Serial Boardgamer, Beer Drinker, Stauntonian, Director, Investor, Founder. &nbsp; These are all words that describe Nick Walge, Director of Capital for the Staunton Creative Community Fundand founding member of the nonprofit organization Bike Box of the Blue Ridge.&nbsp; Nick comes from a line of entrepreneurs. It all started with his great-grandfather, an Estonian immigrant, who opened his own Estonian restaurant in Philadelphia without knowing a “lick of english”. Nick’s grandfather found his way to Virginia, where he began Southern Electric Corporation in Staunton. This is where Nick’s story begins.&nbsp; Inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit running in his genes, Nick graduated high school in Staunton with dreams and ideas too big for his small, hometown community. This drive sent Nick to college at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, with plans of never coming back. Of course, this was not the case. During his five years attending college in Burlington, Nick was moved by the community’s dedication to supporting local business. He even saw a McDonald’s put out of business in favor of local restaurants - an incredible feat. The Burlington community was inspiring but Staunton never left his mind.&nbsp; Every college break found Nick back home in Staunton, where he noticed new local businesses popping up at every visit. Coinciding with his 21st birthday, bars even began carrying local beer! Staunton was slowly growing into a vibrant, creative community full of entrepreneurs, just like his grandfather and great-grandfather.&nbsp;&nbsp; When an opportunity came for Nick to transition to San Francisco, a family health issue kept him in Staunton instead. As he stuck around to support his family, Nick began to really notice how many things were happening on the ground floor in Staunton. Tourists started appearing and more and more small businesses were sprouting up. One day, a local bakery called Newtown Baking opened up on Beverley Street. Who was behind it? None other than Nick’s high school english teacher who wrote his letter of recommendation for college.&nbsp; Nick started getting to know other small business owners and from there was introduced to the Staunton Creative Community Fund (SCCF). When an opportunity to apply for a position with the SCCF came up, Nick immediately took action.&nbsp; The vision for the SCCF is to serve entrepreneurs and small business owners in Staunton and the adjoining counties. Nick’s job is to help provide support, counseling and resources for startups and existing businesses that need a push in the right direction.&nbsp; His advice for Founders, especially young Founders, is to invest in your community but most importantly, “learn to invest in yourself”. Trust your instincts, trust yourself and know why you are the person for the job. Nick trusted his gut by staying in Staunton and rose to this position as Director of Capital by proving his mission and worth to the community. Be prepared with a mission for success and take advantage of valuable resources like the SCCF.&nbsp; Remember, succeeding in small business takes a village, or in this case, a community. Invest in your community and through this, learn to invest in yourself.&nbsp; By the way, Nick has only seen a McDonald’s put out of business twice, once in Burlington, Vermont and once in Staunton, Virginia.&nbsp; For small businesses or entrepreneurs wishing to reach out to Nick, email him at nick@stauntonfund.org&nbsp; Support the SCCF by donating todayand get involved in the community by attending Invest Local community events and classes.&nbsp; Connect: FounderBy30.com The Chiedo Companies Twitter @chiedo &nbsp; Credits: Intro music by Josh Simmons

19 -  Investors Invest In You. Not Just Your Idea.: with Nick Walge

In this episode, our topic is Working Towards Your Dreams. Our guest draws on his own life experiences to provide us some valuable advice for working towards your dreams and never losing sight of your mission.&nbsp; Our Guest Our guest today is Stefan Peierls, co-founder and Executive Director of Passion Impact, an organization whose mission is to “empower students to chase their passions through community service”.&nbsp; Listen to the interview on iTunes or wherever podcasts are available. Continue reading for 5&nbsp;pieces of advice from Stefan for working towards your own dreams.&nbsp; 1. Find Your Passion and Learn to Shape It Into Your Career Don’t waste your time and resources on a career that is meaningless to you or unfulfilling. If your passion doesn’t directly translate to a career, get creative and carve your own path. You may have to do some searching within yourself to find what you are most passionate about. This process may take time. Be tenacious. Don’t feel guilty if your passions aren’t immediately clear, take the time to get to know yourself, your strengths and weaknesses.&nbsp; 2. Be Adaptable, Be Humble, Be Patient Working towards your dreams means preparing yourself for the inevitable bumps in the road. Early on, come to terms with the fact that you will run into any number of unforeseeable problems. In some cases, the problems may cause you to completely change strategy. Don’t panic and do not give up, life happens and it is out of your control. Use each failure as an opportunity to really think about what you want to accomplish. Visualize your end goals and find new ways to reach them. Learn patience by accepting that you will not always know what to do but you will find the answer if you keep searching.&nbsp; 3. Start Small, Celebrate Each Success The obvious first step towards achieving your dreams is to dream big. Big dreams, however, comprise lots and lots of little steps. Some of these steps may be tedious and frustrating, some may throw you off course. In order to stay focused through the tedium, celebrate the completion of each step as a success. This will keep you both focused and motivated to keep pushing forward when things are tough.&nbsp; 4. Never Stray Too Far From Your Dream The process of working towards your dreams is long and arduous. Like Stefan, you will probably go through times where you want to give up. During these difficult moments, remind yourself why you decided to work towards your dreams. For Stefan, this meant a long bike ride through Portland after a tough and discouraging week. The ride reminded him how much he loved travel and adventure and gave him the momentum to keep pushing forward.&nbsp; 5. Don’t Take On Everything Alone Once you have established your plan, goals and mission, you will be left feeling ready to take on everything, but don’t try to do it alone. It takes a village to achieve a dream and you must be prepared to lead the village but also to delegate tasks. Be patient and put your faith and trust in others to help you succeed. Having a strong team behind you will also motivate you to keep pushing forward when things seem bleak.&nbsp; Conclusion Choosing to work towards your dreams is a long, challenging road but the reward is gaining the privilege to pursue your passions and shape your own career. In order to succeed, learn the virtues of patience, humbleness and adaptability. Be strong and tenacious. Put your faith in others and most importantly, don’t lose sight of the reason you started this journey in the first place.&nbsp; &nbsp; Connect: FounderBy30.com The Chiedo Companies Twitter @chiedo &nbsp; Credits: Intro music by Josh Simmons

20 - Start Working Towards Your Dreams: with Stefan Peierls

Our Guest Our guest today is Wes Dove, co-owner and founder of Dove Development &amp; Consulting, the leading authority in personal and organizational development in the central Shenandoah Valley.&nbsp; Listen to the interview on iTunes or wherever podcasts are available. Continue reading for 4 pieces of advice from Wes on developing a habit of learning.   1.&nbsp;Seek out Multiple Mentors Traditional education isn’t always a necessary step on the path to success. Wes Dove has little formal education but was able accomplish all he has by seeking out mentors and hands-on learning opportunities. In order to find the right mentors, take the time to study your peers and superiors. Choose people that are in a position that you would like to see yourself in.&nbsp; Diversify your mentors by choosing people in different fields related to your areas of study. For example, if you are interested in developing leadership skills, it would be wise to choose mentors in the areas of Human Resources, Communications and Personnel Development. This approach will give you the most well-rounded education as well as foster relationships with people from many different professional backgrounds.&nbsp; 2. Ask Lots of Questions If you are privileged enough to find yourself under the guidance of one or more mentors, don’t waste the opportunity to ask questions! Asking questions is they key to shaping your own education, so be thoughtful and deliberate about the questions you ask. Never stop asking as you learn and grow, there is always room for knowledge.&nbsp; 3. Be Intentional About Applying What You Learn Information is often easy to absorb but what good does it do if you don’t implement? Nothing brings joy to learning quite like applying lessons to your life and career.&nbsp; In the workplace, set daily, weekly and monthly learning goals for yourself and integrate what you learn into how you work. Continue your quest for knowledge through doing and pay close attention to the outcome of your actions. Never make the assumption that you are done learning and growing personally or professionally.&nbsp; 4. Learn at Each Opportunity Opportunities to learn and grow are all around you. Treat the act of living as a learning experience by always asking questions, keeping an open mind, accepting challenges and growing from failure. Accept that the learning process will sometimes involve doing things you don’t enjoy. In these cases, it is important to understand the value in something and if possible, search for ways to make it enjoyable. If you don’t like to read, for example, search for podcasts or audiobooks and listen while doing chores or commuting to work. You may surprise yourself with the value you get out of them!&nbsp; Chiedo himself is a recently reformed reader and even wrote a blog on some of his favorite books for entrepreneurs!&nbsp; Conclusion&nbsp; Learning is a never-ending process and should be treated as such. In order to get in the habit of learning, seek out mentors and get the most of them by asking lots of questions. Apply the lessons you learn, set goals and always find new opportunities for growth.&nbsp; &nbsp; Connect: FounderBy30.com The Chiedo Companies Twitter @chiedo &nbsp; Credits: Intro music by Josh Simmons

21 - Develop A Habit Of Learning: with Wes Dove

Our Guest&nbsp; Our guest today is Jacob James, speaker at JacobJames.com (website coming soon!) and Founder of College Success Lab (website coming soon!).&nbsp; Listen to the interview on iTunes or wherever podcasts are available. Continue reading for 4&nbsp;pieces of advice on helping yourself find success through helping others.&nbsp; 1. Begin with the End in Mind The journey to success starts by visualizing your end goal and using your time and resources to work towards that goal. Imagine what impact you want to make on the world and work backwards, developing a plan for how you are going to get there. Your end goal may not always be clear to you, which is why it is important to self-reflect and find the big ideas and causes that are meaningful to you. Once you have found your cause, find the tangible goals within that cause. If you are like Jacob and your cause is “helping people”, make choices in your education and career that put you on this path. For Jacob this meant a degree in philosophy, which gave him a better understanding of how people think. This knowledge ultimately led to his success in creating a business that helps others understand their own goals by better understanding themselves. If you are feeling stuck take this advice to heart,“You don’t have to know what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. You need to figure out what you’re going to do next”.&nbsp; 2. Start Yesterday Success is a long journey, so the sooner you start, the better. View each day as a stepping stone on a long path and use every step wisely. Don’t waste time by toiling over how difficult your journey might be, use your time to push yourself in the right direction. Dreaming about success is a big part of the process, but dreams don’t become reality without putting them into action. Remember, you are only waiting on yourself. As Jacob says, “Don’t wait until you feel ready. Start now and feeling ready will come from taking action.”&nbsp; 3. Decide What You Want to Fight For A part of being successful is understanding your limits and choosing your battles. Providing value to others is a big part of being a successful person, but attempting to help everyone is unrealistic. Part of finding your cause is finding the people who will be affected by your efforts. Get to know the community you will be working with and tailor your plan to fit the specific needs of that community. If you are like Jacob and want to help college students and young entrepreneurs, spend time really getting to know them and help by listening to their specific needs and values. Learning how to effectively identify and solve distinct problems is an extremely valuable skill and will entice others to seek out your services.&nbsp; 4. Listen to Your Mentors and Give Back Most successful people will tell you that finding the right mentors is a very important step in achieving success. Look for the right mentors by finding people that are in the position you would like to be in one day. Listen to how they got there, take their advice and offer something back. Mentors are people you should be very grateful towards and this should be expressed through mutual service. Offer value to your mentors and you will receive value in turn.&nbsp; These four pieces of advice provide insight into the importance of self-reflection, planning, determination and reciprocity as tools for success. In order to become a realized and truly successful individual, find your cause and the community you want to serve and serve them to the best of your ability. When it comes to success, you will reap what you sow.&nbsp; For aspiring entrepreneurs, check out Fizzle for important advice on what it takes to get your business off the ground.&nbsp; &nbsp; Connect With Us! Website Twitter Instagram Facebook YouTube The Chiedo Companies

22 - Help Yourself Succeed Through Helping Others: with Jacob James

Our guest today is Jordan Scheltgen. Jordan is the founder of Cave Social, a content marketing agency specializing in creating digital content to facilitate strong relationships between businesses and their customers. Jordan is also co-host of the In The Cave YouTube series and the “Mind Your Marketing” podcast.&nbsp; Listen to the interview on iTunes or wherever podcasts are available. Continue reading for Jordan’s advice on growing professionally from freelancer to entrepreneur.&nbsp; Start. Right. Now.&nbsp; Jordan’s first and most important piece of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is simple, start now. “The lights are never all going to be green”, says Jordan, “if you want to do something, you have to put your foot on the gas”.&nbsp; This advice may seem cliche, but it is significant and should be taken seriously. Life is short and becoming a serious entrepreneur is a major life choice, not to mention, extremely time consuming. If you have the entrepreneurial spirit, put it to good use, right now.&nbsp; Waiting on your ideas opens opportunities for self-doubt and naysayers to try and convince you otherwise. If you do nothing but talk about your ideas instead of acting on them, you are allowing opportunity for people to try and dissuade you from taking the next step. Most likely, naysayers will try and keep you from pursuing your ideas because they never pursued their own. This means that they are likely advising you with incomplete information. If you believe that your ideas are good enough, you will find a way to make things work. Negative thinking and incomplete information are discouraging and invaluable. If you want to do something, you will find a way to make it work, don’t let other people’s opinions dissuade you.&nbsp; Don’t Dwell On The Details Becoming a successful entrepreneur involves taking a lot of steps. Some of these steps will be fun, like creating your brand. Although this phase is important, don’t waste valuable time by spending an hour choosing your logo. Details like this can and will change over time. Instead, focus your attention on the tough stuff, like setting up your company bank accounts. Becoming a successful entrepreneur is rewarding but be prepared to put time into lots of tasks that are frustrating and difficult. Focus your energy into the big picture and come back to the fun details later.&nbsp; Start Small and Grow Slowly As previously mentioned, becoming an entrepreneur is a long, slow, tedious process. If your goal is to make as much money as possible in the next few years, do not become an entrepreneur. In the beginning, you will be working a ton and making very little money. As your business grows, your plan should be to slowly bring on more team members as you gain resources. Gaining enough income to hire more people may result in working 60-70 hour work weeks by yourself. This comes with the territory, so be prepared.&nbsp; Don’t jump the gun and hire before you have the resources.Be transparent with prospective employees about how much work is available and how much you are able to afford in salary. Lack of transparency will result in unhappy employees that you may need to lay off. This is not a company culture you want to facilitate, especially in the early stages of your business.&nbsp; From Freelancer to Entrepreneur According to Jordan, “a lot of people are freelancers running around saying they are entrepreneurs”. If your goal is to become a true entrepreneur, it is very important to know this distinction. Freelancing is likely something you will be doing in the early phases of growing your business. Working as a freelancer makes practical sense to keep you afloat before your business becomes profitable. However, the difference between a freelancer and an entrepreneur is the ability for your business to function without your constant, active participation. In order to consider yourself a true entrepreneur, you should be able to take two weeks...

23 - From Freelancer to Founder; Deciding if Entrepreneurship is Right For You: with Jordan Scheltgen

Our guest today is Seth Marsh, born and raised right here in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Seth wears many hats: entrepreneur, sales representative, web developer and founder of his own company. A self-described “big idea guy”, Seth uses all of his creative energy with one goal in mind, growing his business by working for people.&nbsp; Seth is the Founder of CUED-In, a web-based platform designed to help students make more informed decisions about their future careers and higher education. CUED-In is an app based software that connects high school and college students to resources designed to guide them on the path from public school to a successful career.&nbsp; The idea for CUED-In started taking form when Seth was working for JMU. During his time working for the university, Seth realized how uninformed many students were about cost of tuition of even where their college education was leading them. Excited for an opportunity to put his skills to use helping others, Seth started laying out a plan. While working on getting CUED-In off the ground, Seth got connected to a company called Seadev. Seadev, among other things, is a web and app development company based out of Danang, Vietnam. Seth was brought on with the company as a sales representative to expand their market in America. In exchange for Seth’s work expanding Seadev, the company aided Seth in developing the CUED-In app.&nbsp; Helping yourself by working for others is a recurring theme in Seth’s career and an idea that drives him to work so hard helping others get their careers off the ground. Without the opportunity to connect with Seadev, Seth may not have been able to turn his idea for CUED-In into a reality. In order to get your own business ideas off the ground, follow Seth’s advice and seek out professional connections and mentors that will push you to the next level. As Seth says,“Without encouraging words [finding success] is like walking up a steep mountain by yourself”. The main idea that drives Seth’s work is helping others. But how does he know how to help others in a way that is beneficial for both business and consumer? Three words: market research, market research, market research. In Seth’s own words, “look at what your customers really need before you build it”. To really achieve lasting success, you need to be willing to put in the time it takes to thoroughly get to know your customer base. This is a lot of work that will be best achieved by seeking out help. Help yourself by taking a hard look at your own strengths and weaknesses. Seek help in your weak areas by finding a partner that compliments your weaknesses with strength. Help others by learning as much as you can about their needs and how to best fill them. Understand that over time your market might change as will the needs of your customers, so stay on top of your research.&nbsp; Expanding your business and becoming a Founder means you will never stop working and growing. Seth’s work is an example of how important it is to understand that in order to work for yourself, you must be willing and able to work for others with the goal of long-term mutual benefit. Make sure to start with a solid business plan and clear goals but be willing to adapt and change along the way.&nbsp; For further reading, Seth recommends the book, “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries.&nbsp; Connect With Us! Website Twitter Instagram Facebook  YouTube The Chiedo Companies &nbsp; Credits: Intro music by Josh Simmons

24 - Grow Your Own Business By Working For Others: with Seth Marsh

“It all started with a dream…” Our very special guest today is Leons Kabongo, Activities and Programming Coordinator for Our Community Place (OCP) right here in Harrisonburg.&nbsp; Listen to the interview on iTunes or wherever podcasts are available. Keep reading for Leons’ incredible story.&nbsp; Just by listening to his interview, it is clear that Leons is a very special and selfless person. Hearing his story is humbling, as Leons is a person who refuses to give up hope and turn his back on others in even the most difficult and discouraging circumstances.&nbsp; Leons migrated with his family to the United States in 2004, after spending his childhood in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2004, Leons and his family left the Congo to seek asylum and “chase the dream of safety” in America. Leons’ story is an american dream come true but not before overcoming considerable adversity.&nbsp; Leons attended college in West Virginia at WVU where he earned a Master’s degree in Agriculture with a focus on Community Development. After completing his thesis on proving the importance of cultural diversity in provisional farming. Leons thesis stressed the importance of sustainable farming techniques practiced in Africa, where the ground was “worshipped” instead of “beaten”, like in much of harmful American agriculture. Completing and defending his thesis led Leons to a job offer through WVU as a representative of small farmers in Jackson’s Mill, West Virginia. Connected with WVU, Leons started his nonprofit sustainable farming project, only to find out that the area was simply not prepared for his innovative farming program. Due to lack of understanding from the community and limitation of resources, Leons was forced to give up the job. Never one to easily give up, Leons continued his farming project and moved it to Oak Hill in Fayette County, West Virginia.&nbsp; In Oak Hill, Leons found his place in the community by using his project as a means to help people in the community that were marginalized due to opioid addiction. Leons set to work trying to empower these marginalized community members to find success and empowerment through small farming. Once again, the project was unsuccessful, this time due to Leons’ misunderstanding of the power of opioid addiction and it’s devastating effect on the mental health of the community he was trying to help. A series of events led to Leons being booted out of the Oak Hill community he was trying to heal. Leons was forced to relocate once more, this time to Harrisonburg, Virginia.&nbsp; By Christmas of 2016, Leons had moved to Harrisonburg to be close to his mother and to find a fresh start. The move gave Leons a chance to rejuvenate himself and clear his mind so he could think more clearly about the future instead of allowing himself to be consumed with thoughts of failure. His dream had failed but he was nowhere near ready to give up, “I’ve always had this fire in me” he says, “this belief that I was put on Earth for a reason”. Instead of feeling weighed down by challenge, he uses it as opportunity to find his answer to the question, “why am I here?”&nbsp; One year after moving to Harrisonburg discouraged and let down, Leons has found the reason he is here. Leons put his expertise and passion to good use by serving as Activities and Programming Coordinator at OCP, a local nonprofit with a mission of “trying to revive the hopes and spirits of those marginalized in Harrisonburg”.&nbsp; Leons has been through so much challenge but he remains so positive and optimistic about the future, “as challenging as the outside may seem, inside I am always at peace”. He is able to retain peace in the most challenging spaces by continuously asking himself one question, “Can you look at failure and success as a journey instead of an outcome?”&nbsp; When asked if he could go back in time and do it all over again, he said he would. Leons is of the...

25 - See Success and Failure as a Journey, Not an Outcome: with Leons Kabongo

Chiedo interviews passionately curious leaders, founders, and creators.

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