Seventeen entrepreneurs and businesses plus four new Entrepreneur’s Hall of Fame inductees were honored for their achievements at the 2022 NEXT Awards & Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame on Monday, October 24 at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
Award winners were recognized for their ability to adapt, grow and create new opportunities for their teams and customers in the past year.
Meg Epstein, founder of CA South, was named Entrepreneur of the Year, recognizing companies of more than $3 million in annual revenue. CA South develops modern, lifestyle-efficient real estate projects particularly for people moving to Nashville from the coasts.
Amy Green, owner and founder of the Nashville Collaborative Counseling Center, was honored as Emerging Entrepreneur of 2022, an award for businesses of less than $3 million annual revenue. Her company creates greater access to quality mental healthcare by tailoring individual therapy to those in need.
Also recognized were the accomplishments of businesses of various sizes — Startups, Emerging Companies and Market Movers — in a range of industries.
Startups (Annual revenue up to $1 million)
- Healthcare: Winnow, led by Paul Vernich and Ray Guzman, manages all aspects of clinical provider recruiting through one platform that targets true matches.
- Music, Sports, and Entertainment: A to Z Sports, led by Austin Stanley and Zach Bingham, is an on-demand sports network covering teams across the country with exclusive content.
- Products, Services and Retail: Walker Brothers, led by Caroline Howard, Sam Walker and Luke Walker, brews open-fermented, unpasteurized kombucha using organic ingredients.
- Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction: Collected, led by Jamie Pfeffer, focuses on thoughtful development projects showcasing transformative design.
- Technology — Pivot Technology School, led by Joshua Mundy and Quawn Clark, creates career pathways for a diverse demographic by providing education in high-demand technology skills.
Emerging Companies (Annual revenue $1-$3 million):
- Healthcare: Decode Health, led by Chase Spurlock and Julia Polk, serves pharmaceutical, diagnostic and technology partners by delivering accurate, reliable insights from large, complex datasets.
- Music, Sports, and Entertainment: Absolutely Ridiculous, led by X (yes, that’s his name), creates unique, innovative baseball and softball gloves and other products.
- Products, Services and Retail: Canvast Supply Co., led by Devin Aracena and Christie Tarleton, develops a range of safe, quality cannabis products through a transparent supply chain starting with the seed.
- Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction: Holladay Ventures, led by Evan Holladay, works with city leaders, impact-driven partners and communities to build attainable, quality housing.
- Technology: Single Music, led by Tommy Stalknecht and Taylor O’Connor, helps artists, brands and creators use their content to sell more on Shopify.
Market Movers (Annual revenue $3 million+)
- Healthcare: Care Harmony, led by Gokul Mohan and Stephen Stewart, focuses on chronic care management services, working with physicians and other healthcare organizations to help them augment care between office visits.
- Music, Sports, and Entertainment: Soundstripe, led by Travis Terrell, makes quality royalty-free music accessible for everyone while supporting artists around the globe.
- Products, Services and Retail: Rootine, led by Rachel Sanders and Daniel Wallerstorfer, sells precision multivitamins and at-home lab tests to achieve optimal health and peak performance for members.
- Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction: Built Technologies, Inc, led by Chase Gilbert and Andrew Sohr, provides construction finance solutions to enable all stakeholders to get the job done faster and more efficiently.
- Technology: Alto Solutions, Inc, led by Eric Satz, helps clients invest their IRA savings in alternative assets, diversifying their portfolio to reach their financial goals.
Four new Hall of Fame inductees
Inductees into the Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame for 2022 included:
- André Prince, owner of Nashville’s legendary Prince’s Hot Chicken.
- Amy Kurland, founder of Nashville’s iconic Bluebird Café.
- Mike Shmerling, who founded or co-founded 11 businesses as well as Abe’s Garden Community, a senior living nonprofit, in honor of his father.
- Steve Turner, founder of MarketStreet Equities Company, who spearheaded the development of The Gulch.
