Category Archives: Entrepreneur Written Interviews

April DeBord is a 31 year old high school teacher who has her Masters and is planning to do her Doctorate within the next 2 years.  She is also a Mary Kay consultant and aspires to start a restaurant one day.  She inspired me with her multifaceted life and ambition! Enjoy!

What do you find most rewarding about being your own boss?
I can set my own hours and since my job is just on the side I can choose to work or not.  I just get some extra money if I choose to work or not.  I think that’s the best thing about having your own business you get to make it what you want to make it.

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Introduction:

My name is Chris Bonatti, and I am the President and Treasurer for International Electronic Communication Analysts, Inc.  I have a degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, but for the past 25 years or so I have been a consultant in computer and communications security.  I have considerable experience in the areas of open systems and Internet based protocols; Command, Control and Communications (C3) applications; tactical communications; and information assurance (IA).  He is an accomplished programmer and software architect.  He has been an active participant in numerous standardization technical committees.  Mr. Bonatti also has significant project management and team leadership experience.  He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).  He has previously held a restricted radiotelephone operators license, and is a long-standing member of both the IEEE, and AFCEA.

Q1) How did you start your consulting business?

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Interview with Mr. S.B. Francois, Owner/CEO of SBF Investments, LLC

by Rebecca Casey

Mr. Francois’s Background:

Mr. Francois is an Air Force Veteran and a Government Contractor, however he had the feeling he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life “punching the clock”. That is what first gave him the idea he should start his own business. His company currently invests primarily in Personal and Commercial Real Estate and also does some property management.

Q1) What inspired you to start your business?

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     I interviewed six entrepreneurs, each for a specific reason that will help me understand facets of my own entrepreneurial journey.  I wanted to talk to entrepreneurs that had started in totally different industries, but had the dream to create their own business.  I wanted to interview both large and small innovative companies.  All in all, this was a fascinating process that allowed me to develop many new contacts and connections in the Winston-Salem, NC community.

     If I were to sum up my learnings, it would come down to three words “Follow your dreams”.  Everything else seems to take care of itself.

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