Where2Wheel (W2W) is committed to making recreational off-roading more accessible and environmentally sustainable. Our mission is to become the "AirBnB of Off-Roading"—a marketplace connecting off-road enthusiasts with private landowners, offering participants thrilling outdoor experiences while providing landowners with a new revenue stream.At W2W, safety and environmental stewardship are top priorities. Our events are designed for full-size 4x4 vehicles (e.g., Jeeps, SUVs, pickup trucks) and side-by-sides, as these minimize trail impact compared to smaller vehicles like ATVs and dirt bikes. We work closely with landowners to ensure that our events respect the landscape and align with conservation efforts.Our vision is to build a nationwide network of landowners who host W2W events, giving enthusiasts access to off-road adventures closer to home in a safe and controlled environment. By organizing small-scale events—typically limited to 15–20 vehicles—with an emphasis on land preservation and rural economic development, we strive to create lasting benefits for both off-roaders and rural communities.

Cure Coffeehouse offers customers a markedly distinct experience. The concept began when a few friends made Reuben sandwiches at home with freshly-smoked pastrami on an otherwise idle Saturday afternoon. With the first bite came an "Ahah" moment. It would be sinful not to share what we had just experienced. A vacant storefront was found, our business plan written, funding acquired, and the build-out was quickly under way. There were no coffee shops within a 10-minute walk of our location, so coffee was added to the plan. A shared passion for craft beer meant that we'd round out the floor plan with a bar. We opened the doors on February 26, 2011.Today, we're still located on the same cobblestone street in the Freemason district of downtown Norfolk, Virginia. "Cure" (as the locals call it) has evolved into a café restaurant group with 4 locations (Norfolk, Portsmouth, Smithfield, and Newport News, VA) serving gourmet sandwiches and entrées, appetizers, soups, salads, coffee, espresso, bottled soda, craft beer, wine, and cocktails. Cure hosts live entertainment as well as local visual art exhibitions. The staff shares our passion for maintaining and continuously improving upon an already remarkable customer experience.

Cureo, LLC introduced its flagship product, Cureo Coffee Liqueur to the world in August 2017. Unlike many coffee liqueurs, Cureo is based on rum and it came out of a coffeehouse, not a distillery. We looked to North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee when designing our robust, full-flavored coffee liqueur. Counter Culture’s Big Trouble blend is made 50 percent with coffee from San Fernando, Peru, 30 percent from Baroida, Papua New Guinea and 20 percent from Hunda Oli, Ethiopia.Although Cureo is distilled and crafted at Chesapeake Bay Distillery in Virginia Beach, the founders continue to drive the brand and recipe development. You can always pick up a bottle at Chesapeake Bay Distillery's tasting room, or visit Virginia ABC's website to find in-store availability: https://www.abc.virginia.gov/products/cordials/cureo-coffee

My life partner and I bought a unique circa-1949 home in Portsmouth, VA in need of significant renovation, inside and out. I've performed $150,000+ and 1,000's of hours worth of design-build work in the trades of roofing, decking, framing, electrical, plumbing, drywalling, painting, tiling, masonry, woodworking, skid steer operating, hardscaping, softscaping, drainage, water features, pest control, tree removal, and turf management. With a true appreciation for the trades and building science, I've been able to apply skills acquired through the many rounds of build-outs and renovations while growing Cure Coffeehouse from an idea to four locations.

Innovate757.org (formerly Startwheel.org) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, initially developed in partnership with Pilot Media and 757 Angels, whose mission is to centralize and mobilize efforts that foster the growth of entrepreneurship in the Hampton Roads innovation economy. At Innovate757.org, entrepreneurs connect with resources, capital providers, and events, as well as relevant content to help them along their journey to success. We are actively seeking input from the startup community and resource providers alike (e.g., coworking spaces, investors, service providers, universities, economic development authorities, investors) to provide meaningful and valuable support in bringing us all closer together.

The vision and mission of the ODU Innovation Center was to promote the establishment and growth of high-potential early stage ventures by offering programs and relationships not readily available in the Hampton Roads region.To accomplish the above mission, the Innovation Center offered a number of features that targeted three types of ventures: (1) startup and early-stage companies that need hands-on support from ODU faculty, staff, local/regional/national mentors, and relationships with other local/regional entrepreneurial support organizations; (2) individual freelancers and small project teams that need informal, ad hoc, but professionally-managed “co-working space” that allows them a flexible environment to do business with like-minded professionals;(3) a carefully selected group of existing enterprises (innovation-led non-profits, regional economic development, entrepreneurs-in-residence, etc.) that can serve as on-site mentors and connectors for clients and co-workers. In short, the idea was to create a community of people and organizations that would learn from each other, help one other generate opportunities, and generally promote the development of a more robust network of relationships in the Hampton Roads startup and entrepreneurial sector.The mission and activities of the ODU Innovation Center was absorbed into other existing programs offered by the ODU Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship in 2020. I continue to be a proud supporter of ODU's startup and entrepreneurship development initiatives. If you and anyone you know needs assistance getting their business or startup idea to the next level, I encourage you to reach out to them.

Engagely was an MBA business plan competition team on which I participated. The concept involved developing the next generation of website security, allowing web publishers and data buyers to gain real-time insights from legitimate site visitors. Using proprietary human verification algorithms developed by two UofL PhD students, our application polled website visitors instead of asking them to type in squiggly, fuzzy letters via conventional CAPTCHA platforms. Web publishers would use our application to better understand their visitors and prove user demographics to advertisers, thus winning better ad revenue while decreasing costs associated with spam. Engagely sought to leverage this website network by selling access to data firms, brand managers, and market researchers interested in gauging consumer preference, brand awareness, customer loyalty, and other insights. It was a great concept, but fizzled due to various life circumstances of the individual team members after graduating from the MBA program.

Assisted faculty in the Entrepreneurship Department at UofL with a variety of research related tasks including data entry and analysis, literature searches, survey development, and interview transcription. Helped with event planning (e.g., business plan competition, career fair), organized and facilitated projects, and supported student recruitment initiatives. Often acted as a sounding board for professors and offered valuable feedback to the Entrepreneurship MBA program.

By identifying creative ways to generate value, my college internship at Merrill Lynch developed into a full-time position during a time when the industry was laying off employees by the thousand. I translated the investment ideas of tenured Financial Advisors (FAs) into actionable results. My responsibilities were broad, working within a team of Senior FAs and VPs who managed over $750 million in assets for high-net-worth and institutional clients. Among notable accomplishments, I built Excel spreadsheets to analyze real-time investment data, developed a pitchbook used to acquire $25 million in net-new-assets, and routinely supported client events and sales meetings. In the process, I learned graphic design techniques and became the office tutor for Excel, PowerPoint and Word, as well as technical software tools like Thompson Wealth Management and Zephyr StyleAdvisor. Our clients especially appreciated my tenacity in providing solutions with respect to both investment management and account administration. Merrill Lynch afforded me invaluable experience, and I thank my coworkers and management for showing our clients the meaning of class-A service.