Starting Small Summit: Stories of Entrepreneurship Contributors

Joseph William Foster (Joe Foster) was born in 1935 in Bolton England with the same birthday 18th May, as his grandfather, also Joseph William Foster who had died 18 months earlier. Joe’s grandfather was the founder of J W Foster & Sons (Athletic Shoes) Ltd and the inventor of the Spiked Running Shoe and the Trainer (Sneaker). Joe and his late brother Jeff were born into the J W Foster & family business, but on their return after 2 years away from home on National Service, they asked questions. The year was 1955 and the brothers saw a business still rooted in the 1930’s. Their Father and Uncle were now operating the business and very much like another Sports Shoe company, spent more time feuding than collaborating. The result was that in 1958 Joe and Jeff left the Foster business to set up a new Sports Shoe company. The brothers founded Mercury Sports Footwear, which after 18 months they changed its name to REEBOK. Joe had been advised to protect their company’s name by registering it. By 1965, Joe was on his way to the NSGA (National Sporting Goods of America) Show in Chicago, which was the start of many Global adventures and experiences that after 15 years brought him together with Paul Fireman and later many Stars of film and television. As the surviving Founder of Reebok, Joe still welcomes the opportunity to travel and recount those early stories from start-up to taking the company to a $4 billion business, overtaking Adidas & Nike to become the Worlds No. 1 sports brand.

Stacy Madison is the Founder of Stacy’s Pita Chips which sold to Pepsi in 2006. Her latest venture is BeBOLD bars, a nutbutter bar with high end nuts, oats, chia, chocolate chips, maple and wildflower honey – nothing processed and no powders, just simple ingredients that they Mix, Press and Pack. They are delicious!  BeBOLDbars.com After selling Stacy’s she traveled Europe and Asia with her twin daughters and returned to launch her own Juicebar where the bars were a top seller. With the help of her brother, they figured out how to produce them in larger quantity and start distribution to stores; however, a month after launching the pandemic hit. She believes that experience and being no stranger to tragedy, equips entrepreneurs with problem-solving skills and the pandemic is unfortunately, a true test of survivors in the food business. She lives in Massachusetts, is involved with numerous philanthropic organizations and loves to ski, hike, travel, exercise, cook and EAT!

A world-renowned oral health expert and specialist in aesthetic and functional dentistry in practice for 35+ years, Dr. Levine offers a comprehensive approach to dentistry, intersecting beauty, function, and health. Delivering comprehensive patient care using the latest digital smile design technology, he leads his teams to be on the cutting-edge of oral health. Dr. Levine is a visionary inventor, entrepreneur, clinical researcher, educator, and author. He is dedicated to revolutionizing the oral care and dental aesthetics industries through innovation and expertise. With 27 patents to date, Dr. Levine continues to up the ante with new innovations in esthetics, therapeutics, and medical devices technologies. A national key opinion leader in oral health, and Chairman and Founder of his current company, GLO Science, Dr. Levine is also an advisor to several new start-ups in dentistry as he strongly believes that science and business are inextricably linked together. As a mentor to the next generation of dentists, he is the former Program Director of the Advanced Aesthetics Program in Dentistry and Associate Professor at the NYU School of Dentistry, Dr. Levine has set up two scholarships, the Levine Scholarship at Cornell University for biology majors to have a minor in business to prepare them for the real world, and a scholarship at Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine for students to understand the oral health needs not just in our own backyard. As Chairman of the Dean’s Advisory board for three years and a member of the board today, Dr. Levine was the keynote speaker at the Goldman School Graduation in 2017 highlighting his core belief that “dentistry is an exciting platform for the graduates and the sky is the limit, dream big...”. Dedicated to extending his professional services to humanitarian efforts, along with his wife Stacey and his two sons Julian and Cody, Dr. Levine has established the GLO Good Foundation, which supports oral health initiatives in underserved populations around the world. GLO Good has partnered with Help USA, Foundation Rwanda, Health Corps, Harlem Children’s Zone, LA Cares and Lenny Kravitz’s Let Love Rule Foundations to provide access to medical and dental care and oral health education. As a noted authority on the latest in oral care and aesthetics, Dr. Levine is frequently consulted by media and beauty industry outlets to provide oral care tips, dental advice, and aesthetic insight. He has appeared on several national television networks and shows, including CNN, Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show as a regular expert, The View, and more. As an authoritative source in smile health and beauty, he is frequently quoted in top national print publications, including InStyle, Marie Claire, Men's Health, People Stylewatch, Self, The New York Times, and USA Today. Dr. Levine is a member of the American Academy of Prosthodontics. In addition, he serves on the Board of Advisors for Boston University’s Goldman School of Dentistry. Dr. Levine is also the author of "Smile Design Integrating Aesthetics and Function and Smile!" and for the consumer, "The Ultimate Guide to Achieving Smile Beauty" and has contributed to several prominent publications

Senior at Bethel University, Cameron has grown an extensive network through building a platform to connect existing and renowned entrepreneurs with his growing audience. In 2017 and a senior in high school at the time, Cameron sent an email to Chuck Surack, CEO and Founder of Sweetwater, a $3 billion+ music retail empire. A curious student in class, Cameron was fascinated with the growth and operations behind the corporation, leading him to ask a simple question to Mr. Surack, “How do you move up to the Sweetwater executive team? & How are the relationships within the company?”.... understanding that company culture and relation building is at the forefront of Sweetwater’s practices. Fast forward to January 2020 and the introduction of Starting Small. Believing in the notion that EVERYONE has a story to tell, Cameron was led to hear directly from the brands we use and consume on a daily basis. With a focus of interviewing founders, Starting Small reminds listeners that even the successful start small, beginning each interview at the upbringing of the entrepreneur’s life. Confident in the desired direction, Cameron followed back up with Chuck Surack, with a screenshot of his initial email from 2017. Agreeing to be the first guest of Starting Small, Chuck’s acceptance gave the podcast the kickstart it needed to demonstrate credibility for future bookings. Since launch, Starting Small features interviews with the founders of companies such as Reebok, The North Face, Nextdoor, Freshly, Kodiak Cakes, and many more, with official partners of Starting Small including NordicTrack and Humanscale. Travel opportunities have been granted from Turks & Caicos, interviewing Stan Hartling, founder of the most luxurious resorts on the island, to Chicago, interviewing Bob Habeeb, CEO of Maverick Hotels and Restaurants. Today, Cameron manages his time around school, running the podcast, managing socials for Dr. Jonathan B. Levine, leading partnerships for Twice, advising to students, and growing relationships.