Navigating Early Stage Entrepreneurship and Growth with Jake Colognesi

In this episode of The En Factor, we are excited to welcome franchise consultant Scott Jones, who is the founder and CEO of Franchise Guide Group. Scott grew up around entrepreneurship from a young age, as he watched his father build out his own business while growing up, and still recalls his entrepreneurship class being his favorite course that he ever took in college. His professional career began in sales, although owning his own business was something that was always on his mind, and he eventually made the leap into entrepreneurship over twenty years ago, with his first business being an athletic scouting service-based company. Scott now leads Franchise Guide Group, where he mainly works with individuals that are interested in being business owners and believe that becoming a franchisee could be an effective way to transition into entrepreneurship. Scott helps these aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as current entrepreneurs looking to diversify, understand themselves and their goals for what they want to get out of being franchise owners. He also helps them find suitable solutions for achieving their objectives, whether it be financial, quality of life, or some other goal they want to reach by getting involved in a franchise. Tune in and join us for this super insightful conversation packed with information and advice about franchising and business in general, as Scott used to be a franchisor and a franchisee, so he has plenty of experience with all of the different sides and perspectives that are involved in franchising. You won’t want to miss a moment of Scott and host Dr. Rebecca White diving into topics of conversation including Scott’s journey and transition into entrepreneurship, clearing up common misunderstandings about the franchising world, and the importance of components like leadership and team building that go into operating your own successful franchise. Key Words - Franchise, Opportunity Recognition

Welcome back to The En Factor for a new episode as we are very excited to be joined by Phoenix Hafen, who is the Partnerships Manager for the organization UI Charitable. Phoenix planned to start a career as a financial advisor coming out of college and found UI Charitable as a solid stepping stone for gaining relevant, industry-related experience to grow his career. Over four years later, Phoenix still finds himself working for UI Charitable after discovering his passion for philanthropy and giving back to the community while still doing work that is relevant to his education and the career that he is building for himself. UI Charitable operates similarly to a financial advisory practice, collaborating with entrepreneurs, financial advisors, and nonprofit organizations to achieve the optimal balance of wealth management and philanthropy for these entrepreneurs to increase and manage their charitable giving in a healthy fashion. From assisting with the set up of donor advised funds, to helping business owners find the perfect nonprofit, industry, or even location match for where they want to donate, Phoenix’s organization blends this process seamlessly so that these entrepreneurs can build out their legacy while giving back to the communities that they want to impact in a financially healthy way. If you’re an entrepreneur wanting to make a philanthropic impact out there in the world or even a nonprofit owner looking for donors that can bolster the impact you’re striving to achieve, this conversation with Phoenix and host Dr. Rebecca White is definitely worth the listen. Tune in and join us as the two explore topics of discussion including managing your charitable planning and optimizing your philanthropic resources, when to even start thinking about philanthropy for your business in the most tax friendly ways possible, as well as funding advice for nonprofit organizations and how they can appeal to their ideal donors. Key Words - Philanthropy, Finance

In this episode of The En Factor Podcast, we are thrilled to be joined by serial entrepreneur Terry James, who is currently Founder and CEO of the Offleash’d social app, as well as Nibble and Wag, LLC. Terry joins host Dr. Rebecca White with vast business experience to share as he left a stable and successful career in wealth management to become an entrepreneur. His turning point stemmed from the global pandemic at the beginning of the decade when he came to the realization that there was an epidemic of loneliness in our world, with everyone sitting behind their screens. Human connection has changed significantly since the pandemic, and Terry had a simple goal of bringing people together and build a community through a clever commonality: pets. As a result, Offleash’d was launched by Terry and his team to bring humans and their pets together through holistic and authentic interactions. The app has been a huge success and continues to experience growth nationwide, as pet parents can be found building themselves and their pet each a profile to connect with other pets and owners in 42 different states. All from simply filling in a gap that nobody had addressed yet: connecting humans through leveraging their deep affection for their pets and the humanization of their pets. Terry’s newer brand, Nibble and Wag, was also created from a gap in the pet industry that had not truly been focused on and filled yet. Nibble and Wag is Terry’s dog food brand that is healthy, yet affordable, targeted mainly for younger pet parents that want to provide their dog healthy food but are struggling to afford the purchase of premium dog food. Another specific gap in the pet industry that nobody truly paid to attention to and targeted, but Terry didn’t launch this brand to compete with other dog food brands. He simply wanted to provide younger owners with the opportunity to feed their dogs healthy food without breaking their banks. Join us for this incredibly insightful conversation with Terry and Dr. White, as they explore and cover various key moments from Terry’s entrepreneurial journey including how he identified and capitalized on these opportunities in the pet industry, the value of building a cohesive team through a shared vision, and how Terry plans to continue leading and reshaping the pet industry in the future. Key Words - Pets, Opportunity Recognition

In this newest episode of The En Factor, we are very excited to welcome a recent graduate from the entrepreneurship program at The University of Tampa and Founder & CEO of Dirty Bastard Laundry Co., Maximus Mattuchio. You could say Maximus was born an entrepreneur, as side hustles and finding creative ways to make money have always been a part of his life since constantly operating lemonade stands at six years old, to hosting his own podcast and consistently posting on social media before he even arrived at UTampa. From his experiences at the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center over his collegiate years to traveling across the country creating content with Jake Paul creating content for Paul’s men’s hygiene brand, W, Maximus recently launched his own venture, Dirty Bastard Laundry Co., just over one week ago where he has already has received positive public interest in his product. Maximus is eager and ready to make his mark on the masculine CPG space with his cologne infused laundry sheets, hoping to follow in the footsteps of successful men’s hygiene brands like Dr. Squatch and Dollar Shave Club. You won’t want to miss out on this energizing and insightful conversation as Maximus joins the show to chat reflect with Dr. Rebecca White on his journey to Dirty Bastard and his plans and goals for the future with his product just recently launching. Join us for a deep dive into discussions including the bold branding identity he is leveraging and committing to in order to gain traction and interest from his target market, and how the increasing availability and advancements of AI helped him throughout his product development process. Key Words - Brand Building, Target Market

On this episode of The En Factor, we are excited to welcome franchise consultant, founder, and CEO of Peak Franchising, Chris Hilgers. Chris grew up around family businesses much of his early life where he gained firsthand experiences of the entrepreneurial lifestyle and dedication it took to become successful as a business owner. Beginning his professional career in sales, Chris learned a lot about communicating and building relationships with others before he went on to leave the corporate world and start Peak Franchising. Through Peak Franchising, Chris serves others a franchise coach to partner high quality people with the perfect fit of a franchise for them to own and lead. Chris’s extensive background and knowledge of the franchising world, as well as people skills, make this episode a super valuable one with advice on identifying high quality people whether it be hiring employees or partnering with another entrepreneur. Join us and tune into this insight-packed episode with Chris and host Dr. Rebecca White as they explore and dive deep into subject matter including how Chris can help aspiring business owners find the perfect franchise opportunity, as well as what to look out for when researching prospective franchises and reading through franchise agreements. Key Words - Franchise, Consulting