Five Questions With PearlFlower Catering Founder Tiwanna Williams
Inspired by the kitchen skills (and work ethic) of her two grandmothers, Tiwanna Williams left behind a nursing career to pursue her passion for cooking and hasn’t looked back. After receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback catering for friends, Tiwanna founded PearlFlower Catering in 2010. PearlFlower focuses on creating personalized menus using locally sourced ingredients. Recently, the
Five Questions With Communion Social Lounge Founders Michael and Sharece Curry
Two local winemakers, Michael and Sharece Curry, had gotten tired of the traditional dive bar environment and experience all too common in their neighborhood. Seeking to provide a different kind of nightlife to an urban locale, they founded Communion Social Lounge, an upscale Garfield Heights-area lounge, offering house-made sweet and fruit-infused wines, hand-crafted cocktails, small
Five Questions With Revival Body Care Founder Nicole Dzurko
Passionate about living a healthy lifestyle and frustrated by the lack of high-quality, chemical-free beauty products on the market, Nicole Dzurko set sights on making her own. Revival Body Care, which began in 2015 as a small operation in her home kitchen, has quickly morphed into a thriving local and ecommerce business offering a comprehensive
Meet Our Core City: Cleveland Impact Program’s Spring 2018 Cohort
We are excited to welcome the fifth cohort to our Core City: Cleveland Impact Program! This 12-week business assistance program is designed to drive economic impact in the city of Cleveland by helping individuals overcome obstacles to entrepreneurship through hands-on advising and industry-specific mentoring. Over the next three months, these five individuals will be learning and
This Entrepreneur Brings A New Groove To Downtown
Anjua Maximo was working at fashion giant lululemon while teaching fitness in Los Angeles when she was first inspired to open a boutique studio focused on fitness and personal development. When her career led her to Cleveland, Anjua decided it was time to make the dream a reality. Her first consideration: Was there even a
Meet Our Newest NEXT Fund Portfolio Company: ReadySet Surgical
The JumpStart NEXT Fund has already invested more than $8.5 million in growing tech startups across the state of Ohio. Now, the NEXT Fund has a new portfolio company—Cincinnati-based ReadySet Surgical. Founder & CEO Keerthi Kanubaddi launched the company in 2014 to solve a critical, but little-known problem in medicine—miscommunication among hospitals, surgeons and the
Charisma Curry Is Making Life Easier For Busy Families
As a child, Charisma Curry saw the struggles her own mother faced while trying to balance her work schedule with her parental responsibilities as a single mother. So, when Charisma became a mom herself, she was already aware of the challenges that lie ahead. Still, this understanding didn’t make the actual experience of balancing work,
OnShift’s Visionary Technology Solves Big Workforce Challenges
Mark Woodka and his partners wanted to solve the costly challenges of managing the senior care workforce. Post-acute care and senior living providers often deal with workforce shortages, high turnover rates and wage pressures that chip away at the bottom line. Mark and his team knew that the right technology could improve employee engagement, business
Meet Plug And Play Founder And CEO Saeed Amidi
In October, Cleveland Clinic and JumpStart announced a partnership with Silicon Valley’s renowned Plug and Play Inc. to bring a new biotech and digital health innovation accelerator to downtown Cleveland. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Plug and Play is one of the world’s best and largest accelerator programs. As they prepare to expand to Northeast Ohio,
Urban Kutz Barbershop Takes Top Prize At The Core City: Cleveland Entrepreneur Showcase
On December 6, Core City: Cleveland Impact Program participant Waverly Willis pitched his business, Urban Kutz Barbershop, during the program’s culminating entrepreneur showcase—taking home the top prize of $10,000 to grow his business. At Urban Kutz, Waverly juggles duty as a part-time marriage counselor, psychiatrist, spiritual advisor, voice of reason and expert listener, all while
Entrepreneur Insight: Chris Nickless, Vlipsy
For the last eight years of his career, Chris Nickless has been working in the growing “expressive content” space, planning, building and deploying solutions that allow people to represent themselves and communicate more effectively on digital platforms. Through this work, Nickless realized something important was missing from online communication. When speaking face to face, he
Five Questions With Our Favorite Things Boutique Founder Lisa McGuthry
Decades ago, Lisa McGuthry’s grandmother sold peanuts at baseball and football games in Cleveland Municipal Stadium. She grew her operation by employing many neighborhood children and provided many with their very first job. In 2002, Lisa decided to take a page from her grandmother’s book when she founded her own business, Our Favorite Things Boutique,