Brotherhood, Sisterhood and the Business Networking Circle are excited to offer the 2nd major event of the Entrepreneur’s Panel series to all Temple members!
The program will include stories from several successful major entrepreneurs from our community, Q&A and a Meet and Greet with refreshments following the program.
We will be celebrating and learning from the accomplishments of 4 entrepreneurs who have created and grown enterprises that have solved real problems and made the world a better place.
Open to all Temple Beth El Members and their guests.
For more information, please contact Mike Sirowitz at [email protected].
Moderator
Panelist
Panelist
Panelist
Panelist
Greg Shugar is a member of Temple Beth El and an entrepreneur who was one of the earliest players in ecommerce. In 2004, while practicing law in Chicago by day, he and his wife, Gina spent their nights creating The Tie Bar in the basement of their home. Within a year of its launch, the company took off, allowing Greg to (happily) quit the practice of law and run The Tie Bar full time.
Quickly, The Tie Bar became the best-selling brand of neckwear on the internet. It was regularly covered in fashion media, including GQ Magazine where its products were often featured on the cover and worn by A-list celebrities.
In 2013, a private equity firm acquired The Tie Bar from the Shugars, giving Greg a much-needed break. Or so he thought. Only 40 years old at the time, Greg wasn’t finished. Soon after, Greg co-founded Thread Experiment, the world’s first brand of home bedding dedicated to men.
Not quite done, Greg found himself back in the neckwear game when he acquired Beau Ties, Ltd. of Vermont in 2019. Beau Ties is a 30-year old men’s accessories brand which manufacturers many of its own products here in the U.S.
Greg is also active at Florida Atlantic University, where he helped launch FAU Tech Runway, a start-up incubator which runs through the school’s Entrepreneurship program. Greg also teaches undergraduate entrepreneurship at the FAU College of Business.
Jennifer Walzer Berkowitz, Managing Director of R&J Advisory Group, Inc. has an extensive background in technology and business strategy consulting. Prior to founding R&J Advisory Group, Jennifer started BUMI (Backup My Info!, Inc) in 2003, a premium white glove online backup and recovery business for the financial industry and built it into a multimillion dollar debt-free and very profitable business in New York City.
Jennifer has been invited to speak on various topics such as disaster recovery and data security at major conferences across the country and has been featured in numerous national publications such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Daily News, Money Magazine, New York Enterprise Report and Crain’s New York Business. She successfully sold BUMI to J2 Global (NASDAQ: JCOM) which enabled her to financially retire in August 2014.
Jennifer has been coaching mid-market CEOs since 2014. She helps her clients achieve scalable growth/profit in their businesses while enjoying less headaches. Her clients are big fans and are happy to provide references on their experiences working together while scaling their businesses.
Jennifer is a 2011 graduate of The Entrepreneurial Master’s Program (EMP), an executive educational program jointly hosted by the MIT Enterprise Forum and Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO). She graduated with honors from The University of Arizona with a B.S. in Management Information Systems in 1995. Jennifer is happily married with 2 young boys and a dog named Brownie. She loves playing tennis and having fun with her family.
Dana grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and attended University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. She graduated from college in 1978 with a BA in Modern Dance. Afterwards, she married Steve Brown and relocated to southern Florida.
Dana started her career as a Department Manager and Buyer at Burdines Department store, while also starting her family. Steve and Dana have 3 children, Susie, Andrew, and Jordan.
Soon after moving to Florida, Steve purchased a small company in Boca Raton called The Living Room. The Living Room was soon changed to the Brown’s name.
In 1984 Dana joined her husband Steve in the business as a buyer and had the vision to see Brown’s as not just a furniture store but as an Interior Design Firm. With Dana’s influence the furniture store slowly transitioned to a complete turnkey Interior Design Studio.
In 2014 after Steve Brown’s sudden passing, Dana was left to manage the business and her family on her own. Instead of selling the business or closing, Dana decided to lean into her team and other family members within the business including her daughter Susie Siegel and sister-in-law Pam Nadler. Together with a new management team they started “fresh” with a business rebranding and showroom remodel. Most recently adding a commercial design business to their services. Her influence and decision-making have helped shape the Interiors By Brown brand into the luxury furniture and design firm it is today, 44 years later.
Paul Mandel is a successful, versatile, and effective real estate attorney with over 35 years of experience, a proven track record of achievement, exceptional negotiation skills, decisive leadership, and strong business acumen.
A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Mr. Mandel has lived and practiced in South Florida since 1984. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Juris Doctor degree from California Western School of Law in San Diego, CA. Mr. Mandel was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1985 and has remained a member in good standing since.
He founded Capital Abstract & Title in 1986 and the Law Office of Mandel & Perkins, P.A. in 1988 with fellow attorney, partner, and spouse, Diane M Perkins. Capital Abstract & Title is an attorney-owned and operated title insurance agency.
For more than 30 years, our experienced and professional team has been providing comprehensive title insurance services for both residential and commercial real estate transactions. They offer a full range of title and escrow services for homebuyers and sellers, real estate agents and brokers, mortgage lenders, commercial property professionals, and homebuilders and developers. Their team is customer focused and an expert in delivering valuable guidance and facilitating the full real estate transaction.
Paul lives in Parkland, FL with his wife, Diane M Perkins. They have 2 married sons and new grandson, Paul and Diane are enjoying this special time in their lives. For entertainment, Paul enjoys traveling, his season tickets to the Miami Heat and Florida Panthers, and he owns Standardbred racehorses.
Ilya Shnayder emigrated to the US with his family from the former Soviet Union under the Russian Jewish refugee program in 1981 at the age of 6. His parents left their comfortable upper middle-class lifestyle to come to the US with literally nothing except the opportunity for their son to grow up not having to be scared or ashamed of being a Jew and the ability to work to become whatever he wanted in this great land of opportunity.
Ilya started young – working multiple part time jobs from the age of 8, saving his money and buying his first piece of property, a 2-bedroom condo in Boston, at the age of 15. He helped his father buy a home at 17, then bought another condo at 19, then a 2-family house at 20 and kept buying more properties reaching a peak of 339 residential and commercial units.
After Brandeis University and a stint working as a financial consultant, he got into the automobile business and worked his way up from sales consultant, to sales manager, finance manager, VP/Director of Finance to today owning 7 dealerships across 5 states. A serial entrepreneur he currently owns 21 companies across multiple industries including property management, real estate, lending, automotive, training/consulting, insurance and more.
A father of 4 boys, he moved to Delray Beach from the Boston area with his wife Nadezda last August and is exploring his options here in S. Florida.
Temple Beth El is a reform synagogue that welcomes those who are seeking to live and support a modern Jewish life. Our mission is to enrich lives by generating bonds of love through exceptional Jewish experiences.
View a schedule of regular
services here >