Richard Lorenzen is the Founder and CEO of Fifth Avenue Brands, a Public Relations company in NYC that handles media coverage and speaking events for the world’s biggest entrepreneurs and influencers. Some of his clients include other Secret Academy teachers like Grant Cardone and Timothy Sykes. While Richard is an experienced entrepreneur, his early beginnings started back when he launched his first company at the age of 15 in NYC. Richard is also the author of his latest book, Surge, which teaches aspiring entrepreneurs his life experience and what allowed him to build a multi-million dollar Public Relations company.
Secret Entourage Academy
Secret Academy Episode – Andrew Paradise
Andrew Paradise is the CEO and founder of Skillz. Skillz is the world-wide leader in mobile eSports and connects the world’s 2.6 billion mobile gamers through competition. Skillz is ranked number one on the 2017 Inc. 5000 list and the first eSports company on CNBC’s Disruptor 50. In 2016 alone, Skillz received a revenue of $54.2M after only launching in 2012. Prior to Skillz, Andrew founded AisleBuyer, which was sold to Intuit in April 2012 as well as Photrade, which was sold in 2009 to MPA Inc. He has also worked in venture capital and private equity investing for Fort Washington Capital Partners and The Watermill Group.
Secret Academy Episode – Hap Klopp
Hap Klopp founded one of the world’s largest clothing brands – The North Face. He took his love of the outdoors and turned it into a globally recognized business. Hap realized he didn’t want any part of working for a large corporation after his interview with Proctor & Gamble, so he launched himself into entrepreneurship. Hap knew what would set his business apart from others – quality. Raising the bar on product quality and establishing a “lifetime warranty” set The North Face apart from the industry and showed consumers that they stood behind everything they claimed to be. By the time Hap stepped down, The North Face was a globally recognized clothing brand that was a $200 million dollar company with more than 1500 employees.
Secret Academy Episode – Chris Voss
Chris Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiator who, today, is the founder and CEO of The Black Swan Group Ltd. Chris’s company helps others solve business communication problems using hostage negotiation solutions. Chris spent 24 years in the FBI fine-tuning his techniques and teaches others how to utilize these strategies in business and everyday life. Chris has saved thousands of lives and retired as the Bureau’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. Chris co-authored the best-selling book, “Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It”. Among his many accomplishments and titles, Chris is also a professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
Secret Academy Episode – Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey
Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey are the founders of Barefoot Wine – a company that launched with virtually no capital, from their laundry room in 1985. Barefoot became America’s #1 wine brand and the Barefoot brand is one of the most recognizable wine brands globally. Bonnie and Michael are the co-authors of New York Times best-selling business book, “The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand”. Since the sale of Barefoot Wine to E&J Gallo, they have channeled their efforts into consulting and coaching other people and entrepreneurs on how to launch their products and get them placed in big box retailers. Michael and Bonnie have been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Huffington Post and many more! Michael and Bonnie have further adapted their teachings and launched the “Barefoot Startup” movement, which encourages newly launched startups to adopt key bootstrapping tenets and sales-driven principles and tactics.
Secret Academy Episode – Brian Evans
Brian Evans is the founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of Influencive, a media platform for unconventional wisdom. Influencive’s mission is to inspire, motivate and spread positivity to young people, entrepreneurs, and anyone that wants to make positive change in the world. Prior to Influencive, Brian founded BDE Ventures, an online advertising and marketing agency that appeared on Inc. 500’s list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America and was the 25th fastest growing advertising and marketing agency in America.
Secret Academy Episode – Ryan Stewart
Ryan Stewart is the Founder of WEBRIS – a digital marketing agency specializing in search engine optimization services. Previously, he was a digital marketing consultant helping clients like Accenture, Target and Best Buy grow online revenues. Ryan’s work is featured by Inc, SEJ, Moz, Ahrefs, CMI and many more. For over 10 years, Ryan has helped hundreds of companies utilize the internet to funnel more customers and sales. He specializes in omni-channel digital marketing strategy and building traffic through organic channels (Google, social and content) and offers services through WEBRIS and direct consulting.