100 Entrepreneurs Lessons Learned

Jordan Foley is a Naval Academy graduate and is still in the Navy.  He is also attending Georgetown Law School and has started a nonprofit called Chow, a culinary training program for veterans and spouses in the MD/VA/DC area.  Their mission is to provide culinary training online, along with hands on training in a commercial kitchen and with Food Trucks.  He started the nonprofit in January 2020 and learned how to bring his vision ...

James (Jamie) Horris joined 100 Entrepreneurs to talk about his experience as a wounded veteran and an entrepreneur.  He anticipated a career in the Army, but after his injury went to college and to graduate school for an MBA.  He has started several businesses, including a hops farm and a Brewery in Northern Virginia with partners and works as a financial advisor.  He spoke with us about the impact of the Covid-19 health and econo...

James (Jamie) Horris joined 100 Entrepreneurs to talk about his experience as a wounded veteran and an entrepreneur.  He anticipated a career in the Army, but after his injury went to college and to graduate school for an MBA.  He has started several businesses, including a hops farm and a Brewery in Northern Virginia with partners and works as a financial advisor.  He spoke with us about the impact of the Covid-19 health and econo...

Laurie Gonyea first created a yarn company, producing cotton and silver spun yarn for the knitting community, but learned that the number of people who could benefit from silver and cotton spun socks was far greater than the number of people who can knit their own.  She created Silver Spun Goods, a silver spun sock company, in 2019.  She talks about why silver makes her socks so special, as well as her small business experience, in...

Nicole Krug started a social media agency a decade ago and has grown the staff and skill sets of her company to provide all types of online brand management for her clients, mostly small businesses.  She spoke with Amanda Weathersby, from 100 Entrepreneurs Foundation, about how her business and her clients are handling the current health crisis, in addition to how small businesses can build successful online strategies strategies, ...

Donna Cole, Navy Veteran, has been interested in journalism and photography throughout her life, selling her first photograph to a national news service in her teens.  Researching the who, what, where, when and how of news events and communicating the stories comes naturally to her.  She's written for newspapers and online news media, and now hosts a radio show on WNAV in Annapolis MD.  As part of a multi-media specialist, she has ...

HT Tran, Army Veteran, was wounded in Iraq, and at Walter Reed connected with 100 Entrepreneurs and Bob Nilsson.  He went on to co-found and build Anvil Builders and was the ENR Award of Excellence Winner in 2015.  Eventually, HT sold his shares in Anvil Builders, then a $60 million firm, and started DNW Ventures with a business partner.  Their first venture is opening 30 Mahana Fresh Franchises in San Antonio and Austin Texas over...

Lori Steenhoek, founder of Capital Pixel, a 3D Design firm, and Love Lori Michelle, a jewelry design firm, spoke with Amanda Weathersby, from 100 Entrepreneurs Foundation, about her businesses.  She studied architecture and became a 3D designer serving architectural and construction firms as well as individuals building new homes. She talks about building her business, including her referral network, pricing her work, and business ...

Michael Malone is a wounded veteran and the founder and CEO of We2Link, an application in development to help people with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) more easily manage their everyday and participate more fully socially.  TBI affects not just veterans, but civilians worldwide, due to accidents, surgeries, etc.  Michael is part of a study on TBI at Walter Reed, and has an extensive network with the people affected by it, includin...

Faizun Kamal, a franchise consultant, shares with 100 Entrepreneurs details about franchises, becoming a franchisee, and why veterans make great franchisees.  Did you know that 1 out of 7 franchisees are veterans and that franchises are looking to recruit veteran franchisees because they are particularly well suited to making franchise businesses successful?  She also talks about VetFran, a program that offers discounted franchise ...

Pamela Hess, the Executive Director of Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture, joined 100 Entrepreneurs to talk about the Arcadia farms, which were farmed by George Washington, after he retired from the military.  She also talked about their Veteran Farming Programs, including a full-time, one year program and a Reserves-like program, one weekend a month and 2 weeks during a year.  Veterans and their spouses learn all ...

Jim O'Farrell, a veteran, graduated from the Naval Academy and went on to work with several large government contracting companies and consulting firms.  Eventually, he co-founded Advanced Management Strategies Group (AMSG).  He talks with 100 Entrepreneurs Foundation about his background, how he came to start his company, how he and his partner have grown the business, and the government contracting industry.  He also works with t...

Dennis Foutz, a veteran, business owner, Travel Guru, and franchisee spoke with 100 Entrepreneurs about his experience transitioning out of the military, after 20 plus years, and finding his next steps.  He started by looking at what he didn't want to do, then began to narrow his focus on what he wanted to do.  One of the positive experiences in the military was traveling.  So he became a franchisee of Cruise Planners, a company as...

Justen Garrity, veteran and founder of Veteran Compost talks about starting his business.  He had no experience with farming or compost, but decided to help reduce waste by turning 2/3rds of waste produced into a sellable product - organic compost.  He has built the company to picking up compostible materials from commercial and residential clients, turning it into highly desirable compost, and selling the end product to farms and ...

John Gallina and Dale Beatty were both wounded in Iraq and when they came home, had the full support of their communities.  They realized that this was not the case for Vietnam veterans.  In the military, they learned to never leave anyone behind, and this included all veterans.  Together, they decided to provide housing solutions to veterans throughout the country.  They started their first project almost 10 years ago.  They have ...

Les Owen, Army veteran, produced the documentary film, "Victory Remembered, Legacy of the Black Devils," about the First Special Service Force and the first joint US and Canadian fighting force, created to fight in Europe during WWII.  This secret unit was named the Black Devils by the Nazis.  The First Special Service Fource was undefeated in a military campaign that liberated Italy and ultimately lead to victory for the Allies.  ...

Bob Nilsson is a Marine Corps veteran who was in Vietnam.  His next career was at Turner Construction.  He was president of Turner International when he retired.  After 9/11, he began visiting wounded veterans at Walter Reed hospital occasionally and ultimately commuted to spend time with them four or five days a week.  Bob realized they needed help finding the next steps in their careers.  As a result, he founded 100 Entrepreneurs...

Sarah Steel owns two businesses, one is Urban Referrals, an online contruction referral business for residential clients, and the other, Steel Management Group, is a construction project management company that works with commercial clients.  Sarah is hiring veterans!  Check out how she started Steel Management Group and purchased Urban Referrals.  The companies have synergies because many of the contractors work with both companie...

Tammy Phipps, an Occupational Therapist in the US Army, developed a driver training and vehicle modification program at Walter Reed and was interested in expanding the program to all drivers after she retired from military service.  She met Josh Himan, a wounded Marine and business major, at Walter Reed.  Josh has a Masters in Science from George Washington in Finance and a Masters in Science from Johns Hopkins in Economics.  Toget...