Mentors: HIGH GROWTH BUSINESS
Summary of Qualifications Chris Zobel is a sales and management professional with extensive experience in small and large businesses. He has worked with Fortune 500 and Mom and Pop businesses throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Chris has a degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. After a successful career of over 30 years in the private sector, working with Miller Brewing Company, Arrow International, Yuengling and others, he accepted an Economic Development position with the US Small Business Administration assisting businesses in Delaware and later in Virginia. In 2014, he was relocated to Hampton Roads to concentrate on the very important small business community here. During his tenure with the SBA he interacted with small business owners from all cultural backgrounds. He was actively involved with assisting businesses with SWAM, HUBZone, 8a and Veteran certifications. An additional duty that Chris held was the District International Trade Office (DITO). As DITO, he held Export training events and met one on one with businesses to educate them on the specifics involved with establishing International Trade. He was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and served for 5 years in the US Navy during the Vietnam Era. Chris and his wife Susan live in Norfolk and enjoy life in Hampton Roads. Want to meet with this Lead Mentor? Schedule an...
Summary of Qualifications Polly is a veteran entrepreneur and consultant whose experience spans all industries and whose expertise focuses on people. She is a founding partner and owner of Gather, whose coworking spaces provide a community to more than 200 entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small business people. In 2002, Polly left the corporate world to start her first consulting business serving large and Fortune 500 companies in the areas of leadership and organizational development. Her business continued to grow in both size and capabilities over the next several years adding services in HR, compliance, strategy and workforce development. In 2009, she joined forces with her husband, Doug, to form Whitestone Partners, a full-service small-business consulting firm. Together, they work with clients across all industries and have extensive experience in real estate, construction, the trades, professional services, non-profits, advertising and marketing, manufacturing and financial services. They help businesses that want to get to the next level as well as those needing to get back on track. Today, Polly is recognized as a small business expert, successful serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and founding partner of Gather, coworking spaces that create community for more than 200 entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small businesses. She writes weekly columns (with her partner, Doug) for both RTD Business and Entrepreneur.com. She is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and business consultant. Want to meet with this Lead Mentor? Schedule an...
Summary of Qualifications Kimmie Lockett is a Design Strategist, helping create more manageable products and services through a consumer-centric lens. She is hired for collaborative project-based work in concept and product development, branding, and user research. Kimmie uses Design Thinking as a framework to facilitate Innovation Management and Brand Strategy. With a User-Centered approach, she helps businesses discover and communicate their value. Her role is to help prepare the concept for market— enabling clarity, reducing complexity, and articulating opportunities. On Brand Strategy: She helps businesses identify their key values and differentiating factors which provide sustainable competitive advantages. By working with Kimmie Lockett, founders will discover ways to mitigate competition in their market and create brand resonance. This is achieved by translating business models into brand systems. On Innovation Management: Kimmie facilitates the process of discovering, defining, and designing products and concepts. She offers a structured approach to iterative cycles of exploration, knowledge acquisition, and rapid prototyping. Want to meet with this Lead Mentor? Schedule An...
Summary of Qualifications Leah Fremouw is a familiar face in the Richmond business community and has a rich history of managing dynamic, fast-moving projects with multiple stakeholders. Leah currently serves as an Assistant Vice President at Virginia Community Capital, a financial organization deploying loans and advisory services to projects in all regions of the Commonwealth. In this role, she partners with businesses in a variety of industries and growth stages to support their movement to the next level. Prior to this role, she led talent management and cultural initiatives for CarLotz, a fast growing Richmond business, served as an organizational development consultant with the Performance Management Group at Virginia Commonwealth University, and for three years worked in the city’s public housing communities. Leah’s commitment to the Richmond community brings her out of the office and into initiatives moving the greater region forward. She helps lead TEDxRVA, the innovative speaker series initiated in 2012, along with Impact 100, where she supports strategies to raise large grant funds for local nonprofits. Leah earned her Bachelors and Master’s degrees at VCU, where she was recognized as an L. Douglas Wilder Graduate Scholar 2008-2010. She is also a 2011 graduate of the Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence’s Emerging Nonprofit Leaders Program. Want to meet with this mentor? Schedule an...
Summary of Qualifications Adam Mead is the founder brand strategy agency yogg, its sister brand design agency for small business named KARV, as well as Land of Adam, a commercial photography and fine-art studio. In 2007 Adam Mead started yogg from the corner of his bedroom with no insurance, two weeks of money in the bank and a third child on the way. #ignoranceisbliss But over time he grew yogg to become a leading branding agency with international reach, experiencing year-over-year growth as high as 90% and being recognized on the RVA25 list for high growth companies in Richmond. After seven years Adam launched his photography studio Land of Adam and has done commercial photo shoots all over the country and had his work published internationally. He also as created a fine art photography arm which gives a significant amount of revenue back to the community through print sales. His pieces have been carried by national retailers and will be featured in a major film. At the beginning of 2016 Adam launched KARV, a branding agency designed for small business which has experienced very healthy growth even in its infancy. Adam and his wife have 8 children and spend their time running from activity to activity while still finding time to volunteer weekly with their church. Want to meet with this mentor? Talk with your Lead...
