En Factor Podcast

Finding Her Fit Through Passion and Problem Solving: Danielle Rushton’s Journey with Wherewithal

Founder and CEO Danielle Rushton joins us for this inspirational of the En Factor, as she discusses her journey of creating and leading her company Wherewithal, a brand new approach at reinventing the ordinary bra with adjustable features and personalized sizing through a single product. In this episode, Danielle discusses the challenges of entering a busy market with innovation and perseverance, as well as her story of tackling a personal problem and transforming it into a feeling of empowerment to help others. By creating a community and taking advantage of her resources, Danielle reveals how she achieved success in her product development, marketing, and sales while overcoming numerous obstacles along the way. Join us and tune in as you won’t want to miss a second of Danielle’s emotional and inspirational entrepreneurial journey with Wherewithal!

Key Words - Passion, Product Development

Inventing and Inspiring The Future of Healthcare with Dr. Cori Lathan

In this episode of the En Factor, we are thrilled to be joined by Dr. Cori Lathan, who is a neuroscientist and serial entrepreneur with vast experience in the medical field as well as the author of a best-selling book Inventing The Future, Stories From a Techno-Optimist. Cori’s entrepreneurial journey includes extensive involvement in improving healthcare and its availability through technological innovations involving robotics, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality. Cori also has extensive board experience with a variety of profit and nonprofit organizations including AnthroTronix, PTC Inc., the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation, Engineers Without Borders and more.

Join us for an exciting and inspiring episode of the En Factor as we dive into Cori’s entrepreneurial journey and her experience with developing countless innovative healthcare products, focusing on problems and turning them into opportunities, and the importance of adaptability especially as it pertains to her vast experience with managing the product life cycle and technology!

Key Words - Technology Entrepreneurship, Product Development

New Majority, New Mindset: Jackie Hernandez on the Future of Consumer Engagement

In this newest episode of the En Factor, we are thrilled to welcome Jackie Hernandez as our guest. Jackie is the Founder and CEO of New Majority Ready, which provides marketing consulting services to companies that allow them to better engage with the younger generations that are Millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha. These generations combine to make up the largest demographic segment in all of the United States, now representing over half of America’s population, and behave differently than past generations requiring companies to adapt and shift their strategies to better resonate and align with these growing generations. Jackie and New Majority Ready enable companies to be better prepared to connect with this new majority of the US population through a deep understanding of these consumers and audiences, as well as cultural and social trends that impact the behaviors of this demographic.

Beyond New Majority Ready, Jackie has vast leadership and board experience with Fortune 500 companies as well as investor-backed startups including MediaCo Holding, NBCUniversal Hispanic, and Victoria’s Secret. Jackie has established herself as a proven leader within brand building and business growth as she has been named among FORTUNE's Most Powerful Latinas, The Hollywood Reporter's Power 100 Women in Entertainment, and Advertising Age's 100 Most Influential Women in Advertising. She is also working on writing a new book focused on Gen Z while reflecting on her journey with New Majority Ready.

Join us for this amazing episode with Jackie as she we discuss her entrepreneurial journey with New Majority Ready, consumer insights and trends pertaining to Millenials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, as well as the role that resilience and innovation plays in responding to change and adapting your business!

Key Words- Marketing, Consulting

From Trauma to Trusting the Process and Triumph: Vincent Lanci’s Inspiring Entrepreneurial Journey

In this newest episode of the En Factor we welcome Vincent Lanci, who is the founder of Coming Alive Podcast Production. Vincent joins Dr. White at The University of Tampa in front of a live student audience to discuss his journey as a student at UTampa, to experiencing a traumatic, life-threatening injury that led him to starting his own venture through book authoring and podcast production. Vincent’s story is the ultimate message of being resilient and responding to setbacks as his journey is truly an inspiration to anyone looking to build their own path to success and trusting your own process. Along with his extensive experience in ghostwriting and producing and managing podcasts for his clients, Vincent also started his own entrepreneurship centered podcast, That Entrepreneur Show, which began back in 2019 and has led him to starting other podcasts related to mental health, authoring, and podcast production. Vincent will also be sharing this episode on That Entrepreneur Show as well!

You will not want to miss a moment of this special episode of Vincent’s emotional and inspiring journey as he and Dr. White dive into topics including strategies to starting your own podcast, building a team around you, the value of consistently networking and connecting with others, and so much more! Dr. White and Vincent also turn to the live audience of students to accept and answer questions towards the end of the episode.

Key Words - Resilience, Podcaster

Empathy-Driven Entrepreneurship: Johnny Crowder’s Journey with Cope Notes

This week’s inspiring episode on the En Factor features Johnny Crowder, who is the founder and CEO of Cope Notes. Johnny joins Dr. Rebecca White at The University of Tampa in front of a live audience of students for the recording of this special episode. Johnny’s venture, Cope Notes, is an online mental health platform that sends one text message at a random time every day that is scientifically proven to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression, as well as increase emotional intelligence, resilience, and coping skills. These messages come in the form of psychology facts, journaling prompts, and exercises that are created and developed by real people that have experienced overcoming mental health challenges in the past. Johnny and Cope Notes have expanded their outreach tremendously since launching in 2018 as Cope Notes now provides mental and emotional health support for organizations, families, youth, and adults in nearly 100 countries around the world.

Beyond his venture, Johnny is an expert and advocate for mental health in other forms including having more than a decade of clinical treatment experience and more than a decade of peer support and public advocacy experience through the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Johnny has also spoken about the subject of mental health at TEDx events, corporate retreats, and conference keynotes and is a touring metal musician on top of all of the advocacy and support that he has provided to millions of people.

In this episode, Dr. White and Johnny discuss his journey of starting Cope Notes and how it evolved into the platform it is today, the value of thinking optimistically while still balancing a sense of realism, and the importance of resilience and adaptability in your entrepreneurial journey. Dr. White and Johnny also turn to the audience to accept questions from the students towards the end of the episode.

Key Words: Entrepreneurial Mindset, Success Mindset

The Authorpreneurial Mindset Behind Creative Success with Joanna Penn

In this newest episode of the En Factor, we are absolutely thrilled to be joined by Joanna Penn, a long time author, podcaster, and international professional speaker! Joanna joins us from the United Kingdom, where she has written a wide variety of genres over her career from nonfiction providing guidance and advice surrounding authoring and self-publishing, to fictional thrillers, dark fantasy, and memoirs under the name J.F. Penn. Since transitioning out of an IT consultant job to begin writing nearly twenty years ago, Joanna has been recognized by the New York Times and USA Today as a bestselling author for her work.

Joanna also joins us from the podcasting realm as she is one of the early adopters of connecting with an audience with a podcast through The Creative Penn Podcast, with hundreds of episodes dating back to 2009.  Discussing the topics of authoring and the business surrounding being an author, Joanna is recognized as one of the top 1% of podcasters in the world, and has developed The Creative Penn into a successful business along with her own online community to connect with her audience even further. Joanna has also spoken at numerous events about the authoring space travelling to events all over the world, as well as virtual conferences and workshops.

Having followed Joanna and her work for a long time, this episode was a very special one to record and one you will not want to miss a second of! Join us to learn more about Joanna’s entrepreneurial journey, and how she chose herself to pursue her passion of authoring, as well as how she leveraged her knowledge and experience to create numerous valuable assets and build a successful business!

Key Words - Women in Entrepreneurship, Author

Passion, Culture, and Cuisine: Rowena Scherer and eat2explore’s Recipe for Entrepreneurial Success

In this newest episode of the En Factor, we welcome Rowena Scherer who is the Founder and CEO of eat2explore. Rowena joins us to share her professional journey from growing up in Malaysia to leaving an executive job on Wall Street in order to follow and combine her passions of cooking and traveling by starting her venture. Rowena’s mission with eat2explore is to help children develop the essential life skill of cooking at a young age while exploring the geography, history, language, art, and social studies of different countries through their food. eat2explore accomplishes this mission with experiential cooking kits representing different countries, and comes with recipes and other elements of the country’s three most well known dishes. Now with over 24 countries available and more additions coming to her product mix, Rowena shares more on taking the risk to start her own venture, growing her brand and evolving her product mix, and the importance of traveling and experiencing other cultures and the great things they have to offer. Join us as you will not want to miss out on Rowena’s incredible journey from a Wall Street executive to living out her culinary dreams and helping others experience multicultural learning through food!

Key Words - Women in Entrepreneurship, Culinary

From Startup to Smile: Brynn MacLennan-Snyder's Entrepreneurial Journey with Slate Dental

In this week’s episode of The En Factor, we speak with Brynn MacLennan-Snyder, co-founder and CEO of Slate Dental and the creator of the Slate electric flosser. Brynn shares her journey from starting an inflatables company with her siblings at a young age to developing a unique product aimed at promoting preventative dental care and redefining oral healthcare and flossing. Learn how Brynn’s education in industrial design at Brigham-Young University and experience in the medical field led to the founding of Slate Dental and the creation of the Slate Electric Flosser. Brynn also opens up about the realities of managing investors and building a strong board, effective marketing strategies, and the challenges of manufacturing. Plus, she provides invaluable advice on balancing the demands of entrepreneurship and family life and emphasizing the importance of boundaries and support. Join us for this amazing conversation and learn many tips and tricks from a seasoned entrepreneur like Brynn!

Key Words - Women in Entrepreneurship, Healthcare Innovation

Healing Through Storytelling with Mark Steenbarger and Point of View Story

In this week’s newest and powerful episode of the En Factor, we welcome Mark Steenbarger and dive into deep discussion with his venture, Point of View Story. Mark’s unique background as a software developer and earning a Masters of Fine Arts back in 2021 has led him to create an innovative approach to healing from complex trauma through immersive films. Point of View Story allows viewers to engage deeply with the films, helping them access their own feelings and beliefs to aid them in their healing journey. Operating as a social enterprise, Point of View Story combines artistry with technology, offering two to four curated films each year through a subscription-based platform. These films, designed to help those affected by violence and commercial sexual exploitation, are accompanied by psychotherapeutic content created by a licensed clinical social worker. Join us as Mark shares his entrepreneurial journey, emphasizing the importance of focusing on a niche market, as well as the value of networking and building industry connections. You won’t want to miss out as Mark discusses the challenges of staying focused, the necessity of perseverance and resilience in overcoming failure, the significance of curiosity, remaining in the present, and finding value in every interaction.

Key Words- Arts Entrepreneurship, Resilience

Honoring Heroes with Daniel Kiger and Verum Legend

In this week’s episode of the En Factor, we sit down with Daniel Kiger, the visionary founder of Verum Legend, an apparel company with a heartfelt mission. Verum Legend honors fallen veterans and first responders through personalized shirts that bear their names, ranks, and stories. Being a veteran of Afghanistan and The Global War on Terror, Daniel has been channeling his past experiences into creating something profoundly positive and impactful. Dan shares his entrepreneurial journey of starting Verum Legend, driven by a passion for telling the human stories behind the uniforms and promoting selfless service. He opens up about the challenges and triumphs of building a brand that not only competes with major apparel companies but also serves as a platform for honoring heroes. Throughout the episode, Dan discusses his goals for Verum Legend and the vital support he seeks to refine the manufacturing process and enhance the online customer experience. Join us and listen in to Dan’s powerful story and the meaningful impact Verum Legend is making.

Key Words - Service, Resilience