PUBLISHERS’ NOTE
The Florida Small Business Development
Center at IRSC recently attended and worked
the 10th Annual Jim Moran Institute Small
Business Leadership Conference in Orlando. We
attended the conference to hear exceptional
speakers who discussed timely and important
topics such as: design thinking, leadership
skills, an intergenerational workforce, digital
markets and surviving an economic crisis.
The conference also featured a number
of motivational and inspirational speakers,
including Army veteran Matthew “Griff” Griffin,
co-founder and CEO of Combat Flip Flops, who
kicked off the conference with a presentation
on value-based leadership.
Through his experience at the U.S. Military
Academy at West Point, special operations,
combat, business and Shark Tank, he provided
insights on how to train and translate values as
a business leader.
Amanda Brinkman spoke about the importance
of communicating with customers. She is
the creator, producer and host of the hit series
Small Business Revolution, which streams on
Hulu and Prime Video. Now in the sixth season,
Brinkman and her team revitalize a different
community’s main street through makeovers.
And finally, a session entitled Celebrating Failure — Realizing the Silver Lining in Small Business
Fails celebrated failure as a mark of leadership and innovation in pushing the boundaries of what
is possible and profitable. This session provided great value in examining mistakes and learning
from failure as leaders move beyond the simple and easy.
It took being around smarter and savvier business people to learn and understand a simple but
powerful concept in business — While most time is spent working in the business, some time
must be spent working on the business. It is understandable that time is valuable and that the
majority of that time needs to be spent working in the business — managing those critical dayto
day operations.
However, it is also important that a business owner and manager take some time to work on the
business by attending seminars or workshops and networking with other business professionals.
This time is where new ideas, innovation and best practices are discussed, shared and learned.
In a previous issue of Treasure Coast Business magazine, the editor’s letter discussed conducting
a strategic planning session for one’s business — this important and valuable exercise of strategic
planning is a great example of working on the business. It stressed using assistance and training
resources across the Treasure Coast to develop and deploy programs.
From strategic planning and capstone courses to student interns and financial management
training, IRSC, its school of business and the Florida SBDC at IRSC are ready to create innovative
programs that allow the business owner to dedicate specific time to work on the business.
And if you would like to listen to some of the conference’s presentations, you can find them on
Small Biz Florida, the podcast that is all things business across the state.
For more information on how the college and the Florida SBDC at IRSC can help you work on
the business, send an email to fsbdc@irsc.edu or call Katie Muldoon at 772.336.6285.
2 TCBusiness.com
Gregory Enns, Publisher
772.940.9005 or enns@indianrivermag.com
Tom Kindred Jr., Florida SBDC at IRSC
772.462.7087 or tkindred@irsc.edu
Publisher & Editor
Gregory Enns
772.940.9005
enns@indianrivermag.com
Florida SBDC at IRSC
Tom Kindred Jr.
772.708.3673
tkindred@irsc.edu
Associate Publisher
Allen Osteen
Associate Publisher
Kim Capen
772.634.1771
kim@indianrivermag.com
Assistant to the Publisher
Lauren Shott
772.672.9859
lauren@indianrivermag.com
Associate Editor
Judith Collins
Design Editor
Michelle Moore-Burney
Copy Editors
Pattie Durham, Gaettane A. Paul
Digital Media Coordinator
Jacqueline Kenney
Contributing Writers
Nancy Dahlberg, Pattie Durham
Gerri Detweiler, Tom Kindred,
Robert Lane, Michael P. Schneider,
Suzanne Seldes, Anthony Westbury,
Bernie Woodall
Photographers
Molly Bartels, Ellen Gillette,
Colin Hackley, Anthony Inswasty
Advertising Representatives
Ellen Contreras
772.925.4557
ellen@indianrivermag.com
Sunny Gates
772.204.5043
sunny@indianrivermag.com
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Wes Holloway, Kirk Jones
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LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE STRESSES IMPORTANT
CONCEPT OF WORKING ON THE BUSINESS
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Army veteran Matthew “Griff” Griffin discusses his
product, Combat Flip Flops, and value-based leadership
during a Small Biz Florida podcast at the recent JMI
Small Business Leadership Conference in Orlando.
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