Entrepreneurial Success: Taking Rochester one Brand at a time – Meet Louie Maier
Young, handsome, super successful and good hearted all comes together when you meet Louie Maier, who at only 29 has accomplished so much and his name is recognized throughout town. He is born and raised in Rochester, and considers himself a professional friend collector! Who doesn’t love that!
I met Louie at his downtown office, where he is the CEO and Founder of Brand Mint, an industry leading digital marketing firm. If you don’t like a laid back atmosphere, basketball, or coffee, then Brand Mint may not be for you. I walked in and I could tell this was a company where creative thinkers and mind sets excel! Brand Mint specializes in digital marketing. Taking your company to the next level, with website building, SEO campaigns, Social Media marketing and retargeting with different digital footprints.
I was offered some coffee right away, and of course I said yes as I am an avid coffee drinker myself, and we started chatting. First off, if you have ever met Louie he right away makes you feel like you have been friends for a long time. Louie starts telling me how his journey all started in college and promoting businesses came naturally. While doing all of that he also ventured out and started cutting hair while in college to also make some extra cash. No, no he does not currently offer that service, as I did ask…HA! He soon realized he enjoyed the business side of things and was passionate about different space.
Louie ended up graduating from Suny Fredonia with a B.S. in Marketing. His first company at the age of 26 was LA Entertainment Group which was a nightlife branding and talent representation company. Fun Fact; LA stands for Louie Allen, his middle name! He ended up selling the business and then founded the company GoFlingo Sports and Social. Company is based around having fun, being social and playing sports. Louie is also the founder of a nonprofit organization supporting those with Cystic Fibrosis called the Just Breathe Foundation. He has also planned and hosted the annual Cystic Fibrosis Christmas Ball for the past 5 years, which has donated over $100,000 to date to the Just Breathe Foundation. To also add to his list of accomplishments, Louie is co-owner of Brass Bar and Lounge which opened in 2015. And he hasn’t stopped there, Louie is in the midst of opening a new restaurant in about 60 days. If you know where the old Pita Pit was then you will soon be a customer of this energetic restaurant that will be serving items Rochester has not experienced before. Louie and his partner Doug Suraci, who comes from Arizona, joined in this venture to bring some West Coast feel and energy to the Rochester area. With an open windows concept, and come in as you want feel, this place will be the talk of the town with its high energy brunch they will be offering. I surely can’t wait!
I asked Louie what motivates him, and he responded that people do. “People motivate me, talk to everyone. I want to inspire people to be the best version of themselves.” His passion to engage with people shines right through even through conversation. The best advice he has for future entrepreneurs is to always be curious. Ask questions, you will fail, then learn, fail, learn and succeed. “You have to dive in head first and just GO!” he says. Stop talking about it and do it.
One thing Louie and I started discussing was how the culture of many work places have changed- how the workplace is changing. Millennials are becoming more and more the leaders in the business industry. As for himself, he tends to always try to find a balance between friend and boss. He does offer a laid back work atmosphere, hence he gives his staff Fridays off. You have to surround yourself with people who believe in your vision, he mentions. People who want to be a part of the growth and platform you stand for.
One thing Louie loves about Rochester is the urban development that is currently taking place and growing downtown. A main reason why his office is located there, and makes him feel part of the city and knows what is happening. He says he has seen so much growth in the city and loves the fact that his company is growing alongside it as well.
I asked him to give me a weakness and a strength. He said his weakness was being a hand shake guy and his strength was his willingness to constant learn and challenge himself and teach himself.
One thing he started talking about was how it was not all glamourous. When he decided to leave his full time job to pursue his ambition and passion, it was a rough few months. “I was literally living pay check to pay check for the first 6 months,” he says as he was getting started. But he says he wouldn’t change it, just advice he says is to try to have a little bit of a cushion for yourself as he chuckles.
So what does this Greece native love to do for fun? Boating is one thing he enjoys with a passion as well as playing some hockey, and you may catch him just being “Louie” and chatting it up around town. He did mentioned he loves learning more and more about the hospitality space. “You can never stop learning”, Maier said. There is no stopping Louie, as he is constantly eager to learn more.
One thing for sure, Louie has a presence that makes anyone want to listen. He is smart, personable, and is inspirational. With a true soul and heart he puts forward, he will succeed no matter what he faces. Get used to this name Rochester, because only bigger and better things will follow this young entrepreneur.