Joining us for this episode of Fun With Failure is Kristin Winkle Beck. Kristin is a master of the conscious, intentional pivot. In 2018, after two decades in the corporate world, she left her position as Senior Vice President at Bank of America Merchant Services to recharge and refocus her career. In that time, she founded her own coaching and consulting firm, Pivot Point Professionals, LLC. While coaching is her passion, she wasn’t wired for the solopreneur lifestyle. She finally found the perfect intersection of business, coaching, and purpose when she became the Executive Director of Social Ventures Partners in October 2019. She didn’t have long to enjoy this victory before the pandemic forced her to pivot once again. Learn how Kristin scrambled to put on SVP’s flagship event SEED20 virtually in 2020, how the program has evolved since, and how SVP is letting more and more people in on the “best kept secret in town.”

Kelly Broderick started her career working as a Color Designer at Reebok and then as a shoe designer for Tommy Hilfiger and StrideRite. She often worked in New York and she traveled internationally to do market research and trend forecasting. After ten years, she and a friend started their own consulting firm to stay closer to home. Beginning in 2017, however, Kelly faced hardship while caring for both her young children and dying parents and sought refuge in painting. In early 2020, Kelly took her first Intuitive Abstract workshop with Kelley MacDonald through the North River Arts Society, and she was immediately hooked. In this episode, Kelly shares how approaching painting as a daily practice helped her embrace mistakes as part of the process and why she is finally comfortable calling herself an “artist.”

In this episode, Ross & I go DEEP into the power of storytelling! He’s my former student, made his first film in my “Art of Storytelling” course, and his “origin story” is a wild ride. Ross proves that while devastating misfortune may shift our life plans, a growth mindset can take us on adventures we never imagined – like almost getting eaten by a black wolf while shooting a docu-series deep in the Alaskan wilderness. He’s filmed TV, documentary & commercial content for clients such as Netflix, Discovery, Animal Planet, and the Travel Channel. He is currently the director of photography and a producer on the National Geographic series  “Life Below Zero: Port Protection”  currently airing on Tuesdays at 8PM.

Most people consider procrastination a form of failure. But what happens when procrastination becomes purpose? Kim Aprill discovered the answer to this question when she began researching “zero food waste” restaurant stickers to delay work on another project. Over four years later, she is now Co-founder and Executive Director of Feeding Charlotte, a non-profit organization that connects donors of freshly prepared meals with those in need. Kim shares how her family instilled in her a passion for service, what she learned from her career as a clinical social worker, and which public speaking tools she picked up from The Pitch Prof. Plus, find out where she and Feeding Charlotte are headed next – and how you can get involved! LINKS: Feeding Charlotte Natural Wonders Play Studio Food Connection Food Rescue Alliance ChowMatch The Bulb Food Rocket SEED20 SEED20Charlotte Social Venture Partners Tips for Overcoming Stage Fright

Dr. Shante William is a healthcare venture capitalist and Co-Founder of Black Pearl Global Investments. Her goal is “to change healthcare worldwide,” and she uses her invisibility as a black woman in the VC space to her advantage.

Garth Moulton talks about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. He co-founded two companies. One sold for about $140 million to Salesforce. The other failed, and he gave all the money back to investors.

Keith Luedeman sold his company in 2016 and is now a vocal advocate for start-ups in Charlotte, N.C. He’s the Executive Director at Innovate Charlotte, and an active venture investor in the Charlotte Region.

Greg Brown, the President of Cardinal Finance and the Administrator of the Charlotte Angel Fund, talks about funding, failure, and how to pitch investors.

Rob Cummings, Co-Founder of DealCloud, talks about the importance of storytelling, lead investors, and his favorite slide in the pitch deck.

Haley Bohon explains how she left her job in mechanical engineering to become the Founder & CEO of SkillPop.