With a business career spanning over 25 years, Steve Sedlic is a consummate generalist and an entrepreneur at heart. Armed with an MBA from USC, he went to work assisting international corporate R&D departments to develop new products based on broad scientific discoveries. From there he took his love of technology and design and co-founded an interactive marketing and advertising agency where he honed his advertising skills and further developed his experience in sales, leadership, and operations. Steve has co-founded and successfully exited several startups and today focuses on giving back to his community, teaching college courses on creative thinking, advancing environmental causes, and advising for the SBDC.

Karen Scuncio, B.A., has over 25 years of experience in international business. Scuncio’s expertise touches on all areas of exporting from export pricing, screening potential customers, distributor agreements, product labeling requirements, international shipping and payment terms as well as sales and marketing. Since 1997, she has been a principal in a business consulting and sales representative services company which she helped start, to assist small business in increasing their US and International sales.

Tracie Schneider supports the internal and external communication efforts of …

Elianne Rodriguez is a serial entrepreneur with 15 years of experience in small businesses, education and tech. Elianne fosters community and designs culturally competent programming to connect diverse talent to opportunities that reflect the intersectionality of Los Angeles across racial, socioeconomic, gender, education, sexuality, and immigration status. She works with business owners to leverage technology, break glass ceilings, compete globally, and disrupt a wide range of industries including: education, healthcare, digital media, artificial intelligence, sustainability, transportation, manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, logistics, green technology, procurement, big data, software, hardware, e-commerce, internet of things, blockchain, social impact, finance and entertainment.

Juliana Ramirez is an accountant, entrepreneur, business adviser and Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor. With over 20 years of experience, she has trained and helped small businesses including her own—from restaurants to retails stores, car dealerships to dental offices and Non-profit organizations.

Ramin Ramhormozi is a results-driven, technology and e-commerce focused entrepreneurial executive with a track record for launching innovations and growing new product offerings and businesses. Highly proficient in all areas of e-commerce including business strategy, fulfillment, architecture/platform strategy, digital advertising, social media, financials and day to day operations of an e-commerce enterprise.

Simona Racek is an International Expansion Advisor. She grew up in Romania and began her work in international trade as a paralegal for a large law firm in downtown Los Angeles. Simona is the CEO and Founder of Just Down the Street, an export management company. Her expertise touches on different areas of exporting from building global export market plans and export budgets, to obtaining state, federal, and regional grants to support export activities. Simona also advises companies on export regulatory compliance.

Lauryn Nwankpa specializes in early stage impact/social enterprise support including impact business models, impact measurement, impact strategy, product/market/fit, customer discovery, pitch decks and narrative development, product and mvp development, and monetization strategy.

David Mitroff, Ph.D. is a business consultant, marketing expert, keynote speaker and author who has held numerous consultative positions for diverse organizations such as LexisNexis, United Healthcare, U.S. Department of Justice, Providian Financial, Nordstrom, Limited Brands, Constant Contact, Ben & Jerry’s and the YMCA. David brings to the EDC SBDC his experiences as the Founder and Chief Consultant of Piedmont Avenue Consulting, Inc., through which he provides business consulting and marketing services to create brand awareness, strengthen customer loyalty and generate new opportunities. David works with diverse clients, including restaurants and retail specialty stores, franchises, professional services firms, start-ups and individual entrepreneurs.

Ron Meritt, B.A., is the president of an international technology company. He invented and patented a portable video system for vehicles and created a market that grew to more than $200 million in 18 months. He has worked in many countries as a field engineer in the semiconductor and robotics industries, and has been an executive managing global engineering organizations. His company now designs, manufactures and globally distributes multiple products in different industries.