Bruce Woodcock then moved on to become a player and tester for MMOGs, Chron X and Ultima Online. He eventually invested in then became a member of the Board of Directors for Playmet, as well as contributing in research. Woodcock is currently one of the gaming industry's leading figures, an independent consultant for MMOG and a familiar figure in conferences and seminars on the topic of online gaming and market research as a valued guest speaker.
In this virtual age where everything and anything seems possible, Bruce Sterling Woodcock has made a name for himself in the niche of computer and video games, particularly in online gaming. Born in Missouri, this American gaming enthusiast turned his passion into a career, working for ISP Netcom (USA) and the Network Appliance. During this time, he began to earn by investing in stock options, helping track the companies he worked for while making a large profit for himself.
Bruce Woodcock then moved on to become a player and tester for MMOGs, Chron X and Ultima Online. He eventually invested in then became a member of the Board of Directors for Playmet, as well as contributing in research. Woodcock is currently one of the gaming industry's leading figures, an independent consultant for MMOG and a familiar figure in conferences and seminars on the topic of online gaming and market research as a valued guest speaker.
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Most people don’t want the responsibility of representing a race or changing a culture, but Torrence Boone has worked to increase opportunities for African-Americans in business. As a Senior Manager at Bain & Company in Boston, which provides strategic consulting services, he worked with campus minority organizations to sponsor networking dinners and joined co-workers attending pertinent meetings. Such events included the annual Wharton Whitney M. Young, Jr., Memorial Conference and the annual National Black MBA Association Conference. Perhaps Torrence Boone’s best gift to aspiring businessmen and women of all races and cultures is his modeling of leadership, entrepreneurism, and dedication.
After attending private prep school the Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, he matriculated to Stanford University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with honors. Heading back to the East Coast, Torrence Boone earned a Master of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Instead of diving immediately into his business career, the young MBA holder spent the summer as a professional dancer at Jacob’s Pillow Dance in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts, a smart choice for anyone seeking to hone skills in work ethic, commitment, creativity, and teamwork. Following this experience and his tenure at Bain, he served in increasingly responsible digital-media and leadership positions at Avenue A (now Razorfish), Digitas, and Enfatico before joining Google Inc. in 2010 as Managing Director of Agency Development. Skilled both in the logistics of interactive and direct-mail advertising and the nuances of agency relationships, Torrence Boone holds responsibility over the North American territory, basically working with large agencies to drum up large ad bucks. Based in New York, he offers a varied portfolio of Google products. Remembering his dance background, the leader and role model serves on the board of the Joyce Theater in New York, which presents a wide range of dance choreography and styles. Most recognized for playing Tony in the hit 1990's television series, “Men Behaving Badly”, British actor, comedian and media personality Neil Anthony Morrisey has proven that he has entrepreneurial skills in his success as a pub owner and businessman.
Born in 1962 in Stafford, Morrisey had Irish parents but grew up in foster homes. He was a member of the Stoke Repertory Theatre, the Stoke Schools Theatre and the Stoke Original Theatre. He also performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and got a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which led to his entry into acting. After several roles in movies and television shows, Morrisey stepped into the spotlight when his role as Tony was well-received by the show's audience. After “Men Behaving Badly”, Morrisey went on to star in several more movies and television series, but was also constantly present in plays. Neil Morrisey's flair for business is apparent in his string of successful investments in production, television advertising and properties. The actor owns the Cactus Media Group, his own production company, and along with his partner in business Matt Roberts, bought the Hurst Hotel, the New Three Mariners Pub and several other business properties. Expansion of the Hurst Hotel was delayed, resulting in Morrisey's ending his association with the project in 2008. He also used to be a part-owner of the pub Ye Olde Punch Bowl Inn, from where he developed the Morrisey Fox real ale beer alongside chef Richard Fox. Although Morrisey has given up his shares in Ye Olde Punch Bowl Inn, his beer brewery is still in production, and he was able to come up with an ale called Palace Ale in 2011, a nod to his vocal support of the football club Crystal Palace. Morrisey continues to be a familiar face in actors-turned-businessmen circles. A world-renowned pastry chef, television personality, cookbook author and recipient of the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef, Gale Gand is one saccharine goddess with an incredible knack for creating unique confectioneries, desserts and pastries – from the Not Your Usual Lemon Meringue Pie to Wagon Wheels with Broccoli and Parmesan Cheese.
A Fine Arts graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and an alumnus of Paris’ La Varenne culinary school, Gand is a pastry chef with plenty of tricks and treats up her sleeve. Her impeccable talent in whipping up sumptuous delights made her an unstoppable gastronomic force that is conquering one culinary sphere to another. Gand is the host of Food Networks’ Sweet Dreams and executive pastry chef and co-owner of the multi-awarded Tru, a high-end fine-dining restaurant under the Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. She, along with her equally talented partners at Tru, garnered the James Beard Award for Service in 2007. Just recently, she became a regular blogger of the Huffington Post, contestant of the Iron Chef America, judge of Top Chef and was featured in the television program, Great Chefs. With these given, it is definitely accurate to say that Gand is living one heck of a sweet life. A multi-awarded chef, entrepreneur, cookbook author and television personality, Rick Tramonto is definitely a rockstar when it comes to all things gastronomic. He may look quite frightening with his huge tattooed arms, but one must not be easily fooled – he is a real charmer with a knack for creating one-of-a-kind dishes and memorable dining experiences. With several appearances in Top Chef, The Today Show and The Food Network, Tramonto has become a household name as a chef with a huge restaurant empire to match. But before he had reached this far in the food business, he had to go through more than a few twists and turns first.
Born to Italian immigrants, Tramonto grew up in the dangerous streets of Rochester, New York. He was exposed early on to regular Sunday dinners and jumped right into the kitchen as soon as his tiny little hands can beat an egg. As a youth, he was filled with teenage angst as his family was buffeted by countless quandaries, often involving violent incidents and a whole lot of drugs and alcohol. He was angry, lost and seemingly headed to a tremendously grim future until he discovered his passion for food while working as cook at Wendy’s. This passion took the young Tramonto far from his humble, unstable beginnings. He worked extremely hard in the showground of high-culture New York City restaurants, clawed his way up across the stadiums of first-class European kitchens and eventually built, brick by brick, the restaurants that he is now famous for today such as Chicago’s Tru, Trio, Tramonto’s Steak and Seafood, RT Lounge and Osteria di Tramonto. All of his restaurants garnered worldwide fame and countless awards, while Tramonto himself got named as the Best Chef of the Midwest Region. The now successful chef entrepreneur is also the author of eight best-selling cookbooks, an enduring presence in many cooking television shows and an inspiration to millions of aspiring chefs all over the world. She's the woman behind Bakers Delight, one of Australia's top bakeries and providers of baked goods: Lesley Gillespie. Founded in 1980 by Lesley, along with husband Roger and Gary Stephenson, the first Bakers Delight shop opened in Hawthorne, Melbourne, and is still one of the city's most-loved bake shops until now. From this one bakery, Bakers Delight grew to 15 bakeries in 1988 and by 2003, had 600 bakeries running across the nation. Bakers Delight now has 700 shops in Australia, as well as abroad, in New Zealand and Canada.
Because of this massive success, owner Lesley Gillespie now enjoys a spot on the list of Australia's wealthiest female entrepreneurs. She and her husband were inducted into the Swinburne University of Technology's Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame in 2008. With revenues totaling some 571.3 million dollars, Gillespie shows no signs of slowing down in keeping her 32-year-old business up and running. Charles de Ganahl Koch is one of two Koch siblings behind the huge Koch Industries, Inc., America's second-largest private companies. As co-owner, chairman of the board and CEO of the company, Charles Koch was ranked the 4th richest person the USA by Forbes, and 6th in the whole world by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He has an estimated net worth of 25 billion US dollars, and alongside his brother, David Koch, remains to be one of the country's most powerful figures in business.
Charles Koch and David Koch inherited Koch Industries from their father, Fred. The company initially started in oil refineries and chemicals. Under the brothers' leadership, Koch Industries grew to more than 2,000 times its original size, encompassing interests in process and pollution control technologies, minerals, textiles, commodity trading and services, ranching, fertilizers, forest and consumer products. They are the company behind well-known brands such as Stainmaster, Lycra, Dixie paper products and Quilted Northern tissue paper. Charles Koch is a noted philanthropist, apart from being a successful businessman. Koch Industries supports various charities, including the Institute for Humane Studies and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. A very active libertarian, Charles Koch also founded the Cato Institute in Washington DC, which was initially called the Charles Koch Foundation. The Cato Institute is a “think tank” that aims to promote applicable policy proposals for a better USA and the rest of the world. Charles Koch, along with wife Elizabeth, put up the Koch Cultural Trust as well, in order to fund artists in their projects. He has written a book entitled, “The Science of Success”, published in 2007, on his management philosophy that has helped him get to where he is now. According to TIME magazine, Charles Koch was ranked among the most influential people of 2011, not only because of his achievements in business, but also because of his very vocal participation in philanthropic and political causes. Having graced the pages of countless famous cooking, lifestyle and entrepreneur magazines, Thomas Keller is truly a force to reckon with in the world of gastronomy. His legendary restaurant, The French Laundry, located in Yountville California, has effectively revolutionized the American way of cooking, fusing traditional French techniques with distinct and locally-sourced premium ingredients long before such approach has become widely used and accepted.
For two years, Keller’s iconic food palace has topped the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List and constructed a worldwide fame for unique and unparalleled dishes such as Salmon Cornets and Oysters & Pearls, both of which have become incredibly famous in every respect. Per Se, which was opened in 2004 in the bustling city of New York, is Keller’s metropolitan version of The French Laundry and boasts of equally grand standards of food, services and ambience. With his two Michelin 3-star restaurants situated in opposite coasts, the chef entrepreneur is highly-revered all over the world by diners and chefs alike for his matchless culinary philosophy and influence, and timeless ability to enthuse culinary perfection. Born on the spring of 1955, Daniel Boulud is a French chef and entrepreneur with several restaurants in New York City, Miami, Palm Beach, Toronto, Montreal, London, Singapore and Beijing. But among all these, he is best known for his Michelin 3-star restaurant, Daniel, located in New York City.
Boulud got a taste of the culinary world at a very young age and went on to excel in the field. At fifteen, he earned his first recognition as a contender for Best Culinary Apprentice. The aspiring chef then proceeded to work in France alongside culinary masterminds such as George Blanc, Michel Guerard and Roger Verge. Later on, he became the private chef to the European Commission. In spite of the fact that Boulud was raised on their family farm on the outskirts of Lyon, France and was trained by distinguished chefs of his nation, it was in New York City where he truly carved his name in the gastronomic world, initially as a brilliant chef and most recently, as a successful restaurateur. He opened Polo Lounge at the famous Westbury Hotel then the highly-rated Le Regence at the Hotel Plaza Athenee. From the years 1986 to 1992, he was the Executive Chef of Le Cirque and during his entire tenure, was able to steer the restaurant to magnificent heights. Throughout his years of experience in the culinary world, Boulud has, without a doubt, gotten to good grips with the metropolitan dining scene and is now considered one of America’s top culinary authorities. The chef entrepreneur’s culinary technique is inspired by the rhythm of the rapidly-changing seasons and menu items propelled by no less than the finest ingredients available. Since his arrival in the United States in 1982, Boulud has become famous for his contemporary approach he fuses to soulful cuisine deeply rooted from the unparalleled French technique. His management company called the Dinex Group, comprises of Feast & Fetes Catering and six successful restaurants strategically located all over the world – all of which stand as a living embodiment of Boulud’s astonishing gastronomic and entrepreneurial skills. William S. Paley became a billionaire through his impeccable leadership as the president and chief-executive-officer of Columbia Broadcasting System. He singlehandedly maneuvered what originally was just a small radio network into a leading broadcasting company in United States.
Paley started out his broadcasting empire with Columbia Phonographic Broadcasting System, a nearly bankrupt radio network of 16 stations. He initially aimed to use the network for the advertising of his cigar company but eventually realized the potential amount of fortune he can make out of the radio industry. Through good programming and offering affordable advertising time, Paley grew the broadcasting system from 16 stations to 114 affiliate stations in just a span of ten years. His knack for utilizing the powers of advertising and broadcasting to its maximum potential led to the massive growth of CBS, from an almost defunct radio station to a leading communication empire in the entire world. Paley expanded the CBS operations into the television industry and was also tremendously successful. |