Most cities have nicknames – many of them both famous and obvious. Detroit is the Motor City. Pittsburgh is the Steel City. New Orleans – The Big Easy. Of course, New York is the Big Apple and Las Vegas is…
Most cities have nicknames – many of them both famous and obvious. Detroit is the Motor City. Pittsburgh is the Steel City. New Orleans – The Big Easy. Of course, New York is the Big Apple and Las Vegas is…
About an hour’s drive south of Chicago, in Northern Indiana, lies one of the most surprisingly popular tourist attractions in America’s heartland. It’s not a theme park, not a sports venue, and it’s not replicated anywhere. This unique attraction is…
“Shep, you need to start thinking more inside the box!” Few, if anyone, would have guessed how much significance there was in that one line from a performance review in 1998. Upon hearing that recommendation, Shep Murray took immediate action.…
Yvon Chouinard likely had very little awareness of how his life would change when, at the age of 9, his family moved from Maine to Southern California. It was there that Yvon discovered an interest in falconry. In 1953, at…
Today’s craft beer industry, which has flourished in the U.S. for decades, is seen by some as an innovative approach to the beer business. In reality, today’s passion for craft beer is merely a reflection of the past. The first…
Having spent the majority of my professional life working in the field of marketing – specifically branding – I can say this without hesitation…the terms “brand” and “branding” are consistently misused, overused or completely misunderstood. This fact is one of…
It’s said that necessity is the mother of invention. Perhaps so. Innovation, on the other hand, is born of any number of causes. Some would say the leading cause of innovation is vision. Others say it’s creativity. Many attribute innovations…
David Heath holds a Bachelor of Arts from Babson College with majors in Marketing, Management, and Entrepreneurship. Randy Goldberg earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Finance – both from Georgetown University. The two met…
Airplane pilots have countless details to be aware of and pay attention to – as well as any number of distractions. One such challenge is fighting the bright blue sky and puffy white clouds over a period of time. What…
Andy Katz-Mayfield earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2011. Jeff Raider graduated from the Wharton School of Business in 2010. They first met as interns at Bain and Company – the beginning of a very…
America in 1886 had a population of only 58 million people, nearly two-thirds of whom lived in rural areas of the then 38 states. Richard Sears lived in North Redwood, Minnesota where he worked as a station agent for the…
Peter Kellner’s father was a Hungarian immigrant whose family consisted of a long line of entrepreneurs. His mother’s family had settled in Massachusetts in 1635. After he graduated from Princeton University, Peter traveled to Hungary on a Fulbright Scholarship. There…
The Shinola Company, founded in 1907 in Rochester, New York – manufactured shoe polish. While the product itself wasn’t necessarily innovative – its packaging was. The round tin the polish came in featured an attached ‘key’ which, when turned vertically,…
The Santa Monica pier is an iconic attraction on the Pacific Island shore in Southern California, due west of Los Angeles. There are shops, restaurants, rides and terrific people watching. In the 1950’s, the pier became a place where ‘muscle…
Two hamburger restaurants opened in 1948 within 45 miles of each other in the Greater Los Angeles area. Both were family-owned and operated, one by two brothers, the other by a husband and wife team – Harry and Esther. The…
Each year, at every university in the world, students meet for the first time. It’s very common that people with like-minded ideas and thinking gravitate towards each other. Often, they discuss dreams and visions for their futures – some seem…
Legend has it that the Olympics were founded by Hercules and Alcmene – he the son of Zeus, she a ‘mere mortal’. That story has the competition occurring every four years as part of a festival to honor Zeus. The…
Bob Smith was born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont in 1879. Bill Wilson was born sixteen years later on November 26, less than 100 miles away, in East Dorset, Vermont. That distance, their difference in age and each pursuing different career paths…
During America’s Civil War, Louisiana was a part of the Confederate States of America, known simply as the Confederacy. It came as no surprise then that Union General Nathaniel Banks led a force from the Gulf of Mexico up Bayou…
It was 1871 when 14 year old Milton accidentally dropped his hat into a machine at the print shop where he apprenticed. He was fired. With his mother’s guidance, he was hired as an apprentice for a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania confectioner…
In 1893, the innaugural Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup was awarded to Montreal HC (Hockey Club) as Canada’s top ranking amateur ice hockey team. The award was concepted, created and awarded by the Governor General of Canada. He first encountered the…
Imagine starting a successful business only to be fired by your board of directors when they become disenchanted with the company performance. Now think of the irony of being brought back by the same board of directors, fifteen years later, when…
From the beginning of time there have been animals and creatures that have caused mankind to take pause. This isn’t so much a phenomenon as it is survival at its most basic level. Mastodons, tyrannosaurus rex, pterodactyl were just a…
Jasper was born on a farm in Moore County, Tennessee – one of Calaway and Lucinda Daniel’s 12 children. Exactly when that birth occurred is not known for certain – but the consensus is September, 1850. The hard times his family endured were made…
When a Miami real estate speculator bought the land just outside of Augusta, Georgia from Fruitland Nurseries, his vision was to build a resort which would cater to the wealthy. However, the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 destroyed much of…
Stanley Bert Eisen was born in upper Manhattan in 1952. Chaim Witz was born in Haiti, Israel in 1949, moved to Queens, New York at age 8. Each had challenges to face as youngsters. Stanley was born with a birth…
Kimberly, Clark and Company was formed in 1890 with an investment of $30,000 by four young businessmen. The company quickly became the largest paper producer in the Midwest. By 1905, John Kimberly was the sole surviving founder, a circumstance which led to reorganization. In…
It was January of 1848. America had just gained ownership of California with the end of the Mexican-American war. While building a water-powered sawmill, James Marshall found gold flakes at Sutter’s Mill on the American River. The news attracted thousands from…
While they have been around since 1875, their first official season was 1882. They began as the Brown Stockings, became the Browns and for one year their moniker was the Perfectos – really. Between then and now they have achieved…
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