The Pikes Peak Small Business Development Center is always eager to share our feel-good success stories with the community. The success of our clients is the most rewarding experience for all the staff and volunteers of the SBDC.
Many of our clients want to share their experience with others, and give insight to the workshops, consulting, and guidance our organization provides them and their businesses. If you would like to share your story with us, please click the link below!
Innovating Opportunity
Lawrence Wagner grew up in the projects of Cleveland, Ohio, raised by a single mom. “I know what poverty looks like,” he says. “I went into the Army to escape that life. And that’s the passion behind Spark Mindset. We want to break the cycles of poverty. Everything I didn’t get as a child, I’ve created a program for with Spark.” Spark Mindset is the social enterprise business that Wagner, now 51, founded in 2016.
Risk & Reward
Monique Flemings made the biggest risk of her life while experiencing homelessness. To understand how she got there, it helps to first know that she’d started working at age 14, earned a bilingual literacy degree at Metro State University in her hometown of Denver, and originally wanted to be an English as a Second Language teacher. Low pay deterred her from entering the field, so she took a job in insurance. Over the course of
Kenshin Martial Arts: Dedication and Commitment
One meaning of the Japanese name “Kenshin”, depending on which Kanji character is used in translation, is “dedication and commitment” says Kenshin Martial Arts studio owner and chief instructor Dave Caban. “Only when you dedicate 100 percent will you flourish in martial arts and everything you do,” he says. “You have to put all of your heart into it.” That’s the type lesson students of all abilities and age groups will glean by training physically
