Author: Zex PRwire

• Fr. Ranjan D’Sa, OCD, pastor at Saint Dominic church in Oakville, Ontario, is formalizing a daily rhythm of prayer and meditation drawn from his Carmelite formation, and inviting parishioners to build their own version of it.

A rule he has kept for years, now made public

Ontario, Canada, Sep 24, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — Fr. Ranjan D’Sa has spent every day of his priesthood in prayer, morning and evening, with meditation folded in whenever the schedule allows. He has kept this rhythm quietly for years. Now, as part of his ongoing work at Saint Dominic church, he is naming it plainly and inviting others to build a version of their own.

“People assume prayer is something you do when you have time left over,” Fr. D’Sa says. “For me it has never worked that way. It is the frame the rest of the day sits inside.”

Formed by the Carmelite tradition

Fr. D’Sa belongs to the religious Order of Discalced Carmelite, a tradition built on contemplative prayer and interior silence. That formation shapes how he prays and how he counsels others to pray.

He points to Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila as the figures who taught him what prayer is for. He also names Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Saint Teresa of the Andes, and Saint Therese of Lisieux among the Carmelite saints he returns to most.

“These are not distant historical figures to me,” he says. “They wrote about the same struggle every person praying today has: distraction, dryness, wanting to quit. I go back to them because they never pretended prayer was easy.”

Alongside the Carmelite writers, Fr. D’Sa keeps a steady practice of reading Scripture and the early fathers of the church. He describes this as less a discipline he forces and more a habit he protects.

What the daily rhythm looks like

Fr. D’Sa’s own practice is simple in structure: prayer in the morning, prayer in the evening, and meditation folded in wherever the day allows room for it. He is direct that this is not a formula that produces a particular feeling.

“Some mornings the prayer is full and rich. Other mornings it is just showing up and sitting there,” he says. “I tell people both count. The showing up is the commitment. What happens inside it is not something you control.”

He also draws on a devotion to Marian theology and spirituality as part of that rhythm, something he says gives the daily practice a steadiness that does not depend on his own mood or energy that day.

Why he is naming it now

Fr. D’Sa has spent a decade as pastor at Saint Dominic church, and in that time he has watched parishioners ask the same question in different forms: how do you actually keep a prayer life going, not just start one. His answer is to describe his own rule out loud rather than leave it private.

“I did not build this rhythm to be admired. I built it because without it, everything else I do as a priest runs dry,” he says. “If naming it helps someone else start their own version, that is worth doing.”

He is careful to say the specific rhythm is his own, shaped by Carmelite formation and by decades of the same schedule, and not a template meant to be copied exactly. What he hopes people take from it is smaller: pick two fixed points in the day, morning and evening, and protect them the same way you would protect any other commitment.

What comes next

Fr. D’Sa plans to keep this rhythm as the base of his own spiritual life at Saint Dominic church, and to keep pointing parishioners toward the same Carmelite writers who shaped him: Saint John of the Cross, Saint Teresa of Avila, and the line of Carmelite saints who followed them.

“None of this is new,” he says. “It is old. That is part of what I trust about it.”

To read more, visit the website here.

About Fr. Ranjan D’Sa

Fr. Ranjan D’Sa, OCD, is a Catholic priest and pastor at Saint Dominic church in Oakville, Ontario. He was ordained to the priesthood in Mangalore, India, and later continued his studies at Fordham University in New York. He belongs to the religious Order of Discalced Carmelite and is a member of the Knights of Columbus.

San Francisco, California, Sep 24, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — Consider a growing company preparing to enter a new market. Customer demand supports the move. The economics work. The leadership team sees an opportunity and wants to act. Then the team looks across the organization.

The expansion needs capital, technology, new employees, operating resources, and management attention. Several of the company’s strongest operational leaders would need to launch the new location. Those same leaders are directing a major systems implementation. The technology team is at capacity. Recruiting in the new market will take time. Customer commitments are approaching key milestones.

The opportunity still makes sense, but the question changes. Instead of asking whether to expand, the leadership team asks what the expansion will trigger across the organization and what needs to happen to execute it well.

The answer may be yes, six months from now.

This hypothetical example illustrates something Lisa Doverspike has observed throughout more than 30 years in finance and organizational leadership: important decisions cross functional boundaries. A financial decision affects people and operations. An operating decision changes capital needs. A strategic initiative competes for management time and resources. Experienced executives see those connections and use them to shape the decision.

See the Connections

Lisa Doverspike notes that as organizations expand, teams develop deeper expertise. Finance evaluates capital and returns. Operations plans execution. Technology builds systems. Human resources develops talent. Legal addresses obligations and risk. Executives connect those perspectives.

In our hypothetical company, the financial analysis supports expansion. The leadership team then looks at execution and sees that the same people needed to launch the new market are leading critical work in the existing business. That changes the plan. The company can complete the systems implementation, expand leadership capacity, begin recruiting in the new market, and prepare the operating plan before committing its strongest leaders to the launch.

The opportunity has stayed the same. The organization has changed how it will pursue it.

This is where enterprise perspective adds value. Leaders connect resource allocation to execution, technology to scalability, talent to capacity, and timing to results. They identify where decisions intersect and determine which sequence gives the organization the strongest position.

They also ask different questions. Who will execute this? What other priorities need the same people? Which systems need to be ready? Where will management attention come from? What capabilities should be added? What needs to happen first? Those questions expose connections that a standalone financial or operating analysis can miss.

They can also uncover opportunities. A technology investment needed for one initiative may improve another part of the business. Developing a new leader may create capacity elsewhere. A market expansion may strengthen customer relationships beyond the new location. One decision can create value in several places when leaders see how the pieces connect.

Keep the Enterprise in View

A department evaluates a decision through the needs of its function. Executives evaluate how the decision serves the enterprise as a whole. Finance may prefer one timetable. Operations may prefer another. Commercial teams may want to move sooner. Each group brings information the organization needs. The executive team’s job is to connect those perspectives, set priorities, allocate resources, and decide how to move forward. Seeing across functions also helps leaders test whether individual recommendations support the broader objectives of the enterprise.

Enterprise perspective becomes more important as organizations add people, markets, systems, investments, and business lines. Each addition creates more connections, and decisions travel farther across the enterprise. Capable leaders bring depth to the areas they know best, while senior executives connect those perspectives and focus their attention where enterprise perspective adds the greatest value: decisions that cross functions, compete for significant resources, or shape the organization’s broader direction.

Return to our hypothetical company six months later. The systems implementation is complete. New leaders have assumed greater responsibility in the existing operations. The company has recruited key employees in the new market and refined the launch plan.

Now it moves.

The company used the time to build the capacity required to execute the opportunity well. Experienced leaders see the decision in front of them and the connections around it. They understand how capital, people, operations, technology, governance, and strategy interact. Then they use that understanding to set priorities and act.

A decision can look very different once you see what it sets in motion. The ability to see those connections helps leaders make better decisions, allocate resources more effectively, and strengthen the enterprise as a whole.

To learn more visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-doverspike-74723628

• The Flint, Michigan hotel discusses how contractors, crews, and other traveling workers can have very different lodging needs from traditional leisure travelers.

FLINT, Mich., Sep 24, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — When people think about hotel guests, vacationers and tourists often come to mind first. But hotels also serve another important group of travelers: people away from home for work.

Travel Inn Flint regularly accommodates work crews, contractors, individual workers, and other guests traveling to the Flint area for professional reasons. By serving these visitors, the hotel team has seen how work-related travel creates a different set of priorities than a typical vacation.

“Someone traveling for work may not be looking for the same experience as someone taking a weekend trip,” the Travel Inn Flint team said. “They may be getting up early, working a long day, and coming back to the hotel to rest before doing the same thing again tomorrow. That changes what matters during the stay.”

For hotels serving working visitors, understanding that routine can be key to providing practical accommodations.

Work Travel Extends Far Beyond Traditional Business Trips

The phrase “business traveler” can bring to mind someone flying into a city for meetings or a conference. In reality, work-related hotel stays can take many forms.

Construction crews may travel between projects. Contractors can spend days or weeks working away from home. Technicians, tradespeople, transportation workers, and employees supporting temporary projects may all need accommodations near where the work is taking place.

Travel Inn Flint says these guests are an important reminder that hospitality serves more than the tourism economy.

“Not every person coming to Flint for work is arriving in a suit with a meeting scheduled,” the team said. “Sometimes you have people who have been on a job site all day. Their needs can be very practical. They want to be able to come back, get settled, and be ready for the next day.”

Recognizing those differences can help hotel operators better understand the market around them.

What Do Traveling Workers Look for in a Hotel?

For many working travelers, convenience can matter most.

A hotel may become part of a daily routine rather than simply somewhere to spend one night. Workers may leave at similar times each morning, return after their shifts, and repeat that schedule throughout the stay.

That can make factors such as location, parking, room comfort, straightforward policies, and consistent service especially relevant.

Travel Inn Flint recommends that workers or crew coordinators think through the full schedule before choosing accommodations.

“If you’re booking for a crew, look at where they’re actually going to be working,” the team said. “A room might look like a good option, but if the crew has a difficult trip to and from the job every morning and evening, that becomes part of their day too.”

Length of stay should also be considered. The needs of someone staying for one night may differ greatly from those of a worker who uses the same hotel as a temporary home base.

Consistency Becomes More Important During Repeat Stays

A leisure traveler might spend most of the day exploring and return to a hotel primarily to sleep. Traveling workers can develop a much more repetitive relationship with the property.

That makes consistency important.

Rooms need to be prepared properly. Maintenance issues need attention. Staff members need to communicate clearly. When guests are following demanding work schedules, unnecessary complications can quickly become frustrating.

“If someone has just finished a long shift, a small hotel problem can feel much bigger than it would at another time,” Travel Inn Flint said. “That is why the basic things matter. The room needs to be ready, and if something needs attention, you want to address it.”

Behind those basics is considerable operational work.

Housekeeping teams turn rooms over and identify potential issues. Maintenance staff address repairs. Hotel employees manage arrivals, departures, questions, and changing schedules. Supplies must be replenished, and rooms have to remain ready for continued use.

Much of that work is invisible when it is done well.

Hotels Can Support the Broader Local Economy

Working travelers also demonstrate how hotels can support economic activity beyond traditional tourism.

Projects taking place in and around a city often involve people who do not live locally. Those workers still need places to sleep, eat, buy supplies, and handle everyday needs while away from home.

Hotels become part of the infrastructure that makes those temporary stays possible.

Travel Inn Flint has seen that role firsthand through the variety of people who use the property while working in the area.

“Hotels see people coming into a city for all kinds of reasons,” the team said. “Work is a big one. When somebody has a project in Flint, and they don’t live here, they still need somewhere to stay while that work gets done.”

That creates a connection between hospitality and other parts of the local economy that may not always be obvious.

Planning Ahead Can Make Work Travel Easier

Travel Inn Flint recommends that companies, contractors, and individual workers consider accommodations early when planning an out-of-town assignment.

Start with the location of the job and estimate realistic travel times. Determine how many rooms are needed and how long workers are expected to stay. Confirm hotel policies and any details that matter most to the crew before arrival.

Workers should also consider their daily routine rather than choosing a hotel based only on what they would prioritize during a vacation.

“Think about what the day is actually going to look like,” the Travel Inn Flint team said. “If you’re leaving early, working all day, and coming back in the evening, choose accommodations based on making that routine easier.”

For hotel operators, the lesson works in reverse. Understanding why guests are staying can help a property better understand what those visitors need.

Travel Inn Flint believes working visitors will remain an important part of the broad mix of people using hotels in communities like Flint. While their reasons for traveling may differ from tourists, their need for practical, dependable accommodations remains much the same.

About Travel Inn Flint

Travel Inn Flint is a hotel located in Flint, Michigan, serving work crews, contractors, individual travelers, families, and other visitors seeking accommodations in the Flint area. The property focuses on practical lodging, ongoing property care, maintenance, room improvements, and guest service. Through years of accommodating travelers visiting Flint for a variety of reasons, the Travel Inn Flint team has gained firsthand insight into the different needs of leisure and work-related hotel guests.

• The expanded operating model is designed to improve vehicle availability, average trip value and fleet efficiency as local demand continues to grow

Bishopsgate, London, Sep 23, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — Carziqo has expanded its autonomous mobility operations in the United States with the introduction of 24/7 service for its AID-DR autonomous ride-hailing series in Wyoming.

The new operating schedule allows designated AID-DR vehicles to operate Monday through Sunday, covering daytime, evening and overnight transportation periods. The move signals a shift from conventional fixed-hour fleet operations toward a more flexible model built around continuous availability and demand-based vehicle deployment.

According to the company, the decision follows encouraging market activity observed across its designated Wyoming operating areas. Carziqo said its internal data indicates that local utilization of the AID-DR series has remained above the comparable market benchmarks monitored by the company.

The figures have not been independently verified, but the early performance suggests that autonomous mobility services could address transportation demand extending beyond traditional daytime commuting hours—particularly in markets where travel requirements are spread across longer distances and less concentrated service periods.

From Longer Hours to More Productive Hours

Operating around the clock does not necessarily mean that every vehicle remains on the road continuously. Instead, Carziqo’s model uses intelligent fleet coordination to determine when and where individual vehicles should be deployed.

The platform evaluates factors such as local service demand, route conditions, vehicle availability and technical readiness before assigning vehicles to operating areas.

This approach is intended to reduce unnecessary idle time and increase the number of productive hours generated by each vehicle. It may also allow the fleet to serve a broader range of trip categories, including early-morning travel, scheduled daytime journeys, evening transportation and selected overnight mobility requirements.

For mobility operators, the distinction between longer operating hours and more productive operating hours is important. Keeping vehicles available without matching them to actual demand can increase operating costs. A demand-based system, however, may improve fleet utilization by placing vehicles into service when they are most likely to complete trips.

Carziqo believes this expanded service coverage can also support a higher average value per completed trip. Longer routes, overnight demand and other specialized service periods may carry different operating values than standard daytime journeys, creating a more diversified trip portfolio for the AID-DR fleet.

Individual Maintenance Scheduling Supports Continuous Availability

One of the more notable changes behind the Wyoming expansion is Carziqo’s move away from centralized fleetwide maintenance downtime.

Under the company’s previous operating structure, vehicles could be taken offline during a common weekly maintenance period. The new framework assigns individual maintenance windows based on each vehicle’s mileage, technical condition, service history and operational requirements.

While one AID-DR vehicle undergoes inspection, cleaning, preventive maintenance or software diagnostics, other eligible vehicles can remain available for service.

This rolling maintenance structure is intended to preserve network coverage without removing the entire local fleet from operation at the same time. It also gives the company more flexibility to respond to changing demand throughout the week.

Carziqo emphasized that continuous operations remain subject to vehicle readiness, company safety procedures, road conditions, weather and applicable local requirements.

Why Wyoming Matters

Wyoming offers a different mobility environment from the densely populated metropolitan areas often associated with autonomous ride-hailing.

Travel demand can be distributed across wider areas, longer routes and varying time periods. These conditions create operational challenges, but they may also provide opportunities for autonomous fleets capable of responding flexibly to changing transportation needs.

Instead of depending exclusively on high passenger density, operators in such markets may need to focus more heavily on route planning, vehicle availability and efficient fleet allocation.

For Carziqo, the AID-DR rollout provides an opportunity to test how an intelligently coordinated autonomous fleet performs in a market where mobility demand may be less concentrated but still requires dependable service coverage.

The company said operational information collected through the Wyoming network will be used to refine dispatching strategies, maintenance planning and future vehicle deployment.

Building a More Adaptive Mobility Network

The Wyoming operation is part of Carziqo’s broader effort to develop an autonomous mobility network that can adapt to the characteristics of individual markets.

Rather than applying an identical fleet structure to every location, the company evaluates regional demand, operating conditions, route characteristics and infrastructure availability when determining how vehicles should be deployed.

“The transition to 24/7 AID-DR operations reflects the encouraging response we have observed in Wyoming,” a Carziqo spokesperson said. “Our focus is on improving vehicle availability and operational efficiency while maintaining structured maintenance and technical readiness across the fleet.”

The spokesperson added that the company would continue monitoring service demand before introducing additional routes, vehicles or operating capabilities.

The announcement comes as autonomous mobility companies increasingly look beyond limited pilot schedules and explore operating models designed for longer service periods. While commercial performance will ultimately depend on demand, cost control, regulatory conditions and technical reliability, efficient vehicle utilization is likely to remain a central factor in determining whether such services can scale sustainably.

For Carziqo, Wyoming could serve as a practical test of that strategy. If stronger availability, individualized maintenance and demand-based dispatching continue to produce favorable results, the operating model may help inform the company’s approach in other suitable markets.

For now, the AID-DR series will continue operating within designated Wyoming service areas, with fleet allocation adjusted according to local demand, vehicle availability and real-time operating conditions.

• The UR-NX deployment introduces round-the-clock operations and a vehicle-specific maintenance model designed to support continuous fleet availability.

AUSTIN, Texas, Sep 23, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — Autonomous mobility company Carziqo has expanded its presence in Austin with the launch of its UR-NX autonomous ride-hailing series, adding another vehicle platform to the company’s growing urban mobility network in the United States.

According to Carziqo, the UR-NX series will operate under a 24/7 schedule from Monday to Sunday, providing continuous service coverage across designated operating areas. The deployment is intended to support Austin’s varied transportation patterns, which include daily commuting, business travel, university-related activity, entertainment traffic and periods of increased demand associated with major events.

The launch reflects Carziqo’s broader strategy of combining autonomous vehicle technology with intelligent dispatching, digital fleet coordination and vehicle-specific maintenance management.

Responding to Austin’s Changing Transportation Needs

Austin’s continued population growth and expanding technology sector have contributed to increasingly complex urban mobility requirements. Travel demand can shift significantly between residential districts, commercial centers, university areas and entertainment corridors, creating a need for transportation services that can respond to different routes and service periods.

Carziqo said its fleet management platform will use operational information—including service-area demand, route conditions, travel distance and vehicle availability—to support the allocation of UR-NX vehicles.

Rather than assigning every vehicle to a fixed operating pattern, the company’s system is designed to coordinate deployment based on changing conditions. This approach is intended to improve fleet utilization, reduce unnecessary idle time and place vehicles where mobility demand is more likely to emerge.

The UR-NX series will complement Carziqo’s existing mobility activities in Austin, allowing the company to diversify vehicle deployment across routes with different operating characteristics.

Operating 24 Hours a Day, Seven Days a Week

A central feature of the UR-NX launch is Carziqo’s 24/7 Operations, Monday to Sunday model.

Continuous operations do not mean that individual vehicles will remain in service without interruption. Instead, Carziqo said each vehicle will be assigned its own maintenance window based on mileage, technical condition and operational requirements.

Under this model, vehicles requiring inspection, cleaning, preventive maintenance or software diagnostics can be temporarily removed from active service while other vehicles remain available.

This differs from a centralized maintenance approach in which an entire fleet may be taken offline during a common weekly service period. By scheduling maintenance on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis, Carziqo aims to balance service continuity with routine fleet care.

The company said this structure will allow its broader Austin fleet to continue operating throughout the week while individual vehicles receive the attention required for responsible operation.

More Than an Autonomous Vehicle Deployment

While autonomous driving technology is the most visible part of the UR-NX series, the deployment also depends on the digital infrastructure supporting each vehicle.

Carziqo’s operating model includes fleet monitoring, vehicle allocation, service coordination, preventive maintenance planning and software diagnostics. Together, these systems are designed to help the company oversee vehicle availability and respond to operational changes without relying solely on fixed schedules.

As autonomous ride-hailing networks expand, this supporting infrastructure is becoming increasingly important. The performance of an autonomous fleet depends not only on how vehicles navigate roads, but also on how effectively they are dispatched, maintained and repositioned across a city.

For Carziqo, the Austin deployment provides an opportunity to refine these processes in a market shaped by both steady everyday travel and rapidly changing demand.

A Phased Approach to Expansion

Carziqo said the initial stage of the UR-NX rollout will focus on establishing stable operations, monitoring fleet performance and evaluating demand across designated service areas.

Operational information collected during this stage will help the company assess vehicle allocation, route efficiency and service availability. Additional vehicles or routes may be introduced later based on operating results and local transportation requirements.

The phased approach allows Carziqo to expand the service while continuing to evaluate how the UR-NX series performs under different traffic, distance and demand conditions.

The company has not positioned the launch as a one-time vehicle introduction. Instead, it describes the deployment as part of a wider effort to develop a connected autonomous mobility ecosystem supported by coordinated vehicles, intelligent dispatching and digital operating infrastructure.

Strengthening Carziqo’s U.S. Mobility Footprint

The UR-NX launch also adds to Carziqo’s wider development across U.S. markets. The company has been building mobility operations around multiple vehicle series, with deployments structured according to the requirements of individual cities and service areas.

Austin remains an important market within that strategy because of its combination of population growth, technology-sector activity and diverse transportation demand.

By adding the UR-NX series, Carziqo is expanding the range of vehicles available within its Austin network while testing how different vehicle configurations can be matched with particular routes and operating periods.

The company’s approach suggests that future growth will depend not only on adding more vehicles, but also on improving the systems that determine when, where and how those vehicles are deployed.

Building Toward a Connected Mobility Ecosystem

Carziqo operates across autonomous ride-hailing, intelligent fleet operations, autonomous delivery and connected mobility services. Its longer-term objective is to integrate these areas through a shared technology and operations platform.

The Austin UR-NX deployment represents another step in that direction. It combines a new autonomous ride-hailing vehicle series with continuous operations, individualized maintenance scheduling and data-supported fleet coordination.

As the service develops, Carziqo said it will continue reviewing operational performance and local demand before making further adjustments to its Austin network.

Service availability, operating areas and vehicle allocation may vary according to local demand, maintenance requirements and platform arrangements.

For Austin, the arrival of the UR-NX series adds another element to a transportation landscape that is increasingly shaped by automation, data and flexible mobility services. For Carziqo, it provides another city-level opportunity to demonstrate how autonomous vehicles can be supported by the operational systems required to keep a modern mobility network running.

• William Stapleton, President and CEO of Iron Rock Payments in Frisco, Texas, shares how early work shaped his path from private banking to entrepreneurship.

How did working from age 14 influence your career?

Texas, USA, Sep 22, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — “I have worked since I was 14 years old to support myself and used this work ethic into college,” Stapleton says. He grew up in a working-class household in Long Beach, California. His mother is from Ecuador and his father is of German and Polish descent. Starting work young built financial responsibility and shaped his approach to business.

He played varsity baseball and water polo while working through high school. He graduated with honors from Long Beach Wilson Classical High School near the top of his class. In college, he took an unpaid internship at Salomon Brothers while balancing his studies. “I graduated college with full honors, top of my class academically,” he says. He earned a double major in Rhetorical Theory and Global Economics from California State University, Long Beach in 2006.

What did you learn in private banking that helped you as an entrepreneur?

After graduation, Morgan Stanley Private Bank recruited Stapleton to work in New York. He later joined JPMorgan Chase, where he contributed to building what is now known as the Chase Private Client program. He spent approximately seven years in private banking and advisory roles.

Working with high-net-worth clients taught him how to manage relationships, assess risk, and structure solutions. Those skills transferred directly to running a business. Understanding client needs and delivering value became the foundation of his entrepreneurial approach.

How did you transition from banking to payments?

Stapleton founded PayFacto, a credit card processing company based in Montreal. He built the company from the ground up and grew it until Visa acquired it in 2019. The sale carried an estimated valuation of $300 million.

He did not wait long to start again. In 2012, he founded Iron Rock Payments, a credit card processing company based in Frisco, Texas. The company has been recognized as an Inc. 5000 company and employs 15 people. Stapleton serves as President and CEO.

What do businesses get wrong about payment processing?

Many businesses treat payment processing as a commodity. They focus only on rates and miss the bigger picture. The right processor can improve cash flow, reduce chargebacks, and provide data that drives decisions.

Stapleton emphasizes that service matters as much as price. Businesses need a partner who understands their industry and responds quickly when issues arise. A few basis points saved on fees mean nothing if downtime costs thousands in lost sales.

What lessons from your first exit did you apply to Iron Rock Payments?

Selling PayFacto taught Stapleton the importance of building systems that scale. He learned to hire people who are better than him in specific areas and to trust them. He also realized that culture drives retention and retention drives growth.

At Iron Rock Payments, he focused on creating processes that work whether the company has 5 employees or 50. He invests in technology that automates repetitive tasks so his team can focus on client relationships. He also prioritizes transparency with clients and employees.

What advice do you give to people thinking about starting a business?

Start before you feel ready. Waiting for the perfect moment means you will never start. Stapleton began working at 14 and took an unpaid internship in college because he wanted experience more than money.

He also advises entrepreneurs to stay close to their customers. The best product ideas come from listening to what clients actually need, not from guessing. Finally, he says to protect your reputation. Trust takes years to build and seconds to destroy.

If you do nothing else

1. Start working as early as you can to build a strong work ethic and financial discipline.

2. Take internships or entry-level roles that teach you skills, even if the pay is low or nonexistent.

3. Spend time in an industry before you try to disrupt it so you understand how it really works.

4. Build systems and processes that can scale as your business grows.

5. Hire people who are stronger than you in areas where you are weak and trust them to do their jobs.

6. Listen to your clients and let their needs guide your product and service decisions.

7. Protect your reputation by delivering on promises and treating people with respect.

Share this Q&A with someone who is thinking about making the leap from employee to entrepreneur or who wants to understand how early work experience shapes long-term success.

About William Stapleton

William Stapleton is President and CEO of Iron Rock Payments, a credit card processing company based in Frisco, Texas. He founded the company in 2012 after selling his previous venture, PayFacto, to Visa in 2019 at an estimated valuation of $300 million. Before entering entrepreneurship, he worked in private banking at Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase, where he contributed to creating the Chase Private Client program. He graduated with full honors from California State University, Long Beach with a double major in Rhetorical Theory and Global Economics.

• Orange County Music & Dance will open a second, 25,000-square-foot campus on Cowan Avenue in Irvine this November, adding conservatory and pre-conservatory programs and early childhood classes under new CEO Ralph Opacic.

A second building, a bigger promise

Santa Ana, California, Sep 22, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — Orange County Music & Dance has bought a 25,000-square-foot building for $10.8 million to serve as its second campus. The purchase doubles the nonprofit’s footprint to nearly 50,000 square feet. It is scheduled to open in November, after renovations, minutes from OCMD’s current Irvine headquarters.

Ralph Opacic, who became OCMD’s chief executive last October, says the new space solves a problem the organization could not solve with its original building alone.

“We needed the space to truly be a comprehensive pre-K to 12 arts community music and dance school,” Opacic said.

What moves, what stays, what’s new

The Cowan Avenue campus will hold four new dance facilities, a large rehearsal space for ensembles such as band, orchestra, and musical theater, a second piano lab, a music production studio, and about 15 flexible rehearsal rooms.

Two new programs will launch there, starting a couple of months before the building opens. The first is a conservatory program: college preparatory, pre-professional training for high school students performing at an intermediate to advanced level. The second is a pre-conservatory program for sixth through eighth graders, built as a feeder into the high school track.

“It further strengthens the pathways available for those students who, at an early age, are seeking a premier experience that supports their goals,” Opacic said.

Early childhood music and dance programs for children 6 months to 5 years old will also open at the new site, along with OCMD’s adult evening programs. Discovery programs for kindergarten through fifth grade will stay at the existing Irvine headquarters. OCMD expects enrollment to grow by 400 students once the second campus is running.

Buying instead of building

OCMD had spent time planning a larger project at the Great Park before shifting course this year. Buying an existing building instead of constructing a new one cut an 18-month timeline down to six, according to Opacic, and let OCMD acquire the property without taking on debt.

That change in plan is why the Cowan Avenue building is opening this fall rather than years from now. Opacic points to the shorter timeline as the reason the new conservatory programs can start enrolling students this year instead of waiting for a multi-year build.

A pathway with no gap in it

Opacic has spent decades building programs for young performers, first at Orange County School of the Arts and now at OCMD. The phrase he uses for what the Cowan Avenue campus is meant to do is “womb to tomb.”

“The program is going to be a one-stop shop to serve families that have children, from womb to tomb,” Opacic said.

In practice, that means a child can start in an infant music class, move into discovery programs in elementary school, enter the pre-conservatory track in middle school, and finish in the conservatory program through high school, all inside one organization. Adult classes mean the pathway does not stop at graduation either.

Opacic has hired several new staff members for the conservatory programs, including some who previously worked with him at his former school.

What the expansion is meant to fix

The new building is not simply more room. It lets OCMD run programs it could not run before: specialized group and technique classes, musicianship and theory training, rehearsal and repertoire-based work, individualized coaching, and performance opportunities across music genres and dance styles. Those are the pieces that turn private lessons into a conservatory track, and OCMD did not have the space to offer them until now.

Opacic says the timing matters because families are asking for exactly this kind of continuous program, one that does not force a student to leave for a different school once they outgrow beginner classes.

“How fantastic would it be to start getting kids engaged and involved in music as infants or toddlers, and then be involved in their full music development?” Opacic said.

To read more, visit the website here.

About Ralph Opacic

Ralph S. Opacic, Ed.D. is chief executive of Orange County Music & Dance, a performing arts nonprofit headquartered in Irvine, California. He founded and previously led Orange County School of the Arts in Santa Ana, California, and has spent more than 25 years building arts education and training programs for young performers.

California, USA, Sep 22, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — David Wayne Fish is putting a specific commitment on the record. With six kids moving through baseball, football, and tennis across overlapping seasons, he says the easiest thing to let slip is presence. So he is naming the standard out loud.

“If one of my kids has a game or a practice, someone from this family is there,” Fish says. “That’s the whole pledge. It sounds simple because it should be simple. The hard part is building a life where you can actually keep it.”

Fish runs healthcare and wellness companies as a consultant and CEO, work that does not pause for a Tuesday scrimmage. He is not pretending otherwise. The pledge is not about having endless free time. It is about deciding in advance what wins when a calendar conflict shows up.

Why he is saying it publicly

Fish has coached football, baseball, and helped organize tennis for years. He says most parents do not fail their kids through some dramatic absence. They fail them through a hundred small ones that never get flagged as decisions at all.

“Nobody skips a game and thinks of it as a broken promise,” he says. “It just looks like a scheduling problem. I wanted to write my own rule down so it stops being negotiable case by case.”

He credits his own father, and the model of family life he grew up with in Michigan, for the instinct behind this. Fish says he was raised around the idea that a father’s job includes showing up, not just providing.

What the commitment actually covers

The pledge Fish is making has a few concrete parts:

Every game gets a family face in the stands. Not every game gets David personally, with six kids and overlapping seasons that is not realistic, but every game gets someone: him, his wife, or another family member who can stand in.

Coaching commitments get finished, not started. Fish says he does not sign up to coach a season and then quietly hand it off when work gets busy. If he takes a team, he finishes the season.

Conflicts get resolved before the week starts, not during it. Fish says he sits down weekly and maps which kid has what, so trade-offs get made on a Sunday with a clear head instead of on a Wednesday in a parking lot.

“I’d rather lose an hour on Sunday mapping the week than lose a moment at my kid’s game because I’m distracted by something I should have planned around,” he says.

What he is asking of himself, not other parents

Fish is careful to frame this as his own standard, not a lecture. He is not telling other families how to run their weeks.

“I’m not in a position to tell another parent what their life allows,” he says. “I know what mine allows, and I know where I’ve cut corners before without meaning to. This is me closing that gap for myself.”

He says the pledge will get tested immediately, since his kids’ seasons rarely line up cleanly. Two games at the same hour, in two different towns, is not a hypothetical for his family. It happens.

“When that comes up, the answer isn’t ‘we’ll figure it out.’ The answer is already written down: someone from this family goes to each one,” Fish says. “I’d rather have made that call in October than try to make it in the car in March.”

Holding himself to it

Fish says he plans to track the pledge the same plain way he tracks anything else he takes seriously: a simple log of games, and who from the family was there. No app, no public scoreboard, just a habit he intends to keep himself honest about.

“If I say I’m going to do something for my kids, I want a way to check whether I actually did it,” he says. “That’s the only accountability that’s ever mattered to me.”

To read more, visit the website here.

About David Wayne Fish

David Wayne Fish is an entrepreneur based in Laguna Niguel, California. He works as a CEO and consultant to healthcare and wellness companies. Outside that work, he coaches youth football and baseball, helps organize tennis programs, and is the father of six children active in sports.

• Honnas Veterinary is releasing a short self-check list to help Austin pet owners decide when a visit is worth scheduling, built around the same questions its team asks during exams.

A simple set of questions before the appointment

Texas, USA, Sep 22, 2026, ZEX PR WIRE — Honnas Veterinary, a female-owned veterinary practice in Austin, Texas, is publishing a self-check list for pet owners. The list is meant to be used at home, before a call to the clinic, so owners can organize what they have noticed and share it clearly with a doctor.

The practice built the list from the questions its veterinarians already ask new and returning patients. Dr. Cheri Honnas, founder of Honnas Veterinary, said the goal is to give owners a starting point rather than a diagnosis.

“Owners usually know something is different about their pet before they can put it into words,” Dr. Honnas said. “This list helps them organize what they are seeing so our team can act on it faster.”

What the self-check covers

The list is organized into four short sections:

Eating and drinking. Has the amount changed in either direction over the past week? Has the pet stopped finishing meals it used to eat without trouble?

Energy and movement. Is the pet resting more than usual? Is it slower to get up, reluctant to jump, or limping on and off?

Bathroom habits. Any change in frequency, color, or straining should be written down, including the day it started.

Coat, skin, and weight. Owners are asked to run a hand along the pet’s back and sides. New lumps, bald patches, or a change in body shape are worth noting even if the pet seems otherwise fine.

Each section asks the owner to write down when the change started and whether it has gotten better, worse, or stayed the same. That timeline is often more useful to a veterinarian than a single description of symptoms.

Why the practice built it this way

Honnas Veterinary sees over 1,500 patients a month across a team of five doctors. That volume has shown the practice which details tend to matter most in an exam room and which ones owners often leave out until asked directly.

“We hear a lot of ‘he’s just been off lately,’” Dr. Honnas said. “That is a real observation, but it is not something we can act on right away. The self-check gives owners a way to turn ‘off’ into specifics.”

The clinic is Fear Free certified, and its staff apply Fear Free handling techniques during visits to help reduce stress for pets. The self-check list is meant to work alongside that approach: the more clearly an owner can describe what changed at home, the shorter and calmer the exam can be.

How the list will be used

Honnas Veterinary plans to make the self-check available to clients as a printed handout and as part of new patient materials. Owners can also use it on their own, whether or not they are due for a visit, as a way to keep a running record between checkups.

The practice is not positioning the list as a replacement for an exam. Instead, it is meant to make the conversation with a veterinarian more direct.

“None of this replaces a hands-on exam,” Dr. Honnas said. “But when an owner walks in with a clear timeline instead of a vague feeling, we can usually get to an answer faster. That matters for the pet and for the family.”

Availability

Honnas Veterinary offers free new patient exams for pet owners in the Austin area. The self-check list is part of the practice’s broader effort to make veterinary care more accessible, alongside its existing scheduling and exam options.

To read more, visit the website here.

About Honnas Veterinary

Honnas Veterinary is a locally owned, female-owned veterinary practice in Austin, Texas, founded by Dr. Cheri Honnas in 2023. The practice has grown to a team of five veterinarians and sees more than 1,500 patients each month. Honnas Veterinary is Fear Free certified and offers wellness exams, vaccinations, surgery, dental care, diagnostics, and emergency treatment from its clinic in Austin.