Join us to learn from Tom Kelly, a collaborative, customer-focused business leader with twenty years of cross-functional experience in both corporate and small business environments. 

Learn the importance of really digging into your concept upfront and getting customer feedback well before the product launches in market.

Topics covered include:

 – Hone your product / service concept upfront

 – Test and learn early with potential customers

 – Feel confident as you march towards your launch

REGISTER

Tom Kelly is a versatile, collaborative and customer-focused business leader with twenty years of cross-functional experience in both corporate and small business environments.  Throughout his career he has focused on ensuring that how is just as important as what gets delivered for any organization. Tom made a conscious decision to leave his corporate career in 2018 in order to launch his own small business.  Eager to follow his passion for organic food and do something much more hands-on, he launched Rise Bakehouse, an organic sourdough bakery from his home in California.  He quickly built a strong consumer and wholesale customer base and learned all the different aspects of small business ownership in addition to sourdough baking. As the pandemic was gaining strength in 2019, Tom and his family made an adventurous move from California to the East Coast via a ten-month RV trip across the country.  During their time on the road, he and his wife assumed the role of co-teacher to their two children while traveling 21,000 miles across 23 states, exploring 16 national and 14 state parks.  They found their way to Charlottesville, VA and chose it as their new home. Tom is now focused on launching his next food business here in Charlottesville and becoming an active member of the thriving small business community in central Virginia.