Sarasota SpeaX hits its 150th episode, jokingly dubbed the sesquicentennial, with serial entrepreneur Jen Smith back in the chair. Smith runs three ventures at once: Jen Smith Consulting, where she works as a fractional chief operating officer taking on year-long contracts with companies that need a COO's fixes without a COO's long-term salary; The Vault, a new invite-only philanthropic network she launched after twelve years in other CEO organizations left her wanting something different; and Lee Lu Coffee, the Siesta Key-born coffee brand she is now relaunching as an online-only business.
The Vault gets the most detailed walkthrough. Members are a mix of businesses and individuals, each event built around a nonprofit that has already been vetted for spending at least 70 percent of what it raises directly on the people it serves, and Smith says the group has run one soft event of 60 people so far while preparing to send formal invitations in the fourth quarter. On the consulting side, Smith name-checks recent clients including a chiropractor scaling from four practices to ten and an attorney in St. Petersburg who also runs Ananda Farm in Terra Ceia, and she recalls building the Sarasota Pickleball Club from the ground up as one of its founding executive directors.
Lee Lu Coffee, Smith's own brand, went dormant after she sold its Siesta Key storefront and split with a previous roaster who she says stopped delivering orders on time. Sitting across from her is Vic Cipolla, whose DD Roasters is now roasting Lee Lu's beans for its e-commerce relaunch, a partnership Smith calls symbiotic rather than competitive given their quarter century combined coastal Florida customer base. She describes traveling to coffee farms in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, including one tense border crossing between the latter two countries, to understand the supply chain firsthand.
Smith turns 50 this September and offers a simple life lesson: do not stop, do not settle, a philosophy she traces to her father telling her she was like roping the wind. Rapid Fire brings out a Peaky Blinders fandom, a soft spot for Southern accents, and a case of yacht-buying daydreams if she ever won the Powerball. On the roundabout question, she is fully in favor, so long as everyone else on the road actually knows how to drive one, though she has no patience for the rare roundabout with a stoplight built in.
What you'll take away
- Jen Smith launched The Vault, an invite-only philanthropic network that vets nonprofits for spending at least 70 percent of funds raised directly on the people they serve.
- As a fractional COO through Jen Smith Consulting, she takes year-long contracts, recently working with a chiropractor scaling from four practices to ten and an attorney who also runs Ananda Farm in Terra Ceia.
- Lee Lu Coffee, her Siesta Key-born brand, is relaunching as an online-only business with DD Roasters, owned by co-host Vic Cipolla, now roasting its beans.
- Smith traveled to coffee farms in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua to learn the supply chain firsthand, including a tense border crossing.
- She helped build the Sarasota Pickleball Club from the ground up as one of its founding executive directors.
“Don't stop, don't settle.”
“We're symbiotic. We're symbiotic.”
Places mentioned: Siesta Key