1. Tell us about your business; and what is your business philosophy?

theAOinsight group is a communications firm specializing in digital media, marketing, professional development, community outreach, advertising, and design, with our client portfolio ranging from small businesses to nonprofits, and municipalities. My love for serving and working with community based organizations and initiatives, as well as empowering other businesses, is at the foundation of our company’s culture. We love what we do because we get to elevate the stories of those we work with, and are constantly seeking opportunities for partnerships.

The business philosophy is the same as my personal philosophy: Haz bien y no mires a quien. Do right, and don’t mind to whom. I believe that in doing right by others, and your community, positive impacts come to both parties.

2. Why are you passionate about your commitment to United Way?

United Way works to support local CBOs and initiatives not only financially, but also through tangible resources, serving a wide range of residents in underserved communities, while at the same time developing and curating philanthropists and community leaders, at all ages and levels. They are open to new ideas, opportunities, and great to work with. It’s why I choose to approach United Way of Miami-Dade to partner on a nonprofit digital media cohort, now in its third year.

3. How did your business get started?

With the support and encouragement of friends and mentors, I made the leap to move forward with my own business. It’s something I knew I always wanted to do… to have my own business. Initially we started off with event planning and marketing. After a few years, we shifted completely to digital media and marketing, and stopped producing in-person events. Via word of mouth, friends, former colleagues, etc., the opportunities started to come in as people started to recognize our quality of work and credibility.

4. What is a lesson you have learned?

Aside from the basics like proper communication, planning, time management, etc., the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to keep going when times get rough. As my business started to grow, in its early stage we had financial struggles, like so many businesses. I was learning how to better price services, the billing process, how much to pay team members, which clients paid when, etc. Things got really real for a bit. I quickly found my silver lining, and realized that all I could do was keep going. I literally would ground myself to avoid going out, kept my head low and kept working away, figuring out how to grow, which direction to take, and when to say “yes” and “no”. I knew the finances would come with hard-work. In putting in the work, came the lessons learned and experiences that led and keep leading to growth. So, keep hustling and grinding, friends. Anything is possible with sweat equity, good intentions, focus and determination.

5. What’s your favorite quote?

Think like there is no box. – unknown

1. Tell us about your business; and what is your business philosophy?

Ser & Associates is a boutique law firm providing legal services to small and mid-size businesses and their owners. Our goal is to provide outstanding, professional and efficient legal services. We assist our clients in a wide range of legal matters, such as corporate formation, contracts, real estate, land use and zoning, litigation, trademarks, and estate planning. For many of our clients, we also serve as their general counsel, and have created the MyGeneralCounsel or MyGC® program, which provides for legal services on a flat monthly fee basis.

It is our philosophy to be more than just attorneys, but to act as a trusted advisor from a business perspective. This entails identifying the client’s legal risks, while learning about the client’s operations, strategies and long-term goals allowing us to provide a pertinent and holistic legal assessment.

2. Why are you passionate about your commitment to United Way?

We have always felt that being an engaged member and giving back to of the community was an essential part of our business. Specifically, Ser & Associates has long worked to be a resource to the small business community, primarily through education initiatives such as our Entrepreneurial Workshop Series. At the start of the pandemic, we stepped it up by providing regular emails to our audience with updates on the rapidly changing law at on a federal, state, and local level. Now, as we look forward to the new normal, we felt that partnering with the United Way in its Small Business Community was the natural next step in our community engagement, particularly with United Way’s commitment to financial stability.

3. How did your business get started?

In the midst of the last recession, I found myself with no choice but to open up my own practice. I was in-house General Counsel to a major developer, whose construction project was put on indefinite hiatus. I was a single mom with two sons in high school and needed to provide for them. So, I pulled up my bootstraps and started my firm with a computer and phone in my den. Although a scary period in my career, I was able to discover my true passion, entrepreneurship and working with other entrepreneurs. And, thankfully over the last decade, I have been able to grow Ser & Associates, from a one woman-shop to a team of attorneys that has assisted hundreds of entrepreneurs in working towards and achieving their goals.

4. What is a lesson you have learned?

Trust your own instincts and don’t waste your time on the naysayers.

5. What’s your favorite quote?

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker, Management Consultant and Author

1. Tell us about your business; and what is your business philosophy?

De la Hoz, Perez & Barbeito, PLLC is a full service accounting and advisory firm. We pride ourselves on being guided by our core values with the number one being “Exceptional Service.” Because our product is our people, we must consistently provide exceptional service to all of our clients. We provide a professional and consultative approach to meet our client’s needs. Whether it’s a personal or business tax return, bookkeeping or assurance services, all of our clients receive the personal attention needed to meet their needs, which makes us #dpbproud.

2. Why are you passionate about your commitment to United Way?

Being part of the business community for many years, I’ve personally seen the positive impact United Way has had on our local community. So many lives are touched and helped with all of the programs and resources United Way provides. My involvement with United Way has been in a couple areas, but the one I’ve enjoyed the most is financial stability because of the impact it has for each family as well as the community as a whole. A financially stable community makes for a better overall community, and a better community makes for a better place for us all to live.

3. How did your business get started?

Jorge De La Hoz, our founding partner, started the firm in 1991. The firm grew steadily over the years, and now, thanks to hard work and our client first approach, we are a top 25 firm in South Florida. I joined the firm in 2017 as the partner in charge of the audit department and bring to the firm my service first mentality. The ability to serve clients more on a one-on-one level was a huge attraction and played a large part in my choice to join the firm.

4. What is a lesson you have learned?

Always do things correctly the first time. If you don’t, you’re bound to mess up, and you’re going to have to do it all over again a second time, this time correctly.

5. What’s your favorite quote?

“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” – Babe Ruth

1. Tell us about your business; and what is your business philosophy?

ANDER & Co is a Miami-based communication and digital strategy firm with national and global reach. We possess a deep understanding of how to influence audiences through creative strategies via traditional and digital media relations, valuable brand partnerships, social media and creative marketing – all with the goal of positively impacting the bottom line for corporate, real estate, and hospitality brands. My business philosophy is that authenticity breeds authenticity, a mantra that permeates into everything we do.

2. Why are you passionate about your commitment to United Way?

There is a strong sense of camaraderie and support within United Way that symbolizes the collective effort of this great organization. It is the essence of “uniting” not only to benefit the cause, but mutually share in the spirit of good people working together for others. My further involvement in the Small Business United giving community aligns with my entrepreneurial passions and celebrates the backbone of our local economy, of which I’m so proud to be a member and fellow small business owner.

3. How did your business get started?

My business partner and I knew there was a gap in the Miami market for a public relations firm that could integrate traditional and digital communications strategies for corporate, real estate and hospitality clients in a hand-on manner – not only to be the future of the industry, but drive novel, contemporary campaign ideas that are never duplicated. A testament to ANDER & Co’s approach is that our client partners very often say they’ve never experienced a more successful collaboration to drive brand awareness and business opportunities…and we all have fun in the process.

4. What is a lesson you have learned?

A critical lesson is to always be conscious of practicing self awareness and understanding how your actions impact others. This cannot be learned from a book, but by paying close attention to controlling your behaviors and attitude. I have found that the inability to recognize this cognitive state creates roadblocks for people in their relationships, whether business or professional. Emotional intelligence is so important to building lasting connections, which are important to me.

5. What’s your favorite quote?

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.” Henry David Thoreau

1. Tell us about your business; and what is your business philosophy?

Our business philosophy is to make good design accessible to all walks of life. The design philosophy envisions “from the inside, out.” establishment of the hierarchy of spaces and the requested stylistic expressions lead to beautiful and practical solutions. Analysis of context, reflected by a client’s vision for the space, allows for optimal design, appropriate fixtures, and complementary building materials.

2. Why are you passionate about your commitment to United Way?

As a small business, we openly recognize that it is through the community-based relationships that we can succeed. The United Way is a recognizable brand that symbolizes different sectors of the business community in partnership with philanthropic individuals working together to strengthen our common bond. The work that occurs within the scope of The United Way supports all of those in need. Debowsky Design Group recognizes the heartfelt desire for strong and safe places to live and work as a fundamental joy of being a part of this community.

3. How did your business get started?

Debowsky Design Group, founded in 2009 during the recession which was a time of financial stress to property developers and homeowners, was conceived to offer value through affordable design and efficient project management. As the economy rebounded, we have had the good fortune of growth through word of mouth and large number of satisfied clients.

4. What is a lesson you have learned?

A lesson that I have learned in recent years is that people are much more alike than we are different. By that I mean that we all struggle with the same universal themes of uncertainty, pride and a deep need for connection to others. As that concept relates to my professional life, I see the same interest in design, budget, and the future value of the work. Every person that I interact with – regardless of their socioeconomic status – wants to be certain of the value that they will receive and the comfort that their project will have a lasting impact.

5. What’s your favorite quote?

Margaret Mead — ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’

1. Tell us about your business; and what is your business philosophy?

The Artisan Agency is a full-service ad agency built around incredibly talented individuals that are passionate about their work and seeing results. As a creativity-centric business, we strongly believe great ideas can come from anywhere. We’ve built a truly horizontal organization that empowers every employee to put forth ideas, take risks, and be heard. Some of our greatest successes have come from the least expected places; fantastic ad copy written by a digital marketing manager, or a great idea for a client experience coming from a graphic designer. We keep the lines blurred and invite everyone to participate in any aspect of the business that excites them.

2. Why are you passionate about your commitment to United Way?

Almost every member of Artisan is native to Miami – and everyone on the leadership team is born and bred. We’re fortunate to have great opportunities afforded to us which allow us to do what we love and direct all of our energy towards our personal and professional growth. Miami is an incredibly diverse city, and that diversity includes people with lesser means and fewer opportunities. It’s important to our personal and corporate culture that we do what we can to give others opportunities to free up some of their own bandwidth so they too can focus on growth that’s important to them – United Way provides us with this opportunity and we’re fortunate to have them help form our culture.

3. How did your business get started?

Immediately after graduating from UCF in 2006, Daniel Bustamante – our founder – decided to put a pin in his Electrical Engineering degree and focus on developing websites for one year to see if he could make a living as a self-employed web developer and graphic designer. The experiment was a success, and it wasn’t long before Daniel had enough work coming in that he needed to begin hiring. Our original clientele was primarily in the professional services vertical with an emphasis on healthcare. Since then, we have expended our portfolio and now serve a wide variety of clients including Fortune 500 tourism and media companies as well as SMB’s throughout Florida.

4. What is a lesson you have learned?

One of the most respectful things you can do for anyone else and their time is being honest and transparent with your services, pricing, and capabilities. Too much time is lost in dancing around the “bottom line”, trying not to disappoint a prospect or referral, or trying to accommodate requests outside of your scope of expertise. We do our best to be transparent, honest, and straightforward. While it may be perceived as brash, as long as you frame it properly and honestly people will respect your candor and ultimately, your respect for their time.

5. What’s your favorite quote?

Nothing changes if nothing changes.

WHEN SMALL BUSINESSES THRIVE, OUR COMMUNITY THRIVES.

As we continue to promote small, this month, our United Way Small Business United members were featured in the Miami Herald. After all, small businesses are the backbone of Miami-Dade’s economy—and they need our help.

A special thanks to the Miami Herald for featuring our amazing Small Business United members!

See the ad.