed at closing the dream gap and inspiring women and girls around the world. She was also part of Melinda Gates and the Harvard Business Review ’s ‘Equality Can’t Wait’ campaign. Social Media & Links Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miracleolatunji/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miracleolatunji Twitter: https://twitter.com/mirolatunji Speaking: https://www.apbspeakers.com/speaker/miracle-olatunji/ Book: https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-How-Live-Lead-Impact/dp/1641372664/

Miracle Olatunji is a sophomore at Northeastern University, an entrepreneur, and author of Purpose: How To Live and Lead With Impact. At 17, she founded OpportuniMe, an award-winning organization that connects youth with summer enrichment opportunities to learn about different career paths and build life and leadership skills. At Northeastern, Miracle is an accounting and finance major with a passion for entrepreneurship, technology, social impact, fashion, health & wellness, and innovation. She is an alum of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) Trek program. She’s been honored as one of The Tempest's 2019 40 Women To Watch, a Young Global Leadership Scholar, and her work has been featured in Forbes, Thrive Global, Technical.ly, BostInno, The CEO Library, Harvard Business Review, and other media outlets. She was also selected as one of America’s Amazing Teens by the AAT Project, which identifies exceptional youth who are changing the world. Miracle also hosts workshops for women and girls on the topics of building their "net worth, self-worth, and network” and was honored as an EXTRAOrdinary Woman by Boston.gov during the International Women’s Day Celebration at City Hall. Miracle was recently part of Barbie's #YouCanBeAnything #MoreRoleModels campaign aimed at closing the dream gap and inspiring women and girls around the world. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/anoma/support

Julie and Casey chat with Miracle Olatunji (an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and speaker who happens to be a 20-year-old college student) about the power of finding your purpose and owning your story, what it's like to be a role model, how to deal with being "the only" in the room, and the mindset of going after what you want without "self-rejecting" first. TOP TAKEAWAYS “People say ‘Oh, you’re fearless’, but being fearless isn’t the absence of fear, it’s acknowledging the fear and finding ways around it.” - Miracle Olatunji When you’re writing a rough draft, don’t expect perfection or you’ll end up with a blank page.  It’s a ROUGH DRAFT.   Being a role model doesn’t mean you have to be perfect. Imposter syndrome often comes when you are the “only” (woman/person of color/LGBTQ person, etc.) in the room . . . dealing with that has an internal component and an external component.  The internal part is the only part you have some control over.  The external component takes real, collective effort to change, and the work is only beginning. Positive self-talk is a great way to influence your thoughts - but get specific as you create it.  What do you need to hear from yourself as you become your own best advocate? Optimism is about imagining and planning and working for the future you want to see, even when the future is unclear. Technology has allowed us to forget that there are (often underpaid and poorly treated) humans doing the hard work of the apps that make our lives so much easier. Don’t “self-reject” by not going after the opportunities that you want.   Miracle Olatunji is a student at Northeastern University, an entrepreneur, public speaker, and author of Purpose: How To Live and Lead With Impact. In high school, she founded OpportuniMe, an award-winning organization which connects youth with summer enrichment opportunities that empower them to learn about different career paths, build their skills, and ultimately, realize and reach their full potential. At Northeastern, Miracle is a finance and accounting major with a passion for entrepreneurship, technology, social impact, health & wellness, fashion, and innovation. She’s been honored as one of The Tempest's 2019 40 Women To Watch Who Are Changing The World, a Young Futurist and Game-changer, a Young Global Leadership Scholar, and her work has also been featured in Forbes, Thrive Global, Technical.ly, BostInno, The CEO Library, and other publications.  Miracle is also the founder of Her Wallet Media, a new platform for women and girls to gain knowledge and resources on the topics of building their "net worth, network, and self worth" through content, community, and coaching. She was honored as an EXTRAOrdinary Woman by Boston.gov during the International Women’s Day Celebration at City Hall. Miracle was recently part of Barbie's #YouCanBeAnything #MoreRoleModels campaign aimed at closing the dream gap and inspiring women and girls around the world. She was also part of Melinda Gates and the Harvard Business Review’s ‘Equality Can’t Wait’ campaign.

The title role model carries no age range. Our guest, Miracle Olatunji is a sophomore at Northeastern University, an entrepreneur, and author of "Purpose: How To Live and Lead With Impact." In high school, she founded OpportuniMe, an award-winning organization which connects high school students to summer enrichment opportunities that empower them to explore different careers and to develop their life and leadership skills. She most recently has been honored as one of The Tempest Magazine 's “40 Women To Watch Who Are Changing The World', a Young Global Leadership Scholar, and her work has been featured in Forbes, Thrive Global, Technical.ly, BostInno, The CEO Library, Harvard Business Review , and other publications. This episode Miracle inspires us with her drive to share knowledge and resources to help other women build their networth in honor of female empowerment and push for gender equality. Olatunji on her inspiration for her book, Purpose: How To Live and Lead with Impact: _06:26 "I truly believe that each and every one of us has the potential to do awesome things in this world, and we can leave the world just a little bit better than. It was when we first met it." Olatunji on the questions we should ask ourselves when pursuing personal goals: _15:26 " I think oftentimes we're always thinking about why we can't do something, rather we should think about why we can and (what) potential that we have and instead of focusing on: 'What are my limitations as a woman?' 'What are my limitations as a person of color?' (Instead) how can I overcome that and like be focused on my goals and also like build a community of support around me so that I can achieve those goals faster." -- To keep up with Miracle, make sure to follow her on twitter at:: https://twitter.com/mirolatunji You can check out her book on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2XZNshI On The Dot Woman Content Corner Looking for more tips, motivation and direction? Tune into the See It To Be It podcast every Thursday on your favorite streaming service. Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter and audio brief, Four Minutes with On The Dot. You'll receive examples of relatable female role models in over 10 industries, plus quick stats on empowering women in the world, and to top it off, an inspirational quote that’s sure to jumpstart your day. Check us out on social! We are focused on your success, so let us know what you think by chatting with us at @onthedotwoman (www.twitter.com/onthedotwoman) on Twitter, Instagram (www.instagram.com/onthedotwoman), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/onthedotwoman). Special Guest: Miracle Olatunji.

In this episode we had the pleasure of speaking with TJ Douglas of Urban Grape.  In this episode we speak to TJ about:  The Boston Food and Wine Scene!!!!! Natural Wine Drink Progressively And so much more…………… TJ's Bio  TJ Douglas is the owner of The Urban Grape, a ground-breaking and wildly popular wine store in Boston. The store concept is simple, but revolutionary – Drink Progressively. Their Progressively Shelving system of sorting wine by its body, instead of by varietal or region, brings ease and unexpected surprise to customers, and business is booming as a result. The Urban Grape has won multiple accolades as Boston's Best Wine store from both Boston Magazine and The Improper Bostonian, as well as a 50 on Fire award from BostInno, an innovation think tank in the city. In 2018, Vinepair named The Urban Grape the top retail store in the North East. In 2019, UG was profiled in Food & Wine magazine and was named a Top 100 Wine Retail Store in America by Beverage Dynamics. As the wine buyer, head sales person, and architect of Progressive Shelving for The Urban Grape, TJ is directly responsible for the stores' successes. He has been profiled by Boston Magazine, Boston Common, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Improper Bostonian, Massachusetts Beverage Journal, and Terroirist, and has been featured on Dining Playbook (NESN), New England Living (CBS), Chronicle (WCVB), French Oak TV, and How2Heroes. Thanks to TJ's leadership, The Urban Grape was also called “Boston's Revolutionary Wine Store” in a cover story for Beverage Dynamics. He has taught classes on drinking progressively at, among other places, the Boston Center for Adult Education, Boston University, and the Boston Wine Expo. He's the co-author of The Urban Grape's bestselling wine education book Drink Progressively, and the resident wine expert on the New England life style show, “Home, Life, and Design.” TJ is an active member of his community, serving on the Board of Trustees of The Fessenden School and Summer Search Boston. He is dedicated to increasing diversity in the wine industry especially by creating job opportunities for people of color. He lives in Boston with his wife and two sons. For more information: https://www.theurbangrape.com/ Social Media: Instagram: @urbangrape Facebook: @urbangrape Twitter: @urbangrape Resources: https://www.mastersofwine.org/en/meet-the-masters/profile/index.cfm/id/c9b9a043-5e4b-e211-a20600155d6d822c http://www.sportelloboston.com/cat-silirie https://www.amazon.com/Drink-Progressively-White-Light-Full-Bodied/dp/194061158X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=drink+progressively&qid=1571275498&sr=8-1

Guest Rowan Walrath joined BostInno in April 2019 as a staff writer covering innovation in Massachusetts, bringing a unique perspective to Boston from her time as a freelance journalist in San Francisco. Walrath has an impressive journalism background, having spent time writing and fact-checking for WIRED, Mother Jones, Eater, HuffPost and more. While known for her ability to cover an expansive range of topics, Walrath has spent dedicated time on the future of transportation beat at WIRED; and during her editorial fellowship at Mother Jones, she reported on health, science, climate and related policy. Her new role at BostInno is a bit of a coming home party. Walrath is a graduate of Northeastern University, and she cut her reporting teeth in Boston covering local news at the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, and WGBH. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: www.americaninno.com/boston/boston-speaks-up/

Guest Wade Roush has been covering technology and science for almost 25 years. BostInno readers may recognize Roush from his time serving as staff editor at Xconomy (2007-2014). He’s also written a lot for print magazines, notably Scientific American, MIT Technology Review, and Science. In 2014-15, Roush was acting director of MIT's Knight Science Journalism fellowship program and the producer of the ScienceWriters2015 conference. He recently edited Twelve Tomorrows, a science fiction anthology published by the MIT Press, and recently finished another book for MIT Press, due out spring 2020. Roush’s latest career move piqued our interest as he’s plunged into the world of audio storytelling. He’s the founder and host of Soonish, a podcast examining how technology and science innovation is guided by thousands of big and small choices made by individuals. Soonish is a part of Hub & Spoke, a collective of independent, idea-driven podcasts, of which Roush is also a cofounder. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: https://www.americaninno.com/boston/boston-speaks-up/

Welcome to Episode 106 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Chase Garbarino, Co-Founder and CEO of HqO. Entrepreneurship is core to what Chase is all about professionally. It is in his DNA that even stems from his childhood years. I was excited to interview him to learn more about his history of building companies, including one that you might have heard of and maybe even read today, that being BostInno. It is a story of how he became an accidental media entrepreneur and scaled it to the point of an acquisition by American City Business Journals. His latest company is HqO, a tenant experience platform that connects people to places, experience, and each other. They fall under the PropTech segment of the tech industry, which is one of the fastest growing areas. HqO company recently announced a $6M new round of funding from several notable investors. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -His background and the early companies he founded. -The full story of BostInno in terms of how it got started, raised funding, scaled, and exited. -All the details behind HqO, including its business model and plans looking ahead. -Advice on how to communicate a company's pivot with investors. -Lessons learned from raising capital. -Plus, a lot more. Did you know that you can get customized job alerts delivered to your inbox every day? It's a great way to keep informed of the over 4,000 jobs listed on VentureFizz and have jobs from a specific category sent directly to you. Don't let that career-defining opportunity pass you by, go to venturefizz.com/email to sign up. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Guest Galen Moore is an entrepreneur, consultant and independent analyst with experience in media, research and customer development. BostInno readers will recognize Galen from his days serving as Editor-in-Chief of American Inno, and before that writing about VC and startups at Mass High Tech and Boston Business Journal. In 2017, Galen founded Token Report, a financial data infrastructure for an emerging crypto asset class, which was acquired in 2018. Galen has continued his focus on crypto assets and blockchain technology, having recently founded Canary Data, an open project to research and analyze use cases and user metrics in crypto assets, blockchain-based systems and other trust-minimized networks. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: https://www.americaninno.com/boston/boston-speaks-up/

Today's guest Srividya Kalyanaraman has enjoyed an accomplishment-filled journey from India to the United States. Currently serving as BostInno's editor, "Sri" (as she prefers) is no stranger to digital media innovation and startups. She was the first reporter to cover social media and the internet for India's oldest financial daily, The Economic Times. She was an enthusiastic second member of freshly-minted two-person business desk at Firstpost.com, India's first digital-only newsroom. And in 2014, she was a summer intern on Money Magazine's inaugural web team that launched Money.com, following the Time Inc/Time Warner split. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: https://www.americaninno.com/boston/boston-speaks-up/

Today's guest Lauren Landry has been a familiar face in the Boston innovation community for the better part of the past decade. She cut her teeth reporting at BostInno covering the Boston startup scene and education beat. She's also been a contributing writer to Boston Magazine and Boston.com, in addition to having her work cited in Wall Street Journal, Businessweek and more. Lauren's most recent career move really caught our eye as she's shifted to a marketing and communications role at Harvard Business School (HBS) Online, which is on a mission to make top-flight business education in Boston more accessible to people worldwide. Having attended Emerson College and worked at Northeastern University, Lauren offers a breadth of perspective about the rapid advances in higher education  -- from campus innovation to online learning. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: https://www.americaninno.com/boston/boston-speaks-up/

Many thanks to our friend Chelsea Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative University for their partnership during this five-week series! Daquan Oliver is the Founder and CEO of WeThrive. WeThrive equips and empowers low-income youth to rise as entrepreneurial economic leaders. They know very well what so many of us know — if you give these kids the resources and opportunities, they will blow our freaking minds which what they are capable of accomplishing. Daquan has been selected to the Forbes 30 Under 30 List, an Echoing Green Fellow, featured in Black Enterprise, Boston Business Journal, BostInno’s 25 Under 25, he has delivered a TEDx Talk on actionable strategies to overcome structural violence, and he has been recognized by Former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton for his work! Follow Daquan on Twitter. Follow WeThrive on Instagram and Facebook. ____________________________ Follow Let’s Give A Damn on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter to keep up with all that is going on. We have so much planned for the coming months and we don’t want you to miss a thing! And if you want to follow our host Nick Laparra—Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter. Support Let’s Give A Damn by contributing the monthly amount of your choice on Patreon. You can choose $1/month or $5/month. 100% of the money you contribute will go to making more podcasts. Not a dime goes into our pockets! Or you can leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts! Every little bit helps. Thanks for all your help. Have an amazing week, friends! Love y’all! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BSU guest Lucy Maffei is a technology reporter at BostInno (Boston Business Journal). Born and raised in Tuscany, Lucy moved to America to attend Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She spent time at TechCrunch (Chicago) and NPR (D.C) prior to moving to Boston and assuming her current role at BostInno. This podcast is filled with beautiful stories from Lucy about her love for Boston -- for example: she affirms Boston's tech community mentors are unrivaled; and she shares a story of her mother visiting Boston for the first time from Italy and falling in love with the kindness of Bostonians. Discover more Boston Speaks Up at Boston Business Journal's BostInno: https://www.americaninno.com/boston/boston-speaks-up/

Follow @karalennon on Instagram for all Coming In Hot updates! As seen in Forbes, BostInno, Social Lifestyle Magazine, The Improper Bostonian and the Boston Business Journal - I bring to you this week the two dudes behind the powerhouse recovery company that is VitalFit Nutrition. Cam and Alfred are two seriously down to Earth dudes who founded VitalFit after completing grad school at Babson College — and I think you’ll be surprised at how they actually came up with their first product. From plant based protein, to fish oil, tart cherry recovery capsules and beyond, VitalFit’s products are at the cutting edge in plant-based recovery. They divulge on everything from their guilty pleasures, (hint: it’s fishtanks — I know, weird) how to manifest your goals and actually turn them into successful ideas and much more, including… -How their college project turned into a successful company -The model they use to bring ideas to life -The GRIND and why it’s important to do the groundwork yourself -What they do to destress -Dropping some SERIOUS knowledge on the supplement industry -The surprising event that sparked the idea behind their first product -A full explaination about their line of wellness products -Influencer marketing and their unique take on it -Starting a company from the ground up as young entrepreneurs — well under 30! -Calling out the BSers (I couldn’t believe what they said, either!) -What’s next for VitalFit Nutrition and the exciting new collabs they’ve got coming up (We also have an in depth convo about the Food Network for easily 5 full minutes, so that’s something to listen for) - LINK UP WITH VITALFIT BELOW! Cam and Alfred www.vitalfitnutrition.com IG: @vitalfit_nutrition FB: VitalFit Nutrition - Coming In Hot listeners can use code “KLEMONGRAMS” for 30% off any order on the VitalFit website! Order 5-serving packs on The Feed! Find their products on the West Coast in all Erewhon Markets Stay Gold guys, KL

Why hello startup nation, and welcome to Episode 26 of the Early Stage Podcast. If you're tired of listening to shows full of wildly successful entrepreneurs telling tales of grandeur and more interested in hearing early stage entrepreneurs share their war stories, milestones, fundraises, and pivots, then you've found a home. My name is John Valentine, or @JohnnyStartup on Twitter, and I'm your host. By day I'm scouting aerospace, space, defense, security, and transportation startups for Thales xPlor, the Boston-based innovation unit for French multi-national Thales, and by night I interview top entrepreneurs seeking the best part of the hockey stick. The February #InnoSprint experiment continues with Dylan Martin, Tech Writer for Bostinno. We'll cover FitBit's acquisition of Twine Health, Amazon's acquisition of Blink, MEMS microphone startup Vesper, and new blockchain startups Algorand and Talla. The main dish of today's podcast is an interview with RadioPublic Co-Founder and CEO Jake Shapiro. When I launched the podcast last year, I was surprised that Apple provided no listener analytics, didn't offer creative content curation for listeners in their podcast app, and most importantly, and didn't allow me any insights into who was a part of my listener community or how I could engage them. RadioPublic not only solves these challenges, but also just launched a "paid listens" program to help all podcasters get paid for their efforts. Jake was an amazing host at the PRX Podcast Garage, a converted Jiffy Lube fitted out with all the best podcasting equipment. The Garage has become a center-point for podcasting in the region, which has grown tremendously since its launch. Oh, and the audio quality for our chat is amazing. Enjoy this weeks pod!

If you listen back to the first few episodes, you'll hear me ask founders where they think they'll be in twelve months. One year seems like a long time in startupland, but it actually goes by in a flash. Patrick Boyaggi and Mike Tassone, Founders of RateGravity and guests on our first episode ever, discovered just that. In this inaugural 1-year lookback, we discussed their $2M funding round with Listen Ventures, Accomplice's BOSS Syndicate, and others, examined how other players in the market can interfere with potential deals, analyzed which marketing channels are most effective in a highly competitive environment, and talked about the value of the human touch in a tech-dominated industry. Their online home mortgage platform made major strides in 2017, but there is still a ton of work left to do. Before we jump into the conversation, I wanted to give you all a little taste of the tech conversations I usually have over beers with Dylan Martin, Tech Writer for Bostinno. Early Stage and our friends at Bostinno are testing 10-minute "InnoSprints" at the top of each episode in February. This InnoSprint will cover grocery startup Takeoff Technologies, wearable startups Nix and Whoop, student loan benefits startup FutureFuel, and MIT's Intelligence Quest AI initiative. Let Dylan and I know what you think of the new bit @DylandLJMartin and @EarlyStagePod on Twitter. That's all for now! Enjoy this week's show.

Anthony Tivnan, President and Co-Owner of Magellan Jets, was solidified as a major player in the world of private aviation long before the company's launch in 2008. In 2002, a novice to the aviation industry, Anthony made his mark at Jets International. As a member of the sales team, he was quick to become a leader and mentor. After years of leadership and record-breaking sales history, Anthony was eventually appointed as the Executive Vice President. He also managed their retail sales department and sales teams in both Massachusetts and New York City. Through his leadership, Magellan Jets has seen incredible growth since its inception. In the last four consecutive years, Magellan Jets has been awarded by the Boston Business Journal as one of Massachusetts Fastest Growing Companies, and has made the Inc. 5000 five years consecutively. Anthony works closely with Magellan Jets marketing and sales divisions to strengthen the brand name and innovate the way Magellan clients utilize business jets. Magellan Jets was the first company to appear on iTunes with their Private Jet Search App, allowing users to search, book and sign for a charter in a matter of minutes all from a smartphone device. The innovation doesn't stop there; Magellan Jets was also the first jet card provider to launch a Wi-Fi Jet Card for business travelers. With his sales background, Anthony is the ideal candidate to translate the client's needs and expectations into results. Anthony strives to create and retain strong customer and vendor relationships through his belief in personal attention and open communication. He truly executes the entire operation; from creating the product line, to reaching the audience, to obtaining the trust of each and every client with whom he works. Anthony was recently listed as 10 Boston Men of the Moment by Boston Common Magazine, leading the way to make Boston great. Anthony frequently speaks at conferences and events about entrepreneurialism, business aviation and innovation. He has spoken as an expert regarding aviation safety during ACSF's annual symposium at NTSB Training Center in VA.  He was asked to speak on the Transportation Panel during BostInno's State of Innovation Conference, the Aviation Fraternity National Conference, Bentley College, Harvard University and has appeared as an aviation expert on Fox 25 and other news broadcasts. Anthony completed pilot ground school at Alpha One Flight School in Plymouth, Mass. He serves on the Board of Directors at Magellan Jets, Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) and the advisory board of Camp Harbor View in Boston. In this episode, Anthony shares his one way ticket to Boston ten years from now. He also talks about Magellan Jets and aviation. Anthony is just one of the extraordinary guests featured on The One Way Ticket Show, where Host Steven Shalowitz explores with his guests where they'd go if given a one way ticket, no coming back! Destinations may be in the past, present, future, real, imaginary or a state of mind. Steven's guests have included: Legendary Talk Show Host, Dick Cavett; Law Professor, Alan Dershowitz; Broadcast Legend, Charles Osgood; International Rescue Committee President & CEO, David Miliband; Grammar Girl, Mignon Fogarty; Journalist-Humorist-Actor Mo Rocca; Film Maker, Muffie Meyer; Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.; Abercrombie & Kent Founder, Geoffrey Kent; Travel Expert, Pauline Frommer, as well as leading photographers, artists, writers and more.

Panos Panay is the founder and managing director of the Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (BerkleeICE). Prior to this, Panos created Sonicbids, the leading platform for bands to book gigs and market themselves online, building a subscriber network of 550,000 bands and 35,000 promoters from more than 100 countries. He led the company as CEO for 13 years, from its inception until after its successful acquisition in a deal backed by Guggenheim Partners. Panos is also the co-founder of the Open Music Initiative, which has brought together more than 140 leading music, media, technology industry organizations, and academic institutions to create a blockchain-based open protocol for uniform identification of musical rights owners and creators. (We will get into what all of that means during the episode). At Berklee, his work and approach to entrepreneurial and innovation pedagogy builds heavily on the concepts of music thinking, and in particular jazz, as a catalyst for creative breakthroughs in business, life, and art; and he has spearheaded multi-disciplinary collaborations between Berklee and MIT; the design firm IDEO; and Brown University. Panos writes frequently about startups and entrepreneurship for blogs and publications such as Forbes, WSJ Accelerators, and Fast Company; and guest lectures and speaks at many universities and events around the world. Some of his many awards include: Fast Company's "Fast 50" honor; Inc Magazine's "Inc 500”; Mass Hi-Tech All Stars; Berklee College’s Distinguished Alumnus Award; Boston Business Journal’s “40 under 40” and BostInno's 50 on Fire. Sonicbids and Panos were also profiled in a chapter in the Financial Times-published book Outsmart by best-selling author Jim Champy. Panos is a native of Cyprus, and holds a Music Business/Management degree from Berklee College of Music.

Rory Cuddyer was named the City of Boston’s Startup Manager by the Mayor in March of 2015. But what does that mean and what does he do? I sat down with Rory to find out. Previously, Rory was an advisor the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and was named the Startup Manager because the Mayor wants to ensure the city is doing as much for startups as it’s doing for more well established companies.   In this episode, Rory talks about:   What the Startup Manager does on a day to day basis   What companies and founders can reach out to him for help on   The efforts by the city to keep graduating students in the region after graduation   Why founders should start their companies in Boston   The number one initiative he is working on over the next year   Links from today’s episode:   StartHub   MassChallenge   WeWork   New England Venture Capital Association   Venture Café   IBM   Hatch Fenway   Pulse at MassChallenge   Roxbury Innovation Center   Spark Boston   WEBOS   BostInno   Boston Business Journal   Xconomy   The Power Broker   If you liked this episode:   Follow the podcast on Twitter   Subscribe on iTunes or your podcast app and write a review   Get in touch with feedback, ideas, or to say hi: nic {AT} startupbostonpodcast [DOT] com   Music by: Broke For Free

In today’s episode I sit down with Braden Golub, Founder and CEO of SPOT, essentially the Airbnb of private parking spots. If you’ve ever been driving around the city, not able to find a parking spot and wondering why you can’t just park in someone’s driveway or parking spot since they’re not using it, then this app is for you. SPOT allows people who have a parking spot they’re not using to list it for when it is available such as between nine to five or twenty four hours a day. People seeking a parking spot can then use the app to see what spots are available near their destination and the time frame they wish. Braden started SPOT after continually seeing parking spaces around his Back Bay apartment going unused. With his background in Real Estate, Braden saw the potential of these unused parking spaces.   In this episode, Braden shares amongst other things:                 Why he should have hired a lawyer to setup his company for him                 The difficulties with setting up a two-sided marketplace                 Managing the expectations of providers within the marketplace                 The importance of the first impression your app gives a user                 His advice to someone who wants to start an app-based business                 The importance of hiring for work ethic over skill   Links from this episode:                 Spot Hero                 Parking Panda                 Park Boston                 LeanBox                 DraftKings                 The Meadow at Peabody                 The Power of One                 Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff                 TechCrunch                 BostInno                 SPOT on Twitter                 SPOT on Facebook     If you liked this episode: Follow the podcast on Twitter Subscribe on iTunes or your podcast app and write a review Get in touch with feedback, ideas, or to say hi: nic {AT} startupbostonpodcast [DOT] com

(http://www.advanceyourart.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/samaquillano_1302790971_56.jpg) Sam Aquillano is an Industrial Designer and Founder of The Design Museum Foundation. “My advice to any entrepreneur is to get a co-founder and open up to your friends and family about what you’re about to do.” – Sam AquillanoWhat does it take to launch a museum from scratch? If you’re like me you believe that you need to find a cool building in a great location and get a bunch of donors. That’s what Sam Aquillano and his business partner Derek Casio thought at first but when they looked closer and that model they decided to pivot and think differently. Using their expertise in creating events and looking at the business models of New York City pop-up shops they focused on a new concept for a museum and launched the Design Museum Foundation. MEET SAM: Sam Aquillano is Founder and Executive Director of Design Museum Foundation, a national network of local design museums. What started as Design Museum Boston, now includes Design Museum Portland in Oregon, and is growing across the country. Their mission is to educate the world about the importance of design in our lives. Design is everywhere, so the museum has no permanent address — instead, Sam and his team turn the museum inside out and turn entire cities into locally-focused, nomadic design museums. Sam earned a BFA in Industrial Design from Rochester Institute of Technology and went on to design consumer electronics at Bose Corporation, as well as to teach design at Wentworth Institute of Technology, MassArt, and Babson College — where he recently earned his MBA. With a passion for design, creativity, and learning, Sam creates a long-term vision for the museum. He leads a dedicated team while managing key programs and strategic operations. In 2013 Sam and his team were named one of BostInno’s 50 on Fire. Sam routinely speaks at conferences, keynotes, and workshops about design, entrepreneurship, innovation, branding, placemaking, and business strategy. Recent speaking engagements include IBM SmartCamp, Future M, TEDxBoston, TEDxFenway, Portland Monthly’s Bright Lights, MIT Hacking Arts, and Harvard iLab. What is Design Museum Boston? We’re a new kind of museum focused on educating the world about design. We’re based in Boston, but we don’t have our own gallery space. We’re a distributed museum with exhibits & events all over town. What is a nomadic museum? We turn the museum inside out, turning the entire city into the museum. We put exhibitions and events in places where people already go: retail space, public space—even outside. What will I learn at Design Museum Boston? From architecture to video game design, furniture to fashion, products to graphics, design is more than an industry: it’s a process and way of thinking that solves complex problems. Do I need to be a designer to visit the museum? Absolutely not! Design is for everyone! We offer the most accessible, inclusive way to engage with design and designers. Our exhibitions and events are open to all. BOOKS: How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation (http://amzn.to/2cQLxCE) -Anthony Mancuso Attorney How To Start A Nonprofit: The Ultimate Guide to Forming a Nonprofit Organization. (http://amzn.to/2c9MgjA) (http://amzn.to/2c9MgjA) -A.J. Knight EXTRAS: http://www.idsa.org/ (http://www.idsa.org/) (http://www.idsa.org/) CONTACT: http://designmuseumfoundation.org/boston/ (http://designmuseumfoundation.org/boston/) (http://designmuseumfoundation.org/boston/) BONUS: This podcast is brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. Click on the link to get a 30-day free trial, complete with a credit for a free audiobook download Audible.com (http://www.audibletrial.com/Yuri) QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in...

Evergage's cloud-based platform delivers real-time personalization to more than 1 billion web visitors, improving demand generation, revenue growth and customer success for over 120 organizations, including Gardener's Supply Company, Intuit, Publishers Clearing House, Rue La La and Zumiez. Evergage empowers marketers to increase engagement and conversions of visitors and users through real-time 1:1 personalization based on deep behavioral analytics and customer data. Evergage is a 2015 Best in Biz Awards, Golden Bridge Awards and The Stevie American Business Awards winner, a two-time MITX Awards winner and a two-time BostInno "50 on Fire" finalist. Guest Info Twitter: @wirthkarl http://www.evergage.com/ 

Alex celebrates the Hall of Fame election of Pedro Martinez inside this edition of "Without a Curse," and explains why he is so beloved in Boston. In the "Around the League" segment, Alex unveils some of his gripes with this year's voting, including how many more votes John Smoltz received in comparison to Curt Schilling and Mike Mussina. Also, the baseball writers struck out on the PED issue once again. As far as Red Sox news is concerned, John Farrell revealed in an interview with WEEI what his ideal Opening Day lineup would be. Though the state of the pitching staff is debatable heading into the season, the ability of this lineup is not. If healthy, this should be a difficult Red Sox team to pitch to. Read Alex in the Boston Herald on Mondays, on BostInno.com all week and listen to him Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway's "Big Show Unfiltered" program. Alex is also making his debut on Herald Radio this Thursday from 1-4 p.m. EST.

The Hall of Fame voting results will be released Tuesday, and the baseball writers are bound to get it wrong yet again. Prominent players from the steroids era have been on the ballot for years, and the guardians of the gate still can't get their story straight. They say confirmed, or alleged steroid users can't be voted into the Hall of Fame because they're cheaters. The problem is, cheaters have already been admitted in to the Hall. Henry Aaron, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle have admitted to using amphetamines during their careers. Some athletes have always looked to gain a competitive advantage. The difference between those greats and players from the pre-drug testing era is not intent, but rather science. If we removed everybody who ever skirted the rules from the Hall of Fame, the walls would be pretty barren. In addition to Hall of Fame talk, Alex outlines three things he would like to see the Red Sox do before Spring Training. He also discusses the recent reports that Larry Lucchino's role may be diminished within the Red Sox organization. Follow Alex on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read him Mondays in the Boston Herald, read him every day on BostInno.com and listen to him Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway's "Big Show Unfiltered."

Alex breaks down an eventful week for the Red Sox inside this edition of "Without a Curse," and analyzes the club's decision to not overpay for Jon Lester. The Red Sox' strategy for Lester would make sense if they weren't going to overpay for his replacement, which they inevitably will. Though the Red Sox acquired three Major League caliber starting pitchers last week – Wade Miley, Rick Porcello and Justin Masterson – not one of them is capable of taking Lester's place at the top of the rotation. The moves all look good in a vacuum, but are underwhelming when you put them together. In the "Around the League" segment, Alex looks at the Cubs' window to compete now that they've acquired Jon Lester. He also runs down a very busy Winter Meetings, and explains why the sub-90 win Giants and Royals reaching the World Series last season has changed the landscape of baseball. Follow Alex on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read him Mondays in the Boston Herald, all week on BostInno.com and listen to him Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway's "Big Show Unfiltered."

Alex leads off this edition of “Without a Curse” with insta-analysis on the breaking news story that Hanley Ramirez is signing with the Red Sox Then, he gets on the regularly scheduled program: Alex attempts to soothe Red Sox Nation inside this edition of “Without a Curse,” and lets them know that everything is going to be okay. Patriots fans chant the “In Bill We Trust” mantra, and for good reason. But this Red Sox ownership group deserves to receive the same benefit of the doubt. The Red Sox will be bold this winter, and improve the team. There’s no way that Joe Kelly will start Opening Day in Philadelphia with Will Middlebrooks manning the hot corner. In the “Around the League” segment, Alex uncovers the Giancarlo Stanton charade and also reviews how the pace of play initiatives were received in the Arizona Fall League. Follow Alex on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read him Mondays in the Boston Herald, all week on BostInno.com and listen to him Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered” program.

The dream is dead, Red Sox fans – at least for now. The Marlins re-signed Giancarlo Stanton to a 13-year, $325 million contract. Though he can opt out of the deal in 2020, it seems as if he’s off the table for now. With Stanton out of the picture, Yoenis Cespedes becomes more valuable to the Red Sox than ever before. The team needs a power right-handed bat in its outfield, and Cespedes is the best option that they have at this time. The hot stove season is off to a quick start, as a plethora of moves have been already. Alex breaks down the Stanton signing, and says there’s no he would’ve been able to turn down that kind of money. But still, the jury is out on whether Jeffrey Loria is committed to building a winning team around him. Jason Heyward’s future with the Cardinals, the Tigers’ reasoning behind the inflated Victor Martinez extension and more is discussed in the “Around the League” segment as well. Email Alex at ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @AlexReimer1. Read him Mondays in the Boston Herald, all week on BostInno.com and listen to him Wednesdays on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered” Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m.

Alex previews what some of the Red Sox’s top initiatives might be this week, as the General Managers’ Meetings get underway. It’s unrealistic to expect a turnaround of the magnitude that the Red Sox were able to accomplish after 2012. But Alex says the Red Sox have plenty of resources to become contenders next season. The hometown team has been connected with free agent third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who is reportedly seeking a five-year deal worth $100 million. Though Sandoval’s flaws are easy to notice, he’s the best third baseman on the market. The Red Sox have a serious need at the position, and should look to bring the Kung Fu Panda aboard. Though the Red Sox may not need an “ace” per se, history shows they need to acquire a pitcher who pitches like an ace when the games matter most if they want to compete for a championship. Alex says the club’s best bet to land one of those arms would be on the trade market rather than in free agency. In the “Around the League” segment, Alex talks about professional sport’s greatest villain of yesteryear, Alex Rodriguez. His admission to DEA agents that he purchased steroids from Biogenesis may vindicate Bud Selig’s witch hunt, but it doesn’t make MLB look any better. The Dodgers have completely remade their Front Office, as the team brought in former A’s assistant GM Farhan Zaidi to serve under Andrew Friedman. The hacks are now worried about the “nerds taking over baseball,” but Alex tells them why that lazy narrative couldn’t be more incorrect. Follow Alex on Twitter, @AlexReimer1, and email him, ajreimer0@gmail.com. Read him Mondays in the Boston Herald, all week on BostInno.com and listen to him Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

Though free agency doesn’t begin until Tuesday at midnight, the Red Sox have already been busy this offseason. The club re-signed Koji Uehara to a two-year, $18 million deal Thursday. There is reason to believe that Uehara can still be an elite reliever as he nears 40 years of age. But for whatever reason, Alex feels uneasy about the move. In the wake of Madison Bumgarner’s one-run, 21-inning performance in the World Series, Alex reexamines the question about whether or not the Red Sox need to acquire an elite starting pitcher this winter. Championship teams may not need an “ace,” but they need someone who can pitch like one. Alex goes over the biggest takeaways from the World Series in the “Around the League” segment, and attempts to explain how the Giants have won three championships in five years. It’s been a remarkable run, but not quite a dynasty. Game 7 drew a 15.6 overnight rating, and the World Series averaged a 9.1 rating overall. Those numbers say baseball doesn’t have a popularity problem, but it does have a demographic one. Email Alex, ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read him Monday in the Boston Herald, all week on BostInno.com and listen to him Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered."

Inside this edition of “Without a Curse,” Alex attempts to put a stop to the rumors about the Red Sox pursuing Joe Maddon to replace John Farrell before they even begin. Maddon is a better manager than Farrell, but the risk of chasing him is greater than the reward. There are too many needs on this club to chance alienating Farrell from the operation. Chasing him out of town 12 months after a World Series win would be a panic move. Alex breaks down the lowly rated World Series, and lessons learned from the Giants’ continued run of excellence in the “Around the League” segment. He also looks at the where the Rays go from here, and whether they’re window of contention is over. Follow Alex on Twitter, @AlexReimer1, and send him an email, ajreimer0@gmail.com Read him all week on BostInno.com, Monday in the Boston Herald and listen to him Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

According to an article at BostInno.com I have a better chance at landing on the moon or starring in the role of Batman at your local multiplex than contracting the Ebola virus. There is a much greater chance that one of you reading this will (heaven forbid) suffer and die from influenza or heart disease than from … Continue reading RR 19: Ebola Makes Americans Panic and Blame Hispanics →

Professional sports are a copycat industry, but the Red Sox shouldn’t try to replicate the Royals’ championship formula this offseason. The two teams exist in different financial realities. The Royals can afford to evaluate their young players over the long haul, and are forced to find undervalued assets in the market place. The Red Sox, meanwhile, have to win win now. But one area where the Red Sox should try to follow the Royals’ lead is the bullpen. The hometown lacks power arms at the end of games, and that’s one of the keys to winning in October. As Wade Davis’ success has illustrated, all relievers are failed starters. The Red Sox should convert some of their pitching prospects in the upper minor leagues who fail to crack the starting rotation this spring into relievers. Alex previews the World Series in the “Around the League” segment, and says the x-factor may be the managers. Bruce Bochy won’t put his team in a position to lose, whereas the same can’t be said for Ned Yost. Alex also talks about the Dodgers’ hire of Andrew Friedman last week, and says it may be one of the biggest moves of the offseason. Read Alex Tuesdays in the Boston Herald, all week on BostInno.com and listen to him Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

There’s no doubt that the Red Sox need to improve their starting rotation this winter. The question is, “How should they go about doing it?” Alex says the club should avoid the free agent market, and target pitchers who may be available for trade. At least one – if not all – of Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Tyson Ross and Jeff Samardzija will be available this winter. The Red Sox would be better off acquiring a pitcher who’s just entering the prime of his career instead of one who is exiting his. One of the biggest takeaways of the postseason has been that money no longer buys wins in Major League Baseball. The Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, Tigers and Angels spent more than $1.1 billion this season to win one playoff game combined. The tide is turning, and the proof is in the Royals and Orioles ALCS. Speaking of the ALCS, at least fans can find it. The same can’t be said for the NLCS, which will air on Fox Sports 1 this week. MLB continues to make its product inaccessible for fans. Unbelievable. Email Alex, ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read Alex in the Boston Herald, on BostInno.com and listen to him Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered."

The Red Sox wrapped up one of the most underwhelming title defenses in recent memory with a three-game series against the Yankees, and an over-the-top retirement ceremony for Derek Jeter. Choreographer Dr. Charles Steinberg never misses a chance to put on a suffocating display of pageantry, and delivered once again Sunday. Though this season was a disappointment, the Red Sox are still in good shape for the future. The team has a plethora of financial and organizational flexibility, as well as an ownership group that’s committed to winning. They’re in better shape than they’re last place finish would indicate. Alex previews the playoffs, and gives one final look at the AL East standings in the “Around the League” segment, He also praises Paul Konerko, who walked away from baseball in subdued fashion this weekend. Imagine that? Email Alex, ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read him all week on BostInno.com, and listen to him Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.” Thanks for listening to “Without a Curse” all season. It should be an interesting off-season for the Red Sox, as the team should undergo a lot of changes.

Alex previews the final week of the season inside this edition of “Without a Curse,” and highlights the importance for the Red Sox to finish with a better record than they did in 2012. Though the results have been just as disappointing, the organization is in a better place now than it was then. Almost every player on the team right now might have a future with the club. The same couldn’t be said two years ago. John Farrell should be commended for keeping the clubhouse under control this season, and quietly eliminating any brush fires that may have propped up. But his abilities as an in game manager are still up for debate, as his roster management is puzzling. Some of the issues people affiliated with the Blue Jays had with him have come up this year as well. The Derek Jeter Retirement Tour closes its act in Fenway Park this weekend. All cynicism aside, it’s the perfect place for Jeter to end his illustrious big league career. The problem is, the coverage around Jeter makes it impossible to not be jaded about him at this point. Alex talks about the wide open American League, and forecasts how the pennant races will shape up in the “Around the League” segment. Email Alex at ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read him on BostInno.com and listen to him Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered” program.

Alex recaps the Red Sox’s past two series against the Yankees and Blue Jays inside this edition of “Without a Curse,” and outlines some storylines fans should have their eyes on as the season comes to a close. Koji Uehara’s status remains in limbo, as Red Sox manager John Farrell announced Friday he would be removed from the closers role on an interim basis. Alex says the Red Sox should shut him down for the rest of September if they intend to re-sign him this winter, and attempt to preserve what’s left of his right arm. Mookie Betts is on a tear, and seems to have moved ahead of Jackie Bradley Jr. on the organizational depth chart. But his greatest value to the team may be as a trade chip, considering the positions he plays. Will Middlebrook’s apparent unwillingness to play in winter ball, Xander Bogaerts’ hot September and Yoenis Cespedes’ elite production in the middle of the lineup is discussed, too. Alex lambasts the season-long Derek Jeter retirement ceremony in the “Around the League” segment, and says the Captain Intangibles legend is now dead. If Jeter is as much of a “winner” as the sycophantic media says he is, then he would’ve removed himself from the top of the lineup long ago. Email Alex at ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read him all week on BostInno.com, and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered” program.

Alex recaps the past week in Red Sox baseball, and sifts through which players are worth watching in the final month of the regular season inside this edition of “Without a Curse.” The hometown team took two of three games from the Jays and Rays over the last seven days, as Clay Buchholz tossed two gems. Unfortunately for him, Koji Uehara gave the lead Monday night in what has been his only appearance over the last week. The intent behind Rays infielder Logan Forsythe’s elbow to Dustin Pedroia’s head, Buchholz’s enigmatic couple of weeks and the Rays’ insistence on perverting baseball (it will make sense once you listen) are discussed as well. Arguably the most exciting portion of the week for the Red Sox involved Cuban defector Rusney Castillo, who played in his first game in more than a year Saturday. The club’s principal owner John Henry said the Red Sox’s inability to land Jose Abreu prompted their aggressive pursuit of Castillo, which is predictable but slightly unsettling to hear. Alex analyzes the AL East standings in the “Around the League” segment, and also gives his take on the Athletics’ wretched performance since the team acquired Jon Lester. It seems as if Billy Beane may have been a bit too aggressive for his own good at the trade deadline. Email Alex, ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read him on BostInno.com, and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered” program.

Alex Weaver is the Managing Editor of BostInno, an online news source for innovation and all things Boston. We chat about his journey from Maine, getting in copy writing, and BostInno's groundbreaking coverage. We also chat beer. Continue Reading

The big Red Sox news from the week was the signing of 27-year-old Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo. Alex talks about how Castillo factors into the organization’s future plans, and why he thinks this is the first of many dominos to fall over the next several months. Alex also discusses the Red Sox’s latest prolonged losing skid, as the club has dropped eight consecutive games. Though the pitching staff has been putrid, the season-long theme of failing to hit with runners in scoring position continues to rear its ugly head. The Red Sox have gone 10-for-74 with RISP throughout this stretch. Yikes. Jackie Bradley Jr.’s minor league demotion is mentioned, too, and Alex attempts to figure out what it says about the Red Sox’s plans for him in 2015. In the “Around the League” segment, Alex analyzes the mediocre AL East and talks about which teams he’s rooting for in the playoff races down the stretch. Email Alex, ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read him on BostInno.com, and listen to him on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered” program.

The Red Sox took their final stand last week, and promptly sat down. The club lost five consecutive games, and seemingly shattered any fleeting hopes of a legitimate playoff run in the second half of the season. General manager Ben Cherington said Saturday after the Jake Peavy deal that he’s “mindful of the math,” and will aim to improve the team for April 2015 prior to the non-waiver trade deadline July 31. But actions speak louder than words. The Red Sox will have to trade off most of their veterans who are in the final years of their contracts in order to maximize their assets at the deadline. Members of the team’s front office know how far they’re willing to extend themselves for Jon Lester, and they’re also aware of what his market value is. If they aren’t willing to meet his price, then they should trade him before Thursday afternoon. It would be a failure to let Lester leave, and only receive in a compensatory pick in return. Alex recaps the disastrous road trip against the Blue Jays and Rays that should lead the Red Sox to sell this week, including the latest chapter in the feud between David Ortiz and the Rays’ pitching staff. He also analyzes the AL East standings in the “Around the League” segment, and runs down what each club may look to do at the trade deadline. The Rays possess the most wins in Major League Baseball since June 11, but are still seven and a half games out of first place. Keeping David Price for the chance to participate in a one-game playoff may not be worth squandering a significant portion of his trade value. Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Joe Torre, Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame over the weekend. But the festivities were overshadowed by a change in the balloting process that may cost several all-time greats a chance at getting enshrined into Cooperstown. Follow Alex on Twitter, @AlexReimer1, and email him, ajreimer0@gmail.com. Read him all week on BostInno.com, and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

Apparently nobody told the Red Sox baseball season is over in Boston. The club has won seven of its last eight games, and swept the Royals over the weekend. But they’ve made up approximately no ground in the AL East, and that’s the problem. The Red Sox play the Blue Jays and Rays on a seven-game road trip this week. They have to play nearly flawless baseball – especially against the Jays – to ensure that last weekend’s performance represents a turning point in the season. It’s difficult to have faith that they will. Most of the veterans who are in the final year of their contracts should still be moved prior to the trade deadline, regardless of how the Red Sox play leading up to it. Removing Jake Peavy, Stephen Drew, Jonny Gomes and others from the roster would clear space for some of the young players who need to be evaluated, and maybe even improve the team in the short-term. Jon Lester delivered a dominant outing against the Royals Sunday to continue his contract push. But history demonstrates that the Red Sox don’t pay market value for their own players, and that’s what this negotiation could come down to. Alex provides an overview of the AL East standings in the “Around the League” segment, and talks about the hole that Masahiro Tanaka’s UCL tear leaves in the Yankees’ rotation. Plus, the Blue Jays apparently violated baseball’s “unwritten rules" over the weekend. Uh-oh … The Astros failed to sign their number one pick, Brady Aiken, to a contract Friday. The supposedly smartest organization in the league failed to forecast a possible problem with his physical, which doesn’t reflect well on them. Feel free to follow Alex on Twitter (@AlexReimer1), and send him an email (ajreimer0@gmail.com). You can read Alex all week on BostInno.com, and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

It’s time for the Red Sox to consider waving the white flag. After a 1-5 start to the home stand, it appears as if the club has too much ground to make up in the American League playoff race. It’s time to change the motive for the season, and focus on developing the young players in the organization who will presumably be a part of the “next great Red Sox team.” Trading A.J. Pierzynski, Jake Peavy and even Stephen Drew should be relatively easy decisions to make. Dealing Koji Uehara is tougher, but ultimately it would be the right call. Alex talks about the past two series against the Cubs and Orioles, and highlights Xander Bogaerts’ 11-for-100 skid. It’s been ugly to watch, but the Red Sox shouldn’t send him back to the minor leagues. Now is the time to find out how he handles himself at the Major League level. Jon Lester dominated the Orioles Saturday, as the rumors surrounding his seemingly non-existent contract negotiations with the Red Sox continue to prop up. It appears as if the Red Sox may have blown their opportunity to sign Lester to a hometown discount, and that’s a shame. Nelson Cruz batted John Lackey around the ballpark Saturday night, which caused the right-hander to make some inferences about his prior steroid use. But as Buck Showalter says, players should make sure that “their backyard is clean” before they make insinuations about other players and organizations. Speaking of the Orioles, Alex analyzes their rise to first place in the “Around the League” segment. He also examines the shrewd Brandon McCarthy trade that the Yankees completed over the weekend, and how CC Sabathia’s tenuous future could affect their approach on the free agent market over the winter. The biggest trade of the season was finalized over the weekend, too, as the A’s acquired right-handers Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the Cubs for top shortstop prospect Addison Russell. The deal appears to be a win-win for both sides: The Cubs continue to build a potent minor league system that’s stacked the rarest commodity in baseball (power), and the A’s are now true favorites to capture the World Series. All Star rosters were named Sunday, and though Alex doesn’t want to waste energy complaining about the rosters, he does have one snub who he would like to point out. Alex is off next week, so the next edition of “Without a Curse” will be published Monday, July 21. Email him, ajreimer0@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read Alex on BostInno.com, and listen to him on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

The Red Sox did the bare minimum to stay relevant on their 10-game road trip, as the club went 4-6 and won its final two games against the Yankees. Alex recaps the series against the Yankees inside the latest edition of “Without a Curse,” and forecasts the team’s stretch of winnable games prior to the All Star Break. If the Red Sox are going to make up any significant ground in the standings, it’s going to probably come within the next two weeks. The team called up top prospect Mookie Betts Saturday, even though the 21-year-old had only played in 77 games above Single-A prior to his Major League debut. It’s a desperate move, but the Red Sox seemingly have no other choice. They need to give their offense a jolt, and Betts is arguably the only man who could potentially do the job. The other 21-year-old on the Red Sox, Xander Bogaerts, is in the midst of the worst slump of his professional career. Bogaerts’ slide roughly coincided with Stephen Drew’s arrival to the team, which has caused many to connect the non-existent dots. Drew has been wretched with the Red Sox thus far this season, but to blame him for Bogaerts’ slump is asinine. Alex also talks about the logjam in the rotation, A.J. Pierzynski’s abominable June and David Ortiz’s embarrassing complaints about the schedule. In the “Around the League” segment, Alex looks at the AL East standings and the sliding Blue Jays. He also talks about the intriguing scenarios surrounding David Price’s trade market and the uniqueness of Tim Lincecum’s two no-hitters. Email Alex, ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read Alex all week on BostInno.com and listen to him on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

The Red Sox enjoyed a thrilling, come-from-behind victory on the heels of David Ortiz’s game-winning blast Sunday. It’s the kind of win that often sparks a team. … Wait, you’ve heard that before? Arguably the most important road trip of the season isn’t off to an ideal start for the Red Sox, as the hometown team dropped three of four contests to the A’s over the weekend. The offense has been anemic all season long, but was especially dreadful last week. The Red Sox scored 11 runs in six games from Monday through Saturday. Alex pins the majority of the blame for the Red Sox’s poor offensive showing on Dustin Pedroia’s and David Ortiz’s underperformance, though maybe Ortiz’s two big home runs this week – the game-tying shot against the Twins and home run Sunday – will serve as the start of a hot streak for the 38-year-old slugger. Alex says Ortiz’s struggles offensively, and not his public criticism of the Fenway Park official scorer after Wednesday’s contest are worth of the ire of the Boston sports media. Clay Buchholz is schedule to return this week, and slated to start Wednesday. Though the Red Sox remain in the thick of the playoff race, they have an uphill climb in the standings. It’s time for the club to choose “talent” over “depth,” meaning both Brandon Workman and Rubby De La Rosa should remain in the rotation regardless of Buchholz’s performance. The legend of Brock Holt, Grady Sizemore’s unimpressive Red Sox tenure and more is discussed as well. In the “Around the League” segment, Alex takes a look at the AL East standings, and the slumping Blue Jays who are barely hanging on to a marginal lead over the Orioles and Yankees. Alex also points out how Justin Verlander’s struggles shouldn’t affect how the Red Sox approach Jon Lester with a contract extension and why the Cubs must sign Jeff Samardzija long term. Email Alex at ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read Alex all week on BostInno.com and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

Despite another disappointing week, the Red Sox shouldn’t be ready to sell yet. The first two and a half months of the season have been disastrous from an offensive perspective, but this is essentially the same team that won the World Series last year. It’d be unwise to allow 10 weeks of data overturn the perception of this franchise. Now, there doesn’t appear to be a panacea for the Red Sox’s offensive woes. The simplest solution would be improved performances from David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia, as they’ve failed to carry the club for the bulk of the season. Alex recaps the series in Baltimore, in which the Red Sox only scored one run in three games. Brandon Workman and Rubby De La Rosa started two of these games, and remain in what may soon be a crowded rotation for the time being. Felix Doubront started two games in Triple-A last week, and Clay Buchholz started one. John Lackey’s future was a topic of discussion last week, as he made some ambiguous comments about whether he would be willing to play for the league minimum in 2015. It’s difficult to read too deeply into something that Lackey said about his contractual situation in mid June, but it would behoove both he and the team to use his club option for next season as a bargaining chip to work out a long-term extension. The Red Sox need Lackey in the rotation, and he likes playing here. Alex also discusses the four-game set against Terry Francona’s Indians, which couldn’t have ended on a more sour note – the Red Sox went 1-15 with runners in scoring position Saturday and Sunday. In the “Around the League” segment, Alex analyzes the AL East standings and breaks down just how good Masahiro Tanaka has been this year. The Rangers’ almost historic injury woes, and Phillies’ general manager Ruben Amaro’s almost historic level of stupidity are talked about, too. Email Alex at ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @AlexReimer1. Read Alex all week on BostInno.com, and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

What a difference a week makes. The Red Sox have rattled off seven consecutive wins after a 10-game losing skid, and are now right back in the thick of the divisional race. Alex recaps the past seven days in Red Sox baseball, including a wild weekend against the Rays at Fenway Park. Those two clubs legitimately hate each other, which is a rarity in the increasingly corporatized world of professional sports. David Price and David Ortiz had a war of words (pun intended) over the weekend, and seem to be in the midst of a feud. Arguably the best left-handed pitcher loathes arguably the best left-handed power hitter in baseball. It’s a beautiful thing. After the two hit batsmen and bench-clearing incident in the fourth inning, the Red Sox stormed back and defeated the Rays Friday. A.J. Pierzynski clubbed the game-winning RBI triple. Rubby De La Rosa was dominant in his season debut Saturday, as he tossed seven shutout innings and struck out eight batters. The young players have played a significant role in this winning streak; De La Rosa was great Saturday, Xander Bogaerts has been the best hitter on the team over the past 10 days and Jackie Bradley Jr. appears to be improving offensively. Stephen Drew is scheduled to make his return Monday, and some fans are already piling up excuses as to why his presence will hinder the hometown team. Apparently, Xander Bogaerts is going to turn into a puddle because he’s moving 35-feet to his left, and Brock Holt must play every day. Right. The irrational Drew hatred is unreal. Alex also examines how the Red Sox's winning streak started against the Braves last week. Luck is a significant factor in sports that’s often overlooked, but Tuesday’s and Thursday’s games were a reminder of how important it is. Manny Ramirez returned to Fenway Park for the 2004 World Series ceremony Wednesday, and Alex had the gall to defend the greatest right-handed hitter in Red Sox history to “The Big Show Unfiltered” crew during his appearance Friday. The guys reamed him out, and Alex plays some of the highlights. In the “Around the League” segment, Alex looks at the AL East standings and the terrific end of May the Blue Jays had. He also examines why we hype up prospects as much as we do on the heels of Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras’ debut, and if baseball is truly becoming more of a young man’s game than it was in the untested “Steroid Era.” Email Alex at ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @AlexReimer1. Read him all week on BostInno.com, and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered."

Alex was ready to lead off the show with a self-congratulary tone, as he wanted to gloat about how he had been calling for the Red Sox to re-sign Stephen Drew since November. But that would’ve been akin to wearing summer colors to a funeral. The Red Sox are in the midst of a 10-game losing streak, and have dropped to nine games below .500 and eight games out of first place. At this rate, Drew’s signing will just be an exercise in futility. The anemic offense got even thinner over the weekend, as Shane Victorino or Mike Napoli were placed on the disabled list. It’s time for Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz – the faces of the franchise – to step up and carry the team for the next week. It’s easy to get carried away with hyperbole when this kind of skid occurs, but Alex believes it’s fair to second-guess the club’s strategy in free agency last winter. For the second consecutive year, the Red Sox refused to sign players to lucrative, market value long-term contracts. They signed A.J. Pierzynski, Grady Sizemore and Edward Mujica to short-term deals, and all three players have struggled mightily. The Red Sox didn’t acquire the necessary reinforcements to safeguard themselves from the regression that most teams face after a championship season. The Red Sox shouldn’t be adverse to handing out long-term contracts; they should be prudent about finding the right players to give those deals to. It’s all about finding the proper fit. Alex recaps the disappointing series against the Blue Jays and Rays, and explains why the Red Sox seem intent on keeping Clay Buchholz in the rotation despite his struggles. The Red Sox embarrassed themselves in the finale of the weekend’s series against the Rays when David Ross jarred at Yunel Escobar for swiping third base in the bottom of the eighth inning with a five-run lead. If the Red Sox don’t want to be “embarrassed,” they shouldn’t put themselves in that situation. Alex takes a closer look at the AL East stands in the “Around the League” segment, and highlights the Blue Jays’ terrific play of late. It seems as if one team in the division is starting to pull away from the pack, which is bad news for the Red Sox. Josh Beckett thew a no-hitter Sunday, much to the dismay of many baseball fans in this region. It ended poorly with Beckett here, but that shouldn’t dilute the fact that this is a praiseworthy turnaround story. What probably did damper Beckett’s no-hitter, however, is the fact that few people in the Los Angeles region could see it. Most cable and satellite providers in southern California refuse to pay the fee that’s required to carry SportsNet LA. The Dodgers have the most lucrative television contract in Major League Baseball history, but nobody can see the team’s games. It’s another example of how this league’s greed has caused it to alienate so many fans. On a positive note, Manny Ramirez is back in professional baseball. The Cubs signed him to be a player-coach for its Triple-A affiliate. Let’s just hope that he can still attend the 2004 reunion Wednesday night. Email Alex at ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter at @AlexReimer1. Read him all week on BostInno.com, and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

The Red Sox are in the midst of its first four-game losing streak since 2012, as the club dropped three straight games to the Tigers over the weekend at Fenway Park. The club’s offense has been anemic this season – it was 10th in the league in runs scored prior to Sunday’s play. The Red Sox were batting .235 as a team with a .314 on-base percentage and .362 slugging percentage against right-handed pitching entering Sunday as well. If the Red Sox want to improve its offensive performance, general manager Ben Cherington is going to have to make changes to his roster. With Will Middlebrooks on the DL for the second time this season, a spot has opened up for Stephen Drew on the left side of the infield. Though Jackie Bradley Jr. has been sensational defensively in center field, he’s been putrid offensively. It’s time for the Red Sox to test Grady Sizemore in center field again, or cut him from the team. Sizemore doesn’t offer enough value as a corner outfielder. It’s possible that this could be be a bridge year for the Red Sox, which would be appropriate considering the club won the World Series last year. But if that’s the case, it’s time to face the facts. The Red Sox’s biggest asset at the moment is the mediocrity of the rest of the American League. Despite a 20-23 record, the team remains only three games behind the Yankees for first place in the division. Alex provides an overview of the AL East in the “Around the League” segment, and also talks about the Tommy John surgery epidemic in baseball. A total of 35 pitchers have undergone the procedure since Feb. 18, including the phenomenal Jose Fernandez. On a lighter note, some kid took to Jenny Dell to prom because he couldn’t find a real date. Email Alex, ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read Alex all week on BostInno.com, and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

The Red Sox have surpassed the .500 mark for the first time since April 3, as the club won its first series in Texas since August 2011 over the weekend. Alex recaps the Red Sox’s three games against the Rangers, and lauds the pitching performances from Jon Lester and John Lackey. Lester is averaging 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings this season, but the Red Sox still apparently haven’t budged on a contract extension for him. Peter Gammons – the ultimate team insider – tweeted last week that the Red Sox are weary of signing Lester to a new deal because of CC Sabathia’s and Hiroki Kuroda’s struggles this year with the Yankees. Alex refutes that notion, largely because Sabathia and Kuroda are terrible comparisons for Lester. Rangers ace Yu Darvish almost completed arguably the most controversial no-hitter against the Red Sox Friday night, as the Rangers’ official scorer charged right fielder Alex Rios with an error when David Ortiz pop-up fell between him and the second baseman. Baseball’s unwritten rules say a fielder shouldn’t be charged with an error on a ball he didn’t touch, though the actual rulebook says differently. Unwritten rules sometimes supplant the real rules in baseball. It’s what makes the game annoying, and great at the same time. The offensive struggles of Jackie Bradley, Xander Bogaerts and Will Middlebrooks are discussed as well. The Red Sox are currently seeing why it’s risky to have three young players break into the everyday lineup at the same time. In the “Around the League” segment, Alex takes a look at the AL East standings. The Yankees have now lost 60 percent of its Opening Day rotation, because Sabathia has joined Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova on the disabled list. But hey, at least Derek Jeter got a really cool gold bat over the weekend in Milwaukee! The Orioles’ Nelson Cruz is second in the AL in home runs, and is one of several players who was implicated in the Biogeneis controversy last season who’s having a terrific year. It just goes to show that it’s nearly impossible to theorize how much PED use affects a player’s performance. Alex also talks about Major League Baseball’s sickening, and misguided war on podcasts. Pretty soon, “Without a Curse” could be the last remaining independent podcast available for download in the iTunes store. Email Alex, ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read Alex at BostInno.com, and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway’s “Big Show Unfiltered.”

The Red Sox failed to reach the .500 mark yet again last week, as the club dropped its series finale to the A's Sunday afternoon. Alex talks about the team's poor situational play, and its continued struggles with runners in scoring position. The Red Sox left over 20 men on base in its doubleheader against the Rays Thursday. Manager John Farrell may have wanted to play the two games Thursday to take advantage of the Rays' depleted pitching staff, but his team couldn't push runs across the plate. Jackie Bradley Jr. was responsible for stranding a plethora of base runners Sunday. Though he's played well defensively, his offensive performance has been subpar The Red Sox probably signed Grady Sizemore because Ben Cherington forecasted that Bradley would scuffle offensively. The problem is, Sizemore hasn't performed at the plate either. Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester pitched exceptionally well in the team's victories Friday and Saturday against the A's, and were aided by a couple of key home runs. Dustin Pedroia and Jonny Gomes both hit grand slams in the two contests. Though the Red Sox have failed to win more than two consecutive games this season, the team is only two games out of first place in the mediocre AL East. That's the saving grace. In the "Around the League" segment, Alex takes a closer look at the other teams in the division, and reprimands hypocritical Yankees fans who booed Robinson Cano for "selling out" last week. Alex also talks about the Wall Street Journal's story about 30 front office Red Sox staffers who are studying the reasons behind the increasing length of Major League Baseball games. The problem isn't that the games are long, necessarily. It's that they're slow. Email Alex, ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read Alex on BostInno.com, and listen to him Fridays on "Big Show Unfiltered" with Glenn Ordway.

Inside this edition of "Without a Curse," Alex recaps a rather disappointing week for the Red Sox. The club dropped two out of three games to the Yankees last week, as Jacoby Ellsbury led the way with a multitude of extra-base hits and stellar defensive plays. It's obvious that the Red Sox were going to miss Ellsbury this year. But the team likely won't miss Ellsbury in the latter years of his seven-year, $153 million contract, which is why Ben Cherington didn't overextend himself for his services last winter. The Red Sox starting pitching and defense has largely been abominable over the last week, which is worrisome. It's almost as if Clay Buchholz and Felix Doubront have served as walking advertisements as to why it's imperative for the Red Sox to retain Jon Lester past this season. Xander Bogaerts' struggles defensively at shortstop shouldn't come as a surprise, because many scouts believed that was the weak point in his game. Still, Bogaerts' misplays at shortstop illustrate that the Red Sox would've been better off signing Stephen Drew to play the position this year. There would've been more than enough at-bats to go around for Bogaerts, Drew and Middlebrooks. Speaking of Middlebrooks, he and Shane Victorino returned to the lineup late last week. At the least, the two players should add some stability to the batting order. The top of the Red Sox lineup has been atrocious this season, as the team's lead-off hitters have gone 20-105. Victorino should help rectify that, and immediately improve the outfield defense. Alex also recaps the series in Toronto over the weekend, and highlights the poor run support Lester has received thus far. In the "Around the League" segment, Alex provides a closer look at the competitive AL East. No team has run away with the division in April, as injuries have seemingly affected every club. Albert Pujols hit his 500th home run last week, and though it didn't receive a lot of media coverage, the Angels have to be pleased that he is healthy and producing this season. There may be hope for that 10-year, $240 million contract after all. Alex was troubled by Royals manager Ned Yost's comments over the weekend about how he thinks relievers should be used. Apparently, he only wants to use closer Greg Holland in tie-games on the road that "matter." Okay, then. Follow Alex on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Email him at ajreimer0@gmail.com. Read Alex all week on BostInno.com, and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. EST on Glenn Ordway's "Big Show Unfiltered."

Some of the magic of 2013 returned for the Red Sox Sunday night, as the club enjoyed its first walk-off win of the year over the Orioles. Despite the plethora of injuries, and inconsistent play the Red Sox have suffered through early this season, the team is only roughly two and a half games behind the Yankees for first place in the division. The AL East has been rather mediocre thus far, and the Red Sox are staying afloat. Alex recaps the conclusion of the club's road trip in Chicago last week, including two depressing games to watch on Tuesday and Wednesday. Fortunately, Jon Lester delivered a dandy to salvage the series Thursday evening when he opposed Chris Sale. Expanded instant replay failed again Friday, as Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis clearly hit a foul ball down the left field line that was ruled fair. There are a litany of problems with the implementation of replay, but the biggest one is ... UMPIRES STILL GET CALLS WRONG. What's the point of delaying the game several minutes for an incorrect call? In the "Around the League" segment, Alex takes a closer look at the AL East standings. Health continues to be a major factor in the division, as the Yankees have likely lost starter Ivan Nova for the season. The dark revelations about Yasiel Puig's defection from Cuba to the United States dominated headlines last week, and hopefully these details will provide people with more perspective whenever they decide to lambast him for his style of play, or occasional mental lapses. Puig is going through an incredibly difficult transition at 23 years old. For some one who regularly receives death threats, he seems to be acclimating quite well. Email Alex, ajreimer0@gmail.com, and Follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read Alex at BostInno, and listen to him Fridays from 3-6 p.m. EST on "Big Show Unfiltered" with Glenn Ordway. The Yankees are in town this week. Get ready for incessant, inane banter about whether or not Red Sox fans should boo Jacoby Ellsbury.

Inside this edition of "Without a Curse," Alex recaps a rather disappointing week for the 5-8 Red Sox. More injury woes may be on the horizon for the hometown team, as Koji Uehara and Dustin Pedroia are both being examined Monday in Boston. Uehara felt stiffness in his shoulder prior to Friday's game, though his long toss session reportedly went well prior to Sunday's contest. It's unsurprising that the 39-year-old Uehara is dealing with a shoulder injury, given that he pitched 88 innings including the post-season last year. Closers are volatile by nature, and the Red Sox signed Edward Mufica this winter to serve as Uehara insurance. Pedroia supposedly suffered a wrist injury during last weekend's home series against the Brewers, and has scuffled at the plate since. The Red Sox don't have a lot of middle infield depth in the organization, so Pedroia's injury could be a devastating blow. Shane Victorino is slated to begin a rehab assignment this week, and Alex says why Jackie Bradley Jr. should be the first man sent to the minor leagues when he returns. Though Bradley's played exceptionally well 2013 both offensively and defensively 2013 he has a less proven track record than Daniel Nava, who also has minor league options remaining. At this stage in the season, it's all about maintaining the most organizational depth. Alex recaps the series win against the Rangers, and series loss to a depleted, injury ravaged Yankees team. Alex tells you why Pin Targate is an uninteresting story, shares his frustrations with instant replay, highlights the incompetence of the top of the lineup and more. In the "Around the League" segment, Alex recaps the past week in the AL East. The Rays are on top of the division alongside the Jays and Yankees, but are dealing with a multitude of injuries of their own. Matt Moore will likely need Tommy John surgery, and Alex Cobb has been placed on the 15-day DL as well. Tuesday is the one-year anniversary of the tragic Marathon bombings. This will be a week of reflection, and a chance to remember just how important the Red Sox are to this city. The club's win in its first home game following the bombings wasn't just important because it was a decisive victory. But it was the first time that fans could be proud of their team in nearly 18 months. Email Alex, ajreimer0@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter, @AlexReimer1. Read him all week on BostInno, and listen to his weekly co-host appearance on "The Big Show Unfiltered," Friday 3-6 p.m. EST.

Alex previews the upcoming MLB season inside this edition of "Without a Curse." The Red Sox are arguably the most enviable franchise in the league, as no team has a better combination of financial and organizational flexibility going forward. The Red Sox have never been better positioned for a sustained stretch of championship contention than they are now. However, it's reasonable to expect the Red Sox to take a small step back in 2014. The club will face more attrition this year than it did in 2013. Alex provides his predictions for all 30 teams heading into the year, as he believes both the Red Sox and Cardinals will return to the postseason. There won't a Red Sox and Cardinals rematch in October, though. Alex says the Nationals and Rays will battle it out in the Fall Classic. Email Alex at ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @AlexReimer1. "Without a Curse" will be published on a weekly basis 2013 every Monday 2013 throughout the season. Alex will be covering the Red Sox and Boston sports on a daily basis at BostInno this summer, and may expand his role with "Big Show Unfiltered" as well. Last year's team was a joy to watch, and this season should be thrilling as well. "Without a Curse" will have you covered with top notch analysis surrounding the latest news around the team all season long.

Inside this edition of "Without a Curse," Alex previews the AL West with Astros beat writer, Evan Drellich, of the Houston Chronicle. Alex and Evan talk about the excitement surrounding some of the young talent in Astros' camp, and whether or not the club's apparent strategy of "tanking" in 2013 will result in an expedited rebuilding process. Alex also asks Evan about Comcast SportsNet Houston's bankruptcy, and how much of an affect those proceedings will have on the Astros' finances. The Mariners signed Robinson Cano to a 10-year, $240 million contract this winter, but still may not be ready to compete. Alex and Evan discuss the Mariners' roster, and wonder if it's deep enough to last through a 162-game season. It was a relatively quiet offseason for the Angels, who are looking to rebound in 2014. Even with all of the money being spent around the game, eight more years of that Albert Pujols contract still looks like quite the albatross (but hey, at least Mike Trout will make Angels games must watch experiences). Alex and Evan both believe the A's and Rangers are best positioned to win the AL West this season, and discuss which team made more substantial additions this winter. If the Rangers fail to make the postseason for a third consecutive year, Ron Washington's job could be in jeopardy. The Red Sox played their first televised game of the spring Sunday, with possible new sideline reporter Elle Duncan featured on the telecast. Felix Doubront tossed two scoreless innings, which is a very positive sign. It's important for Doubront to build off his terrific performance out of the bullpen in the World Series, and start off the spring strong. Alex covered the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference over the weekend for BostInno, and had the opportunity to briefly speak with Bill James about the Red Sox player personnel philosophy. Bill says the Red Sox value intangible factors, even though they're unquantifiable by nature. In the "Around the League" segment, Alex continues to talk about his experiences at the conference last weekend. It's apparent that analytics are the present in professional sports, as every major decision maker uses them when deciding how to run franchises from both an on-field and off-field perspective. Those who don't understand analytics and cover professional sports are doing their readers, listeners and viewers a disservice. Anyone who doesn't grasp advanced metrics isn't able to properly analyze the league he or she is covering, because they have no idea how decisions are made. That's why it's a shame FOX has seemingly decided to hire Harold Reynolds as Tim McCarver's replacement. The gleefully statistically ignorant Reynolds is an affable personality, but will likely offer little in-terms of insightful content. Email Alex at ajreimer0@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter @AlexReimer1.

Football Nation presents another playoff edition of "Monday Morning Huddle" with host Dave Holcomb. On this week's episode, BostInno sports writer Alex Reimer joins the show to discuss the Patriots power running game that destroyed the Indianapolis Colts. Will New England bring the same game plan to Denver? In fact, both the Seahawks and 49ers also ran the ball effectively on their way to victories in the Division round. Holcomb recaps how those teams win as rivals Seattle and San Francisco get ready to square off in the NFC Championship. Plus, Peyton Manning returns to the AFC Championship Game for perhaps the final Brady-Manning showdown in the playoffs. Finally, in the 'Fourth and Long' segment, Holcomb makes his final Super Bowl prediction, picks what Harbaugh brother has had a more impressive coaching start, and choices which of the four teams eliminated over the weekend has the best chance to get to the Championship Game next year. All that and more on Monday Morning Huddle's Division Week episode.

Inside this edition of "Without a Curse," Alex recaps the biggest Red Sox series win of the season to date, as they took two of three games from the Tigers this week. There is no excuse not buy in to this Red Sox team. Fans who aren't infatuated with this team have nobody but themselves to blame. This year's Red Sox team, from the come-from-behind wins to performances like this week against the Tigers, have shown they're legitimate World Series contenders. Stop being bitter over chicken and beer from two years ago, and get on board. Jon Lester was a big part of the collapse in September 2011, which is why his dominating performance against the Tigers on Tuesday night was the all more encouraging. Lester looked the best he's looked in two years on Tuesday, with nine strikeouts and no walks in seven innings pitched. It is unknown whether Clay Buchholz will be an ace when he returns to the rotation next week. If Lester pitches like an ace down the stretch, Buchholz' production will be gravy. Speaking of gravy, the Red Sox poured it on against the Tigers on Wednesday, scoring 20 runs in the win. The Red Sox have scored a combined 19 runs over John Lackey's last 10 starts, and four runs in his past three outings. But to Lackey's credit, he didn't express frustration at his teammates after the loss on Monday. Lackey should be commended for the way he's handled his business this season. Will Middlebrooks should also be commended for the way he's performed since being recalled, and had a big series against the Tigers. The Red Sox were hoping Middlebrooks could lock down the third base job upon returning, and he's done exactly that. David Ortiz' 2,000 career hit, the sad end to Daniel Bard's Red Sox career, John Farrell's curious use of Brandon Workman and the "most NESN thing ever" are discussed as well. In the "Around the League" segment, Alex looks at the AL East standings, as the Red Sox continue to pull away from the Rays. The Red Sox also hold a a hefty lead over the Yankees, who are 13-6 over their last 19 games. It should be a great series this weekend in New York. The Pirates won their 81st game of the season on Tuesday, and clinched a winning season for the first time in two decades. It's a terrific story for baseball, as is the three team race in the NL Central. Email Alex at areimer@bu.edu, and follow him on Twitter @AlexReimer1. If you want more of Alex' Red Sox analysis outside of "Without a Curse," check out his Red Sox coverage this fall on BostInno.com!

On April 15, when most spectators were running away from the blasts at the Boston Marathon finish line, Alex Weaver was rushing toward it. Weaver covered the marathon bombing and its aftermath as a staff writer for BostInno, an online publication devoted to the tech industry, lifestyle issues and local news in the Boston area.