Craig Parker, Guideway Care
“Every adventure has its own cycle.” (NOTE: This post was originally published in 2017) Cincinnati native Craig Parker and his wife Andrea moved to Birmingham in 1999 to be near her family. Neither felt comfortable raising their children in London — where he was working for a New York law firm. He almost moved here […]
G.T. LaBorde, IllumiCare
There’s An App For That. This profile was originally published 12.20.19 in the Birmingham Business Journal “Healthcare is the one place where technology has only made people’s lives miserable.” It goes without saying that, as a pitchman, G.T. LaBorde understands the value of a strong lead. So what’s IllumiCare doing to fix the problem? “Today, every clinician who […]
Andrew McMakin, NXTsoft
Taking a byte out of cybercrime This profile was originally published 12.20.19 in the Birmingham Business Journal With the city of New Orleans still struggling to recover from an attack launched over a month ago, it’s never hard to find news of a prominent cyber security breach. What’s a lot harder is finding stories that don’t include a […]
Jarrod Morgan, ProctorU
Time-tested and proven. This profile was originally published 12.20.19 in the Birmingham Business Journal Having “lost” the Jemison Award to Theranest in 2018, it’s possible soap star Susan Lucci came to mind when Jarrod Morgan learned ProctorU was a finalist again this year. So what fueled the justified confidence that his company could win the second time […]
David Sher, ComebackTown.com
A Success Story In Four Acts David Sher has a long list of career accomplishments he can justifiably take pride in, but none in my book greater than his role as the producer of Mr. King’s “T-Buff” commercials. For you unfortunates currently drawing a blank, Mr. King was once a Birmingham furniture store offering easy […]
Dave Gray, Biso Collective
“Figure out what business we need to be in, and make it make money.” With that piece of advice from company founder Tom Patterson, Dave Gray was given the reigns of Daxko — the company he led for over 15 years — in early 2003. Sure, the two had conducted several lengthy meeting-of-the-minds conversations before […]
Jarrod Morgan, ProctorU
Keeping it real (with artificial intelligence) In 2008, Jarrod Morgan was Director of Technology at Andrew Jackson University (AJU), and his then-employer — an online-only school — had a problem: Namely, ensuring that its students didn’t cheat on tests. “At the time, we had to send them somewhere to take their tests — typically in the presence […]
Josh Gates, Saturday Down South
Fourth and long. No timeouts. Go for it. Josh Gates enlisted in the Army in 2000 at the age of 18. He earned a place in the elite 75th Ranger Regiment. He led Post-911 combat missions across the Middle East. But the hardest thing he’s ever done was save Saturday Down South — the website […]
David Wu, Motus Nova
Go with the flow. Or make your own flow. Entering his final semester as an Emory undergrad, David Wu’s future as a doctor was all-but a given. He had the grades, he’d scored well on his MCATs, and was in the Essay phase of applying to med schools when he met Andy Butler. And everything […]
Tom McDougal, AlternaVisit
Routine healthcare that’s anything but routine Tom McDougal is wearing a long sleeve Nike t-shirt, Mountain Khaki pants, Dockers shoes and Nike socks. Not just the day he and I met for lunch. Right now. Assuming “right now,” as you’re reading this article, is a weekday. Weekends, Tom dresses down a bit. Call him predictable. He’ll […]