Flywheel Café

Come celebrate our growing community of entrepreneurs and coworkers. This is a regular event to connect, learn and grow the second Thursday of each month.

Schedule:

5:00-5:45 Music, food, drink and networking

5:45-6:30 Chat with our featured entrepreneurs on how they took their side hustle full time and quit their day jobs!

Featuring:

Christy Bellis, The Go-To Winston-Salem

Tommy Lather, Takeoff Monkey

Meet Our Guest Speakers:

After graduating from UNC Chapel Hill in 2018, Christy Bellis worked in the hospitality and events industry for 2 years in Charlotte, before moving to Winston-Salem in 2020. She became passionate about Winston-Salem and caught the entrepreneurial bug while working for Flywheel until April of 2021, when she decided to take the risk and go full time with The Go-To Winston-Salem. In her “free” time Christy loves eating tacos with her husband, watching college basketball, and FaceTiming her 8 nieces and nephews.

The Go-To Winston-Salem, (previously Explore Winston-Salem) is a city guide that connects adventurous locals and visitors to businesses and happenings in Winston-Salem. From new openings and the go-to spots in town, you can find all you need to know about Winston-Salem from The Go-To Winston-Salem’s social media pages, website and newsletter.

“I knew I had a product that could be successful, but I could not do both my current job and grow the new business well, and still be a good wife, friend, and family member. I knew how to make it succeed and knew what I needed to do, but I just needed the time. I had to risk it and bet on myself. And that was a risk worth taking. With the support of my husband, family and many friends cheering me along, I knew I could do it."

Tommy Lather got his start in the construction industry in the Baltimore / DC area before he got his driver’s license. He has served many roles including laborer, Foreman, Project Manager, Purchaser, and Estimator. As Senior Estimator he lead one of the largest landscape construction companies in North America to revenues of $40m+. Shortly after relocating from Austin, TX to Winston-Salem, NC at the end of 2018, Tommy launched his company, Takeoff Monkey, to help construction contractors achieve more with less. Tommy is driven by his passion for the construction industry and its constantly evolving sets of challenges. When he’s not in his home office or visiting customers, Tommy enjoys hunting, fishing, and cooking for friends and family.

Takeoff Monkey:

Takeoff Monkey is a digital construction estimating solution for construction contractors and suppliers of all sizes who want to grow their business without taking on substantial additional overhead. Takeoff Monkey uses a combination of technology and highly skilled offshore labor to dramatically increase both the quantity and quality of its customers’ bids and proposals. Takeoffs, the primary service, are the process of quantifying all the necessary materials on a construction project as shown within the plans or blueprints. This skilled team of Engineers and Architects also provides drafting, design, and data aggregation services. Takeoff Monkey customers enjoy a 48-hour turnaround time, and unbeatable customer service provided by seasoned industry experts.

The Jump to Launch:

My alarm goes off at 3:45AM every day. I went on over 20 trips around the country last year. There are not many people that would be OK with a schedule like mine. I launched Takeoff Monkey because my customers needed me to. The first 6 months or so I didn’t know if I would be able to pay my bills each month. Looking back, I guess I never really worried about finances because I was 110% focused on my customers’ needs. I think our growth shows our dedication to our customers, we grew 264% in 2021! The crazy hours and travel schedule feels normal, even easy sometimes, because I am head over heels in love with my work and our customers!