Benita is entering the 2024-25 year as a senior at Penn State Behrend, studying marketing and data analytics. In addition to being a student, she’s also received hands-on experience through various internship opportunities through the Radius network. For fun Benita works as a ski instructor and enjoys teaching others how to ski. She also sails for the Penn State Behrend Sailing Team, which is part of the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association, where they race against other colleges ...
Jun 24, 2024•21 min
Megan is known locally for her involvement in real estate, which she has excelled at as a top RE/MAX producer through her firm belief in keeping client’s best interest at heart, being patient and organized, and finding unique strategies in deal negotiations. Megan’s got her degree in Marketing and a minor in Economics & International Business from the University of Pittsburgh. Before real estate, her professional background consisted of roles in marketing and event coordinating. Today, aside...
Jun 14, 2024•20 min
Nick was raised in Greenville PA then attended college at Mercyhurst. Since then, he’s spent his career working on the business end of nonprofits - with a focus on fundraising. Today he is the National development officer at Hamot Health Foundation. Nick stays involved in the community through his participation on boards including: the Kennedy Catholic Family of Schools in Hermitage, PA, and chair of Young Erie Philanthropists. He lives here in Erie with his wife Hannah, sons Nicholas and Samuel...
Apr 28, 2024•27 min
Amanda is a community builder and business consultant based here in Erie. Throughout her career, she has supported entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits with strategic and operational guidance. As the former Community Leader of Radius CoWork, she played a significant role in fostering an environment of growth and collaboration. She is now the owner of Chiara Consultants, a business consulting firm, where she partners with entrepreneurs and business owners to streamline their operations...
Mar 14, 2024•26 min
Dave Tamulonis is a designer, illustrator, and photographer. He got his BFA in Graphic & Interactive Design from Youngstown State University in 2016 and has a BSBA in Marketing Management. His experience in the nonprofit sector, managing design, advertising, production of print media, web graphics, and marketing, has led Dave to complete several large-scale public art installations. In his current role as the Events Manager at the Erie Downtown Partnership, Dave plans and executes community ...
Feb 01, 2024•37 min
Nick is a 27 year old Erie native, and graduate from Fairview High school and Gannon University. While in college he started 814 Aerial, an aerial photography/videography company which ended up being a “side hustle” through school. After graduating from college, Nick took a job as a marketing coordinator for a small nonprofit before getting let go in October of 2019. Then, he decided to start his own creative marketing agency, 814 Digital, to help small businesses ideate, create and execute crea...
Jan 22, 2024•28 min
Scott found his drive for success at an early age and started working jobs at 15 years old. While in college, he discovered the real estate industry and dedicated himself to learning how to be successful in it. Today, Scott is a full time real estate entrepreneur, with a focus on wholesale deals. Scott is committed to personal and professional growth and is constantly seeking out ways to improve himself in all areas of life. When he's not working, he enjoys going for runs to stay healthy physica...
Dec 14, 2023•37 min
Eva is the Director of Lake Effect Leaders AmeriCorps VISTA Project, aiming to build the capacity of nonprofits, government agencies, schools, and projects to alleviate poverty. She got her bachelors from Mercyhurst in 2016 in social work and served as an AmeriCorps Vista with lake effect leaders for two years. After that, Eva went on to get her masters degree from Baylor University in social work with a concentration in community practice. Today her work with AmeriCorps VISTAS focuses on capaci...
Nov 22, 2023•17 min
Drew is a venture capital attorney by trade and entrepreneur at heart. Drew relocated to Erie from Chicago with his wife Emily, twins Annie and Auggie, and wheaten terrier, Lady, who has become a fixture in the Radius community. Drew purchased and will be renovating the building at 10th and State Streets. Within that building, Drew and a partner will be opening Swing Project, a bar/restaurant with golf simulators. Drew will also serve as Chairman of Erie’s ICE Angel Fund, focusing on investing i...
Oct 20, 2023•30 min
Jenny is the Campaign Manager for Clean Water Advocacy, and oversees PennFuture’s work in the Lake Erie Watershed. She actively leads the “Our Water, Our Future” campaign, focused on sound policy solutions to improve water quality and ensure the health of Northwestern PA ecosystems and communities. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Allegheny College, majoring in Environmental Studies with a minor in history. As native of the Finger Lakes Region of NY, Jenny enjoys canoeing, hiking, and spendin...
Oct 02, 2023•20 min
Josh is a seasoned software architect, tech entrepreneur, and dedicated community volunteer. With a background that traverses NASA, Lockheed Martin, General Electric, and more, he’s spent over two decades shaping the tech world through innovative solutions and strategic leadership. Josh currently leads Ghost Creativ, a software development firm committed to building efficient tools tailored to diverse business needs. Ghost Creativ Josh's Member Profile Radius CoWork...
Sep 22, 2023•22 min
Originally from England, Tom got his start young as a child actor. He got a scholarship to study theater at a traditional boarding school and continued to pursue acting after he graduated. Coming from a musical family, Tom spent some years in his early 20’s as a singer/songwriter, and eventually found himself running a promotions company in London. Making his way to Los Angeles, Tom began working through the ranks of production and now is a Tv/Film writer, producer, and director, with a focus on...
Sep 14, 2023•22 min
Jordan is the Director of Entrepreneurship at the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership, overseeing the FIRE & ICE program which features the FIRE Accelerator Program, the ICE Angel Education Program, and the ICE Angel Fund and managing the growing portfolio of alumni companies. Since its inception, the 37 alumni companies have raised over $100M of additional capital and $60M of sustainable revenue growth. Additionally, Jordan is expanding the chamber's current startup and entrepreneu...
Sep 07, 2023•19 min
Greg is an Award winning marketing specialist, Credit repair/building expert, and Real estate investor. After moving to Erie in 2002, Greg started Erie Multimedia, helping clients all over Erie with all their advertising and content needs. After the pandemic, Greg explored new business models and discovered the need for credit repair and credit building, and launched USA Credit Builders. In his free time he enjoys cooking, fine bourbons, and woodcarving. Greg is also a long-time member at Radius...
Aug 18, 2023•24 min
After almost 10 years of working in a variety of quality engineering roles at LORD Corporation, Hannah opened Ember+Forge in 2017, a coffee shop located in downtown Erie. Built from her passion for creating community, Ember+Forge was founded with the purpose of creating a space to connect, collaborate, and share ideas over locally-roasted, high-quality coffee. Ember+Forge Radius CoWork...
Jul 20, 2023•20 min
Andrew Chernauskas is a web developer that combines design knowledge with a software engineering degree, a decade of experience building with Drupal, and a passion for great user experiences. Throughout his career, he’s been using technology to connect communities. In the early days, Andrew was at the forefront of uniting video game developers with their fan bases through online communities. From the start of his career, Andrew’s been exploring ways to improve working remotely with distributed t...
Jul 06, 2023•19 min
Jonathan is the Founder and Technology Strategist at Steel Toe Consulting, a consulting firm with the goal of providing digital and on site consulting to the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) construction industry – bridging the gap between virtual design and off-site fabrication/manufacturing. Throughout his career Jon has been a committed champion of technology adoption, modular fabrication, building information modeling, and the advantages of using progressive technological approaches...
May 25, 2023•23 min
Zak is the founder of the influencer agency ApexDrop, which offers a better way to build brand buzz. Since 2015, over 500 consumer brands have used ApexDrop to easily and affordably send thousands of product samples to unpaid micro influencers across the US. Headquartered in Pennsylvania, they have since grown to roughly 40 employees and have helped consumer brands build buzz including Adobe, Procter & Gamble, and Starbucks. Zakary is an industry thought-leader, sought after speaker and auth...
May 11, 2023•40 min
Chris is a graphic designer, illustrator, animator, and father of three. He brings brands to life through animation and graphics, helping his clients bring out the personality of their branding to inform, inspire, and capture their audiences. He started his business, Gem City Creative, in 2003 and since then has worked with brands such as Colegate, Apex Drop, and Widget Financial. When he’s not illustrating, Chris enjoys staying active in his Church, hanging out with his kids and friends, and fi...
Feb 24, 2023•13 min
Jess launched Menajerie Studio in 2013 as a way to turn her passion for filmmaking into a lifelong career. Around Erie, Jess is known for her entrepreneurship and community development advocacy and was featured as part of the Erie Reader’s 40 Under 40 in 2017. The success of MenajErie Studio in the wake of Erie’s renaissance has even caught the eye of major news outlets such as NPR. In 2017, MenajErie produced Rust Belt New Americans: A Film About the Refugee Experience, which has won several aw...
Feb 16, 2023•23 min
Ashley Senger is the owner of Language Collaborations, where she provides on-site, custom, workforce English training programs to businesses in the Erie area. She has worked with English language learners since 2011, and in addition to working in K-12 public schools, she has worked as an ESL instructor at Point Park University, Gannon University, as well as a faculty & staff trainer for Gannon’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. In 2018 she launched her business and signed her ...
Feb 09, 2023•15 min
Casey Kelly Pérez is a Brand Designer and Strategist with over 15 years of experience as an Art Director and Design Educator. She earned her MFA in Graphic Design from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2013, and worked at several agencies and studios in New York including GRAMMY winning studio, White Bicycle. Her practice, Limbic Studio, allows her to work directly with startups, business owners, and agencies who value strategic design and are passionate about what they do. In recent year...
Feb 02, 2023•24 min
Nick (he/they) is the current Director of Marketing for the Great Lakes Institute of Technology and the former Managing Editor of the Erie Reader. They first started at the Erie Reader in 2015, contributing two music reviews to the Nov. 11 issue, becoming Assignment Editor in April of 2016 and Managing Editor in October 2016 until October 2022. Nick hosted the online video series Endnotes in cooperation with MenajErie Studio in 2017. They play guitar with Elle Taylor and his fellow Radius member...
Jan 26, 2023•22 min
Curtis is an artist in many different ways. From photography, to graphic design, and meme creation, he has built a career with his digital art. Getting his start in photography, he spent years as a freelance photographer, shooting portraits, weddings, and landscapes. While going to school for graphic design, Curtis replaced his study abroad with a road trip across the country and discovered his passion for our national parks. He now runs his successful online store, Natural States Collective.com...
Jan 12, 2023•15 min
A mother, artist, and businesswoman, Jenny is a rare mix between creative and analytical. She started her career as a graphic designer but found herself far more involved in companies’ strategies than just their graphics. Agency Jen is her creative multi-channel marketing agency where she helps clients build their marketing efforts from the ground up. In this conversation, we discuss her upbringing in an entrepreneurial family, how she started her career in graphic design, and her marketing agen...
Jan 06, 2023•26 min
Heather & Leah are co-workers and the founders of “The Corporate Class” - a professional readiness program designed to support young women of color in the city of Erie. The Program provides its students with foundational development and career skills that will equip them in navigating a broad range of professional, corporate, and entrepreneurial arenas. In this episode we discuss their professional backgrounds, interests in fashion and business, and how these two women balance a corporate jo...
Dec 15, 2022•26 min
Mike is the Founder and CEO of Bodhi Garden Initiative, a multifaceted non-profit that seeks to provide year-round access to fresh produce to those with limited finances within Erie; foster and promote positive mental well-being; and increase overall knowledge and opportunities for residents to achieve wellness. In this conversation, we discuss Mike’s journey from the military, recovering from addiction by discovering buddhism, and then turning his senior thesis into a quarter-million dollar non...
Dec 08, 2022•21 min
Casie is the owner of Click Pragmatics, which offers consultative services and development of customized communication systems to assist with clear and accessible communication within businesses. A Speech Language Pathologist by trade, but an advocate, collaborator, and educator at heart. To her, communication is the root of everything. It is the thread that keeps us connected with one another for meaningful relationships and fulfilling lives. Thanks to her education at Gallaudet University, bec...
Nov 28, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 1
