29 minute read
Alumni Founders
Founders Day is an annual occasion when the whole school honors its founders, Mr. Allen and Mr. Stevenson. This year, we thought it would be interesting to hear from some of our alumni who are founders in their own right. Jennifer Ziplow, Alumni Relations Associate, interviewed several alumni to discover how Allen-Stevenson helped them develop the skills and passions that played a part in starting their particular businesses.
Jon Block ’89
After Allen-Stevenson, I went to Choate Rosemary Hall then on to college at the University of Montana in Missoula. I think the decision to head out West was entrepreneurial in a sense and definitely honed my appreciation and love for the outdoors and a good sense of what a work life balance would be. I also got into construction which helped pay for much of my college costs plus having extra money to spend. This made me realize early on that I was an entrepreneur. I liked the business aspect and saw that whatever I put into construction I could get back out of it.
Jon Block ’89 with his family.
I returned to New York during the internet boom. My Allen-Stevenson and Choate friends were on Wall Street and a part of the dot-com world which caught my attention. I found my way into recruiting for dot-com companies, which got me involved in the industry without having hard skills in technology or engineering myself. It set the course for the present.
I operate two companies today. The first is Botsford Associates, which I describe as a boutique consulting and strategic staffing firm. We focus on helping mostly financial services companies and banks figure out risk, regulatory and compliance challenges.
I started Botsford Associates in late 2009. Prior to that I was a partner in another firm that didn’t survive the financial crisis. After the credit crisis in 2008, I started Botsford Associates after moving to Vail, Colorado, but our biggest areas geographically speaking in the U.S. and Canada are Chicago, New York, Toronto and London. We have over 120 consultants globally.
The other company I co-founded, Petabloc, was started almost three years ago. My partner, David Peterka, and I, have known each other for over 15 years. We knew we could create a value-driven consulting company to help organizations across various industries move seamlessly into more modern technology. Often, we’re moving organizations out of physical servers into a public cloud environment like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform. We have over 25 mid- to-senior level consultants who are able to both advise and implement solutions for organizations big and small. The two companies share clients, so if they are facing regulatory or compliance challenges, they may also need help with cloud consulting, or vice versa. We can help them on all fronts.
I think having control of my work situation and being able to create a work life balance, which I value, is important. During the financial crisis, I took a trip out to Colorado and realized I could run my existing business from there, which gave me the idea to move to Vail, Colorado where I started my family. I have two boys, Stevie (8) and Lucas (6) with my wife Danielle. We have lived together in Vail, NYC and now Rincón, Puerto Rico... And this is all possible because of the way I set up my companies.
I don’t know why I have this in my head, but our head of school at the time was Desmond Cole. He was a character. He really made it okay to be what was called a ‘rascal’ or troublemaker.
Now, as a parent, I’m struggling with my son who really does not like to be told what to do. He wants to do exactly what he wants to do. The more you push against it, the worse it is. And I think about how good Mr. Cole was at redirecting that energy towards something fun and productive. And there’s something that I think fits well from an entrepreneurial perspective— that mischievous thing. You have to figure out how to push the boundaries and Allen-Stevenson was a safe place to do that.
The advice I give myself every day is that you really have to build trust. It’s all about finding people who are better than you at what you’re doing and to trust them. It’s tough being able to get things going by yourself. You have to figure out how to scale that by finding the right people and bringing them together. And then, knowing when to step away and let people run with it. For me, I have been in this awkward zone of being the only sales guy getting clients, now I’m developing people who have taken over from me. Now I have 5 salespeople who are doing a better job than I could do. A part of what I do is trusting that—and being able to adapt and grow in a new role. I think you really have to be someone who is looking to grow, who can take constructive criticism and always learn how to be better. It’s exhausting. But I think that is the key— surrounding yourself with people who also really care about growing individually and collectively.
Peter Bloeme ’71
Tell me a little about yourself and the businesses that you have started (Skyhoundz, Hyperflite, Atlanta Rocks!).
Well, I've had an amazing life of highs and lows starting with growing up in The Dakota where I experienced the NYC blackout, watched the filming of Rosemary's Baby and met John and Yoko Lennon, to attending Allen-Stevenson from grades one through six.
I won the Men's World Frisbee Championship in 1976 and the World Canine Disc Championship in 1984, with my dog Wizard, among many other titles and world records. I am proud of my appearances on The David Letterman Show and the Disney movie “Flight of the Navigator.” After that, I became the director of the largest canine disc competition series in the world, which led to my starting to make professional discs for dogs and an international disc dog competition. Peter Bloeme ’71
Some professional highlights include performing in Hiroshima at the Japanese baseball all-star game in front of 40,000 fans with four Japanese frisbee dogs during the seventh inning break for 10 minutes and opening for Queen at Earl's Court in London. My partner and I performed human frisbee freestyle for the audience as they arrived. I also met Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter after attending his "Sunday School" service in Plains, Georgia.
My other business venture, started because my good friend Jeff Perry owed me $200 and he paid me back with climbing gear. We traveled for work together and often visited indoor rock climbing gyms. There wasn’t an indoor climbing gym in Atlanta, so we decided to open one there. We opened our first gym in 1995, and another larger one in 1999. At the end of 2008 we closed the first gym and at the end of 2018, we closed the second, but we very much enjoyed them!
My dad was an entrepreneur, having started his own PR firm in New York City, and I think I got that from him. He passed away just before my sixth year at Allen-Stevenson. Now my son Wesley (25) is running his own pressure washing business, WiseGuys Pro-Wash in Atlanta. He took it from a summer job to put him through college to a $1,000,000 business in revenue in 2020.
While I can't say I was the most dedicated student, I gained my love of photography, carpentry, music (orchestra), and sports at Allen- Stevenson. I didn't enjoy writing lines, but I remember fondly getting my first SLR camera and learning to process and print black and white film. I remember playing violin and conducting the orchestra for our most famous piece: "The Stars and Stripes Forever." I remember building a bench without any hardware. I remember being delighted to see a back cover photo of me stealing home plate in the A-S newsletter. A-S was a wonderful experience and set standards and goals for me to continue to strive for the rest of my life. And, my classmates were awesome: Alexander "Sas" Peters ’71, Jeff Beers ’71, Joe Kearing ’71, Peter Hollender ’71, Mitch Powers ’71, Al Lewis ’71 to name a few. I love those guys!
In my life, I've held normal jobs and worked for other corporations. I hear so many people complaining about having to go to work, upset with their jobs and praying for retirement. I have always felt that work was interesting, challenging, educational, and fun. One of the great things about owning your own business is that while you work hard, you are also able to take time off when you feel like it.
I was able to travel with my kids for various athletic competitions and vacations during the summer while other parents were having to work. My work involves traveling throughout the world, so I was able to see, experience, hear, taste, and drink things that I wouldn't have been able to do any other way.
So, I guess my advice is, and I know it may sound corny, but follow your dreams. Do what you want to, go where you want to, as long as you can do so responsibly. Never give up learning and experiencing life. We all experience highs and lows in this life, don't get too high or too low. Whether for work or play, pursue your passions whatever they may be and don't let people tell you that anything is impossible. Keep learning, keep experiencing, keep growing, find mentors, set goals, live, love, cry, and grow. Don't be afraid to make mistakes.
My life and goals have never been focused on money, but to live life to the fullest and leave this world a better place in one way or another. I want to go out having won life!
Alex Faherty ’98 & Mike Faherty ’98
I am Alex. I’m 37, with two kids, 4 and 2, and live in Cobble Hill in Brooklyn. I went to Yale, where I played varsity football and started for three years. I then went on to a career in finance, working at Greenhill & Co and Cerberus Capital.
I am Mike, and I’m also 37. I have a newborn child, and I live in Dumbo, Brooklyn. I went to Washington University in St. Louis, where I played varsity basketball and was captain of the team my senior year.
Today, we both serve as CEOs of Faherty Brand. Faherty is a lifelong dream of ours that we started eight years ago. The brand is about creating the highest quality, most comfortable men’s and women’s clothing in an innovative and conscious way. Ecommerce is our largest business, but we also have 16 retail stores across the country (including 3 in NYC, Sag Harbor, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard, among others). We also sell in other retail stores, including nationwide at Nordstrom. It’s a family business. Alex’s wife, Kerry, and our mother, Ninie, are also co-founders and executives of the company.
We loved the idea of creating a brand that was our own that made products that we want to wear. And as twins, having a business together was always the dream. Specifically, Mike wrote his college application essay about starting the brand, then studied fashion at Washington University in St. Louis. He went on to a design career at Ralph Lauren.
We learned more in the four years at Allen-Stevenson than at any other institution. The love of learning was instilled in us during those years, which has carried us through the rest of our life.
Learn as much as you possibly can about the industry and what will make you successful before jumping off. Take your time and play the long game. Starting a company that you love and love working at is the most important thing.
Evan R. Goldfischer ’81
I graduated from Allen-Stevenson in 1981. I went on to Phillips Exeter Academy for high school, then to Tufts University. Although I knew I wanted to be a doctor, I majored in history. I think a significant influence was my liberal arts background from A-S.
After Tufts, I attended Cornell University Medical College, followed by the University of Chicago for my internship in General Surgery and a urologic surgery residency. After that, I was a fellow at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. I trained with Arthur Smith, who founded endourology, that is operating through telescopes. I specialized in kidney stones. I’ve written a book on kidney stones called Even Urologists Get Kidney Stones.
In 1998, when I finished my fellowship, I came up to Poughkeepsie, New York. There was no one in this area doing endourology, and I joined a small private practice. In the early 2000s, it became clear that hospitals were buying up medical practices and forming big health networks. My practice realized that this wouldn’t work for us – we wouldn’t be able to survive. The group recommended that I go back to business school, so I went to the University of Massachusetts and got my MBA. Once I graduated, I took our small urology group and founded a multi-specialty practiced called Premier Medical Group of the Hudson Valley. I ran that group until 2015. I grew it to over 60 providers, and now I think there may be over 100.
In 2015, our National Trade Organization LUGPA (Large Urology Group Practice Association) asked me to be on the National Board. Two years ago, I was elevated to Physician Secretary, and have just been nominated as PresidentElect of the Board.
I still practice medicine—I started a research program here in 1999. I have served as principal investigator for over 400 clinical trials. I’ve overseen a lot of drugs for prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction, overactive bladder, and enlarged prostates come to market as a result of our efforts. I’ve published over 100 abstracts and articles in peer
Evan Goldfischer ’81 with his family.
reviewed medical journals. I have visited all seven continents, lectured on six continents and performed surgery on six continents as a visiting professor.
I was also Editor-in-Chief of a 368- page book called Urology Practice Management which was published in 2017. A second edition, which should be out by the end of the year.
Given all of the changes in medicine over the past two decades, it is hard to exist as a small medical group without joining a hospital network, which requires you to follow hospital rules: how many patients to see, what equipment you’re using, what procedures you can do. That’s not why I became a doctor.
I became a doctor to have some sort of independence and to be able to provide care to my patients without corporations dictating care based on finances. A doctor must always work on behalf of the patient, not a hospital or corporate entity. In order to stay independent, we had to become a doctor run multispecialty group. We went into full operation in 2010, and here we are in 2020, still in business.
There’s another part of my brain that loves doing research. Typically, research is done through big academic institutions, but we were able to get creative and figure out a way to do it through a private practice. We live about 70 miles from New York City, and, previously, a lot of patients would have to drive all the way there if they wanted to enroll in a clinical trial. We realized we could do this in Poughkeepsie. Our patients have access to these treatments three to four years before the general public. It keeps us a step ahead.
I think Allen-Stevenson instilled in me the key values of hard work, diligence, loyalty, and compassion. We also had some great teachers. I seemed to be scientifically oriented back then and love of science continued with me in high school and college and landed me in medical school, while also instill in me love of the art, theater, and music. I credit John Pariseau, David Kersey, Stanley Gauger, Ann Koppel, and Bill Landis for helping to instill these passions.
I think Allen- Stevenson also provided a great support network for me that continues to exist to this day. I’m still very close with so many members of the Class of 1981. It’s an amazing class—and I call many of them, regularly, and we always pick up right where we left off.
Firstly, I think the most important thing is that starting a company requires an amazing amount of work, so you really have to be passionate about it. Secondly, do as much research as possible and talk to as many people as you can in the same field or a related field. Find out all of the mistakes they made, so that you can avoid making them. You’ll still make your own mistakes, but it’s all about planning. Also, don’t try to do it all yourself – assemble a team of great people. Try and find people who are smarter than you or who possess knowledge in fields that you are deficient in. Lastly, make sure that the company’s mission, at its core, resonates with the people you’re surrounding yourself with, so that everybody is buying into the mission. They understand it’s not just about making money and selling the business. It’s about building something that you’re really proud of and invested in. That will create a healthy and successful company.
Fred Isquith ’97
I have spent most of my academic career studying public policy, with a focus on economic and social welfare policy. With those areas of study in mind I received my B.S. in public policy from Cornell University and a Master in Public Administration from the Maxwell School. While at the Maxwell School, I also received my J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law. Since I concentrated my studies around economics and its intersection with law, my career after graduate school focused on a class action litigation that would protect
investors and maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets. Now, after ten years of practicing class action litigation, I have opened Isquith Law PLLC. While I will certainly continue to have a class action litigation practice, it is my hope that Isquith Law will allow me to return to my academic roots and help individuals and different classes of people. Isquith Law will be a diverse practice allowing me to service individuals and provide social welfare at a granular level.
I have been practicing law for about a decade focusing primarily on class action litigation. While I enjoy the complexity that goes along with class action litigation, and I continue to have a class action practice, I was encouraged by friends and clients to diversify my practice. Opening my own practice has given me the flexibility and ability to help my clients in the many facets of their lives. Diversifying my practice has re-energized my career, and I have assisted individuals and businesses, as well as an unnamed class member.
My time at Allen-Stevenson taught me to have confidence in my ability to run a practice. Allen-Stevenson also taught me the importance of helping others who may need help, and to not be afraid to ask for help if I need it as well. This has been an important lesson as I reach out to new clients and learn new areas of the law. It is okay to ask for help, even when the business may be on your own.
While starting a new enterprise can be a time of uncertainty and fear, make sure to embrace those feelings. First, they can be used to your advantage as motivation to succeed. Second, have confidence in yourself and with those with whom you are working. If you are at the point where you can start your own company, you have already developed the skills required to succeed. Be confident in those skills, and you will do fine.
Derrick Ko ’01
Tell me a little about yourself and Spin.
Spin is a leading micromobility company in the US and Europe, providing shared electric kick-scooters to communities around the world. We started Spin in 2017, and in 2018 were acquired by Ford to be its micromobility unit. Since then, we have built up a global team, scaled to over 60 markets, and are looking forward to expanding to New York City next year.
I'm the co-founder and CEO of Spin. After Allen-Stevenson, I went on to get my undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering from Purdue University, before doing stints at Microsoft, Pivotal, and various startups. I first entered the shared mobility space in 2014 as a growth product manager at Lyft.
Before I started Spin, I observed that cars —even through rideshare—weren't the problem of congestion in our cities. Traveling a mile in New York City or San Francisco takes more time than it should have to, regardless of the mode of transportation you decide to take. We started Spin to give people the freedom to move using micromobility, which provides people a much more efficient, environmentally friendly, and affordable way to get around.
Allen-Stevenson's approach to education exposed me to technology at a young age, and I'm thankful for that. I remember first learning to code in Logo during computer class, which had such a lasting influence on my career. Having spent very formative years in New York City also heavily impacted my start of Derrick Ko ’01
Spin. Growing up, we depended on the public transit system, which shaped my perspective that people don't need to depend on cars in urban areas with a robust transportation system.
Find a problem that you really want to solve and find the best people you can work with to do it with you.
David Luria ’51
Tell me a little about yourself and the Washington Photo Safari Program.
My name is E. David Luria, Class of ’51. I was born in Germany to Jewish parents during the Nazi era. Fortunately, I escaped the Holocaust and arrived in New York City in 1938, where I was raised and attended The Allen-Stevenson School from 1947 to 1950. After graduating from a Quaker boarding school in Pennsylvania, George School, I attended and graduated with honors from Amherst College in 1958 where I majored in political science, international relations and modern languages.
After spending three years in Germany with the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) during the Cold War, I began a 34-year career in the non-profit international development and citizen exchange field. During this time, I spent six years with CARE International in Colombia and Panama and 28 years as a senior executive with other organizations such as Partners of the Americas, Friendship Force, and World Learning, becoming fluent in French, Spanish, and German.
In 1995, my job with a government- sponsored non-profit in Washington, D.C. was eliminated due to budget cuts. So, I took up my hobby of photography and made it my profession, specializing in architecture, events and restaurant photography. Becoming an artist was not an easy transition. In only eight years as a self-employed photographer, I was earning as much as it had taken me in 34 years to earn as a salaried executive, all while pursuing a personal passion.
Then in 1999, at age 63, I decided to try teaching other people how to use their cameras, just as the digital age was beginning. I created a small business known as Washington Photo Safari. In that first year I had all of 72 clients.
In the ensuing 21 years, Washington Photo Safari has become one of the largest photography instruction programs in the country, with 11 instructors training over 39,000 amateur David Luria ’51 photographers from 50 states and 53 countries on 5,800 photo excursions in 186 locations in 11 states, 30 cities and 8 countries. The program has received hundreds of 5-star reviews on Trip Advisor and other review sites, plus a high degree of customer loyalty. At 84 years of age, I am still running the business and teaching photography several times a week in the Washington, D.C. area.
Very simply, I needed the money. I still had a daughter in college when I lost my job in 1995, plus very limited retirement funds from my non-profit career. Necessity being the mother of invention, I became an eager student of photography, even taking a 6-week course in Paris with the Parsons School of Design, working with a protegé of famed French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. This has been a very happy second career for me. I love being my own boss and greatly enjoy helping thousands of other people experience the joy of photography.
Allen-Stevenson had a great influence on where I am today. My English language training, particularly in grammar and its usage, was superb. This has been a great help to my writing skills throughout life and in marketing my business. The appreciation of history and culture that I got during my Latin, Spanish, and French classes and from history classes at A-S has helped me become the internationalist and world traveler that I am today. I got the sense at AllenStevenson that education is both a serious and most enjoyable business, giving me the self-confidence to become a successful teacher myself.
Absolutely. The business you start must be in a field you love. That is the only thing that gets you through the hard times, the disappointments, the mistakes, and the refusals: you have to thoroughly enjoy what you are doing. It is that sense of self-confidence and enjoyment, conveyed to your customers, that will make you a success.
Josh Rothstein ’12
Tell me a little about yourself and Up All Night Music Group.
I'm a member of the Allen-Stevenson Class of 2012. I later attended Riverdale Country School and graduated in 2019 from Hamilton College. Although I have been a lifelong music lover, I first learned about the music industry in college after joining Hamilton's Campus Activities Board. As the club's concert coordinator, I worked with artists including Galantis, Charli XCX, A$AP Ferg, Jesse McCartney, Lupe Fiasco, and SHAED.
I have also toured the country twice, first with EZI and platinum artist MAX, and later with country superstar Luke Bryan.
After I finished the Luke Bryan tour, I started Up All Night Music Group. Up All Night is an NYC-based concert promotions company. We handle all aspects of putting on a show, from booking talent to securing a venue and creating and executing marketing plans. At the moment, we're focused on virtual events due to the pandemic. We've booked/promoted events with Chelsea Cutler, SHAED, and EZI, among others. Outside of Up All Night, I've had the pleasure of working with Jack White, The Marley Family, Bishop Briggs, WALK THE MOON, and Willie Nelson.
Josh Rothstein ’12
Going to a concert will always be my favorite way to spend a night out. There's nothing like the magic of being in a room waiting for the headline band to come on and feeling goosebumps when the lights go down and the music begins. I knew I wanted to be a promoter and started Up All Night after losing a job with a top promoter to an internal candidate. I decided in that moment that if they didn't want to hire me, I'd hire myself.
Allen-Stevenson helped foster my love of music. My family introduced me to music through Broadway, the New York Philharmonic, and plenty of Billy Joel CDs, but it was at Allen-Stevenson where I learned that the study and profession of music could be fun and fulfilling. Although I am not a performer, I give lots of credit to the incredible Robelyn Schrade-James, Randolph Schrade, Michelle Demko, and Diane Chaplin for my path in the music industry.
My advice would be twofold. First, take your shot. There will never be a perfect time to start a business and you will never know everything. Second, it's okay to ask for help. I asked four of my best friends to join me when starting the company and am very lucky to have them on the team. Our success is collective and having a dedicated team around me makes everything more enjoyable.
Delius Shirley ’84
I attended Allen-Stevenson for 7th and 8th Grade. After graduating, I landed at Phillips Academy—Andover with my best friend from A-S, Robert Zuckert ’84. I then went on to Colgate University. Once I graduated from college, I started a job in Washington, D.C., as a financial analyst. I disliked it, for all 11 months, so I decided to join my mom in Jamaica to help her run her restaurant there. She was known as the Julia Child of Jamaica.
After 18 months of working together, I was still there and loving it! I was regularly flying back and forth to Miami to pick up our food inventory because it was cheaper than purchasing it from Jamaica. All this took place in 1994, when Miami Beach was becoming a really hot tourist destination. I met my partner in crime, Cindy Hutson, in Miami and we decided to open a restaurant there. With my partner as the chef, I opened up my own restaurant on Lincoln Road in my mom’s name, calling it Norma’s on the Beach. She didn’t even know what a chef’s jacket was, but her cooking was amazing! After about six months, an article came out in the lifestyle section of USA Today, calling our restaurant ‘a little gem of the Caribbean in Miami.’ From that point on, it was history.
Six months later, we met a gentleman who was a fan of our restaurant. His name was Robert Johnson and he’s the co-founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET). He asked us if we were interested in consulting with him on a few restaurants, which, of course, we were. After Delius Shirley ’84 that, we opened up some restaurants together in Las Vegas, Washington, D.C. and Pleasure Island. We also opened up our own restaurant in Coral Gables, Florida, called Ortanique on the Mile, with Robert Johnson’s help. This restaurant received an award as one of the top ten restaurants in America in 1999. When Robert sold BET to Viacom, he offered us the opportunity to take over the restaurants we had worked on together. We took over the restaurants in Las Vegas and D.C., changing their names to simply Ortanique.
From there, Cindy and I branched out to open a few of our own concepts, including restaurants in Baltimore and Destin, Florida. We’ve sold several of our restaurants since then. Now, Cindy and I travel a lot—we’re asked to cook around the world. At first, our restaurants were primarily Caribbean cuisine, but our menus now highlight foods from all over the world.
We’ve also been consulting on restaurants for others, as well as opening a few new concepts with hotels, including a restaurant in The Cliff Hotel in Jamaica and one in the Cayman Islands. We’re also enjoying hosting cooking classes for university students.
I have been involved in the restaurant industry since I was young because of my mom, Norma. It’s in my blood. In 1992, after college, when I went to Jamaica, my goal was to get my mom out of the red. After a year and a half of helping her and making sure her business was running smoothly, I felt that I could go out on my own. I am so lucky to have my partner Cindy. She brought her skills in the kitchen to our business, and I was able to combine that with my business savvy.
I’ve been very lucky in the people who have supported me and who have brought opportunities my way throughout the years.
During my time at Allen-Stevenson, the teachers were demanding of me. They had high expectations and encouraged me to try lots of new things, from being on stage, and working hard in the classroom, to playing sports. I appreciate that experience and think that it helped shape who I am today. In fact, I think A-S had a greater influencer on me than Andover or Colgate.
Although I’ve had great success, I would say don’t ever open a restaurant! Of course, I’m joking, and I never followed my own advice. That being said, to start any company, you need to be passionate. I firmly believe you should chart your own course and follow your passions wherever they lead you.
