Two New Tulsans In Town
As the flowers are beginning to blossom and Spring is showing its face here in Tulsa, March also brings with it two of its’ newest Tulsans: Elissa Weinzimmer, founder and CEO of Voice Body Connection, and Josh Cockburn, co-founder of Tooletries.
Aside from it being really nice on a personal level to have some familiar faces around (we literally live within feet of one another!), it has been incredibly refreshing to see two close friends, one coming from NYC, the other all the way from down under, landing in Tulsa, and finding it to be as appealing as I do. While the lionshare of my focus is working with larger companies (100+ employees) on the coasts and helping them expand their footprint into Tulsa, there is a focus as well to help entrepreneurs who can benefit from the tight-knit community, low-cost basis, and access to various resources around town in helping them to succeed.
Elissa is the founder of Voice Body Connection, where she works with leaders, speakers, and performers to communicate more presence and ease. She is also a co-founder of Vibrant Voice Technique and currently writing a book about self-love.
“I’m here to establish my business because there are so many opportunities, but I’m also looking forward to volunteering at Women in Recovery to share self-love and empowerment practices with women who are at a point in their lives when they need the most support,” says Elissa.
Women in Recovery is an intensive outpatient alternative program for women facing long prison sentences. The program provides women with education, mental health treatment and substance abuse treatment and it is just one of Tulsa’s many community programs focused on strengthening families.
“The close-knit community, that’s what attracted me to Tulsa,” saidElissa. “I love coworking at 36 Degrees North, but I’ve been most surprised that I make just as many business connections there as I do when working out at Press Yoga Cafe. I’m so grateful to be here.”
Just down the block, an old friend/former colleague/oversized Aussie named Josh Cockburn, standing at a strapping 6”4 and weighing in at a chiseled 205 pounds, rolled into town and set up shop. Born and raised in Brisbane, Australia, Josh studied business at QUT, Leeds University in England, and Marburg University in Germany. Currently, Josh and his brother Saul are running a bathroom and travel products company called Tooletries, for which this video went viral back earlier this year. They design and manufacture innovative bathroom storage devices using a patented silicone technology. After spending under a week in Tulsa, they decided to move both their US operations and warehouse to the city.
“So far, it is evident that this city cares about its people and has the drive and ambition to turn into the next Austin if not more,” according to Josh. “The people are lovely, the art and music scene is thriving, and I personally love the craft beer culture. I’m definitely #DFT (Down For Tulsa) and can’t wait to start meeting some great locals to help take Tooletries to the next level.”
As for me, this next month my focus is in a few areas.
1. Attending RSA in San Francisco where I will be meeting with Cyber companies that we would be potentially looking to help launch pilots here in Tulsa, as we look to build our Cyber community as TU spits out some of the top-notch cyber talent in the country.
2. Hosting a potential partner for a 3-day festival that we are exploring.
3. Hosting an NYC-based direct-to-consumer company that is looking at a potential 300+ person, 15 acre campus here in Tulsa
4. Heading to Chicago to meet with a few site consulting firms to talk about the aspects of Tulsa that may not be searchable within their databases, and get the word out on some of the initiatives we have going on.
If any of the above are relevant to you or to folks in your immediate circle, feel free to reach out and ping me. Also, if you are beginning to get curious and want to come and see what’s going on here in Tulsa, just let me know. We would love to have you.
#areyoudft? #downfortulsa!
Mike
