In 2024, entrepreneurship continues to be a driving force behind industry advancements and economic growth. This year’s leading entrepreneurs have distinguished themselves through their ability to innovate, adapt, and execute their ideas effectively. Their work spans various sectors, each making meaningful contributions to their fields.
This year’s top entrepreneurs stand out for their ability to turn challenges into opportunities, driving progress and inspiring others along the way. From disrupting traditional markets to creating solutions that address pressing global issues, these individuals are leading the charge into a future shaped by creativity, resilience, and impact.
Join us as we explore the stories of the most influential entrepreneurs of 2024:
Christoffer Groves
Instagram: @ceogrovescapital
Christoffer Groves is a successful serial entrepreneur, who is leading the way in the lending industry. He is also a motivational speaker, his tour is called The 110% Movement helping others achieve their goals through a successful road map and a positive mindset. Always having a passion for entrepreneurship, even starting businesses from the young age of 16, it’s no surprise that Chris started his own business and a successful one. After working as a real estate agent, appraiser, and broker he learned the ins and outs of the industry. There were aspects he didn’t like, but he took the liberty upon himself to make a solution. This is when he and his wife started Groves Capital Inc., a family owned mortgage company, with the lowest rates in the industry. His greatest accomplishments have been growing from 2 people to 575 over 5 billion in loan production in less than 3 years on his own, creating a family feel where everyone works together to help others become successful, and much more. This year Chris plans to provide the best platform he can for each of his partners to help them grow and thrive, all while keeping his company standards to 5 stars.
In 2023 he added commercial lending to all 50 states’ platforms partnering with private billion dollar funds and launched a new solar division in 27 states in the changing markets he has pivoted to capture the market’s attention. Chris has changed the lending model through software Innovation and system developments that are new age at every level.
In 2024, Chris announced a significant expansion into commercial markets, both domestically and internationally. They are collaborating with debit funds, accessing bond market funds, and utilizing capital-raising platforms to ensure they have top-notch solutions for large-scale transactions in today’s market landscape.
This year, Chris was also honored with the CEO of the Year Award and also became the CIO and partner with GIA, specializing in renewables and government infrastructure project financing.
Brandon Ivan Pena
Instagram: @soybrandonivan
Brandon Ivan Pena is CEO of 787 Coffee & brandON Media.
He is a pioneer in social-media marketing, a coffeepreneur and a business coach helping food and beverage businesses grow.
Listed by Forbes as one of “The Next 100 Entrepreneurs,” by Inc Magazine as one of the “Fastest Growing Companies in America” and by Yahoo Finance as one of the “Top 10 Entrepreneurs.”
John Barbosa
Instagram: @soyjohnbarbosa
John Barbosa, known as “The Billion Dollar Mentor,” is the driving force behind a thriving business that has been dedicated to providing personal, professional, and financial growth training for the past 7 years. His passion lies in equipping his students with the tools necessary to unlock their full potential.
With a background in Business Administration, John has also earned master’s degrees in Coaching and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Neuro Influence, and Clinical Hypnosis. He has honed his expertise by learning from some of the most influential figures in the field of human development and personal growth.
Over the years, John has guided over 100,000 individuals across more than 10 countries, including Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Bolivia, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Dubai. Today, his most sought-after seminar is “The Million Dollar Happiness,” a transformative experience that combines financial methodologies with leadership tools to empower individuals to dominate their markets and excel in their respective fields.
Sekou Clarke
Instagram: @attorneysekou
Sékou Clarke is the founder of The Sékou Clarke Law Group, a full-service Immigration and Personal Injury law firm. In addition to its headquarters in Orlando, The Sékou Clarke Law Group now has offices in Panama City Beach, FL; Jamaica, New York; and Kingston, Jamaica, highlighting its rapid growth and expanding influence. As an immigrant himself, Sékou has firsthand experience navigating the U.S. immigration system, which inspired him to establish the firm. The Sékou Clarke Law Group provides services in Family Immigration, Business Employment Visas, Sports and Investor Visas, Deportation Defense, and Immigrant Injury cases. The firm also represents clients in auto accidents, slip-and-fall incidents, and medical negligence throughout Florida, focusing on maximizing recovery for clients.
Sékou Clarke was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica. His work ethic and athleticism earned him a full track and field scholarship to the University of Florida, where he was a 10-time All-American and team captain, helping the Gators secure two national titles. He retired from track and field with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida and an MBA from St. Leo University. Sékou later pursued his passion for advocacy by earning a Juris Doctor degree from Florida Coastal School of Law.
Sékou began his legal career as an associate attorney in Personal Injury before joining a major Orlando law firm, where he led the Immigration Department. His experience working with immigrants fueled his passion for representation, leading to the creation of his own law group in 2018. That same year, he was recognized for excellence in immigration law by the Association of American Trial Lawyers’ Top 40 Under 40. He was also named a Team Jamaica Bickle International Ambassador for his community efforts. Recently, Sékou was honored as one of the Top 10 Immigration Attorneys by the National Trial Lawyers.
Sékou is also leading an innovative new initiative, the Business Immigration Incubator, launched in partnership with Auctus Marketing Partners. This program addresses the unique challenges faced by immigrant entrepreneurs in Orlando, where immigrants make up about a quarter of the population. The Incubator offers shared workspace, mentorship, networking opportunities, access to immigration benefits, and potential funding, providing a comprehensive support system to help immigrant-led businesses thrive.
Sékou Clarke is licensed to practice in all Florida State Courts and is a member of the American Bar Association, Florida Bar Association, Association of Immigration Lawyers, and Orange County Bar Association. He remains committed to community outreach and mentoring the next generation of leaders.
Rosy Kin
Instagram: @brickellashes
Rosaine Quintana is a successful beauty industry expert with over a decade of experience, primarily focused on enhancing natural beauty through cutting-edge lash techniques. Her passion for helping others feel confident and beautiful led her to master her craft through extensive training and certifications. In 2018, she turned this passion into a thriving business by founding Brickellashes, a premier lash studio in Miami. Known for its top-quality lash extensions and luxurious beauty services, Brickellashes quickly gained a loyal clientele and became a go-to destination for those seeking exceptional beauty treatments.
Under Rosiane’s leadership, Brickellashes has grown from a small studio into a well-known brand in the beauty community, earning accolades such as the “Best Lash Studio” award in Miami. She has expanded the business offerings, launched a successful line of lash products, and built a team of skilled professionals who share her vision for excellence. Rosiane’s dedication to quality and innovation continues to drive the success of Brickellashes, as she aims to expand to new locations and further develop her product line, all while mentoring the next generation of beauty professionals.
Carol Ortega
Website: Muiscal Capital Group
Carol Ortega is a successful entrepreneur in the legal cannabis industry, known for her exceptional expertise in finance and venture capital. As the founder of Muisca Capital, Carol has played a pivotal role in shaping the cannabis landscape across the Americas. With over 50 companies successfully advised and more than $250 million in funds mobilized, her influence is undeniable.
Carol’s consultancy is trusted by angel investors, funds, and leading financial institutions for due diligence, risk management, and resource placement in diversified portfolios. Her impressive track record includes over a dozen successful exits in the cannabis sector, positioning her as a key leader and advocate for the industry.
Driven by a passion for the positive socio-economic impact of the cannabis industry on Latino communities, Carol founded Muisca Capital in 2013. Despite facing challenges as a Latina woman in a male-dominated field, she has broken barriers through her knowledge, experience, and unwavering dedication.
In addition to her work at Muisca Capital, Carol serves on the advisory board of the International Cannabis Consulting Business Women Association (ICBWA), where she promotes female participation in the industry. Her commitment to inclusion and social justice is reflected in her ongoing efforts to empower others and drive meaningful change in society.
Diana Ochoa
Instagram: @theauthenticmarketer7
Diana Ochoa is the founder of Uptown Digital Marketing LLC, bringing 20 years of experience in digital marketing across telecommunications, media, entertainment, and retail. Throughout her career, Diana has developed successful marketing strategies and led initiatives in areas such as SEO, PPC, and social media marketing. Notably, she increased General Market eCommerce sales by 181% for a client and developed a Hispanic marketing strategy that led to a 54% year-over-year increase in Hispanic subscribers.
Driven by the need to provide tailored digital marketing solutions to businesses of all sizes, Diana launched Uptown Digital Marketing. The company has quickly delivered strong results, including a 312% increase in social media impressions for a client and a 6x return on investment in a paid advertising campaign. In 2024, Diana aims to expand her client base and further establish her company as a leader in the digital marketing field.
You can connect with Diana on Instagram at @Theauthenticmarketer7 and @Uptown_dm, and on LinkedIn through her personal profile and her company page.
Bryan Chavis
Bryan Chavis is a dynamic and credible authority in real estate investing, celebrated as one of only a handful of authors with a book on this subject in the US Library of Congress. As a best-selling author published by Simon & Schuster, Bryan’s influential book, Buy It, Rent It, PROFIT!, has been a staple in bookstores nationwide for the past decade.
An award-winning consultant, Bryan is the founder of Chavis Capital and Buy It, Rent It, PROFIT! Education, where he empowers investors with the tools and knowledge needed to succeed. His expertise and dedication have made him a trusted advisor and a prominent figure in the real estate community.
Bryan is also a brain tumor survivor with an incredible story of perseverance and overcoming obstacles, further underscoring his resilience and determination.
Rafael Nuñez
Instagram: @sanandoconlosangeles
Rafael Eladio Núñez Aponte is a successful expert in information security with over two decades of experience in safeguarding sensitive data for a wide array of companies. His deep passion for cybersecurity led him to establish his own firm, where he integrates cutting-edge technology with a strong ethical framework, ensuring robust protection against the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats. Rafael’s innovative approach has made his company a leader in the field, securing contracts with major corporations and earning a reputation for excellence.
Beyond his professional endeavors, Rafael is dedicated to sharing his expertise through social media, where he manages the accounts @masqueseguridad, @sanandoconlosangeles, and @josegregoriohernandezcisneros. On these platforms, he not only educates his followers on best practices in digital security but also promotes a balanced lifestyle that merges technology with spirituality, reflecting his strong Catholic faith. His commitment to both his profession and his personal beliefs has created a unique space where security and ethics converge, benefiting his community both online and offline.
Aldo Lopez Tirone “The Wolf”
With an impressive 41-year track record in Business and Investments, plus 16 years in the MLM Industry, Aldo López Tirone ‘The Wolf’ has proven to be much more than just a successful entrepreneur. Rising to the 7-Figure category, Aldo took on the challenge of leading his own path. As a Public Relations and Online Marketing advisor, he brought his vision to life by founding his own personal brand. This influential entrepreneur and motivational speaker embodies the spirit of achievement and overcoming obstacles, inspiring many in the field of what he calls “Relationship Marketing.”
“To achieve success in whatever you decide to do, you must surround yourself with the right people and build your own network of Relationships.”
Jacinto Alvarado
Instagram: @jasmentor_
Jacinto Alvarado Sánchez is a veteran entrepreneur and business leader with over 30 years of experience in organizational management. Throughout his career, he has held key executive roles, including General Director and HR Director, and has successfully built and transformed businesses by implementing strong operational models and cultivating robust company cultures.
In 2016, Jacinto founded CiTe Consulting to help business leaders—entrepreneurs, executives, and owners—boost profitability and professionalize internal processes using proven methodologies and tools. In 2018, he launched CiTe Recruiting to help companies attract top talent for key positions, enhancing their organizational structures.
Jacinto’s achievements include implementing management and talent solutions in over 100 companies across five countries and training more than 600 business leaders. For 2024, he aims to strengthen CiTe’s presence in Mexico and the U.S. and prepare for international expansion, continuing his mission to positively impact the business world.
Warren Buffett
Instagram: @officialwarenbuffets
Warren Buffett is one of the richest men in the world, and known as an incredible investor and businessman.Buffett started out in the business world at a very young age, and was in fact only 11 years old when he bought his first stock. He’s come a long way since then and has achieved a lot within his lifetime. Although, this book, arguably one of the best entrepreneur biographies, goes into more detail than just his achievements in the exciting world of business, but more about the man himself. His opinions, his work, struggles, achievements and wisdom are all revealed in ‘The Snowball’.
Garret Camp
Instagram: @garretcamp
Camp is a native Canadian entrepreneur who is famous for his ground-breaking technology ventures. His best-known companies include Uber and StumbleUpon (now Mix), both of which he co-founded. Camp is currently chairman of Mix and a founding partner of business incubator Expa, through which he funds start-ups. One of his latest projects is Eco, originally intended to be a cryptocurrency but now a personal finance/investment app. He has launched several companies, but he’s best-known as the co-founder of Uber. In 2008, he and friend Travis Kalanick were attending a conference in Paris and trying, one winter night, to find a taxi. “What if you could request a ride from your phone?” the two chilled entrepreneurs asked each other. From there, the pair developed a smartphone app that let people tap a button and get a ride from a fleet of circulating cars. The first Uber ride took place in San Francisco in 2010.
Brian Chesky
Instagram: @bchesky
Chesky is an American entrepreneur who started Airbnb—an online service for booking accommodations for travelers—along with his partners. He also serves as the CEO of Airbnb, and was listed in Time magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People of 2015’. Chesky began his journey as an entrepreneur during his college days when he used to run a hockey team. When his hockey team was canceled at the last moment, he and his teammates began rebranding their team. They transformed the team and brought a new mascot as the team’s logo which helped to revitalize it. On a similar note, he got the idea for Airbnb in 2007 when he faced some financial difficulties. Chesky and his roommates needed cash so they decided to rent their apartment. Ultimately, this led to the birth of Airbnb which grew gradually and gave better opportunities to travelers looking for a place to stay. There are many reasons for his success and one of the most important reasons is the fact that he gave more importance to his customers and the services they needed rather than the ideas of the developers.
Barbara Corcoran
Instagram: @barbaracorcoran
Barbara Corcoran, Founder of The Corcoran Group & Shark and Executive Producer on ABC’s “Shark Tank”Barbara Corcoran’s credits include straight D’s in high school and college and 20 jobs by the time she turned 23. It was her next job that would make her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country: She borrowed $1,000 and quit her job as a waitress to start a tiny real estate company in New York City. The Corcoran Group, the largest and best-known brand in the brokerage business, building the largest and best-known brand in the business.
Carl Wu
A Blackstone managing director turned entrepreneur, Carl Wu has staked his ambitions on the future of China’s fledgling private health care industry. As CEO and founder of New Frontier Group, based in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and president of New Frontier Health, an NYSE-traded company, he led the $1.44 billion acquisition of United Family, China’s largest private hospital group, through a SPAC in 2019. New Frontier’s growing portfolio of hospitals are located in China’s largest cities and are known for their premium service. In all, the company, which also runs rehabilitation centers, home health and telemedicine services, and a health insurance brokerage, reaches several million people a year. Wu is betting that China’s growing affluence and aging population will fuel demand for high-quality health care for decades to come.
Nick Molnar
Nick Molnar is the co-founder of Afterpay. As a young serial-entrepreneur, Nick’s vision for Afterpay was to create a global payment solution that would allow consumers to pay for things they want and need over time, using their own money. As a millennial himself, he recognized that his generation has an aversion to credit cards and compounding debt.Nick launched Afterpay with his co-founder, Anthony Eisen, in Australia in October 2014 and listed the company on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2016. The company expanded into the U.S. in May 2018 and soon after, expanded into Canada, France, Italy, Spain and the UK. As of June 2021, Afterpay had more than 20 million customer accounts in the United States alone and was offered by more than 100,000 merchants globally.
Steve Ballmer
Instagram: @steveballmer_us
Steven Anthony Ballmer is an American billionaire, entrepreneur, and investor who worked as the CEO of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. Steve Ballmer is one of the most famous entrepreneurs today. He graduated from Harvard University in 1977 and is currently the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
He’s also one of the richest people in the world, having a net worth of over $91 billion dollars.
Shaheen Mazloom
Instagram: @versabusinesssystems
Shaheen Mazloom has an interesting tale that starts with defeat and ends with success. After his longtime girlfriend broke up with him, Shaheen was devastated. Thankfully, he came across a video from fellow entrepreneur Grant Cardone that inspired him to keep going. Now the creator of Versa Business Systems, he was not only able to build a name for himself, but his business became one of the big medical systems suppliers during the entire pandemic. Offering every type of business lending, they can find something that fits for every single business and work with every customer to understand what they need to make their business successful. To find out more about Shaheen, follow him on instagram here.
Mukesh Ambani
Instagram: @mukeshambanii5
Mukesh Ambani is an Indian business mogul and billionaire entrepreneur who has a net worth of over $104 billion dollars. During the pandemic Covid-19, Mukesh Ambani raised more than $20 billion by selling 1/3rd of Jio to investors including Facebook and Google.
He’s the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, which is a Fortune Global 500 company. His company, Reliance Industries deals in various sectors including petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, and retail. Reliance was initially founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani in 1966.
Robert Pera
Instagram: @_rjp_
Pera is the founder of Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. a global communications technology company that Pera took public in 2011. In October 2012, Pera also became the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association. He founded Ubiquiti Networks in March 2005 using $30,000 of personal savings and credit card debt. Ubiquiti’s early products utilized existing Wi-Fi technology to wirelessly deliver the Internet to underserved areas (e.g., rural areas and emerging markets) lacking the infrastructure to access the Internet through traditional avenues such as phone lines and cable lines. The company has since successfully branched out into other product lines such as wireless access points, security cameras and traditional networking equipment.
Arianna Simpson
Arianna Simpson is a San Francisco-based investor with a focus on cryptocurrencies. She holds a bachelor’s in International Politics and Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania Schreyer Honors College. She worked as an advisor and board member and became a partner at Andreessen Horowitz in 2020. Prior to joining Andreessen Horowitz, Arianna founded Autonomous Partners, an investment fund focused on cryptocurrencies and digital assets. She also helped launch Crystal Towers Capital, an early-stage fund investing primarily in YC companies, in 2015. Arianna previously spent time working in sales and product roles at Facebook and BitGo, an enterprise security company for bitcoin and other digital currencies. She grew up in Milan, Italy.
