zWORKS member stages, redesigns homes

It’s another classic zWORKS startup story. Whitney Vredenburgh went from corporate to startup and hasn’t looked back.

The mother of two turned from marketing and sales with an agriculture company to a home staging and redesign startup in 2016. Two years later, and Vredenburgh is a proud mother of four with a blossoming company called Nested Spaces.

Nested Spaces will work with realtors on home staging, whether vacant or occupied, and clients on redesign. Vredenburgh said the ideal situation is to stage a client’s home during the sale then help redesign when they buy a new house.

For staging, she says it’s about neutralizing the house so it appeals to the most potential buyers, while redesigning is more personal.

“The goal is to make their home feel like THE home,” she said.

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The second annual zWORKS summer internship program officially started today with an eBootcamp focusing on local entrepreneurship. This summer’s interns are both high school and college age and will be working for zWORKS startups like Zio, Try It Tiny and Mix It Out.

They got to hear from a variety of speakers including Mayor Tim Haak, MOBI President Josh Garrett, Apprenace’s Chris Hoyt, zWORKS co-founder Dan Moyers and Jacob Schpok with Elevate Ventures.

Mayor Haak discussed why bringing startups to Zionsville is important. Garrett told the story of how MOBI was founded and what goes into building a startup from nothing. Hoyt talked about how students can make the most of their internships.

“The zWORKS Summer Internship Prgram offers a fabulous opportunity for students to work firsthand with local entrepreneurs,” zWORKS Executive Director Kate Swanson said.

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Microscope uses AI for better health care

A zWORKS startup is using modern technology to create more responsive health care.

Mark Plaskow started PAEAN (pronounced ‘payin’) Clinical in January of this year after he sold American Health Technology. PAEAN has created an automated portable microscope to enable more points of care to do better medical testing using imaging, artificial intelligence, and telemedicine.

Plaskow previously worked in Africa where he worked with malaria and childhood cancerous diseases. A small team of entrepreneurs were inspired by his medical imaging technology and this ultimately led to the PAEAN.

“The most rewarding part of PAEAN is definitely that the mission is to make a permanent change for the better,” Plaskow said.

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The man behind the mic

Starting this month, our new Resident Podcaster – Sean Sullivan – will be available for members to help start and manage their podcasts. Don’t miss a chance for Q&A with Sean at zWORKS (85 East Cedar) on April 16 from 3 to 5 p.m.

Sullivan joins us after expanding his own podcast “Converge Coffee” throughout the past year to over 32,000 viewers across the world. As a zWORKS benefit to members, Sean will provide members with complimentary services such as podcast strategy, technical assistance, and advice on building a podcast audience.

In “Converge Coffee”, Sullivan focuses on the marketing world and has interviewed anywhere from startups to Fortune 50 companies.

“Podcasting simplifies human interaction and communication,” Sullivan said. “It’s a unique glimpse into the one-on-one conversation.”

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We had a great turnout for our Grand Opening yesterday! Thanks to everyone who attended. We have been truly blessed with support from around Zionsville – particularly the Town of Zionsville and Mayor Tim Haak, the Zionsville Chamber of Commerce and the Boone EDC.

Shout out to Nameless Catering for providing some delicious bacon-wrapped Brussel sprouts, meatballs, mac-and-chees and more.

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