What services do you offer?

To start our journey, we will be offering a parking management platform that will allow hosts with available parking spots to be rented by individuals looking for parking.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

The opportunity to bring brilliant people together, work and solve complicated world problems that bring value to our community through technology.

What inspired you to start your business?

Back in 2018, my fiancé and I were exploring New York City in a rental car. Shortly after she finished her job interview, we decided to grab a bite to eat. When we arrived at the restaurant, we spent another 20 minutes searching for a place to park. Well, we found a place to park but it was in a garage that was 4 blocks away. It also cost me $15 to park. As we were walking to the restaurant, we were passing a couple of businesses with dedicated parking spaces and homes with empty drives. That’s when it hit me, and I asked myself is there a platform that allows businesses or homeowners to rent out their driveway for parking I would much rather support them while getting a closer parking spot to my destination.

What gets you out of bed every morning?

What gets me out of bed every morning is knowing that I am progressing towards my goal of becoming a tech entrepreneur and a business owner which will allow me to make a bigger impact in my community.

What is your secret to making progress each day?

I start by outlining the accomplishment I am trying to achieve. I work backward from there by assigning myself 2 tasks to accomplish every day to achieve the result.

Tell us one thing people don’t know about you.

I like my pizza with all the toppings minus the cheese.

A typical weekend for me is…

Spending time learning, acquiring new skill sets, and working on my side projects.

What will people get from your business that they won’t get anywhere else?

Finding reasonable parking at an affordable rate is getting harder and harder each day. Most people will need to spend at least 15 dollars on parking just for a night out downtown, a day at the beach, or to attend a big event. It’s also difficult to know the rentable spaces that would be the best value, closest, and/or cheapest available. Meanwhile, many businesses shut down their parking lots after closing when their parking lots could bring in tens of thousands of dollars annually. Nearby is a user-friendly and modern app that services two types of users, parkers, and listers. Parkers can reserve parking in real-time or in advance by entering the time they need parking, searching a map, and booking their spot. Listers which could be private individuals or businesses can list parking spots on their property at their desired price and availability.

Have you won any awards or had any special recognition or acknowledgement of your business?

We participated in the Joust Competition at UCF and made it to the semi-final rounds but no other awards or special recognition for now as we have yet to launch the product.

What are your plans for the future of your business?

My plan is to become the premier platform for parking and storage needs in the gig economy. The goal is to get the business funded so that I can bring on more talented individuals to help us develop and enrich our product with the features that we have planned. As we expand throughout the United States, I hope to make Nearby a household name.

What’s your secret talent no one knows about?

Gardening and Cooking.

What did you want to be when growing up?

I wanted to be a business owner.

What is your favorite thing to do in the wonderful area of Central Florida?

Exploring and trying new places to eat with friends and family.

What would people never guess you do in your role?

Partake in designing the IT infrastructure.

What do you love most about your industry?

How much room there is to innovate by creatively increasing capacity in already congested areas along with making the search and reserve parking an enjoyable experience.

How have you advanced professionally since starting your business?

I have made strong connections within my network. I have also pursued a solutions architect role to help design our data model and server-side architecture.

New Client Q&A: Nearby