PB + Jax

PB + Jacksonville Episode 18: Mal Washington MaliVai Washington is a formal professional tennis player who, among other accomplishments, won four ATP titles, beat #1 ranked Andre Agassi, and reached the Wimbledon Final in 1996. To top his professional tennis accolades, Mal founded the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation in 1996 - to service families in the 32209 zip code by instilling the principl...

Ron Armstrong is the Founder of Sponsored by GRACE, a local nonprofit, as well as the Founder of Grounds of GRACE, a budding coffee franchise here in Jacksonville, Florida. Ron's path to entrepreneurship and NPO leadership is one of overcoming obstacles, addiction, lack of direction, and much more. Through a friend, he discovered Jesus Christ, and his life changed forever. After years of serving h...

Kim Sirdevan is the Executive Director of Youth Crisis Center, a nonprofit founded in 1974 here in the great state of Florida, whose mission is to provide care for those who have exposed to traumatic life situations. Although founded as an organization that targeted in aiding the youth, YCC has evolved over their 50+ years in service to provide resources to those of all ages. YCC provides short te...

If you are in need of a conversation that will have you wanting to run through a brick wall, I suggest listening to this episode of PB & JAX with Sonya Morales-Marchisillo. During the pandemic, Sonya knew she had to do something for the sake of herself and her family. She took on monumental risk in launching her own two-way radio company - something that she did not have a background in. Throu...

Nick Howland is a Jacksonville City Councilmember and the Executive Director of The Fire Watch, a nonprofit organization created with the sole purpose of reducing veteran suicide. The Fire Watch conducts trainings to companies, groups, and individuals to identify those who exude preemptive symptoms of suicide and arm them with the resources to get help to those in need. There are currently 8,331 t...

Troy McNair is one half of the visionaries behind the Think Bold Festival & Conference. He is also co-founder and co-owner of Gangplank Media Group (GMG) and the co-author of DECODED. Before Troy settled in Jacksonville, he was living in Manhattan, NY - working at Def Jam Records. He discovered that the Bold City possessed untapped potential, and has since made it his mission to uncover Jackso...

PB + Jacksonville Episode 12: Joell Arnold "It starts with your mindset. It starts with what you believe, it starts with what you think, and it dictates how you behave." Joell Arnold is the Founder and CEO of Zenhergy Group, a women's mindset, empowerment, and leadership coaching company based here in Jacksonville, FL. Although female-focused, Joell and Zenhergy Group have found succ...

"AI is going to change not only how we work; but the way we live, what we put in our bodies, the way we're evolving modern medicine." Paul is the Sector Leader of Professional Search for Korn Ferry. He is also someone I've looked up to since entering the recruiting space 8 years ago. He is a mentor of mine and someone who has taught me a great deal about technology and how to sep...

"Every single day, I realize how many relationships have brought me to where I am." Have you ever thought of who manages what goes on billboards, benches, etc. around town? Or where business owners turn to wrap their vehicle in their branding? Maybe even the trucks that drive around town with cool LED displays around the vehicles? That's where Heather Waisanen and Coastal Maverick co...

This is episode number one in the PB & JAX Nonprofit Series and we are thrilled to be spending it with Dr. Standralyn Terry. Dr. Standralyn Terry is the Northeast Florida Executive Director of the Florida-Based Nonprofit, Better Together. Better Together is a faith-focused nonprofit headquartered in Naples, FL, that has set it's sights on reducing the amount of children who enter the foste...

PB + Jacksonville Episode 08 - Caleb Garrett "60 - 70% of our (out of state) students stay in Jacksonville once they graduate" 👁️ 👁️ Caleb is a leader and philanthropist here in Jacksonville and someone who spends the bulk of his time working with various institutions in Northeast Florida to make it a better place. Caleb is the Director of Development for the University of North Florida - Coggin C...

Yara Banks is a wife, mother of six and former climber of the corporate ladder. She has left Corporate America behind, and has since become a "faith-based" and "rock solid" leader, who has built multiple businesses and nonprofits. Yara has many stories to share in her entrepreneurship journey - including the trials, tribulations, tears, and even snot bubbles. We had an incredible time speaking wit...

Charlie is the Co-founder and Director of Personnel for Excellere IT Services , a Professional and Managed IT Services organization founded right here in Jacksonville, Florida. Excellere's customers laud Charlie and team's ability to be solutions-focused, not accepting defeat as an answer to any problem. In the clip below you will see that Charlie attributes his relentlessness to solving problems...

“We don’t allow the data to make the decisions, but we want to make data informed decisions.” Nick Birdsong is the Director of Digital and Social Media for the Jacksonville Jaguars. If you follow the Jags on Facebook, Instagram, X, etc., you are following Nick and his team. There is an hour worth of dialogue on how to break into sports employment, all the different ways the Jags use partnerships t...

Travis Webb is a Jacksonville original who has spent many years as a staffing executive with global companies, including some HQ'd right here in Duval County. He is now the VP of Sales at Parqa - a company designed to help those in the recruiting space level up in their reach and revenue. Travis has spent many years on local boards, including the Jacksonville Chamber IT Counsel, providing leadersh...

Jameyel Johnson, also known as J. Dash, is a Software Architect, Tech Innovator, Keynote Speaker, and hit record maker. The man who made the viral hit "WOP" is a Jacksonville, Florida original, who believes Duval County is prime to boom. There area number of things discussed in this episode - Jameyel's love for his hometown, what went into making a platinum selling song, and a hilarious story of J...

Gregory Grant is the City of Jacksonville's Director of Small and Emerging Business who was appointed by Mayor Donna Deegan in 2023 to lead her agenda to make Jacksonville the "Small Business Capital of the Southeast." Gregory is a Jacksonville original. He has served in the U.S. Army, built and invested in several businesses, and has formally taught entrepreneurship at many Jacksonville colleges...

This podcast doesn't exist without Jordan Walker, and because of that, he needed to be the inaugural guest on PB & Jax. Jordan is a serial entrepreneur who was originally born in Boston, MA but has planted his roots in Jacksonville for the majority of his life. He has co-founded and/or co-created two successful companies - Yac and Backtrack. Backtrack being the most recent endeavor - it is rev...