Whether your office is in a corporate building or out of home, running a successful small business in today's world means wearing many different hats. Host Jill Isaac finds the facts through one-on-one interviews with CEO's, Presidents and Managing Directors and discusses the strategies of their successful business. She takes the viewer through a journey of how an entrepreneur becomes a successful small business in the most complex industries.
WEDU’s Small Business Academy covers a wealth of new information for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Subjects like setting goals and objectives, assessing risk, venture capitalists, marketing and advertising, finances, hiring practices, and a host of other issues are covered. If you're wondering what you should know before pursuing a joint venture, running a business with another professional, or how to develop a marketing plan, Small Business Academy is the source for these answers.
This program is underwritten in part by Raymond James & Yellow Pages
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EPS 12 – GLOBAL ICON AND ENTREPRENEUR
JIMMY WALES- FOUNDER OF WIKIPEDIA
Host Jill Isaac exclusively interviews globetrotting Internet entrepreneur and founder Jimmy Wales of the most "Googled" international encyclopedia Wikipedia. Two years later, Wales set up the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization to support Wikipedia and other wiki projects. Though Wales initially used his own money to fund Wikimedia by the end of 2005 it was run entirely on grants and donations. By the end of 2006, Wikipedia had more than 5 million articles in many languages, including more than 1.4 million in the English-language version.
EPS 11 –THE “HIGH SOCIETY” ENTREPRENEUR
JEFFREY P. HESS – PRESIDENT -HESS FINE ARTS
Host Jill Isaac interviews Mr. Jeffrey P. Hess, a horologist and small business owner of Hess Fine Art. This small business, which he started over 20 years ago, sells some of the worlds most exclusive fine watches, antiques and estate jewels. His fascinating clientele are from all parts of the world and he shares his expertise and secrets of how he’s maintained a successful small business and exclusive clients for all these years.
EPS 10 –FROM THE INNER CITY TO ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS
SOL DAVIS JR. -SOL DAVIS PRINTING
This is a touching story behind an entrepreneur who started his own company from nothing. This incredibly true story about hardship, surviving, and building a small business into a million-dollar entity will touch and motivate the viewer personally as we get advice from this family of entrepreneurs. Host Jill Isaac talks with a father and son business team, as they share their story of how they started off in the tough inner city. Despite being in a blue-collar industry, Sol Davis Printing shares how he built his successful million-dollar business with only a high school education and the trade he learned while in high school.
EPS 9 – THE TRENDSETTING ENTREPRENEUR
MS. KIM PHAM –OWNER OF KALEIASIA TEA LOUNGE
Owner and co-founder of Kaleiasia Tea Lounge, Kim Pham shares how she started her own unique tea lounge and conceptualized a brand, which is making an impact and become the latest hangout in Tampa. Ms. Pham discusses how she’s taking advantage of the tea lounge trend that’s taking place globally. This new concept of tea lounges is attracting interest among US consumers and is making a fortune for small businesses. Its increasing consumption continues to drive sales growth in volumes and is replacing coffee in newfound ways!
EPS 8 – THE SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR
KENNY & JACQUELINE CONLEY–OWNERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL BAZAAR
There are many small businesses owners who want to help with social causes, but just don't know how to do it while running a small business. On this month's Small Business Academy we meet an eccentric business couple who are social entrepreneurs that run a successful small business, while helping those in need locally an globally. Products from every part of the world, which can't be found elsewhere, are in this hidden unique one-stop shop to the world. Host Jill Isaac finds out how these globally connected entrepreneurs are making a worldwide impact.
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EPS 7 - THE “GEN - Y” ENTREPRENEURS
ADRIAN EDWARDS T2GREENS.COM & RACHEL CANTOR RC ASSOCIATES
Meet the young entrepreneurs who have built their future - and have taken their financial security into their owns hands . Host Jill Isaac talks to young and successful entrepreneurs Adrian Edwards a finalist of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards and Rachel Cantor- a winner of the Tampa Bay Business Journal Awards. They share their views and experiences in running a successful small business while being students. Wiser beyond their years, these entrepreneurs explain their business strategies on Small Business Academy.
EPS 6 FROM CORPORATE WORLD TO ENTREPRENEUR
DAWNA STONE –WINNER OF MARTHA STUARTS APPRENTICE & OWNER OF HER SPORTS
The winner of "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" talks about working with one of the most famous entrepreneurs in the world. Host Jill Isaac finds the real scoop from Donna Stone about her affront experiences of working with the most famous lifestyle expert- Martha Stewart. Jill investigates further about Donna's experiences in New York, and the recent leap to fame she's achieved in being a successful entrepreneur. Donna talks about her insatiable drive and what it's really like working behind the cameras with Martha Stewart and the "Living Omni Media" empire.
EPS 5 – THE ACADEMIAN ENTREPRENEUR
DR. DIANNE WELSH -UT ENTREPRENEUR & CHAIRWOMAN
She leads the global advancement of entrepreneurship education and practice through the development of teaching, research, and outreach initiatives that inspire entrepreneurial thinking and cultivate entrepreneurial leadership in all organizations and society. As a professor, she started teaching others about running small businesses and becoming entrepreneurs and started her own entrepreneur scholarly journal. DIANNE H.B. WELSH is the James W. Walter Distinguished Chair of Entrepreneurship, Professor of Management, and Director of the Florida Entrepreneur & Family Business Center in the Sykes College of Business at the University of Tampa.
She is also a recognized scholar in international entrepreneurship and franchising.
EPS 4 –THE MINORITY BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR
JOSE MORALES -J2 ENGINEERING PRESIDENT
Listed as one of the hottest companies in the United States, Jill Isaac interviews a CEO of an exciting engineering company, J2 Engineering Inc. Jill finds out detailed information of how this company which started with just 2 people, has now expanded to over 50 employees and 7 offices in a span of less than five years. Jose Morales, the CEO and founder shares the story of how J2's gross revenues amazingly grew from $250,000 in 2002, to $15.5 million in 2005! This month Small Business Academy looks at one of the fastest growing small business firms in the United States.
EPS 3 – STARTING AS AN ENTREPRENEUR
IRENE HURST – DIRECTOR OF THE SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER -USF
WEDU's Small Business Academy features small business industry specialist Irene Hurst, as she gives us business start-up expertise, management advice, and business planning tips. Ms. Hurst specializes specifically in women and minority business development. Her involvement with successful small businesses and various business chambers of commerce, have made her an industry expert. Host Jill Isaac poses the questions that matter, through an in-depth interview, and looks at the opportunities and challenges for women and minorities starting entrepreneurships.
EPS 2- THE WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR
KIM IBESFALEN -CAPTAIN KIM CHARTER BOATS
TO BE PROVIDED
EPS 1 - A NATIONAL TOP PERFORMER ENTREPRENEUR
JAMES NICHOLS -NICHOLS INSURANCE
TO BE PROVIDED
About Jill Isaac
Jill Isaac is an international producer and presenter.
Prior to her career in Florida, she was a producer in the South East Asia for MediaCorp and VHQ in Singapore, and NTV 7 in Malaysia and other parts of South Asia until 2003. She was also an Associate Producer for CBC Newsworld Business News in her hometown of Toronto, Canada. Jill’s appointments have taken her around the world and she currently resides in St. Petersburg, FL.
Her career plumed after an interview with MTV Asia that took her to Asia in 1996. In 1997 she was given an opportunity as a Project Manager that took her to Kuala Lumpur to manage The Commonwealth Show. With little experience, and this being the first production under her belt, Jill ended up winning the 1998 Asian Television Award, which led her to her second appointment as Senior Producer of the controversial show Dateline Malaysia. This show became the most critically acclaimed talk show in Asia and gained coverage in international publications such as the Asian Wall Street Journal and Far Eastern Economic Review.
After working in Kuala Lumpur, she moved to Singapore for the appointment as Creative Producer of the Television Corporation of Singapore for the re-launch of MediaCorp during its transition into HDTV. On her return back home to Toronto, she was appointed as an Associate Producer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Newsworld Business News. Jill’s highly viewed programs and awards led to another appointment in 2002 with Video Head Pvt. Ltd. (VHQ) as the International Producer. Within one year of the company’s re-launch, VHQ has produced international programs and documentaries for major international networks such as the Discovery Channel and National Geographic, Nickelodeon etc. Her profession has taken her to over a dozen countries and almost 20 cities that include Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bombay, Colombo, Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi, Dubai, Hong Kong etc. She has also hosted numerous media events worldwide.
Jill regularly travels to Asia frequently and is shaping her career in both television and foreign policy and business and she feels "if we use the power of the media in foreign relations and business, we can make a positive impact for outstanding changes globally for the under privileged and third world countries"
Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Jill received an M.A. in Diplomacy and International relations from the John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy-in exclusive alliance with the United Nations Association of the USA. She also has a Masters in Public and Corporate Communications from Seton Hall and an Honors B.A. from the University of Toronto.
While producing and presenting for WEDU-PBS, she also is an Adjunct-Faculty Professor at the University of Tampa and teaches Inter-Cultural Communications.
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