Neil A. Carousso produces NewsNation original “Kurt’s Country” – a celebration of country music and a slice of Americana with host Kurt Bardella.
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WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast: How to Grow Again Featuring Shark Tank’s Mr. Wonderful
Posted by: Neil A. CaroussoHow to Grow Again Featuring Shark Tank’s Mr. Wonderful – WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast, Presented by The First National Bank of Long Island
Streaming Thursday, March 18, 2021 – 9 AM
Be part of the program! Share your questions for Joe Connolly and Kevin O’Leary here.
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Businesses are looking to rise up from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic and offer solutions in the post-pandemic economy. WCBS 880 is producing a premier virtual event for entrepreneurs, owners, managers, and dreamers to tackle critical areas where opportunities lie for growth despite the unprecedented global pandemic.
WCBS Business Reporter Joe Connolly will host a virtual video conversation with “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary as part of the WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast series, presented by The First National Bank of Long Island. You can stream the WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast at WCBS880.com or the WCBS 880 YouTube channel on Thursday, March 18, 2021 beginning at 9 AM.
“Mr. Wonderful” will share his keys to business recovery, actionable advice for small and mid-size business owners in various industries, and what they need to be focused on heading into the spring.
“In times like these, you really want to play to your strengths,” O’Leary told Connolly on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight in April, emphasizing decisive actions to grow despite the crippling pandemic.
Photo credit: ABC The “Shark Tank” star will highlight relatable stories of business pivots, explain digital sales strategies that are yielding results for his companies, and reveal the top new business opportunities in growing markets amid the pandemic.
“(Customers) genuinely care about companies and products and services that they’ve grown to trust and they want to support them during this period of difficulty to make sure that these businesses survive,” O’Leary told WCBS 880.
Learn how to survive and grow in this new era at the WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast with Joe Connolly, presented by The First National Bank of Long Island, on March 18.
You can share your questions for Joe and Kevin here or Tweet @WCBS880 and @JoeConnollybiz using #WCBSBizBreakfast in your post.
About Kevin O’Leary:
Photo credit: ABC/Andrew Eccles Kevin O’Leary’s success story starts where most entrepreneurs begin: with a big idea and zero cash.
Kevin O’Leary was born to a middle class family in 1954. The combination of Kevin’s mother’s family heritage as merchants and his father’s Irish charisma truly meant that O’Leary was born for business. Kevin learned most of his business intuition from his mother. She taught him key business and financial insights from an early age. These became Kevin’s core philosophies, and the pillars upon which he would one day build his empire.
Kevin’s approach to business went through major changes as a teenager. During his second day on the job at a local ice cream shop, his boss came into the front of the store where Kevin was scooping ice cream. She looked at Kevin and asked him to scrape all the gum between the Mexican tiles on the floor. Kevin refused and he was fired. That was the moment he realized he never wanted to work for someone else again and charted his path into entrepreneurship as a high school student.
As a university student, Kevin’s innate business sense led him along several different paths – including some very unusual, very entrepreneurial ways of making a profit.
Not long after he finished his MBA, Kevin had a meeting that changed his life forever. He met a man who had a strange idea for a software product – an idea with huge, high-profit potential that Kevin immediately recognized.
After years of ups, downs, sacrifices, challenges, and lessons learned — not to mention a critical phone call that nearly cost him everything — the opportunity that Kevin saw eventually turned into a computer software giant that was acquired for more than $4 billion dollars.
After his extraordinary success at the software company, he founded – and a difficult period of obstacles and legal disputes – Kevin eventually found himself on television, quickly becoming a sought-after host and personality on a range of shows – including Discovery’s Project Earth, CBC’s Dragons’ Den, and ABC’s Shark Tank.
Kevin has since launched O’Leary Funds, an investment fund company; O’Leary Fine Wines; and a best-selling book series on financial literacy.
In 2014, Kevin founded O’Leary Financial Group – a group of brands and services that share Kevin’s guiding principles of honesty, directness, convenience, and above all, great value.
His net worth is estimated at $400 million.
Executive produced by Neil A. Carousso.
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Veterans Organization Builds Remote Talent Pipeline to Fortune 500 companies
Posted by: Neil A. CaroussoBy Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The transition from the military to the workforce is often a challenge for veterans, but the pandemic has exacerbated that challenge. A non-profit organization based in Manhattan is taking up the task to virtually match vets and major U.S. companies.
“We’ve got some super smart people who enlist in the military and we wanted to create those pipelines for them to get into these Fortune 500 companies,” said Lt. Col. Michael Abrams, founder of FourBlock, who is currently serving in the United States Marine Corps Reserve.
FourBlock prides itself on preparing veterans for a career after service. The average salary for its national members is $92,811, according to the non-profit’s 2020 data.
“The companies that we work with are the ones who pay good salaries,” Abrams told WCBS 880’s Neil A. Carousso.
Since the pandemic hit, FourBlock pivoted from in-person networking events to virtual workshops and training on remote interviews.
Maxwell Acker-DeOliveira was looking for a job after recovering from COVID-19 in California where he was visiting family in May. FourBlock helped him prepare for remote job interviews with Deloitte in June – a process that happened rather quickly.
“I’m a social creature,” said Acker-DeOliveira, explaining Zoom meetings presented an obstacle for him to get over.
The Marine sergeant had been used to leading a six-man sniper team for five years. His deployment concluded in March 2018.
“You kind of have to push through that wall,” he said, adding, “You either network or you stay on the bench at Deloitte.”
Acker-DeOliveira was hired at the Big Four accounting firm within the month as a technology services optimization consultant.
Abrams said hiring managers understand they can trust veterans to take the initiative while working remotely.
“They’re not going to just sit around and wait to be told what to do,” he said, continuing, “They’re going to kind of figure out what needs to get done and get it done.”
Abrams emphasized it’s “trust and resiliency,” experience gained through their military service, that makes veterans attractive hires in the pandemic.
Watch the video above for more on this story.
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Small Business Spotlight: Cindi Bigelow Shares Tips for Surging Online Sales as Retail Remains Sluggish
Posted by: Neil A. CaroussoBy Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — It’s no surprise online sales have surpassed retail sales given pandemic restrictions, but Bigelow Tea’s third-generation president and CEO Cindi Bigelow understands exactly how to grow her fan base.
“It’s very important that you build out each page for each product with as much as you can both from a visual perspective and a verbal perspective so that you have to make that product come alive,” said Bigelow on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
She calls this the “digital shelf,” likening it to a store shelf that should capture shoppers’ attention ideally at eye level.
“We have a team of individuals that literally work on the different places that we are on the web to examine every single page to make sure that page is maximized,” Bigelow said.
She told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso her world famous Bigelow Tea is very much in demand with online sales of some teas surging beyond 100 percent. But, the overall business is only up 6 percent while retail, restaurants, offices and universities are closed or limited 11 months after COVID-19 shut down large swaths of the U.S. economy.
“That’s a high hurdle to get over,” she said.
Bigelow’s manufacturing plant based in Fairfield, CT. She employs 400 workers at her family business with 300 employees in manufacturing who are required to be on-site with safety precautions in place. She expressed concern on WCBS 880 about small businesses that do not have the resources to invest in digital infrastructure.
“What about Main Street?” Bigelow asked with excitement, continuing, “Don’t you want your child to be able to work at the pizza shop down the street during their summers and being able to work at a shoe store?”
She explained she is sensitive to how local businesses have been stifled by the deadly virus and the lack of government relief, noting it could impact generations to come.
Those that are in operation, Bigelow said, need to pay close attention to consumer behavior and changing trends.
“We will listen to absolutely everybody,” she said, using a customer complaint about the lack of “peachiness” in one of her teas as an example. She noted that’s how they “identify what to do better.”
Bigelow’s motto is “the meanest taste bud wins,” meaning she will listen closely to those who offer criticisms to improve her products, which have been on store shelves for 75 years.
That’s one way she limits the echo chamber of “yes men” around her and a way to anticipate changing consumer preferences she applies to tea, but can apply to any industry.
See Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso’s conversation with Cindi Bigelow of Bigelow Tea on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight video above.
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Small Business Spotlight: Industry City Draws Scores of Weekend Shoppers, Positions Retail ‘Partners’ to Succeed
Posted by: Neil A. CaroussoBy Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Industry City has developed the holy grail of retailing by attracting 10,000 visitors each weekend – 75 percent of pre-pandemic volume – while investing in its tenants’ recovery.
The historic complex bills itself as “Brooklyn’s vibrant creative hub along the scenic waterfront of Sunset Park,” housing 550 local shops, restaurants and manufacturers – many of which have suffered steep losses. But, Industry City’s largely open-air space has allowed them to operate safely. About 40 percent of its tenants have reopened since the shutdown.
“They can safely come, hang out, have a drink, see some music, shop at Sahadi’s, shop at Japan Village, etc. and that’s really helped them considering the environment,” Industry City Director of Development Jim Somoza said on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
The complex owns its own streets and has sprawling outdoor dining space with large tents for inclement weather.
Somoza was part of the development team of Chelsea Market, starting in 2003, before embarking on Industry City’s vision of new-age retail-tainment featuring innovative local businesses that appeal to Brooklynites and tourists alike.
He told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso about several Industry City tenants, including a blacksmith that entices customers to the waterfront space.
“While they’re coming to see that, they’re also buying a drink at the Frying Pan, they are going to Standard Wormwood and Brooklyn Kura,” Somoza said, adding, “They bring people to the overall project.”
Industry City’s business plan revolves around the experience, which he describes as the “antidote to the Internet.” People are itching for an outlet and Somoza anticipates high post-pandemic demand.
“When we are doing our jobs well at I.C., we’re transporting people,” he said. “We’re taking you away.”
Shoppers can take blacksmith classes at Nazz Forge, savor chocolate as they watch it being made at Li-Lac Chocolates, and watch the Christophe Pourny Studio restore antique furniture on the other side of the glass. This connects consumers and producers on another level through an Epcot-like or Hershey Park adventure in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
It could be the model for business communities who will need to convince hardened online shoppers to shop local and in-person.
Businesses in Industry City have been set up to recover and succeed. Somoza told WCBS 880 he likes to think of their role as a “partner” to its tenants rather than a “landlord” – a word he avoids using.
“What we do is we support them,” he explained.
At the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, Industry City offered rent breaks, changed leases to percentage rent, and helped business owners navigate the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications and requirements.
“I think that’s a part of the reason, with one exception, every single one of our retailers has reopened,” said Somoza.
Small and mid-size businesses there feel they are nearing the finish line at the end of an arduous year, according to Somoza, who noted many are applying for the latest round of the PPP loan.
See keys for creating economic development to recover from the pandemic on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight video above.
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Small Business Spotlight: Retired Giant Tiki Barber Extends His run with Key Business Pivots
Posted by: Neil A. CaroussoBy Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Retired running back Tiki Barker is elusive and quick on the gridiron and in the boardroom.
Barber played ten seasons in the NFL with the New York Football Giants. Since retiring, he has followed his passion for business in which he earned his degree from the University of Virginia.
“What I learned, obviously from my football career but also my early business career, is that relationships are invaluable,” he told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight.
When the market crashed in 2008, the three-time Pro Bowler had to get out of an affordable housing partnership he entered with billionaire real estate developer Stephen Ross after he retired from the league in 2006. But, the relationship he formed and maintained with The Related Companies chairman and Miami Dolphins owner led to an opportunity years down the road when Ross invested in Thuzio – the events company Barber co-founded in 2012.
“How you manage those relationships are of paramount importance for things down stream,” Barber explained.
He finds it liberating to find new ways of doing business. That realization came when Thuzio was forced to make a halftime adjustment amid the coronavirus pandemic.
It moved online and hosted private virtual business talks with celebrity speakers, including “Shark Tank” star and FUBU founder Daymond John, retired New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott and executive chef Josh Capon. Barber and his partners later changed the business model to make all virtual events free because their presenting sponsors were willing to pay a premium for more viewers.
“More importantly, you want qualified eyes,” he said, adding, “You want to know who your audience is.”
The “Tiki & Tierney” co-host told WCBS 880 they create events for their sponsors to target specific business executives and groups who are likely potential clients. For example, sports betting operator DraftKings sponsored a Thuzio virtual talk with Barber and retired New York Mets captain David Wright.
“We have this aggregation of business executives who you specifically want to talk to and we’re bringing them together over a shared passion for sports or food or wine or business information,” Barber said of Thuzio’s appeal to sponsors.
The company hosts about 35 virtual events a month, which he said would be near impossible for them to pull off in-person. Thuzio grew from eight employees to 15 in the pandemic amid rising demand for content.
Barber’s business mindset has been shaped by his mentors and experiences in the NFL. The Giants great told Connolly and Carousso he was inspired by Jon Gruden’s motivational tactics. Gruden was the head coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where his twin brother Ronde Barber played cornerback and won a Super Bowl in 2002.
“We all have things that disrupt our lives,” Tiki said, noting the hardships suffered in the pandemic. “Sometimes, you have to get up and fight for yourself and fight forward for your country and as an individual. And, that’s essentially what (Gruden) was saying.”
Barber tries to portray positivity and enthusiasm among his employees, because, as Barber recalled Gruden’s message, “It’s not just for you, it’s for people who are around you.”
Football is a team sport and the ex-Giant used it as an analogy in business throughout the Small Business Spotlight conversation. Giving the play-by-play of his Giants team record 95-yard touchdown run against the Oakland Raiders on December 31, 2005, he emphasized the blocking by his teammates that catapulted him into the end zone that Saturday night.
“Understanding that it takes everyone even those who don’t show up on the big screen in order to be successful” is the mantra that guides Barber’s post-football career.
Watch Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso’s conversation with Tiki Barber on the Small Business Spotlight video above.
