Interview

Getting Inspired: Creative Business

Getting Inspired: Creative Business

Want to start a creative business? There is no greater inspiration than those entrepreneurs who have boldly gone before you. At the Wix Lounge, a free space for creatives in NYC run by the super simple website platform Wix.com, we are inundated daily with incredible startups that are revolutionizing their fields through their innovation and drive. In the coming weeks, we would like to feature some of the Wix Lounge’s greatest startups in order to provide shining beacons of successful entrepreneurship. First on the roster is Ethikus, an amazing new company inspiring and incentivizing New Yorkers to consume ethically and sustainably. We sat down with founder Jeff Hittner to get his perspective on launching Ethikus and the hard work he has done to make the company thrive. 

What inspired you to start Ethikus?

Quite simply, we were inspired by a need that we had personally. I wanted to “vote with my wallet” and use our dollars to support businesses (and business practices) that we believed in, but I couldn’t find an easy way to do it. Of course, I was also sensitive to the need because of my background in sustainability, and I realized that it was a lot more rewarding to discuss ways to make a small business owner more sustainable than a huge corporation – there was no bureaucracy standing in the way!

What is the company’s mission?

The whole point of Ethikus is to make sustainable shopping and eating fun and easy. We want to give people the information and tools they need so they can align their everyday purchases with their values. When enough folks begin to patronize the local establishments that do good with their business practices, it sends a signal that people want businesses to support community, environment and employees. We are here to help consumers articulate that demand, and create chain-reaction good by encouraging positive changes to business practices.

What have been some of your favorite projects?

Shop Your Values Week was definitely our favorite and most ambitious undertaking. In less than 6 months, on limited resources, we built a community of nearly 5000 New Yorkers, 30 community and non-profit partners, and 219 local businesses to all be a party of a city-wide celebration of the stores and restaurants that do good. We held fun events, had discounts and incentives at all participating business, and really raised the city’s awareness of all the great establishments that are supporting their community, environment and employees.

How do you think Ethikus will change the way we consume?

How? Simply by providing the information people want, by being an authoritative guide and source for what local businesses are doing what, and holding fun events to get people engaged!

What do you think is the most effective way to inspire others to shop ethically?

By showing how easy it is, and connecting with people through their passions. It works both ways; small business owners are also really passionate individuals, and when consumers see that, and share values with them, it just becomes a matter of telling them the address! But on a larger scale, we just would love to show a map with hundreds of pins across it showing Do Good local businesses with all their data, so when a person looks at it they think “hey, yeah, I can do this, there are so many it’s easy!”

Do you think you’ve had to innovate new ways to communicate with your community in order to achieve your goals and if so, how have you done that?

Yes, and it has been difficult. We’ve gone through several ‘catchwords’ and the earlier ones didn’t stick. Now we’re focusing on things like ‘simply doing good’ and ‘discover/explore’ to get people interested in the concept of shopping and eating better, then we explain the breadth of what we’re trying to do (in an ‘About Us’ section or something).  We found that holding concrete events really helps engage early users, like Meetups and parties and free food, of course, to get them out and meet them in person is quite rewarding. And of course the usual social media and email streams have been helpful, but it was our community and organizational partners who really spread the word. We partnered with dozens of great organizations who emailed local businesses they had relationships with to get them on board for SYVW, and they reached out to their communities, so we had dozens of large organizations reaching out for us! Many of the participating businesses tweeted and posted on facebook about the event as well.

Compared to other sustainable initiatives, what makes Ethikus unique?

I think that we try to create change through partnership / collaboration. We know that changing buying habits is not easy – and reaching an entire city even harder. But we’re not doing it alone. If we create collaborative events like Shop Your Values Week and support partner initiatives in the same vein, then we aren’t starting from scratch and we can scale quickly.

Where do you see Ethikus going in the future? What are the big picture projects?

In the future we want to develop a great app so people can quickly and easily find participating businesses near them. We want to redesign the site to make it easier to discover places and to get new places to sign up. We are also totally in for another Shop Your Values Week and are really hopeful about getting it into new cities! We have many plans and ideas, so stay tuned.

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INTERVIEW: Joseph Scola of ABID Technology

INTERVIEW: Joseph Scola of ABID Technology

It takes a tremendous amount of creativity, innovation, and dedication to build your own company, even if it’s a small one. Creative Village wants to showcase how individuals went through the process of beginning their own businesses and perhaps inspire you to do the same.

We talked with Joe Scola of ABID Technology, an interactive tool that lets you click on things that interest you while you’re watching videos online. It’s a very neat idea — check it out on their site!

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Tell us a bit about ABID and what prompted you to start a company like it? Every entrepreneur wants to change the world, and ABID is our way of trying to do so. Our goal is to transform the way viewers will interact with their video content for years to come. We believe people are in constant search of accessing information, and we’re aiming to deliver that experience through an added layer in video content. We see this as one small piece in the future of information exchange. We’re still a young company, and although we’re very pleased with the goals we have accomplished, there is still a long list of milestones in front of us. But that’s the exciting part.

Can you describe your past positions and how they led up to the creation of ABID? I’ve always been attracted to the visual arts, this led me to a BS in Film and Video at Drexel University. After Drexel, I fell into a sales and marketing position with a fortune 100 company. This experience had opened me up to a brand new side of myself. I wound up building new skills and excelling in the industry, but the limitations of working for a large corporation had slowly started to rub me the wrong way. I had ideas, so did my colleagues, none of which were being heard. It was during this experience I had met my future business partner, and we decided it was time to take action.

“If we couldn’t make change through the company we were working for, then we would create our own. Six months later, ABID was born.”

What’s one golden piece of advice you’d offer a young company? I would say, be prepared to work harder than you imagine. Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Be passionate about whatever it is you’re aiming to create, building a company comes with many ups and downs, you’ll need that passion to get you through the challenges that lie ahead.

How do you imagine ABID Technology and Creative Village could work together? Creative Village has some incredible resources, I especially love their blogs and the inspiration they provide.  It would be wonderful to attend some of the networking opportunities and exciting events they’ll be hosting. They’re a company that seems to have a deep understanding of entrepreneurship, startups, and they’re providing new tools for guidance in those arenas, and that’s something close to home for me. I would also imagine that when it’s time to expand ABID, our recruitment process would be made much easier working together with Creative Village.

What’s next for ABID? We’re currently wrapping up an incredible internship program we created and hosted in Philadelphia, and we’re extremely proud of all the students who participated. In the next couple months we’re planning a soft launch with release-1 of our product. The product is something we’ve kept tightly under wraps, and we’re very excited to begin testing it with partners.

If you knew you were about to eat your last meal, what would you have and where would you have it? I would start with some grilled calamari salad, followed by homemade manicotti with my Great Aunt Elda’s famous sauce. After the main course, a Saint Joe’s cake would be my dessert of choice, and would of course be accompanied by a double espresso. A light digestive of sambuca in a snifter glass with 3 coffee beans would polish off the perfect meal. I would enjoy this final palatable goodness overlooking the Mediterranean from the town of Aquavella in Salerno, Italy. It’s where my grandfather was born, a place of humble beginnings and true beauty.

Thanks to Joe and ABID Technology for giving us a peek into the life of an entrepreneur! Keep checking back for more interviews like this and find out the different paths there are in starting a business.

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The Importance of Networking: Some Tips

The Importance of Networking: Some Tips

In an age where everyone is connected through the Internet, it’s nearly impossible to stand out to recruiters without doing something over the top. While finding someone on Linkedin and sending a personalized message is great, it’s important to realize how many other people like you are doing the same thing.

That’s why attending networking events – whether it be professional or social – is so crucial now more than ever. It’s a chance to distinguish yourself from the hundreds of others looking for the same type of position you are by showing off your personality, something that’s hard to do on paper.

It may be scary at first, but showing up is already a huge step. For the rest of it, here are some tips to successfully make lasting connections that could very well lead to your next job:

Be ready to talk – And talk a lot. Make sure you know exactly how to describe what type of work you’re looking for. Be prepared to repeat yourself, too, since you’ll be introducing yourself over and over again. Also, have a handful of thoughtful questions that you can ask other people to prove that you’re interested in them, too.

Bring something to write with and on – Since you will be mingling with a lot of people, it’s a good idea to bring a small notepad to jot down names, contact information, etc. Writing down what you discussed with them will also prove to be useful when sending an e-mail to them because mentioning little details will help them remember who you are (and impress them for having such a good memory!).

Get a business card – While some of you may not have a professional title yet, it’s a good idea to have a stack of business cards handy with your contact info for people who don’t follow step #3. It’s a quick and easy way to get your name out to the right people. Sites like www.vistaprint.com are a good place to start if you’re a fresh graduate lacking business cards.

Smile and stay enthusiastic – Your jaw will undoubtedly get very tired from smiling the entire night, but it’s well worth it if it means making a good and friendly impression.

Don’t talk only business – While it’s definitely the point of most networking events, it’s also key to make people remember that you’re a real person…with real hobbies! Conversational skills are important to display when meeting people you will potentially work with day in and day out. Who knows, you might meet someone with the same interests as you which will put you in their favor. It could even lead to a follow-up meeting that could get you a step closer to your dream job.

Bring a standout factor - Whether it be a strange hobby, a crazy story, or an impressive project you finished, try to find at least one (true) story you can bring up that will make people say “Oh, you’re the one who won the national fly-fishing championship. I remember you!”

Follow up! – People who go to networking events meet anywhere between 3 and 73 people over the course of a few hours – not everyone will have time to e-mail or call the stack of business cards they collected. It’s crucial to send out a personalized e-mail within 72 hours of the event to set the connection in stone and figure out any steps you need to take to be a successful applicant.

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