Clay Clark (born Clayton Thomas Clark, November 5, 1980) is an American entrepreneur, business owner, consultant, author and speaker. He is also the founder of Thrive15.com, an online education material for entrepreneurs. He is also the recipient of the Metro Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2000, the United States Small Business Administration Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2007 and the Blue Ribbon National Quality Award by the United States Chamber of Commerce in 2009. He was named one of Oklahoma's Top 40 Entrepreneurs Under the Age of 40.
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Career
Clay started DJ Connection in 1999 out of his college dorm room at ORU to pay for his tuition. Along with promoting dance parties and hosted events that he called Episodes, Clay worked construction and shifts as a home health aid in a retirement home in order to fund the business.
On May, 2012 Clay stated in an interview on KRMG that he started out poor but was motivated to make more money than the welfare system had to offer.
In 2005, DJ Connection was named by Modern Bride Magazine as one of the America's Hottest 150 Bands and Entertainers. In 2007, Clay was named the Small Business Administration Entrepreneur of the Year, and One of Oklahoma's Top 40 Entrepreneurs Under the Age of 40. Between 2008 and 2009, Clay expanded DJ Connection to Dallas, Oklahoma City and Kansas City and provided entertainment for QuikTrip, Bama Companies and Southwest Airlines. In 2009 Clay sold the business to his friend and business partner Jason Bailey.
After the success of DJ Connection, Clay went on to start Juliet Films & Production, Epic Photography, Elephant in the Room Men's Grooming Lounge and the Tulsa Bridal Association which he co-founded with Lori Montag, the creator of SlapWatch and Zany Bandz. Clay formed the Make Your Life Epic Success Institute in 2007 where he was able to work with entrepreneurs and small business owners who were looking to grow and scale their business. Because of his success with Make Your Life Epic he became a keynote speaker for Farmers Insurance, Hewlett-Packard, Valspar Paint and UPS. On February 13, 2014 Clay was interviewed by the Tulsa World, discussing the formula for starting and running a successful company.
Thrive15
On May 1, 2014 Clay and his business partner David Robinson announced on Bloomberg Television that they would be providing free entrepreneurial education for America's active duty military and veterans. Clay became a contributor for Entrepreneur in 2014.
In May 2014 Clay launched Thrive15.com, an online education resource for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Thrive15 teaches 15-minute video lessons in twenty business areas. The company offers the videos through a monthly subscription and is privately funded.
Before launching Clay partnered with NBA Hall of Fame Basketball Player David Robinson and the United States Chamber of Commerce to provide free access to the website for active duty military, veterans and their spouses. David and Clay were interviewed on Bloomberg Television in 2014 to talk about the new online venture. Clay also brought on Lee Cockerell, the former executive vice president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and Clifton Taulbert, author and founder of the Building Community Institute to serve as mentors on the online education platform.
On an interview with Yahoo! Small Business Advisor Clay says, "if the guy teaching me how to grow a business had 245 franchises, or if the guy teaching me leadership was an NBA hall of famer, or the guy teaching management was a former Disney VP, maybe I would learn more."
Dj Connection Video
Honors and Awards
- 2000 Clay Clark Awarded the Metro Chamber of Commerce Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
- 2007 Clay Clark Awarded the United States Small Business Administration Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
- 2009 DJ Connection awarded The United States Chamber Blue Ribbon National Quality Award.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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