Sunshine Suites » Shiner profiles

Catching Up With Mr. Call

Russ — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:00:43 +0000

Recently, new Shiner Jon Call of Mr. Call Design was featured in the New York Times, celebrating his move into Sunshine Suites. We sat down with Mr. Call himself to discuss his business and his move into Sunshine Suites’ Noho office.Sunshine Suites:Tell us a little about yourself, your company and how you came to form it.Mr. Call: For ten years, I had been working in Manhattan as an interior designer for some of the best high-end firms around. Coming from Seattle, it was mind blowing to work alongside the people I had always admired. Through these jobs, I learned how to craft unique and satisfying custom interiors. Many of them were published and a few were even in the movies. It’s a privilege to make beautiful work and have it recognized. Earlier this year I launched MR CALL DESIGNS. While the work remains editorial worthy, our business model is what gives us the competitive edge over other design firms. A value-based company, MR CALL DESIGNS bills our clients a monthly flat fee for service. There are no commissions or sales incentives and all discounts that are received by the designer are passed on to the client. We have found that by updating our business model to reflect the needs of our clients, our company is free to create the best work possible on every project.Sunshine: What first attracted you to the path of entrepreneurship?Mr. Call: When you’re employed by someone else, there is always a voice in the back of your head saying “If I owned my own company, I would….” At a certain point, you have to take ownership for all of your ideas and actually put them to use. (Mr. Call with friends, from the New York Times)Sunshine: How did you come to be a Shiner at Sunshine Suites?Mr. Call: I was working out of my home…COMPLETELY FRUSTRATED, and looking for an affordable way to grow the company. When I learned about SUNSHINE SUITES, it seemed too good to be true! I came down and signed up immediately.Sunshine: What projects are you working on now that you’re excited about?Mr. Call: We just completed a single family home in Old Greenwich, CT. That was amazing! We were able to create a fresh, modern, spirited home in a fairly understated neighborhood. Currently, we are working on two private residences here in Manhattan. We are also about to break ground on the second of our restaurants for the Ino’tecca brand, located in Brooklyn.Visit Mr. Call’s blog at Mr Call Blogs

At The Shatterbox Salon

Russ — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:00:13 +0000

Last week’s Shatterbox Salon, featuring our very own Shatterbox and held at The Tank artspace in New York City, brought out the best in aspiring entrepreneurs and those look for Shatterbox’s unique form of career inspiration.Shatterbox was kind enough to share a few photos from the evening. The Shatterbox blog is also a spectacular resource for the young and up-and-coming business professional. Right now, they’re collecting the most challenging, tough interview questions and the answers to them.

Shatterbox Salon

Russ — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:00:04 +0000

One of the newest Shiners in our Tribeca West office community is Shatterbox, a new video-based social community targeted and students and young professionals. In their own words:

We are a video-based social community for students and young professionals to find inspiration and share ideas about innovative careers. Our films are 100% original, HD-quality, and free of charge to individuals all over the world who are hungry to make their mark.We’ve found the most passionate, cutting edge young trailblazers we can get our camera on and asked them, simply, to share their stories. Our archive of fascinating shatterbox stories will grow as we seek new characters to feature across limitless industries. And we want you to join the conversation. Leave your comments, share your ideas and your stories, connect with other users, and find yourself a little closer to making your mark.

To bring Shatterbox’s mission of empowerment to the world, they’ll be hosting the first Shatterbox Salon, this Monday, July 19, at The Tank artspace in Manhattan. It’s a must-attend event for those looking for a little direction or a lot of inspiration in their careers.

Sunshine in the Times

Russ — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:11:37 +0000

One of our new Shiners, Jon Call, was featured in the New York Times this past weekend!Call was profiled celebrating his new office inside Sunshine’s NOHO community:

WHY THEY CAME To celebrate Mr. Call’s new work space at Sunshine Suites at Astor Place, a communal office he shares with people from several different fields. “Overflow workers from GQ, people in finance, marketing, accounting,” he said, beaming. “I like that it’s affordable — you share all the costs: overhead, printers, I.T., all of that.”

Welcome, Jon!

Mass Ideation

Russ — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:46:48 +0000

We’re thrilled to welcome digital design firm Mass Ideation to the office community of startups and small businesses here at Sunshine NY. Mass Ideation’s Miguel Sanchez was kind enough to pull together some thoughts about what he does, and some of Mass Ideation’s coolest, most interesting projects for the Sunshine blog. Mass Ideation is a digital creative partner to agencies and brands specializing in motion graphics, 3D animation, rich media campaigns, video production, site design/development, and mobile technologies amongst other things. When you have a moment, check out our site and reel at the links below:www.massideation.com www.massideation.com/mi_reel.html Featured Projects Pepsi Mofilm Contest Web Video Production & Post ProductionMass Ideation partnered with Profero NYC to produce a call for entries for the Pepsi Refresh Your World / MoFilm contest starring an international Pepsi executive. The project included shooting in multiple NYC locations on a tight schedule, editing, animation, and flash banner ads. Coke Zero Concert Broadcast TV Spot Concept & ProductionIn partnership with a Jamaican ad agency, MI developed the concept and produced an animated spot to promote a contest to win tickets to the biggest concert on the island featuring Sean Kingston. Upliv Interactive Experiences Flash Animation & Interactive ExperienceWorking closely with Profero NYC, MI created immersive, interactive experiences and animations based on stock photography. These experiences were then incorporated into a large Johnson & Johnson ad campaign targeting the relaxation of women. Getty Whitepaper Flash Micro siteMass Ideation, working in conjunction with Profero, produced this website for a new white paper by Getty Images. The site was built using Flash and XML, which can be controlled to edit all content.Lufthansa Rich Media Banner CampaignMass Ideation, in conjunction with Profero, developed this rich media campaign for Lufthansa using 3D and after effects to call attention to the Lufthansa advertisement and brand.

Shiner Profiles: The Hire Syndicate

leora — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:59:27 +0000

Company name: The Hire Syndicate Founder: Allen Ackerman Date Founded: 2009 # Employees: 1+ freelance contractors Resident of Sunshine Suites since: Almost 2 years

First can you tell me a bit about your company?The Hire Syndicate is the result of a need I felt as a recruiter. I founded my current recruiting company in 2004 and wanted to be on my own, which meant relying on my network to find candidates for open requisitions. I found that broadcasting new requisitions to my network was a time-consuming and inefficient process – I didn’t want to feel like I was clogging email boxes, and on the other end, juggling disparate email responses. So, I thought up a platform where open requisitions could “live” all in one place, and that would provide instant, yet subtle alerts to new activity. That is The Hire Syndicate, which I started in earnest, last summer (2009). In a nutshell: The Hire Syndicate is a web-based application for professional recruiters, who create Pods with colleagues to share split placement opportunities. It has extensions for real time recruiting, like our Widget and mobile apps. We’re currently in beta – we invite folks to try us out, it’s free – and are working towards a Q3 release. What is the most useful thing you have learned that has helped you with your business?I don’t know if this is the most useful thing I’ve learned, but it served as a great reminder: a couple of weeks ago, there was this “Collection of Startup Advice in Three Words” floating around the web, and one that continues to stick out is “support customers maniacally.” It’s so important, and reinforces my belief that it’s a good thing that I take the time to connect with each new member of The Hire Syndicate, at least in these early stages. What challenges have you faced and continue to face and how are you addressing them?Resource scarcity. But that’s nothing new – I try to be creative in meeting immediate needs and planning for foreseeable needs. One general rule that I go by in addressing challenges is just to continue learning – for instance, learning from other entrepreneurs about how they manage their businesses, more about venture capital and/or alternative financing streams… the more you know, the better suited you are to handle the challenges. By the way, one resource we’re looking for is a .NET developer/Lead Architect so if any one knows a great Lead, let me know! How has Sunshine helped you and your business?The Sunshine community is an incredible asset. To have a group of savvy entrepreneurs to bounce ideas off of and solicit advice – at one’s fingertips – is an immense resource. Plus, the cross-pollination opportunities (facilitated by Sunshine Suites’ many networking events, of course) is great. Where do you hope to be in 6 months and 1 year in terms of growth or position?Our goal is to have positive cash flow by January 1, 2011. It’s funny we’re just starting to do business modeling now, but my gut says that this goal achievable. Oh – and for any potential users, know that we are planning on a “freemium” model – basic service for free and advanced functionality for a nominal fee (like LinkedIn). We want it to be an indispensable asset for split fee recruiting. Find them on: twitter linkedin meetup facebook

Shiner Profiles: NinjaTax

leora — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:45:52 +0000

Company name: NinjaTax Founder: Eric Konopka Date Founded: 12/15/2008 # Employees: 1 Resident of Sunshine Suites since: August 2009First can you tell me a bit about your company?NinjaTax is committed to providing professional, accessible, affordable tax consulting, planning and preparation services to individuals and businesses. We offer high-touch client service and expertise comparable to that of CPAs and tax attorneys, at a much lower cost. Because we understand individuals’ and entrepreneurs’ often odd time commitments, we are available at any time to consult and regularly conduct business over e-mail, chat or phone. We are also developing related and relevant tax technology.What is the most useful thing you have learned that has helped you with your business?Sticking to what you know! It’s often tempting to try to do everything yourself, but it’s very hard to juggle many different balls at once.What challenges have you faced and continue to face and how are you addressing them?While I love talking to people about their businesses and their needs, I have had to reach out of my comfort zone in marketing and approaching others to start the conversation.How has Sunshine helped you and your business?It’s a great place to start out – before I was working out of my home, and finding that did not work as well as I liked. There are ample opportunities to meet other individuals and entrepreneurs who are looking for my expertise or know others that do.Where do you hope to be in 6 months and 1 year in terms of growth or position?In 6 months, I’m hoping to have had a successful tax season and to be hard at work on marketing for the 2011 season, expanding services and developing technology. In a year, I’m hoping to be growing to a second or third employee and gearing up for tax time.

Shiner Profiles: Queen for a Day

leora — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:25:44 +0000

Company name: Queen for a Day Founder: Jenna Edwards # Employees: 1 Resident of Sunshine Suites since: October 2009

Shiner Profiles: AC Management

leora — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:32:14 +0000

Company name: AC Management Founder: Anthony Calamita # Employees: 1 Resident of Sunshine Suites since: January 2008

A little about AC Management: AC Management is a full service, Talent Management Company. We represent actors in all areas of TV, Film & Theater – as well as writers. As simplistically as I can state it – we are in a service industry. My job is to serve our clients and focus on moving their careers forward. It’s been a staple of what I’ve done for the last 9 years. I was on the agency side of the business for 6 years, knowing that one day I would ultimately transition to my own company in a managerial capacity. In November of ’07 I started up AC Mgmt. amidst a strike in the industry. While most thought I was crazy, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to set up the foundation of a company, and that by the time the strike (which lasted months) subsided, I’d be a perfect position to be off and running.What is the most useful thing you have learned that has helped you with your business? Ultimately it’s about being focused. Working for an employer allows your brain to be scattershot during periods. Since venturing out and working as an owner, it’s been more about coming in with a game plan on a daily basis. Focus is something that has tremendously allowed me to grow over the last two years.What challenges have you faced and continue to face and how are you addressing them? It’s tough being out here as an individual. Working at a company, there is a lot of structure. Hours of operation. Meeting times. Lunch Breaks, etc. It takes a lot of discipline to work as an individual. There’s no one to answer to. No one watching over your shoulder. It can be very easy to fall into a cycle of complacency and set it on cruise control. There are always days in the business that you just feel run down, and there isn’t a co-worker there to just chat with. It’s about picking up the phone and speaking with someone – which can feel hollow at times, but you just find ways to make due with that. It can get lonely fast. The best ways that I can combat this is to be proactive. Get out there. Take meetings. go to events. See shows. There are plenty of ways to to be busy in this industry, and it’s about finding out what to be at, and make it a point to get to it. I can only become successful if I put in the hard work and effort. A lot of people out there don’t realize the determination it takes to go out on your own, and the risk that’s involved with it. I know that the time and effort will be rewarded down the road.Fortunately – I’ve been able to stay open these two years – and continue an upward trend with my company because I have the passion, motivation & desire to want to be better. I wouldn’t have taken the risk if I didn’t feel that I could succeed at it.How has Sunshine helped you and your business?Sunshine has provided me with a great opportunity to have a place to go. Being a sole proprietor at the moment – it could have been very easy to have worked out of my apartment. It’s something a lot of people in my business do when they start out. Personally, I believed that wouldn’t have been a wise business decision. Coming here to Sunshine allows me to get away from the distractions that the home provides. Be it tv, games…the dog… It goes back to what I said before about being focused. I know that when I come here to Sunshine – it’s about my business and that’s it. Fortunately I share space with another friend in the business – and it’s a great way to communicate information. Having that camaraderie on a daily basis is motivating. Wanting the best for each other and watching each other succeed is inspirational.Where do you hope to be in 6 months and 1 year in terms of growth or position? In terms of growth over the next year – I’d like to see another employee within my space. It’s not about being large quickly – rather, quality over quantity.For more information contact Anthony: 212-624-5866

Shiner Profiles: GreenSoul Shoes

leora — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:51:06 +0000

Company name: GreenSoul Shoes
Founders: Alastair Onglingswan, Iris Chau, and Stephen Chen
# Employees: 4 full time
Resident of Sunshine Suites for: 8+ years