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Karen Odierna Interview continued from page 25 Florida's Only Boating Lifestyle Magazine FloridaBoatingMag.com 941.227.7331 By the publishers of Florida Homes and Gravitas Magazine Sarasota Longboat Key G u lf O f M e xi c o Moore's Stone Crab Mar Vista Dockside Longboat Key Lo ngboat P a ss 1 1 2 11 6 6 Excursion Restaurants Hotels Marinas Airports Fuel Launch Water Depth Channel DISCLAIMER: Florida Boating Magazine does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of the map data and will not be liable for any damage or loss resulting from your use of the map or data. S a ra so t a B ay Bird Key St Armands Circle Lido Key Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Pattigeorge's Portofino Ristorante & Bar The Old Salty Dog New Pass Grill & Bait Shop Chart House N e w P a ss CHANNEL 1 3 1 4 5 1 3 2 2 6 2 11 10 9 4 6 6 5 2 6 14 4 4 MOTE Aquarium Downtown Sarasota FloridaBoatingMag.com U FLORIDA BOATING MAGAZINE | 35 34 | FLORIDA BOATING MAGAZINE U FloridaBoatingMag.com Dry Dock Waterfront Grill N 27 o W85 o C O A S TA L L I F E S T Y L E S & D E S T I N AT I O N S WINTER 2015 | GULF COAST EDITION VIAGE Group Sarasota Bay EXCURSION: L o n g b o at K e y & n a p L e s FloridaBoatingMag.com Exclusive Boating Excursion Guides Tampa to Marco Island How did your work as an oncology nurse help you develop CROP Juice? Having experience in oncology has been a great help in educating our staff and making experiences more comfortable for the many men and women receiving various therapies who visit our store. What has been the most challenging thing you've faced opening CROP Juice (now scheduled to have four locations in the area by 2016)? Wearing all of the "hats" required to make a business successful, and realizing that you had better be prepared to do whatever it takes to make it, or get somebody on your team that will. I still don't take a paycheck after almost two years so that we can build a business and a brand. We make a good team, and we have different and complimentary skill sets so a lot of the challenges most new businesses face are mitigated in my case. Did you fund CROP Juice from your seed money, or seek out investors to help you? We funded CROP through our own savings and investments. We are approached almost every week by those wanting to invest, partner or franchise, but we aren't entertaining that for now. What is the best piece of advice you received that you can share with other women who might want to launch their business venture? ere are three pieces of advice I would give: 1. Many people in your life are going to doubt you if you have never owned a business. Don't listen to them, even though many have good intentions. 2. Make sure that you ally yourself with someone who knows how to operate if you have never owned a business. Although they are not easy to find, vet them carefully; 3. Make sure you really want to own a business and if you do start one, give it everything you have. Ideas without execution are just fantasy. D Q: How did you meet your husband, Daniel? A: I actually met my husband tripping over his dog named Chance three days after I moved here. He's my soul mate. I can't imagine where I'd be without him. Q: How is the dynamic working with your spouse? A: You can ask anybody who knows us. We have so much fun working together. We have very similar personalities, but we have very different strengths. We're both big picture thinkers and visionary-type people. Daniel leads our team in all of the strategy and innovation for our clients. I'm the big picture partnership people kind of person. Q: What advice would you give other women entrepreneurs? A: Anything you believe, you can achieve. People thought I was crazy moving to a city that I didn't know anybody to grow a business as a young woman. If you can teach your mind to believe what you want to achieve, you'll achieve it. What is the biggest lesson you've learned in business? Believing in yourself. No one else is going to be able to teach you how to inwardly believe in yourself. If you don't believe in yourself then nobody else will either. What is your definition of success? Having a life where I get to be passionate about what I'm doing and making a difference in the world. My absolute favorite thing about what we've created with Symphoni is the fact that every day we've created jobs that people are excited and passionate about. D Lauren Davenport Interview continued from page 23

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