Montecito Bank & Trust's Community Reinvestment Act Officer & Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager and Community Reinvestment Managr, Sykes joined Montecito Bank & Trust as Chief Risk Officer in 2009. Laurel is responsible for consumer compliance, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) /Anti-Money Laundering (AML), fraud prevention, information security, vendor management, business continuity planning, and overall enterprise risk management and regulatory affairs. She is the Bank’s Community Reinvestment Act Officer and shares the role of Board-appointed Information Security Officer. Sykes has more than 25 years of experience in financial services and risk management. Also, Caleigh Hernandez, founder of RoHo, maker of gorgeous shoes that make a difference. A veritable shoe fanatic, Caleigh says her first words were “new shoes”. She’s rocked everything from Barney slippers to pink cowboy boots, but it was her passion for social change that led her to develop RoHo.

After graduating cum laude from Northwestern University, Caleigh accepted a Princeton in Africa fellowship to work for the International Rescue Committee in Tanzania and Kenya. While attending the 2015 Clinton Global Initiative University Conference, she was named a Resolution Fellow for RoHo, which awarded her seed money and mentorship

Laurel Skyes & Caleigh Hernandez

John Greathouse – serial entrepreneur turned Investor -is now a UCSB business Professor. John is a prolific author who regularly publishes in Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Inc. and Business Insider. Greathouse is a CPA and holds an M.B.A. from Wharton School of Business. As a partner in a venture capital firm, John invests in early stage web-based businesses. John co-founded RevUpNet, an online marketing firm. An avid music fan, John managed the successful pop band The Tearaways.

Ask John #23 'Long Ball' negotiating strategies

Brandon Cox, co-founder Core Power Yoga, Impact Hub Santa Barbara, and Orange Therapy Fitness. Brandon’s work experience is in startups. He feels this critical stage of a business ‘is where the most excitement and opportunity exist’. His early professional contributions were in the tech industry. Yoga was how Brandon managed his health and in 2002 he cofounded CorePower Yoga. Now with over 170 studios around the country, it is the largest chain of yoga studios nationwide. Most recently, Brandon co-founded Impact Hub Santa Barbara, Orange Theory Fitness Goleta and he just broke ground on another CorePower Yoga studio in La Cumbre areas. Also, BBQ food truck owner/caterer, Neighbor Tim’s BBQ specializes in slow-smoked Texas Style Brisket and Carolina Pork Shoulder; using a custom-made Texas Style offset smoker. This company is part of the popular – and quickly growing – Food Truck industry.

EP #31 Brandon Cox, co-founder Core Power Yoga; plus food truck owner, Neighbor Tim

Ask John #23 Why join coworking?

Founder Sol Wave Water, locally owned and operated, is a one stop shop for all water treatment needs: commercial water softening, residential water softening, drinking water systems, salt-free systems, bottled water, salt delivery, water testing, well water, medical, and industrial. Products are locally tested before brought to market. No job is too small or too big to receive their full attentionBob Vitamante is a local business consultant who is also a volunteer mentor with SCORE, the SBA resource dedicated to helping small businesses through free mentoring, workshops and online tools. As SCORE’s past Santa Barbara chapter Chairman, he’s very familiar with the local business landscape, he has solid advice to share with any budding entrepreneur or business leader.

As background Bob is a Santa Barbara based consultant and coach who is passionate about helping clients solve challenges in sales, staffing and finance by fully aligning communications, systems and people. Bob earned deep business perspectives through a career that has included roles as executive officer, CFO and President for private and publicly traded businesses such as Select Temporaries, Pinkerton’s, Olsten Personnel Services, and Columbia Pictures, and as a CPA. Through those roles and the many companies he helped acquire, he formed a ‘ground floor’ understanding of how businesses operate, the challenges they face, and the many ways to succeed. Philosophically, Bob sees the business world as a critical channel for most people to develop personally and as a community. Bob is considered an industry expert in business services, staffing, HR and entertainment, multi-office growth and acquisitions. His personal talent is his ability to quickly evaluate operations and the financial results to resolve obstacles and increase the bottom line.

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