RULEBREAKER AWARDS ANNOUNCES 15 CATEGORY WINNERS; GRAND-PRIZE WINNER TO BE NAMED JUNE 10
Meet 15 Entrepreneurs Who Are Shaking Up the Business World.
LAKEWOOD, CALIF., May 21, 2014 – 15 finalists have been chosen in the RuleBreaker awards. The unconventional awards program, sponsored by Nextiva, Skype and Constant Contact, celebrates entrepreneurs who ignore conventional wisdom, take the path less traveled and break all the rules in their pursuit of success.
One grand-prize winner will be chosen from among the category winners. The grand-prize winner will be announced at an awards ceremony June 10th at the Tribeca Grand Hotel in New York City.
The category winners are:
Service Provider, Under $1M in Sales: Casey Bankford of Slimbooks, www.slimbooks.com, whose slim books break the rules of publishing
(Tie) Simeon Schnapper of Youtopia, www.youtopia.com, which provides digital rewards for students
Service Provider, $1M-$5M in Sales: Mike Beirne of Vetted Capital, www.vettedcapital.com, which invests in veteran-led businesses
Service Provider, Over $5M in Sales: Mike Agugliaro of Gold Medal Service, www.goldmedalservice.com, which provides home services
Technology Provider, Under $1M in Sales: Jason McAninch of Jtek, www.gojtek.com, a tech recycling company
Technology Provider, $1M-$5M in Sales: Tom Dent of ICLOPS, www.iclops.com, which provides technology solutions for health care providers
(Tie) Shelley Armato of My Smart Plans, www.mysmartplans.com, project management software for construction companies
Technology Provider, Over $5M in Sales: Mitch Rothschild of Vitals, www.vitals.com, which helps consumers find health care providers
Retailers, Under $1M in Sales: Christina Daves of Cast Medic Designs, www.castmedicdesigns, which creates fashion casts
Retailers, $1M-$5M in Sales: Robert Blackwell of Killer Spin, www.killerspin.com, which designs and sells innovative table tennis products
Retailers, Over $5M in Sales: Ben Sayers of VoIP supply, www.voipsupply.com, an online retailer of VoIP products
Manufacturer, Under $1M in Sales: William Brimstone Kucmierowski of Hound Comics, www.houndcomics.com, a publishing company
(Tie) Kristin Elliott of Doodie Pack, www.doodiepack.com, which manufactures dog backpacks
Manufacturer, $1M-$5M in Sales: Ross Evans of Xtracycle, www.xtracycle.com, which manufactures cargo bikes
People’s Choice Award: Michael and Marc Guberti of Teenager Entrepreneur, www.teenagerentrepreneur.com, an online membership site that educates and empowers teenage entrepreneurs
“We’re proud to honor entrepreneurs who have succeeded by doing it their way,” said Rieva Lesonsky, CEO of GrowBiz Media and a co-host of the RuleBreaker Awards.
“Choosing the winners was a difficult decision,” said co-host Mike Michalowicz, author of The Pumpkin Plan. “It was inspiring to discover so many entrepreneurs revolutionizing their industries.”
“All of our Rulebreakers have one thing in common: They’re passionate about making a difference in business,” said co-host Barry Moltz, author of How to Get Unstuck.
Winners were selected by a panel of judges including:
– Ken Yancey, CEO of SCORE
– JJ Ramberg, co-founder of Good Search and host of MSNBC’s Your Business
– Anita Campbell, founder, CEO and Publisher of Small Business Trends and BizSugar
– Ramon Ray, Marketing and Technology Evangelist of Smallbiztechnology.com and Infusionsoft
For more information, visit http://www.rulebreakerawards.com.
ABOUT RIEVA LESONSKY: Rieva Lesonsky is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media and custom content company focusing on small business and entrepreneurship. A nationally recognized speaker who regularly addresses audiences across the country, Rieva broke the rules by becoming the first female editorial director of a general business magazine; she was SVP/Editorial Director of Entrepreneur Magazine for more than 25 years.
ABOUT MIKE MICHALOWICZ: Mike Michalowicz is the author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, The Pumpkin Plan and Profit First. Mike has grown and sold two multimillion-dollar companies and now operates his third. And if there is one thing he attributes entrepreneurial success to, it’s breaking the rules.
ABOUT BARRY MOLTZ: Barry Moltz is the author of How to Get Unstuck: 25 Ways To Get Your Business Growing Again. He is a small business motivational speaker and radio talk show host. He breaks rules by showing there is nothing to learn from failure and demonstrates how to strive for minimal achievement.
