Austin Spotlight
By Troy Schlicker
Austin SpotlightJun 20, 2023
Jimmy Yen - CEO & Founder, Achieve Integrative Health
Jimmy Yen has built the largest acupuncture clinic in Austin, TX through a mission to help people restore their body's natural ability so they can do what they love.
Dan, George & Lou - Co-Owners Bandolier Media
Bandolier Media is an award winning company that has created original IP and relevant brand content along with managing day to day social media for clients. They have also developed and launched the world’s first spicy coffee brand, Roasty Buds.
Nicole McCharen - Owner, Mama Bloom
Nicole Palomo McCharen created Mama Bloom in 2016 a powerful guided postpartum group that provides connection, reassurance, and resources. Through the years, Nicole put together a team of professionals and mamas who are committed to facilitating these group experiences.
Jason Whitson - Co-Founder & CEO, Wellcore
Jason is a lifelong Austinite, athlete, technology innovator, team builder, and entrepreneur who approaches his career and business as a sport. His latest venture, Wellcore is bringing an ultra-premium health & wellness business that scales through virtual care technologies.
Elijah Thane - Artist, Elijah Thane Art
Elijah is an artist with technical, creative, and productive capabilities. He combines stories along with technique to develop works of art with iconic design and timeless beauty that appeals to audiences of all ages and cultures.
Jodie King - Artist, Art From the Streets
Jodie King is your straight-talking friend, fellow paint-slinger, and mindset slayer. She likes to create things while breaking some rules and making a mess, because life is more fun in the splash zone.
Amy Laine - Founder, SandwYch
Byron Smith - Co-Founder, XSpace
A Sydney native, Byron is an entrepreneur with a background in commercial real-estate, the family business. He's run and been the co-founder of several ventures in a variety of fields. His lastest XSpace is bringing a new type of commercial space to Austin, TX.
Renee Rouleau - Founder & CEO, Renee Rouleau Skin Care
Renée Rouleau is a celebrity esthetician, beauty entrepreneur and skin expert who established her namesake skincare brand in 1996. Having built her company from the ground up over the last 25+ years, Renée has learned the value of growing a great company versus a big company and building a brand that has recently being named as “A Best Place to Work” by Austin Business Journal.
Vi Friebertshauser - CEO & Co-Founder, Homads
Ever the entrepreneur, Vi Friebertshauser made her first dollar in first grade by trading in found soda cans. She's continued to scale up her life and her business pursuits with her most recent being Homads in 2015. Her philosophy and that of Homads is simple. Don't Settle. Settle In.
Andy & Nicole - Owners, Andy K's Donuts
After discovering a mutual love of donuts while dating, Andy & Nicole decided they wanted to recreate their favorites from scratch. From starting in their home kitchen over five years ago, to signing a lease on a commercial kitchen they have continued to grow with their community and fans. They've been lucky enough to work with local businesses and events and look forward to the day they can open their own donut shop.
Gabe Pearlman - Owner, Shield Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
With a love of jiu jitsu and having been trained by some excellent teachers Gabe Pearlman decided to open his own jiu jitsu studio after moving to Austin from Providence, RI. As the owner of Sheild Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Gabe is able to pass on the lessons he learned and build the jiu jitsu community.
Jocelyn Harris - Founder & Chef, The Healthy Swap
Jocelyn Harris is an avid food warrior, invisible disability fighter, and a brain aneurysm and stroke survivor. After a wonderful career at Disney, she left to focus on her own baking project and opened a bakery called SugaPlump Pastries in Austin, TX. Then came her 100+ pound weight loss journey. She started developing more and more recipes that showcased healthier ingredients.
Melissa Blatt - Founder & CEO, Indipop
After struggling to find healthcare when she became self-employed, Melissa Blatt turned the struggle into an opportunity and created Indipop, a health care company geared toward the independent popluation of self-employed professionals and small business owners.
Alexander Linn - Founder & CEO, Shipshape AI
Alexander Linn is an entrepreneur with experience in artificial intelligence, building science, energy technologies and economic development. His goal is to build technologies that promotes the development of better communities. His current company Shipshape AI does this by connect home systems to help owners detect and fix potential issues with their homes prior to them becoming serious.
Joel Gross - CEO, Austin Monitor
As a graduate of the University of Texas Austin and the CEO of the Austin Monitor, Joel Gross has been interested and invested in what happens in the Austin community for some time. At the Austin Monitor his mission is to educate residence on what is happening and shaping the city they live in.
Grant King - Personal Chef, Grant King Cookin
Since he was a kid, Grant King has had an unwavering love for the kitchen. The inspiration he received from his mother laid the foundation of his cooking skills. Combining that with knowledge acquired from some of his favorite chefs has lead him to develop his own style of cooking and entertaining.
Liz Atherton - Founder & CEO, CastVoices
Liz is an entrepreneur in the film, TV and voiceover industry. Her latest venture CastVoices is working to make the business of voiceover casting simple, accessible and transparent.
Aaron Bergman - CEO & Owner, Golfinity
Aaron Bergman has a passion for two things: teaching and golf. He has blended his two passions into a one-of-a-kind golfing experience that’s changing the face of the game for the better. Golfinity is the vision for a better, more effective golf instruction experience.
Jennifer Porton - Owner, Jen's Pro Organizing
Jennifer Porton has always loved making spaces beautiful, functional, and organized. She's taken that passion and created Jen's Pro Organizing to adapt her skills to her clients personalized needs to make their spaces calming, relaxing and inviting.
Forrest from Texas - 7th Generation Texan and History Enthusiast
Forrest is a 7th Generation Texan who is enthusiastic about Texas history. She provide insight on rare stories from the history of Texas on her social media platforms.
Tessa Nappi - Owner, Patter Paws Pet Company
Patter Paws Pet Company was born with the vision from Tessa Nappi of providing services for pets in the comfort of their home to allow for lowest level of stress for pets and the highest level of convenience for pet owners.
Joe Carr - President & Co-Founder, Serenity Kids
Frustrated by the landscape of baby foods in 2016, Joe and his wife Serenity, decided to start their own healthy and nutritious baby food brand, and Serenity Kids was born.
Austin Real Estate Market Q&A
Jasmine Jew - Director of Operations, Austin School of Music
Bassist, Artist, and Director at the Austin School of Music, Jasmine Jew guides the schools mission to encourage and promote the Austin music community and provide programs to develop it in young musicians.
Cristina Puscas - Fitness Trainer, Body by Cris
Grant Hanson - Business Development, Recovery Club America
Grant Hanson shares his journey through addiction and how he now spends his career providing tools and guidance to his patients and clients to ensure they maintain their health and gain strength in recovery so they can live with excellent mental fitness.
Mark Denesha - Owner, Forever Forward PT
As the owner of Forever Forward PT, Mark has taken the physical therapy process and made it mobile to provide easier access for his patients and clients and has brought the physical therapy clinic to the community.
Krista Large - Nutritionist, Living Large Wellness
Krista is a nutritionist who's mission is to guide you to discover the body, health, and lifestyle that feels best for you, which you can maintain while living life to the fullest. Living Large is about experiencing life, dreaming big, setting goals, and aligning your health with your unique values.
George Vance McGee, Broker Associate, Austin Silent Market
George Vance McGee is a native Austinite, author of 3 self-published books and a Realtor with Austin Silent Market. He has seen all of the tremendous growth and changes that Austin has experienced and enjoys helping his clients navigate the current market.
Jen Shultz, Founder, The Non-Nine-To-Five
Jen Shultz quit her career as a teacher when it left her without purposes but with anxious and depression. She then dedicated herself to creating her own career path and now educates and coaches others that are meant to leave the typical 9-5 and venture out on their own.
Ryan Kober, Chef, Actor & Austin Food Blogger
Ryan Kober is a chef, actor and food blogger who has recently relocated to Austin and is enjoying exploring the city and sharing his adventures. He has a top 5 happy hour deal recommendations and we discuss the 5 restaurants and what makes each a great place to check out.
Backyard Pod with Pavel and Kelly
Pavel Kolenda and Kelly Kassian from Backyard Pod join me to discuss the first year of building a startup. They share the fun in seeing the quick growth as well as some of the challenges they have had to navigate along the way.
Elisa Rueda, Founder & CEO, The Co-Work Experience
Elisa creates curated online enrichment programs that take your employee's interest in mind. Whether you're bringing your remote teams together to focus on personal growth or dedicate to their wellness. Elisa believes when you invest in your employees, they become more invested in you.
Dr. Brynna Connor, Family Medicine
In this interview with Dr. Brynna Connor we discuss the journey to opening up her own practice. The challenges in running a family medicine practice and the innovations that the last few years have brought to her practice.
Danielle Fewings, Owner, Styledaf Consulting
Danielle Fewings has been a business owner for a number of years, but after having challenging experiences with various marketing companies, she decided to invest in herself and learn how to effectively run marketing which is how Styledaf Consulting was born.
Victor Celania, Owner, Established Sartorial
Daniel Tyranski, Founder & Chief Creative at Nomadic Beerworks
This episode is an interview with Daniel Tyranski, Founder & Chief Creative at Nomadic Beerworks in south Austin. We talk about his love of beer, starting a business with family and what some of the biggest challenges have been for him as an entrepreneur.
Michael Barnes, Partner, Radical Equity Fund
Meghan Gonzalez - Editor-in-Chief - MyPoint.TV
Meghan Gonzalez is the Editor-in-Chief of MyPoint.TV a startup bringing news through digital and social media channels that is curated by local citizens. We discuss her early career of wanting to be an on-air TV personality to transitioning to a producer for several different programs and stations and her current roll shaping the path of the startup MyPoint.TV
Jayme Shiarla, Mindset Coach
K.Lee Marks, Founder & Consultant at Podcast Farm
K.Lee Marks is the Founder of Podcast Farm. He uses his experience in digital marketing and podcast to help other podcaster reach their intended audience, grown their community and amplify their businesses.
Albert Baez, Co-Founder & President of Blended Sense
Albert Baez is the Co-Founder & President of Blended Sense. We discuss his transition from NYC to Austin and his early years in the start-up world prior to starting his own company. We also discuss how his company connect creatives with business owners to help them grow their business by getting their story out.
Interview with Max Kunik of Taster's Table Club
My interview with Max Kunik of Austin Taster's Table Club discusses his start in building a restaurant club with some friends from college as a way to try out different restaurants in the Austin area as well as connect with other Austin foodies.
Interview with Jeanette Hargreaves of Temper Coaching
Jeanette is the Author of "The Day I Threw Banana Bread and Almost Went to Jail" and has her own coaching practice where she helps parents and families build happier, heathier homes.
Your Real Estate Questions Answered with Guest Wendy Elder
I'm joined by Wendy Elder Real Estate Advisor with Compass Real Estate. We discuss the journey of her real estate career and answer some of the most common questions we get from family, friends and clients about the current Austin real estate market.
Interview with Katie Fore of The Elevated Stag
Katie Fore is the Founder and Owner of The Elevated Stag. A consulting business to help busy, successful men with elevating their lifestyle through carefully curated interior design, home organization and wardrobe styling. Find out more about her lifestyle consulting business as well as the rewards and challenges she has had being a small business owner.
Interview with Adam Creighton of Enduring Games
In this episode of the Austin Spotlight I sit down with Adam Creighton the Founder and Studio Director of Enduring Games. We talk about his love of comics, his early career in acting and video game design and how that passion has lead to a career building games for other to enjoy.
Getting Your Real Estate Offer Accepted
The real estate market has been crazy both here in Austin and nationwide. While many people are running into multiple offer situations when trying to buy a home there are some things you can do to help your offer stand out and give you the best chance to win the deal. Check out these tips and reach out if we can provide and advice.