#16 Marjorie Perry + Ramon Ray + Al Blake + Alex Hamilton - A Few Things - 58 Min

We discussed a number of things including: 1. Ways that businesses and new startups can survive 2. Best practices for entrepreneurs and small business owners 3. Role of academia, government and nonprofit sectors Panelists: Marjorie Perry is President and CEO of MZM Construction Management Co. She is widely recognized as an innovator, public speaker, writer and role model for women and minorities in business. Using 26 years of experience as fodder for inspiration, Perry finds her mission to be one who motivates nascent entrepreneurs to develop and pursue their dreams by sharing the lessons she has learned from her own success, which often meant taking life's lemons and making lemonade. Trained as an educator , Perry’s path in teaching was diverted after she was caught in a series of layoffs. In a fortuitous career move, she decided to try her luck in sales and marketing—which turned out to be an unexpected perfect fit. She went on to work for corporations, ultimately cultivating a burgeoning vision for life as a passionate, self-made entrepreneur. Ramon Ray is an entrepreneur, author and speaker who loves burnt pancakes and bacon on the weekends. He's the founder of Smart Hustle Media, has started four companies and sold two. Ramon has authored four books and his latest book is "Celebrity CEO - How Entrepreneurs Can Thrive By Building a Strong Personal Brand." Ramon has been invited as an expert witness to the United States Congress, invited to speak at the White House on personal branding. He's interviewed President Obama in the President's first live video chat and was with Ivanka Trump at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India. Get to know Ramon better at http://www.ramonray.com. Alfred E. Blake IV is the Assistant Director of Entrepreneurship Programs at Rutgers Business School. He is excited about anything that deals with entrepreneurship and innovation. He is the author of The Students Handbook To Breaking All The Rules, a Huffington Post/Elite Daily Contributor and the founder of Rule Breaker University - a company focused on helping students to break rules to break records in life. Even with the aforementioned accomplishments, the one he is most proud of is being the father of Skylar Jaelle Blake. Alex Hamilton - After over 10 years in the restaurant business as both a manager and a senior buyer as well as 12 years of success as a GM of marketing in the music industry, Alex chose to become an entrepreneur. Serving as the former CEO of media startup Vipeline Inc., Alex went on to become a patented inventor. He is currently an elected member of the Jersey City Board of Education and partner at Quintrix where he serves as the Director of Talent Management. Quintrix is a startup that focuses on IT training for entry level candidates fresh out of college and helps them complete “last mile training”. This unique approach ensures all candidates obtain cost free training, IT industry certification and a guaranteed job interview with an interested client of Quintrix.