This Has to Work

THTW Ep 15: Tyler Hatcher with Joonko- How to Start Building a Diverse and Inclusive Culture

In this episode of This Has to Work, Tyler Hatcher, Community Manager with Joonko joins the show to talk about the importance of diversity and inclusion in your organization. Tyler talks about some of the initial steps you can take to recognize and support more inclusivity and diversity, why positive change around D&I has been slow and how Joonko is using technology to help companies hire qualified and diverse candidates. 

TWTW Ep. 14: Tony Summerville- What it Really Takes to Scale your Startup

In this episode of This Has to Work, Tony Summerville, Founder and CEO of Fleetio joins us to talk about the critical things you need to do as a founder to help your company and team scale. He also talks about how culture plays a role in everything they do, why growing from $100k to $1m was actually harder than going from $1m to $10m, the ways he has changed as a leader during that time and why it's important to take time and reflect on your success.

It's an episode packed with first-hand experience from one the Southeast's most successful founders. Hit the play button now...

THTW Ep 13: Mike Goodrich- Social Impact Investing

In this episode of This Has to Work, learn what social impact investing is, the role it's beginning to play among mainstream investor and why you can expect to get market returns for those investments. Mike Goodrich joins the show to talk about what he's found in the impact investing space throughout the country and how more people, not just investors, can get involved.

THTW Ep 12: Martha Underwood

In this episode of This Has to Work, Martha Underwood, Head of Retail at BBVA Compass talks about what it takes to create meaningful corporate innovation, why intrapreneur is not a dirty word, how unnecessarily bad rental car customer experience is and that Chick-Fil-A might be one of the most innovative companies in any industry. All that and Martha's expertly chosen bumper music on this episode of This Has to Work!

THTW Ep:11 - Dr. Anthony Hood

How should universities support startups and local startup ecosystems? What will it take to create more collaboration between entrepreneurs and universities? When will we see more universities make an effort to create a "front door" for founders to walk through? All of these questions and more are answered on this episode of THTW with Dr. Anthony Hood, Director of Civic Innovation and tenured professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Hood is an entrepreneur, academic instructor, researcher, guest lecturer and community activist. He brings a truly holistic and unique perspective of the role universities should play when supporting their community's startups. 

THTW Ep 10: What Does Workforce Development Really Mean?

Most startups don't really think about economic development programs playing a role in their specific business success. However, as the demand for a more technical workforce outstrips the supply, they need to better understand the role played by workforce development programs. This week, we have Waymond Jackson from the Birmingham Business Alliance joining the program to talk about the role Workforce Development needs to play in our local business community. Hear how the BBA, City of Birmingham and other agencies are actively addressing skill development, employee pipelines and job readiness.

TWTW Ep. 9: Lauren Sturdivant- Are you willing to make the sacrifices?

On this episode of THTW, hear Lauren recount the sacrifices she's made to become a successful early-stage founder. She gave up a successful career, moved twice and navigated three kindergartens in one year for her daughter. How did she know it was worth the risk and would you have the same resolve? Download the episode now and decide for yourself...

THTW Ep 8: Conserv- Starting Slow to Move Quickly

On this episode of THTW, hear from Austin Senseman about their nearly year-long work to launch Conserv. Find out why they took their time with customer discovery and market analysis and how that led to almost instant success winning multiple startup competitions, landing angel investors and finding early customers quickly. Learn why their intentional efforts to move slowly ended up creating incredible velocity once they actually launched.

THTW Ep 7: Mission-Driven Entrepreneurship with Domestique Coffee

It's usually a sucker's bet to enter a market saturated with large international competitors. What happens when you do it anyway, using what those competitors do poorly to create a company and brand to compete on a whole different playing field? Tune in to hear how Nathan Pocus, founder of Domestique envisioned the "craft" coffee movement and what strategic moves they've made to play a big role in its development.

THTW Ep 6: Doctor Wellington

You get sick, you call your doctor for an appointment, two days later you're still sick and now sitting in a waiting room for 30 minutes past your scheduled appointment. Doctor sees you for 90 seconds, takes a few tests and sends you to the front desk to pay your $40 copay. Now, imagine if you could do all of this from your bed, have no co-pays or deductibles and get it all for $49 a month. Listen to this week's episode to hear how Doctor Wellington is delivering telemedicine and clinic-based primary care for only $49 per month. Find out how DW cracked the code and is disrupting a broken primary care system.