Considering the non-stop rain this last Tuesday of November, there were worse places than Palm Coast’s European Village to stage the last Entrepreneur Night of the year.
While attendance certainly wasn’t what it would have been, those who were willing to brave the inclement weather enjoyed a meeting of minds amid the resplendent cobblestones in a rain-washed Parisian-like street, if they had a little imagination about their surroundings.
Tuesday’s Entrepreneur Night took place inside and among the patios of Burrito 101, The Humidor Cigar Bar & Lounge, and Cork & Pint, and attended by nearly 100 participants, despite the weather and pouring rain.
The entrepreneurially-spirited shuffled back and forth between the three establishments with little care about getting wet.
One newbie at this particular event was Flo McNelly, a horticultural therapist. That means McNelly utilizes plants as a therapy tool in either individual or group settings. Her business is called Naturally Unique, which she started in February.
The prime candidates with a need for one type of her specialized services could be a stroke victim or someone suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
According to McNelly, in the case of the Alzheimer patient(s), she would take the individual or individuals in a group setting and lead them in an organized activity of creating table-top container gardens. Just going though the motions would keep the patients active—planting, socializing, she says.
“Activities have a tendency to trigger a memory, because they’ve lost most of their short-term memory, but they have this ability to remember things from years and years ago—to childhood, that kind of stuff.”
According to McNelly, “Everybody has a childhood memory of a parent or a grandparent gardening so it is a very safe situation for an Alzheimer’s patient, working with plants in a very safe and controlled environment, and after this particular activity, when they go back to their rooms, they’re actually a better a patient for the nurses because they’ve had that experience.”
There are more practical facets to her business as well, though that’s where she’d like to center her focus, moving forward. She also does garden coaching and landscape consultation with a specialty in container gardens.
The event proved worthwhile for her in that she encountered a man looking to open a home for the elderly as well as realtors who might be able to utilize container gardens as personalized gifts at a closing, she says.
Another interesting person she met at the event was Denise Calderwood, who is coming off an unsuccessfully bid for County Commissioner. On Tuesday, she was in attendance as an entrepreneur.
Her small business is Calderwood Consulting which specializes in writing project management grants. One big plus on the business’s ledger in the last year was earning the Flagler Playhouse a $300,000 matching facilities grant from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs.
Calderwood has attended six or seven Entrepreneur Nights, she says.
“I think this is a great opportunity to broaden your network. And it’s something that could lead to a lot more in Flagler County, as this event is almost like a virtual business incubator.”
Coincidentally, after speaking with McNelly that evening, she found out she’s working on a grant right up her alley. “It could be beneficial. We could work together,” she says.
“What’s interesting here in Flagler County is that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields are a big deal and it needs to be coupled with farming because we’re an agricultural community and kids don’t realize—if you’re not a farmer—you don’t realize there’re other fields besides being a pig farmer, a dairy farmer. You’ve got all the opportunities,” Calderwood says. One of those is horticulture.
As it happens, McNelly didn’t know about Flagler’s local garden club, Calderwood says. “She’s new to Flagler County, so she’s realizing what services we have here.”
Ken Flanigan has a company called Creative Concepts Entertainment which specializes in live event production, Jumbotrons, event management, camera work, lighting design: “everything for live events in the entertainment industry.”
Flanigan had just spent the summer touring with the Association Volleyball Professional, which puts on professional beach volleyball tournaments across the country.
While the company is relatively new, getting off the ground in September of 2013, Flanigan has been in the business for over 20 years, he says. He’s done everything from the races at Daytona and the X-Games to touring with Ozzy Osbourne, Poison, and David Lee Roth.
“I’m too old for that crap now. But it was cool in the day,” he says. While working for his previous company—which he prefers to leave nameless—he was the L.E.D screen production manager. But after the company was bought out, he found himself unemployed. So he took his 20-plus years of contacts and knowledge to launch Creative Concepts Entertainment.
He’s fortunate to have a special contact in China in particular, a country that’s ahead of the United States when it comes to L.E.D technology, Flanigan says. Currently, their company is the only one in the United States with new L.E.D shift design, the widest outdoor L.E.D screen available in the country, he says.
There are all kinds of companies that rent screens. But, “we’re very unique in that not only do we have the screen, but we can develop a marketing plan; we can develop software, whether it’s specialized storing software or specialized production software, whether you want to do a simulcast, or the Internet,” he says.
“So we bring a lot to the table. It’s not just about setting up a screen and showing pretty pictures and that kind of thing. We can actually put an entire event together.”
In addition to keeping a pulse on others’ activities, one thing Flanigan has learned from being part of Entrepreneur Night is “how much we’re lacking on the social media side,” he says.
Omar Rivera is the founder of Dr. Paint (Palm Coast Painters) which contracts out local painting jobs. There’s a lot of competition in the area when it comes to painting options, he says. “Painting is one of those businesses that there’s very little barrier to entry. A lot of people grab a brush and say they’re in business.”
Rivera needed to find a way to stand out when he opened shop less than a year ago. Their tag line is “coloring happiness.” Let’s just say, Rivera—who had up until recently been full time Air Force—with his clean-cut face and pressed shirt, offers an alternative image to the one in your visual bank when you hear the words “house painter.” You might as well call him “Dr. Paint.”
“We believe that painting jobs shouldn’t be stressful. They’re a lot of irresponsible people—very unprofessional. We look at this way: We’re responsible painters in an unprofessional trade.”
It’s all about the small, meticulous, ingratiating details. For instance, the “how to” videos on the Dr.Paint website. Those are for the people who won’t call him anyway, he says, usually because they’re capable of doing the job themselves. Rivera’s not sweating it. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t get a referral from them,” he adds.
The discipline, organization, and overall professionalism come from his military background which goes back to 2008. (He’s still involved part time, he says.) The marketing and business savvy come from self-education with a lot of books.
He started painting houses when he was growing up. One thing that stood out was how many people complained about screw-ups or just bad work in general done by other painters. That’s how the seed was planted.
In addition to Entrepreneur Night networking opportunities—in spite of the all- day rain that would call for canceling any painter’s work for the day, no matter how professional—as an added bonus of attending, Rivera was gifted a small verdant basket, an Entrepreneur Night lottery reward. In this case, it was a container garden created for the occasion by McNelly.
Per usual, there was no telling who you might run into at November’s event, even with the smaller than normal number of participants. One new, interesting face belonged to a male leather-jacket wearing Native American musician named Spirit Wolf who’s had the fortune of jamming with Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones, among other legends of his time. He even appeared in background of the iconic body-building 1970s documentary Pumping Iron, starring Arnold Schwarzeneger in his former body-building career. Spirit Wolf was there with his wife and son, all of whom are partners in his music business. They also had their pet wolf with them, which they’d rescued from a Tennessee junk yard, Spirit Wolf says.
The type of spiritual and folk imbued music Spirit Wolf does now is the type “that the world really needs right now,” he says, as he prepares to drop a new album.
Another attendee is Tom Hellman, president of the local chapter of SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives). SCORE Chapter 87 (Flagler & Volusia County) has signed on as an official sponsor for Entrepreneur Night through the next year.
Hellman says the mission of Entrepreneur Night “comports exactly with what we do at SCORE.” Speaking of his volunteer base of business consulters, Hellman, a former Flagler County community relations adviser, says:
“Basically, we’re folks who have done reasonably well in industry. Many of us have owned small businesses and we want to give back. So what we do is provide free and confidential, one-on-one counseling to people who want to either start a business or already have a business and have an issue they want to deal with.”
“Free” and “confidential” are the operative words. Currently, this SCORE chapter boasts 30 counselors stationed between Flagler and Volusia County, Hellman says. Entrepreneur Night offers easy access to more clients and helps get their name out. At meetings where Hellman has been called upon to speak, he’s noticed that, on average, only about 50 percent of attendees are familiar with SCORE, he says.
Here’s a video recap from November 2014 Entrepreneur Night:
Entrepreneur Night is a grassroots event for and by Entrepreneurs, which takes place the last Tuesday of each month – except July, August, and December at a different location and venue. It is free to attend. Complimentary appetizers are provided by the venue hosting the event as well as a cash bar. In each event you can expect to meet many new entrepreneurs, investors and service providers; and have meaningful conversations. You can check out the previous Entrepreneur Night events | or RSVP to the Next Entrepreneur Night Event.