Meet the Alumni

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses graduates are growing their businesses and supporting communities across the United States—today and every day. Learn more about the experiences of some of our program alumni below. 

Meet the Alumni

Urban Dreams
Izaah Knox

"We’ve already expanded to two new cities. We’ll dominate this state in two years. I never thought in a million years we would."

Steffensmeier Welding & Manufacturing
Jenny Steffensmeier

"The program showed me – nobody else knows all this stuff either. We’re all asking questions, we’re all trying to figure it out."

BigDeal Car Care
Dylan Book

"Ever since the Goldman Sachs program, I have been working on the business instead of working in the business."

Pingel Farms
Benjamin Pingel

"It’s such a beautiful thing to go plant this little seed and then watch it grow. My dad built this giant legacy right here and I’d like to see that continue."

DejaBrew LLC
Elizabeth Hoppe

"10,000 Small Businesses made me very confident. You don’t ever want to have to deal with uncertainty or unexpected change—but I feel like I have the tools to handle it and to predict it too. Right now, small towns are encouraging kids to leave…if we can give one or two people that full-time job that keeps them in the community, that’s the secret to keeping this community alive and growing."

Deddle’s Donuts
Robin Holmes

“Everything is happening so fast since completing the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. It’s time to grow... I love waking up, thinking about the business, thinking about what am I doing, what’s my next step?”

Connie’s Chicken and Waffles
Khari Parker

“We live in a time where you cannot just have a business that is transactional, you have to have a business that is part of your community.”

Words With Boards
Kim Strassner

“Going through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program – you’re with other business owners, and you learn early on that everybody has the same challenges. So you just feel like you’re not alone.”

Dell-Lea Weddings and Events
Toutou Marsden

“We’ve got a network of other business leaders who are inspiring people every day, and who are also kind of fighting the same fight we are.”

Make My Cake
Aliyyah Baylor

“Each module allowed us to think about our business--as a whole. Think about our expansion options, think about our exit strategies, think about our employees... basically how our business is run from soup to nuts.”

Outdoor New England
Marty Parichand

“If we don’t take the time out to really focus knowledgably, then we’re not actually working for our business.”

Beeze Tees
Tim Pipp

“By opening up new stores and doing our own distribution, we’re going to lower our cost of goods and be able to promote our capabilities on a bigger level.”

Port City Pretzels
Suzanne Foley

“Obstacles, to me, are challenges that I’m going to have every day. The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program helped me to meet those challenges and take them head on.”

AeroDynamics, Inc.
Cara Burzynski

"I thought, well, if I could just learn everything about accounting, then the business would be better. But what I actually learned is the way to manage the company is to A) hire the right people and then B) be able to trust, but verify."