Founders Forum

05/20/2021

Last day to register for tomorrow's FREE webinar with Google - "Get Your Local Business on Google Search and Maps"

Learn about Google My Business, a free tool for local businesses who want to connect with customers on Google Search and Maps.

In this session you'll learn how to:

• Create or claim your Business Profile on Google
• Manage your business info across Google Search and Maps
• Use Google My Business to connect with potential customers

You’ll also learn how to create a free website from within your Business Profile on Google. That website is a perfect starting point for businesses without a website yet.

Led by Pamela Starr, a professional trainer for Grow with Google, this is a presentation all small business owners should attend.

This is the first of our summer series Grow with Google - join us every Third Friday of the month, May - Sept.

Register at: https://weventure.ecenterdirect.com/events/970122

04/13/2021

You asked for it and now you have it! 😉 If you missed the 2021 Founder of the Year event you can now view the program and honorees from the video below! Check it out and learn what made these founders successful! 👏

Welcome to the Founder's Forum Founder of the Year Live Stream.

03/30/2021

Join us today at 5:30pm live for our annual Founder of the Year event! Register to tune in to the livestream at www.foundersforum.com .

03/29/2021

***Press Release***

For Immediate Release: Founders Forum Hosts Founder of the Year Virtual Event. Founders Forum is hosting a virtual event streaming live on YouTube, tomorrow Tuesday March 30th at 5:30 p.m. to recognize their 2020 Founder of the Year honorees Brian Lightle, founder, Lightle Beckner Robinson, Dana Kilborne, founder, the Cypress Trust Co., and Peter Dyson, founder, Modus Operandi.

03/25/2021

Our 2020 Founder of the Year Finalist, Brian Lightle of Lightle Beckner Robison, Inc. , shares insight to entrepreneurship. Check out his quote below. 🙂 Join us next week March 30th for our annual Founder of the Year event!

03/22/2021

Listen to Founders Forum Board Chair, Lief Johnson of SunTrust Investments Services, talk about this year's Founder of the Year event happening next week, March 30th at 530pm live!

03/19/2021

See what our 2020 Founder of the Year Finalist, Peter Dyson of Modus Operandi, has to say about entrepreneurship. 🤓 Join us on March 30th for our annual Founder of the Year event!

03/16/2021

Check out a quote a from one of our 2020 Founder of the Year Finalist, Dana Kilbourne of Cypress Trust Company. 👏 If you haven't already, register to watch the event live!

12/30/2020

FEATURED FOUNDER: Roger E Bassin, M.D. Bassin Center for Plastic Surgery

12/29/2020

FEATURED FOUNDER: Amy Lyon, Transformed Shop at New Life Mission (Part 3)

When asked about COVID-19's effects on the business, Amy replied, "Our business launched at the beginning of COVID, so the vision we had for our moms to be working in groups in the shop with volunteers had to be altered. We brought bins of fabric to their apartments with patterns for cutting. For those who knew how to sew, we brought sewing machines to their apartments and they tracked their hours. We intended for our initial product offerings to be earrings and tote bags, but quickly took advantage of the need for face masks and taught our moms how to make two styles."

"Slowly, we have reintroduced students and volunteers into the shop in limited numbers and with social distancing. One thing we learned is that we can quickly pivot to make a product we've never made before based on community need. This gave us the courage to branch out into the creation of some other products, such as our keychains and lanyards."

Background: Prior to nonprofit work, Amy was a journalist and newspaper editor for 20 years. Her career began with hard news and crime reports, but she gravitated toward human interest stories, particularly those of transformation. She was inspired by "regular people" who took chances on outlandish ideas and stepped outside their comfort zones. With that background, Amy had no formal business training but a definite entrepreneurial spirit. She was a finalist in the Minnesota CUP Break-Through Ideas Competition for a baby monitor she had invented, and she's also authored several books.

12/29/2020

FEATURED FOUNDER: Amy Lyon, Transformed Shop at New Life Mission (Part 2)

New Life Mission’s CEO and Founder, as well as staff, rallied behind Amy’s vision for Transformed Shop and solicited donated sewing machines in early 2020. As part of the New Life Mission expansion, Transformed Shop received a whole building for their moms. Amy transitioned from a case manager role to the director of the Transformed Shop. In June 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the website was launched and their moms began making items to sell.

“Since then, we have held a successful grand opening event, have regular in-person and online sales, received our first corporate order valued at nearly $30,000, and were selected as a 2020-2021 LEAD Brevard Community Acceleration Project. LEAD team members are focused on connecting with potential business partners to make our products available in local shops and boutiques.”

Amy shared that a defining moment in the Transformed Shop journey occurred in the first month of the shop’s opening. A mom came in for her “shift” and was learning to sew with a volunteer. Amy heard her sigh loudly and tell the volunteer, “I feel like this is the first time I’ve exhaled in years. This is such a peaceful environment, and I always feel better when I’m making something.” Moments later, another mom shared that her mother (with whom she had a strained relationship) shared that she was proud of her daughter and her work in the Transformed Shop. “She’d never told me she was proud of me before,” the mom said.