Mentors: BUSINESS PROCESSES
Summary of Qualifications Doug is a veteran entrepreneur and consultant whose experience focuses on strategy, operations, analytics, and finance. He is a founding partner and owner of Gather, whose coworking spaces provide a community to more than 200 entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small business people. Doug White spends his time solving business problems for entrepreneurs and their organizations. His background in physics, math, engineering and business gives him an ability to go beyond the easy, surface solution; to dig deeper and find unique answers to the problems that plague small businesses. He has a talent for making the complex simple and guiding others to see and understand the key that will solve their puzzle. He helps organizations develop strategies to take them to the next level, grasp what their financials are really telling them, develops metrics to keep track and measure what is important and fixes operational issues by finding the root cause of the problem. Doug has successfully led start-ups and turnarounds. He has been a part of executing acquisitions on both the buy side and the sell side. He has worked successfully in fields ranging from heavy duty manufacturing to sales and distribution, from consumer lending to investment brokerage. The common thread through each assignment is that Doug has been the catalyst for creating significant bottom line value and he can teach you his methods. He has specialized in taking businesses that were broken and fixing them or taking businesses that were successful and raising their performance to the next level. Currently, Doug works with his wife Polly at Whitestone Partners, their full-service small-business consulting firm. Together, they...
Summary of Qualifications Chantel is a Master Tax Advisor for Block Advisors and an Enrolled Agent authorized to represent all clients before the Internal Revenue Service. Chantel Buchin, whose career has focused on the numerous tax implications of individuals, small businesses and corporate mergers, has spent 27 years in Richmond working in a number of different taxable organizations. Most notably, she managed a small business LLC focusing on all aspects of limited liability formation and compliance with Virginia SCC, and IRS and SSA regulations. A graduate of the New York University School of Law, while practicing Chantel specialized in the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions and employee benefits. She subsequently held positions as a small business manager, tax office leader, and tax professional. Her passion is educating small and new business owners to get the best possible tax outcome. A recent client stated, “Chantel was very professional in every sense of the word. She helped us through the tax season as first-time business owners and was very articulate and clear about every step in the process. We didn’t know where to turn as first-time business owners and feel like we either made the perfect choice with Block Advisors or got really lucky with Chantel. Probably both.” Chantel also has an extensive background in education. She was a substitute teacher for 14 years ranging from elementary through high school grades. Currently, she teaches basic and advanced taxation courses for H & R Block. Want to meet with this mentor? Schedule an...
Summary of Qualifications Brooke is a proven entrepreneur and business strategist. She helps entrepreneurs of all types to start, grow, and save their small businesses. Brooke works with entrepreneurs to achieve optimal success in both their business and their lives. With experience in all types of businesses and roles, she can help you create a plan to save, grow, or launch your business. Unlike other consultants, Brooke focuses not only on setting up businesses for success, but also the success of the entrepreneurs running them. She evaluates everything from overall business strategy, to sales efforts and processes, to customer service and retention, as well as explore and implement solutions to let you work “on” your business instead of “in” it. In addition to her own knowledge and network, Brooke can educate you on grants, resources, and services that are available at little to no charge to entrepreneurs in the Richmond area. Whether you are struggling to solve one problem within your business, or would like to evaluate and grow all aspects of your business, Brooke can help you achieve optimum success, growth, and balance as a business and an entrepreneur. Brooke graduated Summa Cum Laude from Middlebury College in 2001 with degrees in Philosophy and Spanish. For the past 15 years, she’s gained experience and expertise in many areas of the business world, from sales to operations to process improvement, for all types of industries and companies. Through her experience at companies like UPS, Duncan-Parnell, and LeClair Ryan, Brooke has been exposed to and learned about many types of operations and management styles, which allows her to be flexible and...
Summary of Qualifications Lauren is an enthusiastic and creative “social stitcher” with a passion for engaging people. With a zeal for living a full life, she curates her own adventure: she is currently Vice President of Engagement for EngageMore, a software startup in the health and fitness industry; Director of Community Partnerships for Gather, a network of community workspaces for entrepreneurs; and a Visiting Artist for Richmond Memorial Health Foundation’s Health Equity Arts program. Lauren is an organizational designer with a diverse background. She earned a BFA in Sculpture from VCUarts, has focused on design, management and entrepreneurship as a profession, and is passionate about cultivating people’s skills and talents. Lauren works at the intersection of design and business, in particular figuring out the best way to build and leverage the human relationships necessary to make the project, organization or business with whom she works a success. Integral to how Lauren thinks and works is her belief in values-based leadership and the importance of creating environments in which those working within them are equipped with the tools they need to be successful. She is interested in working with creatives, startups and other entrepreneurial ventures to create this culture. 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...
