My job is to help you start your own business. If you're a student, faculty member, staff or alumni with a business idea then come and visit with me. Don't just think about it, do it! Be your own boss!
Ben grew up playing soccer in southeast Asia. He transferred to UVU in the spring of 2014 to play soccer for the new NCAA Division 1 men's team under Coach Greg Maas. He started his second business while participating in the Entrepreneurship Institute, formerly known as Blue and White Collar, and funding it as a part-time UVU employee and through competition grants. He now runs & Collar full-time with 10 employees. He is married to Melanie Ostler, a former student-athlete on the UVU women's soccer team who is now a full-time employee at the university.
Ben Lane Hodson is an entrepreneur, writer, musician, filmmaker, comic book artist, and software developer. After spending time as a touring musician and finishing degrees in business and software systems from the University of Washington, he started his first company in 2000. That business, Venafi, was sold for $1.2 billion in 2020 to Thoma Bravo. After leaving the day-to-day operations of Venafi, Ben proceeded to start nine companies with the most recent being JobNimbus, a software and growth solution for roofing and home exterior contractors. In January 2021, JobNimbus received its first investment of $53 million from Mainsail Partners. In addition to his business ventures, Ben has pursued a variety of creative projects. He has written comic books, such as the Jack Burton Adventures, Shutter, 8-Bit, and Blood and Glory. His short films, Shadow of the Mountain and Marooned, have won recognition at various international film festivals, and he recently published his first novel, Tales of the Macabre West. Today, Ben continues to play and record music with his band, Railyard, in addition to leading the rapid growth of JobNimbus.
Lelani started CommGap in 2000. CommGap is a translation and interpretation companythat works into more than 200 languages. Along with CommGap, Lelani owns Global 1 Voice, LLC which offers medical interpreter training, language assessment, language classes, and compliance consulting. Lelani and her husband, Dain, own Leading Edge, Inc. and Capra Group, LLC. Lelani Craig has more than 25 years of experience in the language industry. She is an accomplished conference interpreter as well as a certified court interpreter. Lelani currently serves as Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Language Companies. She is also one of theorganizersof the Silicon Slopes Localization group, a memberof the Utah Women Tech Council, and recently organized the Utah Chapter of Women in Localization. Lelani is on theState of Utah Advisory Committee for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. In addition, she serves on Advisory Boards for The Global Chamber and for Lango. Lelani serves as a mentor and speaker for University entrepreneurial programsand frequently speaks for leadership and mentoring groups. In addition, she is a member of the Weber State University Foreign Languages Dept. Industry Advisory Board. Lelani received awards from“Count Me In” and American Express in 2004. In 2013, Lelani was selected by Goldman Sachs to participate in their 10,000 Small Businesses Program. In 2014, she was chosen by Utah Business Magazine as one of Utah’s 30 Business Women to Watch. In 2017, she was awarded Hispanic Business Woman of the Year by the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In 2017, Lelani graduated from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative Program.
Currently CEO of 2 tax practices, one in Colorado and one in Utah since 1999.
Eric Montague, founder of Executech, a multi-state IT services company, focuses on bringing others with him in success.
Stephenie Larsen is the Chief Executive Officer & Founder of Encircle, the largest LGBTQ+ Resource Center in Utah. Encircle has locations in Provo, Salt Lake City and St. George, with homes being built in Logan, Heber, Ogden and Las Vegas within the next year.
McKenzie and Colby Bauer co-founded Thread Wallets at the start of their marriage in 2015. They have two little girls (a four year-old and 1 and a half year-old). They enjoy traveling together and eating good food while they travel. They're on the search to find the world's best eggs benedict. McKenzie graduated from BYU-Hawaii with a degree in Peace Building and Conflict Resolution. She loves entertaining and throwing fun parties with friends and family. Colby graduated from BYU-Hawaii with a degree in Business Management and an emphasis in Entrepreneurship. He played soccer at BYU and is passionate about skateboarding and business. Colby was named one of Utah Valley’s 40 under 40 faces for the future 2020.
Growing up, John would have told you he wanted to be a rock star or to play ace for the Astros. Now he beats his drums and brings the heat at BrainStorm where this band likes to play it loud, be in the middle of it all, and swing for the fences. | Eric found his entrepreneurial career early in life and started his own business at the age of sixteen. What really drives Eric is the opportunity to work with amazing people, to hear their stories and to learn from them.
Karen Rodriguez La Paz is the Founder and CEO of Code In Color, an organization connecting diverse individuals to tech education and job opportunities, and a DEI Marketing Expert serving as Head of Diversity & Inclusion at Purple Innovation.
Mike is a world traveler who went from gator wrestling to cold calling to enterprise sales to building a $10M software company.
Derek started his career in marketing and sales working for bChannels an international channel marketing company and Peek.com the global marketplace for tours and activities. Blerpis Derek's second start-up and has raised over $1.5M in funding in his career. He has apassion for theCreator economy and helping support over 35,000 streamers on Twitch
Founded by Ryan, Spencer and Austin Cope in 2015, WANDRD was created with a mission to create the world's best travel camera bag. As traveling photographers themselves, they didn’t just want to make and sell bags; they wanted to inspire others to get out and experience more of the world. They've raised over $2 Million through crowdfunding and have grown that initial idea into a thriving business, shipping bags to more than 100 countries around the world.
Ali and Jeremy Hynek are the founders of ethical handbag brand Nena & Co. and parents to their triplets plus one.
