You never know what unusual local business ventures you’ll become acquainted with the last Tuesday of each month at Entrepreneur Night. Included, of course, are the brain trusts behind the bold ideas. At February 2015’s event, held at Farley’s Irish Pub in European Village, one such couple was Wayne and Bonnie Pressler.
They’re in the photo booth business and the name of their company, Snap Shot Photo Booth Memories, leaves little to the imagination. If there’s one word missing there, it’s “portability:” the traveling booths are a festive add-on to almost any kind of party: weddings, birthdays, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, (Entrepreneur Night?) etc.
The Presslers’ whole photo booth concept didn’t just develop out of dark room waters. They’ve been involved with what can best be described as the “fun industry” for some time. Prior to this venture, they delivered portable, inflatable bounce houses and moonwalks for kids parties. But that required them to be out in the Florida sun practically all the time. So they sold it all in order to get these photo booths walking on their own two feet.
They used to have boring jobs—such as a stint in the trailer-truck business—and it took the couple a minute to change course. “You’ve got to know your personality,” Bonnie says.
The Entrepreneur Night network has been beneficial to the Presslers in that they were able to get hooked up with local Surf 97.3 FM radio host, Vern Shank of Pyramid DJs. Vern and the Presslers are now constantly engaged in cross-promotion, Bonnie says.
Moving on, another pair cross-promoting entrepreneurs are Luis Garcia and Armando Gomez. They also met at Entrepreneur Night. Gomez is one of the founders of the Flagler County Welcome Committee, a company built around an app designed to welcome new residents and link them up with local businesses. Garcia is continually moving with Send Out Cards, a service that provides easy access to a robust template of mailing cards, a good social and commercial resource. For as long as they have been coming, Gomez, who calls himself a “concierge,” says he now knows “half the people in the room. But we still don’t know the other half.”
Another couple looking to rub two sticks together was Louis Blank and Maria Thomas. They just moved here in January from Greenport, Long Island. There, they owned and operated their own boutique which they just sold. They haven’t been here two months yet, but they’re not wasting any time.
Maria speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, so she’s considering the possibility of offering these multilingual communication skills to attorneys. But the couple might also like to open another shop, only this time they’re ready for something different, Maria says.
Maybe it was just the European Village vibe, but they’re thinking in terms of a small wine, bread and cheese bistro. Back in Greenport, the couple was surrounded by vineyards, Thomas says. Here in Flagler, there’s a dearth of those places.
One connection they made Tuesday was Mark Woods, a partner across the village way at The Humidor Cigar Bar & Lounge. Woods managed to offer them his take on the upside of getting started in a new venture.
“I had to consider that myself,” Woods says, referring to his decision to leave his nearly decade-long bartender position at the Golden Lion on A1A for his partnership in The Humidor. It was at the Golden Lion that he earned his legendary alias, “Tiki Tender.”
Another entrepreneurial photographer on-hand was Rachel Estrada. Estrada, a recent Miami transplant, drove from Daytona to attend the event. She left South Florida for the slower pace, she says. The cost of Miami living was too steep to raise a family and focus on her photography business at the same time, though she still maintains a base there.
“So I’m straddling two worlds,” she says of her present situation. She’d like to make Palm Coast the center of her universe. Hence, the 30-plus mile trip up.
What Estrada shoots isn’t all that uncommon—weddings, events, newborns, etc., so she has to find another angle to help break through. She’s completely self-taught and has managed to procure many clients.
She understands as well as anyone the need for “affordable but high-quality” photos. That’s how, or why, she learned to take pictures in the first place. When she had kids, “I couldn’t afford high end,” she says, so she started fidgeting around with a camera. Her friends saw her work and she was then photographing their kids, too. Things snowballed.
One newcomer, distinguished by the colored newbie peace sign around his neck, was Manny Delgado. He’s been an agent with North Western Mutual Insurance Investment for about a year now. His accompanying associate, Jeff Pinckok, has been in the business for 20 years. Only five percent of people in Delgado’s field make it through their first year, if they don’t have any insurance background whatsoever: Delgado’s situation. So in that way, he’s already ahead.
He wasn’t really sure what he expected to get out of Entrepreneur Night; he was there because he was invited. He places a premium on meeting new people and forming relationships. He felt confident he would make the most of the night.
As the night wound down, some stayed at Farley’s, as others dispersed into European Village to take advantage of all the venues there. Enjoy the video from the evening below.
January 2015 event in the News
January 2015 Entrepreneur Night has been featured in Palm Coast Observer and Daytona Beach News Journal:
- Entrepreneur Night celebrates 40 under 40 (February 25, 2015)
Entrepreneur Night is a grassroots event for and by Entrepreneurs. It takes place the last Tuesday of each month – except July, August, and December – at a different location and venue and is free to attend. Complimentary appetizers are provided by the hosting venue along with a cash bar. At each event you can expect to meet and have meaningful conversations with new entrepreneurs, investors and service providers. You can check out the previous Entrepreneur Night events | or RSVP to the Next Entrepreneur Night Event.