Innovation News

Inna’s Harmony assuages mid-life health woes

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January 29, 2013

Although Inna Aracri describes herself as “a regular person” in her health coaching work—she is not a nutritionist or a dietician—her approach to coaching incorporates techniques that might puzzle a mainstream medical practitioner. Ukraine-born Aracri is the proprietor of Inna’s Harmony LLC, a health consultancy that takes a holistic approach to improving people’s overall wellbeing. The bulk of Inna’s Harmony clients are looking for help with common problems such as losing weight or improving energy levels, but what sets Aracri apart is her approach, which mixes nutrition, general health counseling and spirituality. So, while Aracri might spend the bulk of her time teaching people how to eat healthy and prepare nutritional meals, she also offers crystal healing and reiki along with raw food training, recipe tips and cooking demonstrations. "If people are open to the alternative modalities, I always offer energy healing as a part of the package,” says Aracri, who offers package deals to encourage clients to try her other services. “People are more familiar with health coaches or food counselors versus energy healing. But by learning how to deal with their body—there’s more to it than muscles and tissues and bones—they open new doors to learn how they can help themselves through spiritual development.” For Aracri, advising her clients means not only talking about healthy eating habits, but also teasing out the reasons they’re not thriving. For some, she advises more time outdoors; for others, she discusses the importance of healthy relationships. And while she’ll work with people of almost any age, Aracri says she sees lots of people in their 40s. “They have family, career, finances, but they’re not happy because they don’t feel good,” she says. “They neglect their bodies because they feel fine when they’re younger, but when people reach their 40s, they may start not feeling good. The body can only serve so long without breaking down on the wrong fuel that you put into it.” By Robin Donovan

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Collaboration aims to ‘Grow the IT economy in Cincinnati USA’

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Entrepreneurship

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January 29, 2013

Major regional job-creating organizations have come together to focus efforts on competing for one of the nation's fastest-growing job segments: information technology. This collaboration includes the Cincinnati CIO Roundtable, a forum of IT leaders who are focused on improving the region’s overall IT ecosystem, along with the Cincinnati USA Partnership and the Partners for a Competitive Workforce. The CIO Roundtable is led by co-chairs Piyush Singh, SVP & CIO of Great American Insurance, and Geoff Smith, former IT leader at P&G. "Business leaders in the region are coming together with the common goal of talking about the importance of IT, and its role in the growth of their companies," says Tammy Riddle, IT economic development director for Cincinnati USA Partnership. Just last week, the organizations came together for a half-day, invitation-only event —“Grow the IT economy in Cincinnati USA.” The event featured presentations from a variety of stakeholders, including the organizers, JobsOhio and CincyTech. The group is working to meet a wide range of challenges, including creating high-paying jobs through public and private partnerships, creating a strategic plan to grow IT jobs in the region, attracting and training talent, and determining the role of startups. "One of the key things we're going to focus on are trends that companies are seeing across the board, and how we can match those with Cincinnati strengths and build the street cred of the IT sector in Cincinnati," Riddle says. Regional universities also play a role in talent creation. Northern Kentucky University's College of Informatics is a leader, as is the University of Cincinnati with its top-rated analytics graduate program, and the University of Miami's innovative digital media program. Cincinnati has an emerging IT industry. There are about 30,000 Cincinnati residents who are employed in the IT sector, which has an estimated $2.5 billion impact on the country’s GDP. According to the 2020 jobs outlook, it’s also one of the four fastest-growing and best-paying employment sectors in Cincinnati, with an anticipated 10-year growth rate of 26.5 percent. "We want to take a more proactive approach to growing jobs in this sector," Riddle says. "We want to make sure that our region has what we need to fill that demand, to be able to accomplish growth." Next, participants will start working on what it takes to grow the IT sector, including conducting a comprehensive assessment of the current IT economy and developing strategies for talent attraction, greater awareness investment and startup activity. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Event Enterprises produces some of Cincinnati’s most popular music events

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Arts + Culture

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January 22, 2013

Cincinnati's music scene continues its resurgence with new and growing festivals like last year's Bunbury Music Festival and the ongoing MidPoint Music Festival. There are lots of details to keep in check when putting on a big, multi-day festival, and one local company has a hand in some of the most popular those music festivals and a wide range of events across the city. Event Enterprises in Camp Washington is a full-service event production and management company for corporate communications and live events. The company's mission is to produce events that "entertain, educate and inspire." Grant Cambridge started Event Enterprises in 2007. He was an intern, then freelancer for Backstage Backline, a local backline provider. After seeing growth in live events across the city, Cambridge began acquiring Backstage Backline, and building what is now Event Enterprises. Cambridge, an Ohio University grad who majored in music and telecommunications, decided to create his own opportunity. "I thought it through, and it seemed like a potentially strong opportunity, and I had a background in the business," he says. Event Enterprises has helped produced some of the city's big music events like Bunbury and MPMF. The company also has produced events for the Kentucky and Cincinnati symphony orchestras, Macy's, Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, Procter & Gamble and the Cincinnati Reds. Cambridge has two employes, a warehouse in Bellevue and works with about seven contractors on a regular basis. He sees a great future for his business, as public events and development in the urban core continue to grow. "In the past five or six years there has been an insurgence of events in the core, with the Banks development, Washington Park, the Fountain Square renovations and all the development in Over-the-Rhine," he says. "The casino is about to open, and people are really interested in visiting downtown. I see a lot of opportunities." By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter

No-show Keysocks keep feet happy in heels

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Architecture + Design

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January 22, 2013

Shelby McKee had had it with the bulky shoes and socks that cold Cincinnati winters require. Heading to a Bengals game one crisp evening, she reached into her husband’s sock drawer and nabbed a pair of dress socks. With a pair of cute flats in mind, she cut oblong holes in the tops of the socks that revealed just the tops of her feet when she slipped on her shoes. Mike Crotty, a family friend who has been in the textile business for years, was able to source out Keysocks in China, and help McKee find the right factory. “We probably had 45 prototypes made in all, and all the factories were puzzled, wondering, ‘What do you mean? A sock with a hole in it?’” McKee says with a laugh. Several years later, with her multi-talented family and friends helping out with everything from IT to PR to sourcing a manufacturer, McKee’s Keysocks—a name coined by her friends at the Bengals game—are hitting retail shelves. The business earned an early, fortuitous bump in sales when the product was featured in Real Simple, a consumer magazine that offers hip ways to make life easier. Today, the product is in about a dozen retail stores, mostly small boutiques. “The reason why we didn’t go straight to retail like Target or department stores yet is because no one has ever seen this product before, and if it sat on a shelf, nobody would know what it is,” McKee says. “We started with the Internet and getting it out on social media.” Although the socks were designed not to show, their open-foot design has spread in popularity from women, like McKee’s friends, to girls, who started asking for fun colors and patterns. Currently, Keysocks are available in black and nude hues. Brown is on its way, along with turquoise-and-gray stripes. Girls' socks in turquoise and a navy/raspberry stripe are also in the works. Like some small businesses, McKee doesn’t take returns, but she doesn’t do it to save money. In fact, McKee says she encourages any unhappy users to pass along the product, figuring it will easily find a happy home. “I just want everybody to be comfortable.” By Robin Donovan

Etsy success spurs event planning business

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Diversity

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January 22, 2013

Rachel Murphy grew a fan base by launching an Etsy store for her jewelry and décor, such as personalized wire letters, hair accessories and wedding favors while she worked full-time at a consuming nonprofit position. When she launched Rachel Lynn Studio, an event planning business, she decided to try to join the two customer bases. “I don’t do catering, entertainment or photography, and I don’t rent out facilities,” she says, but it takes her a minute to come up with that list because there are so many services she does provide. Unlike a typical event or wedding planner, Murphy will not only meet with individuals or groups to choose a theme, set colors, coordinate vendors and be there on the big day, she also makes many of the props and decorative elements these events require. Murphy offers her services a la carte—think bouquets or centerpieces—or at a flat rate for corporate events, weddings and other happenings. Murphy says she enjoys working with couples who don’t want a cookie-cutter event. “I wish people knew that anything is possible,” she says of wedding planning in particular. “People get so nervous they’re not going to fit a certain mold of what they expect to see at traditional weddings.” One tip Murphy says she offers for weddings and corporate events alike is to create a schedule that keeps moving and isn’t expected. Getting married at 6 p.m.? Offer a cocktail hour before the ceremony, or even some live music and dancing. “Make sure there’s not time when people are just standing around waiting,” she says. To keep a wedding’s timeline flowing, Murphy advises couples to take pictures before the wedding, which she says limits the pre-dinner lull. “It can also take away some of the nerves to see each other beforehand,” she says. And while she can craft invitations, bouquets and centerpieces, Murphy doesn’t shy away from special requests. For example, when a lesbian couple wanted a wedding with only vendors open to their relationship, Murphy vetted each one. Whether she’s designing earrings for the bride, running the show or tracking down vendors, there are few tasks this planner won’t tackle. By Robin Donovan

Tixers hopes to score points with season ticket holders

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Entrepreneurship

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January 15, 2013

It’s a familiar struggle for those who lay down cash for season tickets to the Bengals or the Reds: trying to sell, donate or give away the extras when you can’t make a game. Alex Burkhart grew up in Mansfield, Ohio, rooting for Cleveland sports teams. And while falling in love with Cincinnati as a student at Xavier may mean his love of Cincinnati sports is growing, he’s mostly impressed by the city’s budding startup culture. A Macy’s employee by day, Burkhart won the Cincinnati Startup Weekend competition last November. During the event, individuals pitch startup ideas and form makeshift teams to develop them during a single weekend. Burkhart – who longingly noted that he missed a great Xavier game to do so – grabbed attention and a few helpful connections after he pitched his idea, which is now called Tixers. Burkhart says the company will provide a new way to buy and sell tickets on an online platform. “Hypothetically, if you can’t go to a Reds game, you can sell the tickets on StubHub at a significantly reduced price, give them away or let them go to waste,” he says. Tixers aims to even that exchange. Still in its early stages, the platform (likely to be web and mobile) will allow people who have tickets for sporting or other entertainment venues to exchange them for points, which can later be redeemed for other tickets. In other words, no more last-minute emails or tickets gone to waste. But before all this can happen, Burkhart hopes to connect with a partner who can complement his business acumen with technical know-how. He won the competition just weeks ago, attracting attention from startup accelerators and investors, but cautions, “It’s not a working business yet.” Still, Burkhart is optimistic that Cincinnati’s sustainable startup culture combined with his education, enthusiasm and upbringing – he’s from a family of entrepreneurs – will soon mean a successful launch for Tixers. By Robin Donovan

Olivetree Research helps large companies grow their brands

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Architecture + Design

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January 15, 2013

Big, established brands can get stale, so in the fast-changing and hyper-competitive consumer products market, rapid, results-oriented market research is a real asset for large brands. Olivetree Research in Hyde Park builds on founder Carol Shea's decades of experience in consumer marketing research to help brands shake things up a little. Olivetree helps find new answers to the perennial question: What do consumers REALLY want? Shea started Olivetree Research about 11 years ago, not long after Sept. 11, 2001. "It was the right time for me to make a split from my former company," she says. "I'd been in marketing research for 25 years, and had been thinking about starting my own business for a long time. Sept. 11 was a wake-up call for living every day the way you want." Additionally, Shea served as adjunct faculty of the Williams College of Business at Xavier University as a former member of the Advisory Council to the U.S. Census Bureau. Olivetree works with large and mid-size local firms that are looking to solve marketing and sales challenges that stunt growth. "We're working with companies that are committed to positioning new product development that meets the needs of their consumers," Shea says. "We work with companies who want to spend time up-front on research, understand what positioning is and are willing to engage in that process." Through her work, Shea has helped brand everything from pickles to neighborhoods, all by finding what customers want and what the company needs to do to market and meet those needs. Companies often come to her when their marketing efforts are flagging, they have a decline in sales or a new competitor enters the market. With Olivetree, companies look to strengthen their brand, reinforce customer loyalty, expand into new markets or develop new products and services. The market research process takes about three to six months, and can continue over years as a company evolves. In addition to consumer products, Shea often works with healthcare and financial services agencies. This year, Shea is growing her own business by starting an online training company that will offer courses for new market researchers. "It will help them understand what techniques work best in certain situations," she says. "The training will help them have confidence in their position. It can be very difficult for someone new in market research to speak with authority on how you should proceed based on the (research) results." Shea plans to launch the new company sometime later this year. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Ignite connects philanthropists, benefactors

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Arts + Culture

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January 8, 2013

Susan Ingmire is frank about the type of philanthropists she works with. “The vast majority would not be a good fit.” As president of Ignite Philanthropy Advisors, a “niche player,” Ingmire works with individuals and organizations who need help giving money away. Some have inherited money and want to do a good job giving it away charitably. Others want help identifying their priorities, then mapping out a strategy that allows them to give according to certain goals, such as promoting education or supporting the arts. “It’s sometimes hard for people to say no when asked to give. If you have a strategy, then you can say we give in the areas of arts, education or health care. It’s how people learn to say no, or we say it for them,” Ingmire says. She teaches these investors to decide what to give and to whom, and even how to research organizations that pique their interest. The firm mainly works on a retainer basis with Cincinnati-area clients giving away at least $25,000-$50,000 a year and up, with her smallest foundation gifting about $100,000 annually. Most business comes through referrals, especially from local attorneys and accountants. They provide advice, demystify the giving process and even offer administrative support, such as preparing agendas for foundation board meetings, writing checks and processing mail. Ingmire started in the field as a serial volunteer, working as a foundation volunteer, mentor and with arts and housing programs. She also spent a decade with Fifth Third Bank’s trust department. And her idea of doing “less than I used to” means staying involved with the YWCA, Social Venture Partners Cincinnati, United Way and her church. And after spending so much time in the trenches, she embraces the joy in helping others support nonprofits. “When we can call up somebody and say, you’re getting $30,000 and here’s why, it’s a real joy.” By Robin Donovan

Xavier University student co-founds ‘visionary streetwear brand’ Jazzberry Chauffeur

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Architecture + Design

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January 8, 2013

Jazzberry Chauffeur is a street artist-inspired clothing brand that mixes quirky designs with a bit of youthful philosophy. Xavier entrepreneurship and economics student Brandon Pindulic co-founded the company, which is named in homage to a friend's rich uncle who employed a chauffeur dressed in a jazzberry suit until the Great Depression, when he lost it all, according to the business' website. The company sells T-shirts, caps and outerwear that nods to that rich uncle's past, while also looking toward a dream-fulfilled future. Each design tells a story, outlined on the Jazzberry site, where the brand is sold. For instance, there's this purple T-shirt that features a sunglasses-wearing, saxophone-toting red berry. The story? "A literal creation of our name, Jazz-Berry-Chauffeur. This scenic tee is also reminiscent to the roaring '20s when jazz musicians dwelled in nightclubs introducing American culture to jazz music." The black Chauffeur Your Dreams T-shirt is described this way: "Everyone has dreams, goals and desires. At first they seem quite plain and ordinary, hence the basic JbC orbit illustrated on the front of the tee. But as people begin to learn more about other individuals' dreams and dig a little deeper, an intricate image of their life goals begins to appear, hence the rocket-equipped limousine scorching around a metropolis that inhabits some of the wealthiest individuals and most prized possessions sculpted on the back of the shirt." Prices for the clothes range from $20-22 for tees, and $35 for hoodies. Pindulic, who came to Cincinnati from New Jersey for college, co-founded the company in 2011 while still in high school. "We started by selling shirts," he says. "We had these fresh designs, and worked with friends who were graphic designers. We started by selling to friends and family. We financed it ourselves, we just put in a couple hundreds bucks of our own money and it grew." The typical Jazzberry customer is male, 15-24 years old, and into the brand's bold colorful graphics and casual, steetwear style, according to Pindulic. This year, the business is preparing to offer more products, while beefing up its marketing presence. Pindulic creates some designs as well as tapping some friends' creativity. He has worked with manufacturers inside and outside the United States to make the shirt, but that will change soon, he says. "We've decided we are going to make all U.S.-based products for our new lines," he says. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter

Niche Consumer Products helps entrepreneurs sharpen consumer product ideas, business models

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Architecture + Design

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January 8, 2013

When it comes to the consumer product business, bigger isn't always better. Ben Moore, founder of Niche Consumer Products, helps inventors and entrepreneurs find their niche, strengthening their business model, and preparing to scale when the time is right. "The reason we call it Niche is that many times people think it's their dream to get their products into Walmart, but don't have the volume or the right price point to make it in Walmart. We instead talk about taking a niche approach, where you can have a product with variants to meet different consumers. You can be smaller, and more profitable, while you're learning," says Moore, a former Procter & Gamble employee who worked in product supply and IT. One of the most important parts of growing a consumer products business is the dollars and cents of making and selling it. Niche often helps get a business financially stable as it launches. "We look at the financial model. What can you get the product made for? What will customers pay for it? Do you have the margin to move forward? You have get the financial model right before anything else," Moore says. Niche Consumer Products offers a wide range of consumer product development business services. They include brand and business development, order fulfillment and product licensing. The company works with contractors and has contract warehouse space that clients can use to hold and distribute product. Cincinnati is a great location for the business since is a 24-hour drive of two thirds of the U.S. population. "Cincinnati is great for logistics. It's always a good place for the storage of products and raw materials when we fulfill larger orders," Moore says. One product the company has successfully help grow is the Diaper911 Diaper Changing Kit. The small kits contain a 1 Pampers Diaper, 4 Baby Wipes, 1 Pack of Diaper Rash Ointment, 1 Changing Pad, 1 Purell Sanitizing Hand Wipe and 1 Disposable Bag. Kits can be purchased in packs of six or 16 and are distributed by Niche. The kit can be purchased online and through several wholesalers. The company also sells swimmer changing kits, which can be found at large amusement parks, including Six Flags and Cedar Point, Moore says. By Feoshia H. Davis Follow Feoshia on Twitter.