After years of watching her mother work as a teacher and clean homes on the side, JoAnne Velez wanted to change things up. When her mother retired in January, she took over her business, Maid Strong, and changed the emphasis.
Along with residential, Velez decided to focus on cleaning businesses and corporations and putting her attention into growing the organization.
Velez spoke Monday about her rebranded business before a few hundred people at an event hosted by NXTUS, a Wichita organization that helps startups. She was one of about 40 innovators in or around Kansas attending the NXTUS Gamechangers and Champions event at WSU Tech's NICHE facility downtown.
About a dozen startups from the NXTUS Customer Traction Cohort, like Velez, presented short elevator pitches.
Wichita mayor Lily Wu, joined by several City Council members and Sedgwick County commissioners, said she admired the vibrancy of the people in the room. That included entrepreneurs, people and organizations who support startup founders with money and mentorship.
"I'm really excited about this new year of collaboration and connection," Wu said to the room of about 200. "I could not be happier than to be in this space and help entrepreneurs. You're building a better life for your families through your businesses."
Wu learned about the values of being an entrepreneur as a daughter of a hairstylist.
She said entrepreneurs are problem solvers and fulfill "game-changing dreams" through the organizations in Wichita that help them.
NXTUS president and CEO Mary Beth Jarvis said for every 1% that entrepreneurship goes up in each state, the poverty level in that area drops by 2%.
"We've helped more than 1,500 startups in the last 15 years," she said. "We're getting up towards $8 million in capital mobilized in this region."
Startups like Service Plus Electrical, which is on a mission of rewiring Kansas' older homes, and other startups introduced their ideas to a room of connectors.
"We're looking to be 100% made in Kansas," said Mark Glade, who started FinMan, an outdoor sporting company that manufactures a fishing multitool. "If you are in the manufacturing business, let me know. We're trying to bring our manufacturing home to Kansas."
The event ended with an encouraging speech from Mitch Holthus, the radio voice of the Kansas City Chiefs. He spoke of how crucial support was, including the power of listening. He said the organization does a great job of listening to corporations and customers, but what is so important is that it listens to all its employees, including the janitors.
The tumor that will grow in your organization is not listening to your workers, he said. Holthus compared the average life of a startup with the average life of a professional football player.
"One of our best listeners is Patrick Mahomes," he said. "The best companies integrate intergenerationally. Stay hungry, and stay humble."
